how this ends

what we learned:
- diesels get great mileage
- kilometers are faster than miles
- japanese tourists seem to prefer leather pants
- the arctic ocean is cold
- people don't expect suits and ties in RV parks. or rural border crossings. or national parks.
- google maps lies
- black water gauges lie
- while in a foreign country, $1000 in grocery and car rental charges doesn't bother the credit card company, but one usage at a gas station and they'll shut if off
- some canadians do say 'eh'
- if you turn the sauna up to 190F, your jewelry will burn you
- when the sign says "<-- TRAIL", the trail is probably to the left
- don't play with creamer (or ketchup!) in restaurants
- stack beer cautiously
- don't forget to lock the fridge
- chuckholes suck

where did all these people come from

spent the last three days goofing off in a couple of canada's national parks, jasper and banff. there are people here. and other cars. and stoplights, and center lines on the road...it's spooky.



stayed in a campground with 780 sites...that's several times larger than a few of the towns we've stayed in lately! but when we finally found our site it was already occupied.



we trammed/hiked to the top of whistler mountain, and took a boat around maligne lake. it is apparently so named because the french priest who lost his horses and baggage in the nearby river couldn't say what he really thought, so just called it evil - but it's beautiful. all the lakes and rivers here are glacial runoff, so they have that amazing blue green color that i never get tired of staring at.



stopped through the columbia icefields, which apparently drain to all three oceans, and climbed around on the athabasca glacier for a bit. that was fun. it is receding so fast you can't see it from where the end was the year i was born.





ended the day in banff (city of), which is super touristy, and really driving home the fact that we have to get back to reality. or at least back to a reality that involves other people! and, not quite ready to go home yet. oh well.