Thursday – July 5th, 2007 Return to Normal?

Return to normalcy – or what happens after you visit heaven? After two days of spectacular scenery we awoke this a.m. with chores. Nice to get “home” after being away, but there is something of a let-down. Floors to clean, meals to prepare, clothes to wash, a cat to be attended. Not a sad day per se, but nothing like the previous two days. M. Our eyes and hearts need a rest anyway.

For those of you that wonder about us being gone from “home”, i.e., Fernandina Beach, for so long -- When you travel by RV for an extended period, it becomes “home”. Not to be confused with the other “home” but home never-the-less. This thought process was typified by a gentleman we camped close to in Moose Jaw. He came over to ask about towing the Saturn Vue particularly in comparison to other autos. (We met up again with him two nights later in Medicine hat – camped a couple of spots away.)

He was from the town of Red Deer, which is half-way between Edmonton and Calgary. He and his wife had RV’d for years in a motor-home. They decided to stop RV’ing – sold everything and began staying in motels for their vacations. He said that lasted about 3 nights! They encountered dirty motel rooms, bad food, living out of suitcase, and being away from HOME. So they promptly went out and bought another motor-home! Then they felt like they were at home even when they were away from home.

Enough philosophy for today. We went into Banff to do laundry, buy groceries at Safeway(!) where our waiter (from France/Turkey) rang up our purchases (his second job), replenish the wine cellar, publish the blogs, and have lunch at the great Japanese restaurant we found. I had a bento with tempura and goyza, and Margaret, katsu-don. Both everyday favorites from our time in Japan. (Our biggest problem is deciding what to order!)

Of the tourists visiting Banff, a large number are from the USA. There are many Asian tour groups. And a goodly number of those on the street are speaking German (or Swiss?); French from Quebec or France; Middle Easterners; and Indians. Plus a sprinkling of others. Most stores have Asian, usually Japanese, greeters and translator or owner.

Business is booming and the town of Banff supports itself, and many other Canadian parks to boot. It takes a while to realize the town is in the park, there are no park-town demarcation lines. Anyone can own property in town, but to live here, in one’s own property, one has to be employed. So the jet set hasn’t moved in. M. I’d bag groceries for that.

Margaret is taking Suki out for his stroll in the woods on leash. He continues to do better on the leash, though he often has to be carried home like a truculent child at dinnertime. Although we have let him out without leash in a few safe locations, there are too many dogs, cars, bears, eagles, and coyotes in the area for him to forget where we “live” and run off into the woods. But he continues to do well, and acclimates to the enclosed conditions of the motor-home. He frequently wakes us up playing in the middle of the night, or with the request to share the covers as he is cold.

Two photos today (not taken today, but who’s counting). The first was taken by a friendly passerby, on one of our hikes. The second is not a worm on Margaret’s hand. We have mentioned the showers of “pollen” in the air. It looks like sheep’s wool but it is coming from a local tree. We hadn’t been able to identify it until now – a local “expert” says it’s from the Balsam Poplar. (Who am I to question the “expert”.) Up close it looks like a wooly caterpillar! The roses grow wild in Alberta. The Alberta auto license plates’ motto: Wild Rose Country.