10:25 on the 11th of August, on the road, now in Alberta and well on our way across the prairies. We were on another leg of our journey. Here we reset the computer trip meter to monitor fuel burn (we won't use the term “economy”) and also set up several individual odometers to compare fuel use at various speeds.
It turned out that 50 miles on flat roads at 56 mph (90 Km/H) gave us the best mileage: 11.9 mpg (US gallon). Quite reasonable for a 26,000 pound rig towing a car. Increasing speed to 100 Km/H yielded just under 11, while increasing to 110 Km/H dropped it to 9 to 9.5 Most of this was with little wind or a following wind so probably was the best we will get. Since leaving home we have averaged 9.3 MPG. The Alaska, Yukon and Northern BC section was at 9.5 MPG.
We sailed across the prairie, stopping only for fuel, coffee and a pee break at Whitecourt before stopping for our second night in Alberta which was spent in a Walmart parking lot in Stony Plain, Edmonton. Here we had a short but pleasant visit with Art's niece Mia who is studying Nursing here.
From here we also contacted an old school mate of Gillian's, one she had done her physio training with in England years ago. They had met once briefly since then, at a physio conference in Victoria, again quite a while ago. We asked if there was an RV Park close by and were told that their driveway was available! They have some 30+ acres so parking wouldn't be a problem. Gail was working for the next day so for that night we moved to another mall—near Chapters in Sherwood Park, not far from their home. We used the wifi at the Starbucks in Chapters, did a bit of shopping and next afternoon moved on to visit Gail and Ken.
The GPS proved itself and took us directly to their drive. We found a level place to park between the horse barn and the house and Art was introduced to Gail, we were both introduced to Ken, and all, including Trekker and Tia, were introduced to Harley, their very laid back German Shepherd.
We spent a wonderful evening and next morning, after a wonderful breakfast prepared by Ken, set of to the City.
We were on the search here for several items—a nice single malt to replenish Art's supplies, a method to increase the range of our wifi connections and grain free dog food for Trekker. The first we found after a lot of driving—the place we were looking for had closed but located a 16 year old Lagavulin at a reasonable price elsewhere. The second took a bit of looking but we finally found an antenna and router. The router they had, but the antenna was Special Order and would take 2 to 3 business days. We decided to order it and have it shipped to their Winnipeg store. The last we found at, believe it or not, a pharmacy!
We stayed 2 days here with a couple of new old friends, having a wonderful time. On Saturday we pulled out at the crack of noon, on our continuing run along Highway 16.
Miles of flat punctuated with grain elevators. Highway 16 bypassed most of the small towns we thought we would pass through and was fairly plain, pun intended, with the occasional glimple of water.
At Lloydminster on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border we stopped for lunch then moved on to Saskatoon to the Flying J (truck stop) for fuel and to park for the night.
For dinner we decided to eat at the attached restaurant. Their buffet table looked pretty bleak, the roast beef selection consisting of one very dried out slice. Gillian settled for the soup and salad bar while Art had the soup and linguine. Gillian was happy with her choice, Art enjoyed his soup, but the pasta! The linguine was cooked perfectly, the sauce appeared to consist of not much more than a can of tomatoes and some dried up shredded beef salvaged from the buffet table. He should have known—his first choice had been for the lasagne, but the waitress told him they didn't have it any more and hadn't had it “for about 6 months—people didn't like it”!
In the morning, the 15th, we decided to carry on almost to Regina, turning south through Moose Jaw and on to Montana. We filled the fresh water tank at the Flying J and were on the road at about 10:40
An hour and a half later, at the town of Davidson we stopped for 15 minutes at a wonderful little rest area, barely room for an RV and a couple of cars. We took the obligatory “rest stop”, dogs included,and then had to take a few photos of the displays of old road building equipment and a wonderful metal sculpture. We later saw several similar pieces of art along the way but enjoyed them in passing, not stopping for pics.
At 2:00 we stopped at another rest area for for a quick lunch, crossed the border at 4:30 and at 6:00 PM stopped for the night at the Shady Rest RV Park in Glasgow, Montana. We took advantage of the laundry to get a wash done, had supper, watched a bit of TV then went to bed.
One little problem that is becoming worse is what appears to be some sort of obstruction in the airline to the rear air bags. We had a leaking valve replaced in Whitehorse during our first time through and since then filling or dumping the air has been accompanied by a whistle, almost a scream. It has slowly gotten louder and bags are becoming slower to fill and deflate. We will look up a Freightliner shop in Ontario, possibly in Ottawa next week. Nothing serious, we hope but annoying. Fortunately we don't leave our overnight areas early enough to irritate the neighbours too much!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment