Finding my spark and joy odyssey

[Diane CBPFC]

I did an almost 3000KM solo, two-province, 10-night, trip in my 34 year old campervan. I stopped by and saw my son, sister and an old friend along the way but mostly I did things on my own.

I paddled in Waterton and Kooteny Lakes, caught a replica 1880s RCMP musical ride at Fort Macleod, danced with the Blackfoot in a pow-wow at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, saw the zoo and dinosaur museum, a Harry Potter broom cottage industry, bought fresh fruit grown in the Creston Valley of British Columbia, saw the Columbia Icefield in the Rockies and the bear statues at Jasper. Saw real bear, elk and wild sheep. I could have popped down to the USA because I was only 6KM from the border but didn’t (MAGA era).

Came back with a can-do attitude and a race against the clock before winter settles in once again.     

[Roger Kettle]

That is SO impressive, Diane! It sounds like a wonderful trip and I can't believe how much you managed to experience in just ten days. I'm jealous!

[Diane CBPFC]

Thanks Roger, I also took a 35 minute ferry ride each way across Kootenay Lake BC to have fish and chips at Balfour with my old friend, that was pretty cool - not only is the ferry free but they put on extra trips for tourist season.

It is good to know I can do things by myself, but I do have AMA roadside assist backing me up and a husband who would (and has) come and hauled my unit home on a flatbed if I were to break down. This time the engine ran great but the camper part had some (4) issues - like your old joke of seeing the stars/tent stolen - I got a 3:00 AM facial shower in bed as my vent had flown off LOL  Thank goodness for duct tape. 

[Roger Kettle]

I think you're very brave to take on a trip like that on your own. On my trips to the Rockies in Wyoming and Montana, I was accompanied by a 6' 4" former footballer. Nothing ever happened but it was comforting to know I had someone to hide behind.

[Diane CBPFC]

Its funny but I have seen more wildlife in our own garden than I have in the Rockies.

It didn't used to be this way, there was wildlife at the side of the roads 40 years ago and huddles of cars would stop and take pictures, but they built fantastic wildlife overpasses and put up high metal fences next to the main roads and there are strict fines for feeding any wildlife in the National Parks.

You would probably have been the one to save the footballer player with your cheeky wit had anything happened.

[Roger Kettle]

Diane, on my six trips to Montana and the surrounding States, I never encountered even the slightest hint of trouble. Everywhere we went, we were greeted with genuine warmth. Without exception, the locals were extremely friendly and welcoming. Even the city panhandlers were ridiculously polite!
As for the wildlife, well, it was pretty spectacular in Yellowstone park. Hundreds of bison, deer and elk. We learned one interesting fact while travelling on the highway---even if you drive round a dead skunk in the middle of the road, there is still a powerful odour!

[Diane CBPFC]

Canada is under threat from Trump - we could lose up to 20% of our cattle income this fall with the tariffs.  The pain is real to us. 

I wouldn't risk crossing the border in my old hippy van especially travelling on my own - it would be stripped - I could be whisked off to an ICE detention centre especially if they read my Facebook posts LOL

And yes skunk smells do cross both space and time.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Lovely thread, this.

But it conjures up a question I've always wanted to know the answer to... okay, I'm embarrassed to admit it's a question I've never actually thought to ask once in my more-than six decades of curiosity. Namely, what does a skunk actually smell like when under threat, or whatever it is that convinces it to go on the defensive? "Bad" I know, but is there a better comparative description than that? Something a sommelier might get their teeth into (not literally) perhaps. What's the nearest equivalent that the uneducated (me) might understand? Feel free to add in "notes of burning rubber" and the like if it helps.

Sorry, Diane - the floor is all yours on this one, being the only one I can think of who might actually know. I'm now desperate to be enlightened having spent my life with zero interest in the answer.

[Diane CBPFC]

Happy to help Tarqs,

t is a slimy smell that sticks and if you have a headache coming on already, it will single out that part of your brain and burrow in. It puddles on the top of your lungs attempting to choke you with the weight of its odor. Your eyes will sting.

I was at a beach once and thought I smelled skunk but it turned out to be teenagers smoking pot. I think skunk is another slang term for pot?