With so much snow on our rig, I began using our little whisk broom to brush it off the windshield while David worked on how we might lower the camper top under the weight of all the snowfall. A kind neighbor brought his broom to help me. It was a life saver.
When David dropped the top to our Four Wheel Camper, the weight of the snow blew the canvas out rather than tucking it in as it normally does. It took both of us to lift the top again so that we could tuck it back where it belonged.
We had decided to break camp and head toward Calgary... well, actually, we were heading as far south as was necessary to outrun this snow. Our persnickety heater had failed to ignite several times during the night. We had slept upside down from our normal positions so that David could whack on the furnace to kick start it.
We heard the snowplow go by in both directions while we were dropping the camper. Once on the road, we were surprised at how icy it felt. We only saw one other critter out in the cold... a buck grazing amid the snowflakes.
We stopped at the Canmore visitor's center to check road conditions. It was a good thing that we did. We learned that the highway to Calgary was shut down and that travelers were being turned back. We had a hot breakfast, filled our propane tanks, and decided to wait it out another night, hoping that the weather would clear.
It continued snowing off and on the rest of the day. We drove back to Two Jack campground, only to be turned away. Heavy snow had broken power lines in the area. They sent us to Tunnel Mountain. We settled in to what our very friendly park attendant assured us was the best site with a view.
I awoke to David chipping icicles from above my head. During the night the furnace had again failed to ignite. It was 29 degrees inside the camper, and the condensate had frozen into icicles. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. David banged the furnace back into submission, but it was just too little too late for a cozy morning.
While the snow fall had stopped, ice had formed in its place. Everything was iced over. Even the truck doors were frozen shut. David leveraged a foot against the running boards to free the driver's door. The gasket surrounding the door came loose when the door popped open. Thankfully, he was able to wedge it back into place.
Our fingers felt frozen inside gloves while we broke camp. Wearing almost everything that we owned, we worked as fast as we could to drop the camper top. We were absolutely shivering by the time we were ready to drive out. The temperature on the dash showed 22 degrees... much too cold for this Texas girl!
The view, however, was absolutely breathtaking.
The roads were clear and quite passable on the highway. In Calgary, the Mac Genius Bar folks were able to revive my computer in minutes. While it runs slowly, it is actually running. What a blessing!
As beautiful and wonderful as Canada can be this time of year, we decided it was time for us to head back into the good ole USA. This Texas gal is definitely ready for warmer weather!
No comments:
Post a Comment