to the Border and beyond

to the Border and beyond, a set on Flickr.

RAIN AND 5TH GEAR
Amazingly, since we have had nearly perfect weather every day, we had to drive in rain for the better part of this day. It was also very cool (47 degrees) and very windy. Of course, a strong wind was coming from our left forward quarter so we bucked a head wind for the entire trip which caused the truck to need 5th gear much more than usual. We drove 410 miles from Great Falls, MT to Red Deer, Alberta. We saw several big trucks pulling as many as 3 trailers behind them. We’ve seen small doubles in the States, but these triple trailers seemed a bit too big.
We left early and stopped for our last fill-up of American (i.e. cheap?) diesel fuel.
I know, cheap is relative, but north of the border we are paying $1.059 per liter of fuel. That works out to $4.03/gal. We paid $3.79 in Montana. Looking ahead, it seems that the price of fuel goes much higher as you advance further into Canada. It’s only money I guess.
Alberta, Canada is just a northern extension of the American great plains which we traversed across Wyoming and Montana. The land is open in every direction and bounded by high mountains to the west. The openness allows the wind to strengthen as it blows in whatever direction it chooses for that day. The land is mainly covered with giant wheat fields which stretch as far as you can see. As we came north of Calvary, the wheat fields began to give way to a sprinkling of cattle/horse ranches.
So, our trip today was both long and enjoyable despite the rain. We got to the campground around 1600 and set up the trailer. Canadian pizza made a pretty good supper. What a day! Raining outside right now. It’s 10 PM and still not dark!