Day 13, 02/08/2016 - Victoria - Calgary - Sunny

Today we had to get up early as we had booked the flight to Calgary at 9:20 am with Westjet. So the suitcases were already packed the night before. After a quick breakfast with coffee and fruit, we said goodbye to the beautiful B&B and drove only 10 minutes to the 'Victoria' airport. It is a very small and manageable airport. The rental car was quickly returned and we went to check in our luggage, go through security control, and finally to the terminal. There we had another coffee from Starbucks and the blueberry muffins that were given to us by the B&B. We tried to contact the RV rental company Canadream by phone regarding the pick-up from the airport, but we couldn't get through. We boarded on time, but the departure was delayed for half an hour due to technical problems. After being inspected by an engineer, we were able to take off. The flight was smooth and we had a beautiful view of the Pacific Bay and later the Rocky Mountains after takeoff. The folds of this mountain range and the vastness of the valleys were striking.

After about 1.5 hours, we landed at Calgary Airport. We found a payphone and also reached the car rental station. We were told to take a taxi. After getting our luggage, we got a delicious tomato mozzarella sandwich at Starbucks and took a taxi to Canadream. The site is located about 20 minutes from the airport in an industrial area. Canadream paid the taxi driver and we went to the office. After a short wait, we were escorted to the yard with another German family and received a 1.5-hour instruction on the RV. It was our first RV trip and I had booked a medium-sized model. Now we were facing a 28-foot RV, which was quite impressive. The instruction was given in German :-) and was very detailed by the friendly staff.

After the written contract procedure, we roughly set up the RV, and finally, after more than 2 hours, we left the site. The first thing we did was to stop at a gas station because the tank was only 3/8 full. Carelessly, I thought 50$ would be enough, but to my surprise, the fuel gauge only moved up by 1/4. So, I added another 80$, then it was almost full. Then we continued to the nearest Walmart, which was recommended by Canadream and it was a huge market where you could easily get lost. Accordingly, the first grocery shopping and the credit card was $250 lighter. As big as the store was, so were the sizes of the packages. It was unbelievable to find ones that we could finish in 10 days. Despite the size of the store, I didn't find Walmart as nice, more like Kaufland in Germany. I found 'Save On Foods' or 'Safeway' much nicer and friendlier. Then we went to the liquor store for some beer and wine, and we had the essentials. By that time, it was already evening, and a thunderstorm was approaching (the first rain of this vacation). So, we decided to have dinner at the Tim Horton's across the street.

When I tried to remove the car key from the ignition in the parking lot, it wouldn't come out no matter what I tried. We read all the instructions, but nothing worked. Since the day was a bit exhausting, my mood was slowly turning negative. Luckily, Marie came up with the idea to ask the drivers of another RV that was parked about 50 meters away. It turned out that they were Swiss and they knew about the problem. All you had to do was to turn the car key back for a brief moment, not all the way to the left stop, and it worked. Shortly after, a 'friendly' Canadian stopped by, offering to help, but he also asked for help himself, claiming that he had lost his credit card, and he asked if we could lend him some money, promising to pay back double. That seemed strange to us, especially since he could see that we were foreign tourists. So, we couldn't help him. After dinner, we drove onto Highway 1 heading northwest, towards the mountains.

After 1.5 hours of driving, we arrived in Banff, in the Rocky Mountains. We had pre-booked the 'Two Jack Main' campground at Two Jack Lake and we were getting closer to our destination. Shortly before the campground, we saw an elk herd on the right side of the road, peacefully grazing on trees and bushes. We stopped briefly, there wasn't much traffic, and we admired the large animals. Then we headed to the campground and here we encountered a sign that would accompany us for the next few days: 'No Vacancy'. Luckily, we had pre-booked. When we checked in at the counter, we were informed that there was a bear and a pack of wolves on the premises, so all campers with tents were asked to leave the campground. We were allowed to stay, but we were asked to store all food in the car.

We had a nice spot under the trees and not far from the washroom. Now it was slowly getting dark and another thunderstorm was approaching, so unfortunately, we couldn't have a fire. However, we were also a bit tired after a long day. We played a few rounds of 11er raus and then got ready for bed. The kids found it very cozy to sleep above the driver's cabin, while Anne and I had a comfortable bed in the back of the RV. Before falling asleep, I occasionally looked out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of a bear or wolf, but none appeared.

We weren't able to sleep for long as the thunderstorm intensified and came back thundering loudly. Marie got scared and both kids wanted to sleep in our bed. But that was too crowded for me, so I moved to the bunk above the driver's cabin. At some point during the night, we switched beds again and slept through the rest of the night.