A nice final day at Beaver Dam....

Hard to believe we have now been at Beaver Dam for one week, and Wednesday will see us rolling our wheels once again.  Tuesday broke clear without a breath of wind.  It’s easy to forget it is the middle of Summer when you get overnight temperatures in the low 40’s, and day time temperatures in the 70’s, but that is one of the points of our nomadic lifestyle.  Our friend Chris Dunphy (Technomadia) says often that if it is too cold where you are go south until it isn’t, and if it is too hot, go north until it isn’t……or words to that effect.  While it isn’t too hot, or too cold here in Madden, AB we are still going to go further north before turning south once again.

So, Tuesday was a day of preparation to begin moving again.  One thing I had not gotten to before we left Cochrane was to check the water level in my four 8D batteries.  Frankly, I haven’t checked the water level for 17 months, and was a little concerned with what I might find.  Thankfully, each battery checked out just fine….no need to add water to even one cell.  I attribute that result to my wonderful 3 stage charger, and the Power Pulse devices I attached to each battery before we left on our trip.  Both the charger, and Power Pulses keep the batteries from getting to hot, and thus prevent them from sulfating, and putting off too much gas.  From this point on I will be more attentive, but it is reassuring to know the measures I have taken to keep my batteries healthy are working.

Also to be done was flushing the black tank, which was about ¾ full after a week here at Beaver Dam.  That went quickly as we have great water pressure here.

Tom and Forest continued trouble shooting the leak on Forest’s living room slide out, but while they seem to have identified the point of entry for the water, they still have not been able to stop it from leaking.  They used a water hose to spray water on the top of the slide to somewhat simulate rainfall, and water continues to get in no matter what they do, so it appears Forest will need to make a stop at the Newell Factory on the way south to get this fixed by the professionals.  In the interim he will just pull the slides in when there is rain the forecast. 

I spent some time cleaning the windshield, and shinning up the front cap, and putting the few things away we had taken out while here.  It’s funny how fast these days go…..you do a few things and before you know it the clock says 5 pm.  TLE and I walked down to the Club House one more time to use the WiFi returning to the coach around 6, and then began preparations for dinner.

We’ve been with the McCloud’s since June 17^th in Sioux Falls, and with Forest and Cindy since June 22^nd in Spearfish.  We’ll be together a couple more weeks before we each head our separate ways.  This is the first time we have traveled with anyone since we left California, but it has been totally delightful.  Here I am talking like we are splitting up today when we still have numerous adventures awaiting us over the balance of July.

Our final communal dinner hear in Beaver Dam was ribs, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes and dessert consisting of some sort of stuffed cookies TLE made combined with some frozen peaches (unfrozen to eat, of course)….it was all good.  There was no movie Tuesday as we need to get up early as we want to be on the road by 9 am Wednesday……we have a good 200+ mile day on tap, and want to give ourselves plenty of time for rest stops.  Our destination is the Columbia Icefields, about 100 miles south of Jasper, and an equal distance north of Lake Louise.  We’ll stay a few days in the parking lot there…..they allow dry camping for a small fee, and we are told the views from there are breath taking.

Thanks for stopping by!