Day 8 – Thursday, May 19, 2022

We stayed put today in an RV park just outside of the Elk Island National Park. It rained much of the night and has continued to do so most of today. We did go out for a short walk during a lull. It is cold too, never has gotten much above 40. In anticipation of this trip, I read some history of this part of Canada and her people. Elk Island has a bison herd at helps preserve part of that history. Millions of bison roamed North America. In the early 1800s, Isabelle Fayant McGillis described a scene at the Milk River in southern Alberta. Her party had to camp for three days to allow the buffalo herd to go by. So many were the bison that on the second day, they couldn’t see the beginning or the end of the herd. In a single human lifetime, the population declined to less than one thousand. There are more bison in the Elk Island herd than existed in the whole of North America in 1890. The picture is from a brochure; I’ll try to get my own photo tomorrow.

We had to move over one spot when we decided to stay tonight. Someone had reserved the spot we were in. Moving means disconnecting and reconnecting the water and electric lines which is easy. Moving also means we had to move our slide in and back out. From the very first day, the slide has given us trouble. We’ve talked to the technician at Great Alaskan who assures us that the slide won’t get stuck in the out position. Nevertheless, wonder each time what will happen as one side starts right away and the other lags behind. It’s a chore to get both sides fully extended and later fully back in.