A tip for people taking road trips: local libraries nearly always have free WiFi available. Their hours are decent and the space is often quite comfortable. We bring our own iPads so there is no issue of whether one of their limited number of computers is available. We found excellent WiFi at libraries in both Jasper and Canmore, and comfy chairs too. Ask your GPS for directions, or ask at a tourist info place.
We're spending tomorrow here and in Banff, we need to buy some fine Bernard Callebaut chocolates, do our laundry, buy groceries, and fill the truck with diesel - the last three actually here in Canmore. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up back at the library doing our online chores and follies.
Later ... we spent some time driving around Canmore today, just getting oriented. It is turning into an attractive resort area, no question. Our campground is located in a development - Spring Creek - on land adjacent to the town which now houses mobile homes, RVs and some condo-appearing resort-style apartment blocks.
My guess is the developers plan to eventually build out Spring Creek, doing away with the mobile homes and RVs. I imagine they only build the condo blocks as they are sold, in the meanwhile earning rent from mobile and RV dwellers parked on the as-yet-undeveloped land. It is a smart plan in a growing resort area.
We saw something similar happen in western Calgary to an RV park we favored - SunAlta. It turned into a subdivision of single family homes between one visit and the next a few years later.
Tomorrow we head east and then south to Lethbridge, near the U.S. border, to a campground in a coulee - Bridgeview. We've stayed there many times over the decades. Unlike Spring Creek, that one seems to be expanding only as a campground.
