Dateline: Lethbridge, Alberta. An interesting observation about Canada, there are relatively few mobile homes in Alberta. I don't mean RVs that move often, RVs are common in Canada. I mean dwellings that are purchased off a lot, only move once to a site where they are set up and stay. There are a few, so they aren't illegal, but not nearly as many as you'd find across the border in the States where the weather is just as cold. If anybody knows why, I'd like to know.
For those of you who are travelers to Canada, by auto or RV, I've got a couple of nice routes to share with you. One of the real hassles over the years about driving to Banff and beyond was having to drive through Calgary. Calgary is a big city where most of the traffic moves on wide city streets called "trails," instead of on freeways. Driving them was as interesting as driving city traffic anywhere, which is to say, not at all.
This trip we discovered a bypass that will take you around Calgary without ever seeing a city street. It consists of Provincial highways 22X and 22 which take you around Calgary to the south and west. You pick it up off Highway 2 south of Calgary and it takes you to Highway 1, the Trans-Canada. This bypass will save you time, miles, and aggravation.
Another bypass will take you around Fort McLeod and it works like this: driving west from Lethbridge on Highway 3, the Crowsnest Highway, take Highway 23 north a few miles until you see Road 519 where you turn west and after a few miles you will come to Highway 2, the road to Calgary, where you again turn north. It avoids going through Fort McLeod on the small town city streets.
Both of these bypasses are good roads, real time savers with no ugly surprises. If it is your first trip to Canada, you may want to drive through the towns and cities to see how Canada lives; if it is your nth trip, as it is for us, dodging town traffic is a plus.
