Lupe did her Pretty Puppy Parade one last time up and down both sides of Banff Avenue on the evening of July 31, 2014. The Pretty Puppy Parade is really just an evening stroll on a leash through the crowds of tourists in beautiful downtown Banff, Canada. Lupe often draws the attention of some people in the crowd, and gets to sniff with other doggies too. During Lupe’s 2013 and 2014 visits to the Canadian Rockies, the Banff Pretty Puppy Parade has grown to be an evening tradition.
Sometimes SPHP feels kind of bad about the Pretty Puppy Parade. Lupe often wants to go into the various interesting and exciting stores and restaurants that have their doors open to the street. Lupe looks happily and expectantly at the open doorways and back at SPHP. Clearly she is expecting and hoping SPHP is really going to take her shopping or dining out! Of course, SPHP always has to disappoint her and tell Lupe she can’t go inside. It’s a hard thing to do to the beloved dingo when she has such a big excited grin and believes you can make all good things happen for her.
The next morning was August 1st. Lupe and SPHP woke up at 6 AM still in Banff. It was time to leave. Lupe’s annual Canadian National Parks Pass, which SPHP had purchased in July, 2013, had expired at midnight. Lupe and SPHP immediately left Banff National Park heading E on Hwy 1 towards Calgary. After messing up the route through Calgary, SPHP finally got the G6 heading S on Hwy 2. It was a beautiful day and everything was fine. Naturally, SPHP had to change something.
Desiring a less busy highway, SPHP turned E at High River on Hwy 23. For 10 or 12 miles, things were still fine. Then the left front tire on the G6 suddenly deflated. Totally flat in seconds. SPHP was changing the tire when a friendly Canadian in a big pickup truck stopped and offered to help. The little toy spare tire that came with the G6 was soon on and the friendly Canadian left.
The G6 didn’t like the little toy spare tire. The low traction light came on and the G6 didn’t drive well at all. SPHP stopped for a look. The little toy spare tire hadn’t been used or aired up in years. It was also nearly flat. Not a good thing. However, nearly flat was not the same as totally flat. SPHP got back in the G6. For some inexplicable reason it now drove better. The low traction light did not come on again. With the flashers on, SPHP drove on the paved shoulder at speeds between 40 and 45 mph.
Lupe and SPHP eventually made it to the little town of Vulcan, Canada on Hwy 24. Fountain Tire was the only tire store in all of Vulcan. They had only one tire that would fit the G6 in stock. Someone had ordered it and then decided against purchasing it. Maybe it was the $260.00+ price Fountain Tire wanted for it. SPHP could have bought at least 2 tires for the G6 for that price back home in the U.S. Faced with such an outrageous price, SPHP immediately summoned all negotiating skills. “I’ll take it.” said SPHP. Fountain Tire threw in a free tire rotation and Lupe was soon on her way again.
By 7:30 PM, Lupe was back in the states at King’s Hill Pass in the Little Belt Mountains of Montana where Lupe had spent the first night of this vacation on July 15th. Back then everything had been wet and lush. Now things were still green, but everything was dry. The temperature was thankfully only 66 °F. Earlier in Great Falls, the G6 was registering 96 °F. Lupe and SPHP went up to the top of Porphyry Peak (8,192 ft.) again. This time Lupe even climbed up the ranger tower as far as she could go, although the top platform couldn’t be reached since the hatch was locked.
From Porphyry Peak, SPHP studied King’s Hill (8,008 ft.) to the E just across Hwy 89. SPHP concluded there were at least two ways to get up there without much trouble. The next morning, August 2nd, Lupe and SPHP followed a road around the S end of King’s Hill on up to the top. It was a beautiful morning. Even though Lupe had left the wonderful Canadian Rockies behind, there was still fun ahead. Dingo Vacation 2015 wasn’t over yet.
Lupe and SPHP took a shortcut down the N slope of King’s Hill under a big power line. Then they hopped in the G6 and took off for Beartooth Pass and the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River. New dingo adventures lay ahead!
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