The Journey so far

Day 6

July 17th  Sunday, Manitoba

I woke really early (5 am)  also 1 hr difference.  Had another lovely cooked breakfast from the coleman stove.  Kept driving and the scenery started changing again.  It went flat, flat, flat.

It was 27 @ 9:47am.  We bypassed Winnipeg.  At noon hour 28 c and we were almost at the border of Manitoba/Saskatchewan.

Moose Jaw @ 4:40 pm.  

I have fallen in love with the prairies.  Big sky... It forces you to look up because there is nothing else to see!  I LOVE IT.  Dave thinks I am a bit crazy.  But I honestly do love it.  I could live here.  Grain elevators, train tracks and sadly a lot of fields without crops because of the rain they have had early summer.   Stayed at Moose Jaw tonight in a Comfort Inn. We got the cooler cleaned out and fresh ice.  Called Dave's cousin in Medicine Hat, also his great niece Redcliff.

Day 7

July 18th Monday 

Left Moose Jaw @ 8:45 am.  The temperature 30 c.   Crossed into Alberta.  Arrived at Medicine Hat @ 12:45. The temperature was 43c.  We arrived at Dave's cousins and had a lovely lunch with them.  Dean is a custodian at the condo and they overlook the Saskatchewan River.  We had a good time going over family history, and prayed together.

I had tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with Sara, and we were really pleased when she phoned us at our motel.  She had just started a new job as manager of a newly opened "Children's Place" in the Medicine Hat Mall.  We went over and met her there and went to Timmies with her.  That was really a special visit for us.

Day 8

July 19th Tuesday

Now we are on our way to Banff.  We passed Calgary & Canmore.  We thought of Paul and Anne on their honeymoon.  What a lovely part of the country.  We arrived at Banff and got a campsite at Tunnel Mountain. It was a lovely campsite and we could see the mountains.  They gave us instructions about having a "bare" camp, so that the bears weren't attracted.  We had a terrific  storm the first night.  We booked in for three nights.  With the storm the washrooms were closed because the lights and pumps wouldn't work.  THIS WAS THE NIGHT I WAS GLAD OF MY PORTABLE LOO!!!!  And it worked like a charm!  LOL  We heard next morning that a tree had fallen through the window of a camper.  We went into Banff and the traffic lights weren't working.  Banff is a small town with tons of tourists, so you can imagine the chaos.  We had been in the McDonald's having a coffee when the rain started.  Boy of boy it was like a "hurricane". Thankfully we had a dry place to wait it out. When we got back to our campsite the mosquitos were glad to see us!

Day 9

July 20 Wednesday at Tunnel Mountain Banff

Temp went down to 6 last night.  We visited Johnston's Canyon,  What a lovely spot and again thought of Paul and Anne being here in the winter.  Today however was very different scenery.  We walked and walked and walked.  Up and Up and Up.  Dave took oodles of photos.  I had a 'beaver tail' in Banff, after being at the Canyon.  It's the first one I've had and it was yummy.  The scenery here is fantastic.  Every time you turn around it is more beautiful than the last view.  The lighting conditions are fabulous.  There's the mist, then the slow clearing then the snow on the peaks.  WOW.    We were beat today after all the hiking.  We turned in at 9 p m.   Our army cots are working out great and the blow up mattresses are doing the trick too.  I do need my fleecy p.j's. 

Day 10

July 21 Thursday still at Tunnel Mountain.

Cooked a lovely breakfast again.  Eggs from Norwich!  with bacon from Banff.  Left about 9:30 to go to Lake Louise.  It was a cloudy day with sunny spells. When we got to Lake Louise it was raining and we needed our rain jackets and umbrella.  The lighting conditions here were fabulous.  With the light changing moment by moment and the rain stopping and the light pushing through the haze it gradually got better and better. We walked along the lower trail 3/4 the way until we had to turn back to the loo.

After  that we went on to Lake Moraine.  Spectacular, awesome, magnificent are only words and they can't  describe the beauty of the place.  We viewed it from below then Dave noticed people way up on rocks above and there was a trail going up.  Up we went.  Another climb.  And it was a climb, but well worth it when we reached the top.  The colors took our breath away and we have never ever seen such color anywhere on earth.  No kidding the photos we took Dave did not retouch.  And those were only photos,  you can imagine actually seeing it with the naked eye.  It also is glacial water, but a different hue from Louise.  We saw 3 deer feeding by the roadside on the way back into Banff.  Tonight our last night at Tunnel Mountain.  It's nice to have a few nights in one place.  

Day 11

July 22 Friday

It rained last night.  we didn't sleep very soundly last night, so we decided to just go to McDonalds for breakfast after we packed the tent up.  We are on our way on 93 N to Jasper.  Vista after vista unfolded before our eyes.  The scenery not only takes our breath away, it reminds us of the Almighty One, the maker of it all.!  We stopped many times along the way, sometimes at stopping places, and sometimes at the side of the road.  This is a journey we will both never forget. I am so glad Dave is taking so many photos,  I can hardly believe I'm so fortunate to be able to see these mountains.

We stopped at the Columbia Ice fields. We walked up to them, again getting our exercise, It's not only a steep climb, it's high too and the heart begins to pound!  When we got to the glacier there are markers to show the recession over the years.  It's a bit like walking on the moon. (not that we've done that! LOL)  I got my 2nd rock towards my inukshuk. (ok I don't know how to spell it  and it's not in the dictionary. My first rock I got at Lake Moraine.

We also stopped at Athabaska Falls.  That too was some more beauty to behold.

The Jasper National Park is know as the Gentle Giant of the Rockies. The park was established in 1907 in anticipation of the Grand Turk Railway.  We say bears by the roadside and once again all the cars stopped.  The locals must get a laugh.  These bears were feeding, turning round rocks and feeding on grubs. 

We finally arrived at Whistlers Campground in Jasper.  It is a hugh campsite, with 781 spaces.  Because is is weekend peak season they were pretty full. All the electric and serviced sites were gone.  We were fortunate and booked a site for 2 nights and then after first night decided to stay an extra night.  We are very comfy in the tent and we are enjoying the extension (dining area) where we can sit without the mosquitos.  We've done pork tenderloin, salad, wieners, you name it.  The cooking is  going  well.  Dave is managing to keep up with his photos. (exporting them to his computer)  and we are charging the batteries as we go. We hit the sac early tonight again.

Day 12

July 23 Saturday

This morning Dave was wiped out, so we took our time getting going.  There was a crow crowing "wake up,  wake up"  however we ignored it.  When we did get up we made our breakfast and used the last of our Norwich omega 3 eggs!  Did a one dish meal eggs, potatoes, bacon, with a slice of sprouted bread. and coffee.  We went into Jasper.  Jasper is so different than Banff.  It has a lot of tourist shops, with a rail station right through town.   We spent the day just sight seeing window shopping, picked up a few groceries then decided we were going to spend 3 nights here too.  We want to go up on the cable car tomorrow.  We did the Banff cable car when we were in Banff 3 years ago.  After having cheesy wieners and salad we hit the hay!