We are really enjoying this week! It is low 70's and 50's at night. This is our favorite place to ride bicycles. We had a nice ride yesterday and took some nice photos at the causeway and at the visitors' center. We are going to a buffet for lunch, probably Prossers.

Sept. 26 - 28 Huntington Beach State Park

Sunday - It rained almost all the way down, but it was dry when we set up camp. Thank you, Lord! Then it rained some more. When it got down to a drizzle, we made a dash to the grocery store and gas station (both at Kroger), we went in dry and got back in the car just as it was beginning to rain again. It POURED while we went back to the camper, and amazingly stopped as we pulled up to the camper.
Monday - We went to Prossers' for lunch. I was disappointed that they did not have shrimp on the buffet, but the fish, bbq, and fried chicken wing was good. LOL! They have shrimp and grouper on Fridays, so we will go back then. Also, Wed. they have crab cakes, a favorite of mine and Phil's. It poured and poured on and off during the day and night.
Tuesday - It is cloudy, but not raining. We are supposed to get a break today. I want to go to the visitors' center and see if the painted buntings are still here. I hope so! Last year we missed them by a few days. I want some photos!!!! We also are at Books A Million to get wifi and download all the e-mail from the past few days. My Droid will get e-mail at the camper and access the internet, but the phone signal is no bars or one bar. We are supposed to get six inches or more of rain from the new tropical storm brewing in the Caribbean. I hope we are on high ground! There is a lot of standing water around the camper this morning. I hope it all gets absorbed before the big rain comes! We probably will just hunker down in the camper until Friday once the rain begins.

Sept. 10

We traveled to Rock Island, IL, today. Iowa is one rolling-hills state! Again, we passed hundreds of miles of corn fields and also hundreds of windmill farms mixed in with cattle and mostly corn fields. I love windmills and hope our country will use a lot more where they can be utilized efficiently and economically. We met a series of trucks hauling parts for a windmill. It is hard to believe have huge these things are. One propeller on a three-propeller windmill is about 20 feet or more longer than a flat bed of an 18-wheeler. The "pole" has to be hauled on at least six trucks in parts. The base parts are wider than the truck and bulge out from the flat bed. I think they are really beautiful and do not pollute or smell bad. Over our trip, I'd have to say we have probably seen a thousand, including the ones we saw in Canada. On our trip 26 years ago, we saw a windmill farm before we got to Oakland, CA. I was amazed, and I am still amazed that we can produce clean power with them.
Phil was tired when he got up this morning from not sleeping well. He says he has nagging pain. We have called and gotten an appointment with his urologist for next Wed. We were hoping for Mon., but he had none until 3:40 p.m. Wed. We were hoping to go to SC to see all the children and grands Wed., but that is on hold until we know what Dr. Tieng says. We are so very thankful this did not happen earlier in our trip. His previous stones have been a nagging pain over a long period of time before two lithotripsies for each one finally blasted the things into passable sizes.
Tomorrow we are aiming for somewhere around Cincinnati. They do not have a campground in Cincinnati. We will stay in North Bend, OH. The reason we picked this track home was because I wanted Phil to eat at a Skyline Chili Restaurant in the Cincinnati area. I got him eating this from the frozen food section of the grocery store years ago. I had eaten it in Cincinnati on two occasions. It is supposed to rain a lot in the Cincinnati area tomorrow. I hope we can get set up in dry weather and eat and get back dry! We may have to dig out the ponchos if it is raining that much. Then Sunday we will travel home and end our marvelous adventures. We have traveled 112 days on this adventure and put around 13,000 miles on the truck since we left May 24. The great news is that we will begin more Sept. 26 when we go on our annual coastal camping trip to Huntington Beach State Park for two weeks; Wilmington, NC, for five nights; and a month in the Outer Banks. We are praying all tropical systems and Nor'easters STAY AWAY!!!! I encourage you all to go on adventures of your own. We have a wonderful, beautiful country!

Sept. 7 - 9

Sunset in Rawlins, WY

When we left the Tetons and as we approached Jackson, there were three hot air balloons. It was very early in the morning - around 8:00 a.m. We got into road construction and ended up on a dirt road for about five miles. We did go through a charming town on Hwy. 191, Pinedale. The topography changed a lot that day! Phil got out and stretched because his back hurt. I started praying for his back. When we got to Rawlins, Phil was pale and in a lot of pain. He told me he had another kidney stone. He took a couple of my pain pills for headaches, and it eased up some. The sunset was beautiful, and I popped out of the camper long enough to shoot a couple of photos. The wind was the strongest we have ever encountered in the camper. It howled and rocked the camper way into the night. I told Phil I had to imagine that I was trying to sleep on a train. It calmed down, but started up again before daybreak. Phil said he had some discomfort, but it was bearable. We hit the road and headed to North Platte, NE. It was a windy drive, but it did not rock the camper like it did in Rawlins. The most eventful thing was leaving Wyoming and getting into another time zone. Now we are only one hour off of our home time. Today, we road to Gretna, NE, which is west of Omaha by about 20 miles. The topography is very, very flat and we have seen hundreds of miles of cornfields today. Phil is still at about the same pain level. Some times it will get worse, but it has not been as bad as two days ago. We are praying it will not get bad, so he can get back and go to his urologist. It is hard to believe that we have just two more nights on the road before arriving home. It has been an awesome, wonderful, memorable, exciting trip! The Lord has kept us safe and the camper and truck working just right.

Sept. 6 and 7 - Last day in Tetons and trip to Rawlins, WY

on the way to Rawlins on Hwy. 191

We are not in the Tetons any more!

When we were getting close to Jackson, we saw three hot air balloons. This was one of them.

Phil, Mike, me, and Helen around the campfire last night.

Sept. 6 and 7 - Last full day in the Tetons, and it was a wonderful one! I fixed some sandwiches and packed a couple of soft drinks in the cooler. Wilson Rd. near the Moose Visitors’ Center was one place we had not traveled. We rode that to the Teton Village, mainly a ski resort with lots of shops and restaurants. It is a cool place. We ate lunch on the way at a Moose Habitat pull-off. We did not see a moose, but we enjoyed lunch in that setting. On the way back I got some photos of an osprey next with two ospreys on it. Then we went back to where we have seen moose twice. A lady told me there were two bulls and a cow further down. I was excited! There was already a huge crowd. I came to the first bull, and he was lying down. The bushes and shrubs hid him well. One person at a time could go down the embankment a little ways to get a photo. The crowd kept getting larger and larger, so I decided to walk along the embankment to see if I could see the other bull and cow. Well, I got started and a volunteer who manages crowds called me back. He told me he could only supervise one crowd, so I’d have to stay with the big group. Thank goodness, there was no volunteer the last two times we saw moose there. Oh well, at least I already have some decent photos of the other moose. That evening, Helen, Mike, Phil, and I went to Leeks Marina to get pizza. It was their last night open for the season. We ate salad and pizza, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Then we went back and built a big campfire. The campers next to us left a huge pile of wood, so we got some, and Mike and Helen got a good bit. They are going to be there two more nights, so they will really enjoy it. Finding free firewood is a thrill. We used to send the kids around in the morning to get any left by people leaving. It brings back good memories! After Mike and Helen went back to their camper for the night, it was about quiet hours. We got the camper as ready as we could for a fast get-away in the morning. It was freezing when we got up at 7:00, and we could not use the heater since we were popping down. We hurried and got out of there in about 30 minutes. The car said it was 26 degrees. I believe it or lower! We headed for Rawlins, WY. We traveled Hwy. 191 to Rock Springs. There was a stretch of about five miles of construction and dirt road. A truck threw a rock and hit the windshield. It felt like a missle hit it! We will have to have that replaced when we get back. Then poor Phil started having pain in his back, but it was not his back. It is another kidney stone. Thankfully, I have some Tramadol that I take for made headaches. He took a couple and the pain eased up. I hope it will not cause him problems tomorrow! His history with those things are that they move around and eventually he has to have lithotripsy a couple of times before it breaks up. We both hope he does not have to go through that again. We are praying! Tomorrow we will head toward North Platte, NE.

Sept. 3 - 5 Moose sightings!!!!!

This was mama moose. Something spooked her and this was right before she changed direction and started to run towards us. Yes, the fat woman can run!

Woops, this was not the photo I meant to download of the youth.

Ahhhhhhh!

Can we say bully, bully???

Finally saw my bull moose!

Sept. 3 - Helen had told us about a fabulous photography gallery and shop called Images of Nature in downtown Jackson. Also, Phil had a coupon for $25 off a $50 purchase at Orvis, so he wanted to stop there to see if they had $50 worth of stuff he could not live without. He did not find anything he desperately wanted, so we went to Snake River Brewery and Pub to eat lunch. Then we went to Images of Nature. What gorgeous photography. We were both delighted to see the photos. My favorite was of a bear with a salmon about an inch from its mouth in mid-air. Awesome shot! Phil loved the panoramic shots of the Tetons in every season. I did, too. Then we headed to Moose Junction to see if we could see a bull moose as Helen and Mike had seen yesterday. We saw a huge rack sticking up from the brush. A lady told us the moose was lying down for a bit. Well, we waited for over an hour and a half, but we were rewarded with some photos when he decided to get up. Then in the evening, Helen and Mike joined us at our campfire, and we shared what we had done during the day with each other. We are so glad to get to spend some time with Helen and Mike. They are very active folks - mountain biking and hiking. We are just slugs that walk to take a good photo (if not too far). LOL!
Sept. 4 - More cloudy today. A cold front is supposed to move through and chill things down again. The last two days have been wonderful with highs in the mid to upper 70’s. We were tempted to get out of jeans and into shorts, but we passed. It still gets cold at night - near or below freezing. I can see some yellow on some aspens and cottonwoods, just a branch here and there. I can only imagine the beauty in a few weeks. We are beginning to grieve a little about leaving this beauty, but we know we are blessed with the Great Smoky Mountains. Of course, there is our coastal trip coming up Sept. 26. We are already salivating for some great seafood. We are thankful Earl did not do major damage to the Outer Banks! We pray no more hurricanes head for the Carolinas!
Sept. 5 - Rained last night and this morning, but it is just cloudy this afternoon. We are sitting in the second floor huge gathering room at Jackson Lodge. What a view!!!!! We walked a path from our camping circle to Jackson Lake right after lunch and took a few photos. Still a nice day!

Aug. 31 - Sept. 2 - Grant Village, Yellowstone to Colter Bay, G. Teton N.P.

Aug. 31 - Snowy morning, trip to Colter Bay
Wow! What a surprise to wake up to sleet and snow! It changed to all snow - large flakes and coming down like a blizzard. My favorite kind!!!! The bad part was we had to pack up and move to Colter Bay. Phil was a Nervous Nelly, and I was jubilant. After taking some photos, we finished popping down and getting hooked up. When we got to where you put your checkout paper in the little mailbox, there was a note that the east entrance to Yellowstone was closed due to three inches of packed ice and snow on the road. Also, the south entrance was temporarily closed. We had to exit the south entrance to get to Colter Bay. Phil thought it would be good to go to the Grant Village Visitors’ Center and ask if the road was open yet. We did, and they said it was closed still. The snow plows were clearing it, and there had been an accident. They had a lovely fire going in the fireplace, so we just chatted with other people there waiting for the road to reopen. Around 11:00 they announced the road was open with slush on the road, and snow tires were advised. Well, we were towing, had no snow tires, AND don’t know how to drive in snow/ice (as proven by the accident we had a couple of winters ago). We decided we had better let the other people drive on the road and dry it out for us. We went over to the Village Grill and had a hamburger basket for lunch. By then, then temperature on the car thermometer said 44 degrees. Phil felt we could leave and if it got bad, he would find a place to pull over. We only saw one place that had any snow still on the road, so we had a safe journey to Colter Bay. Colter Bay Campground is first come, first served, and we were going to be pretty late getting there. We hoped we could get a decent site, and we did. It is absolutely amazing how loved we feel by our Lord for the many blessings He has showered on us during this trip. We popped up, got the frig running, and skipped over to Jackson to the grocery store, gas station, and K-Mart.
Sept. 1 - It is raining this morning. We got up at 7:00 to try to find a place to get a decent phone signal to hear from Brice. He had out-patient surgery this morning for two broken bones in his right hand. They were hoping to put in pins, but if that did not work, they surgeon will put in a plate. I hardly slept last night, but I prayed for my son every time I woke up. I like to be there to help any of my children if they have surgery. I do not like being so far away. It pains me to think of him going back to his apartment and being alone. I’ll be praying a lot for him these next few days and pray the pain will not be bad and healing will be fast. On a brighter note, the weather is supposed to get sunny starting tomorrow. I saw that Sunday is supposed to be about 80 degrees. The nights will be in the 40’s, so that will be lovely. It has been too cool to sit around a campfire.
We went back to Jackson to get a few things because it rained all day, and when we got back, we went to the Colter Bay store and saw a truck that looked familiar. It looked like Helen and Mike Gross’s, our dear friends from Townsend. We went in the store and looked all around. We saw a man with a UT orange jacket on and decided it must be his. We shopped and were going back out to the car when Mike Gross appeared walking from the laundry. What a wonderful surprise!!!! They had planned to go to Grant Village for two nights and come here Friday. Well, we had a great time catching up. It was too rainy for a campfire, but we will have one the rest of the time. The weather is supposed to be very nice from now on.
We were also very happy that Brice’s pain meds are keeping him comfortable.
Sept. 2 - I am at the cabin rental office, and the sky is that perfect blue that just makes you happy inside. I am rushing this so we can get outside and enjoy it. Helen and Mike had to go to Jackson to grocery shop and then they are going to ride the bike trail around the Jenny Lake area. We’ll get together again later this afternoon and evening.

Aug. 21-27 Billings, Madison CG, Grant Village CG in Yellowstone

This one just about bumped us.

Nice, serene setting. I needed this after the buffalo scare!

Can you tell how close to me this guy was??? The small herd was running down the road in our lane toward us.

This was the amorous couple. Male behind the flirting female.

Aug. 21. - Billings to Madison Campground, Yellowstone National Park (nearest to the West Yellowstone entrance) We had quite an eventful trip. About ten to fifteen miles out of Billings on I-90, there was a huge Class A motorhome with a tow vehicle. The tow vehicle was on fire. We pulled over, and the fire got worse. We heard three tires pop. Some firemen appears in their own vehicles and pulled out fire exterminator tanks from their trucks. They went up to the car and then there was a huge explosion and ball of fire. For seconds we could not see the firemen at all and then it looked like they were either blown or they leaped and rolled down an embankment. Phil and I both thought they had to be dead. But they got up. Soon fire trucks started arriving. One of the three firemen asked if we could move further off the shoulder to allow an ambulance through. I asked if any of them had been hurt. He said one had burns on the neck and arm. He said his hooded sweatshirt saved him. Then he looked down and pulled a piece of something off his sweatshirt and said it was part of the gas tank that had melted onto his sweatshirt. It was quite scary. Before the fire trucks arrived, the back of the motorhome had also caught fire. We heard several tires pop from that, and I was afraid the propane and gas tank would explode on that. I could not imagine what kind of explosion that would be, but God was merciful and the fire was put out before that happened. I think the emergency brake might have been left on, and that started the fire in the towed vehicle.
Then we got back on track and had a peaceful, uneventful ride to Madison Campground. We did see quite a few female elk in the park on the way to the campground.
Aug. 22 - We decided to ride over the West Yellowstone and go to the Historic Yellowstone Museum. The best thing about it was the ranger talk. We just happened to get there ten minutes before he spoke. We learned some interesting things about the history of Yellowstone. He also asked us what wild animal inflicted the most injuries. I guessed buffalo, but it was the ground squirrels! They bite a lot of hands/fingers because they expect to be fed by humans.
Aug. 23 - We walked down to the Jr. Ranger Station and bookstore. The ranger at yesterday’s talk told us there was a historic plaque there. After lunch, we took our chairs and went and read a little while. We would have stayed longer, but we were cold. It was 40 degrees when I got up to use the bathroom this morning, and 47 in the camper. The high today is supposed to be 57 and the low tonight 37. Then it warms up some. It was 84 when we got here Saturday. There are no buffalo and elk around the campground and rivers like there were in June. It is surprising how much changes in two months. Madison is an interesting place with the Gibbon and Firehole Rivers coming together to form the Madison River right here at the campground. There were about 20 Canadian geese in the Gibbon when we were sitting there. I had on jeans, fleece jacket, , socks and shoes, ear warmers, and a hat. After a while the wind was going through it all. I said to Phil while a good gust was blowing that I was cold to the bone, and he popped up like toast to go back to the camper. LOL! We always have fun listening to people walking by our camper commenting about it. This morning when I went out, there was a man and his son just standing there talking about it. He said hello and said he had been trying to catch us to ask us about our camper. I let him inside, and he just loved it. They are in a popup now. He is from Wisconsin. Tomorrow we hit the road again and head to Grant Village. I am hoping to be able to post these blogs there with a few photos.
Aug. 24 - We moved to Grant Village Campground where we have many good memories of camping 26 years ago with the children. We have a lovely campsite, but we do not get more than a few hours a day on our solar panel. We get great Verizon service, though. There is nowhere that has wifi (according to the guy who checked us in). At the end of the day, Brice called and told us he had broken two fingers on his right hand. He was going to an orthopedic doctor who is now sending him to an orthopedic surgeon. I was ready to hit the road, but he insisted that the doctor told him putting a pin in his finger would not be a big deal. I still tossed and turned all night and prayed about it.
Aug. 25 - I called Brice this morning to tell him it would not be a big deal for us at all to head home. He meets with the surgeon tomorrow and will find out for sure if he needs the surgery and how big a deal it will be and when it will be. We are praying it will not be bad and that he will not have to miss a lot of work. I know that is his main concern. I told him we have been to Yellowstone and Tetons, so if we need to come home, it will be fine. He still insists we not come home. We are holding off until we hear what the surgeon says.
We went up to the Fishing Bridge area and toward the east entrance to Yellowstone and packed a picnic lunch. The shoreline of Yellowstone Lake and the view reminds us so much of the San Juan Islands off Washington. Finally we saw some buffalo! We wondered where in the world they had gone because we had not seen any. Well, we sure saw them today and had some close, close encounters! I took some photos and hope to post them as soon as I can. You could smell them (awful) and almost feel them because they were so close to the truck. Twice bunches of them ran down the road toward us. At one buffalo jam, we could hear a male growling and huffing at a female. He was prodding her with his head and twice tried to mount her. We thought we were in trouble because he seemed rather frustrated. I got a shot of the female’s behind and his head as they passed my window. I wondered if anyone had ever been gored inside his or her car. A little bit too close for me!
Aug. 26 - We went to the Old Faithful area and toured the brand, spankin’ new Old Faithful Visitors’ Education Center (opened Aug. 25). That is an awesome place. It is mostly interactive and does a great job explaining and illustrating the geothermal features of the park. The building is beautiful with a huge window looking out at Old Faithful. After that, we went to the Old Faithful Inn and ate the buffet, like we did in June. I really like their pecan-crusted, pan-fried trout. They also have a nice salad bar on the buffet. After we got back, we got the solar panel down and put it in the sun and moved it a couple of times. It was a perfect day to sit outside and enjoy the afternoon. We had fun watching the few puffs of clouds evaporate in the dry air.
Aug. 27 - We are on the way to Cody for the day. Phil will go to the Sierra Traders, and we will try to find a place with wifi to download some photos and this blog. I am sitting in the Buffalo Bill Cody Historical Museum (or something like that) while Phil tours and play on the computer. They were nice enough to let me in and plug in. I tried to do this while he was in Sierra Traders, but with 378 downloads of e-mail, it wore my battery down. If you are reading this, please do not forward me anything!!!! I took some really cool photos on the way to Cody today, but the camera is in the car. I do not want to push my luck since they let me in here without paying. I'll have to publish them later on FB.

Aug. 20 and 21 - Billings

Aug. 20 - Phil wanted to go to Little Big Horn National Monument, and I stayed at the camper. He really enjoyed his adventure and took lots of photos (which I truly enjoyed). It was very interesting how they have marble grave markers where each soldier was killed and red granite grave markers where each Native American died and a marker for where the horses were buried. Some of the markers do not have names, but a lot of them do. He also saw someone on a four-wheeler rounding up horses. During the day, I got laundry done and we did grocery shopping. We have to stock up for the next 10 days in Yellowstone.
Aug. 21 - And we are off! We are going to stay in Madison Campground for three nights where we will be out of touch (no cell, no Internet). Then we move to Grant Village for a week where we can go to the Visitors' Center and at least get phone reception. It will be lovely if we can get it at the campsite, but I won't hold my breath on that one! Gotta go and start getting things situated for the travel. Have a good weekend!

Aug. 19 - Billings and Pompey's Pillar

The above photo is an interesting feature on our drive to Billings.

This is a buffalo hide boat, similar to the one used by
Clark's team when their horses were stolen.

Where Clark carved his name and date on Pompey's Pillar.

Pompey's Pillar - named for Sacajewea (misspelled)'s son whom Clark nicknamed Pomp.

We left Ft. Benton a little before 8:00 this morning and headed to Billings and arrived about noon. Phil went to get the oil changed in the truck. Then we went to CVS to get some BOGOF CVS brand vitamins and calcium citrate for me. After that, we went about 30 miles to Pompey's Pillar and got some photos of William Clark's carved name on Pompey's Pillar (that he named). William Clark is the Clark in Lewis and Clark. This was one of the things Phil wanted to do while we are in Billings. Tomorrow he is going to Little Big Horn National Monument. I am going to stay and do laundry. We'll hit Walmart to stock up on whatever we need before heading to Yellowstone Saturday morning. It is hot here. Really! It is not humid, but it is hot. We used the air conditioning last night in Ft. Benton and will use it again tonight. I am ready to get to Yellowstone and cooler temps!

Aug. 17 - Lake Louise and Moraine Lake

We should have gone yesterday. Today, the smoke from British Columbia wild fires made visibility awful. It has been hazy just about every day because of the fires in B.C., but today was awful. It was as bad as it was when we were in Hinton and went to Jasper for the day. Still, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are beautiful. We learned on the snowcoach tour of the Athabasca Glacier that the color and clarity of the water depends on the glacial flour (the rocks that are ground by the glaciers like flour) - how much the concentration is. We have seen lakes that were more clear than Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, but they were still beautiful. One of my favorites was Waterfowl Lake. One disappointment was that it is difficult to see the glaciers in the photos of Lake Louise. We had a good hike today at Lake Louise. We ate supper at the Silver Dragon, a Chinese restaurant. I cooked macaroni and cheese and Spanish rice after we got home from the lakes journey. Those will be eaten the next few days while we are on the road. Tomorrow is going to be a beast of a day. We are going to try to get up at 7:00 and hope to get to Ft. Benton by 5:00. I hope the border crossing will be easy. We will be crossing on I-15 this time. Before, every time we crossed at lesser traveled crossings. I am hoping they will have no problem with my cooked food! I also fried up the bacon (only meat we had not eaten), thinking they would not have a problem if it was already cooked.
One observation we have made about Canada is how many foreign languages we have heard. If we had visited the United Nations in New York, we could not have heard more. The Asian populations here are huge in the cities. Most of the time when we were in a tourist area, we (the English speakers) were in a tiny minority. It will be good to get back to the good old U.S.A., although we have really enjoyed our time here, especially the Banff area.
Tomorrow Mike and Helen will be leaving Townsend and heading for Custer State Park and then to Yellowstone and the Tetons. We are hoping to get together. They are two of our favorite friends, and we have missed them (and all the Mustard Seeds) so much.
Tomorrow - travel to Ft. Benton, MT. Thurs. - travel to Billings, MT, and stay for two nights. Phil wants to see Pompey’s Pillar and Little Bighorn Battle Site. We will visit Walmart and laundry while there. Phil is hoping he can get his prescriptions filled at Walgreens there. Saturday - travel to Madison Campground in Yellowstone for three nights. Tues. - travel to Grant Village Campground in Yellowstone for a week. Then we go to the Tetons and try to get in Colter Bay Campground and leave there Sept. 7 to get back to Townsend Sept. 12. Time has flown on this trip. We have been so blessed !!!!!!

Aug. 18 - We drove eight and a half hours today from Banff to Ft. Benton, MT. Tomorrow we go to Billings, MT, for two nights. We had an easy pass at the border, but the two people two cars ahead of us were put in handcuffs and dragged inside the building. We thought, uh-oh, but we had an easy time. Up early tomorrow and heading to Billings. We have a lot to do before we go into Yellowstone on Sat.

Aug. 13 - 15

Aug. 13 - Rainy Banff
Because it rained during night and all morning, we decided to stick around Banff. Also, we slept late (chilly and rainy=late sleeping). We went downtown to our coffee shop and got online. Frustration is when your computer decides to do updates that allow you to do nothing on it and uses over half the battery doing it. The highlight of the day was catching Danna online, on FaceBook, so we got to instant chat for a bit. It is Donna and Danna’s birthday, a big one - 40. They look so youthful that they don’t have to act middle aged! LOL! They are absolute treasures, and Phil and I feel so blessed! AND they gave us grandchildren. You just can’t beat it! I cannot wait to visit them as soon quickly as we can after we get home. In a month from now, we will be spending our first full day home. Wow!
OK, back to Banff. After that, we walked down to the Balkan Restaurant, a Greek one. We had the daily special. It was a Donair and Greek salad for $7.50. That was the best bargain meal we have had in Canada! It was scrumptious. We had never had a donair. It is ground beef and lamb with spices wrapped in a pita with tomato, onions, and tzakhi (misspelled for sure)sauce. Then we came back to the camper. Now we will read a while and think about our girls. Brice is flying back from his second week working in Chicago. Next week he will stay in North Carolina (Greensboro). He loves the adventures, like going to Chicago. He went to a Cubs game week before this one and went to a White Sox game last night. Also, he had a lot of Chicago pizza. Lucky guy!
Aug. 14 - Dragon Boat Races and Cultural Performances
We had a wonderful and interesting day! We left the camper around 9:30 a.m. and went to the Brewster Transportation Depot to catch a free shuttle to Lake Minnewanka to see the dragon boat races. It was still very cloudy and then the sun started coming out in short spurts. Those were our first dragon boat races. The morning races were 250 meters and the afternoon ones were 500 meters. The races don’t last very long, but the time between was very long. It was still fun and colorful. After watching several of the afternoon races, we boarded our shuttle and headed back to the camper for lunch. There were going to be cultural performances at the town square, so we decided to see if we could find a park. As soon as we started pulling in the parking lot right behind the town square, a car backs out. A blessing, for sure! We walked around town going in the dollar store I had seen going through town one day and then to get an ice cream cone before the performances. The first group was the Chinese Dragon Dancers. It was so colorful and fun to watch. After them, a group of singers from the dinner theater play “Oh Canada, Eh” strummed up business for their two hour dinner and play (for a mere $75 a person). The elderly lady beside me who lives in Banff told me it was not at all worth the money. We were happy to hear that! After them, First People dancers put on a great performance. One thing I liked was that as they entered the performing area, the crowd was asked to stand out of respect for the First People (that we call Native Americans). They also call them Aboriginals. We enjoyed it all.
They have a swimming area roped off at Lake Minnewanka. I have not seen anyone in any of these lakes go in much over their ankles. I saw a head with the body immersed in the lake. I did a doubletake, and about that time he stood up, as did a buddy. They had been scuba diving, and had on the full gear. Go figure! I read that Lake Louise never gets above 39 degrees F. That gives you an idea of how cold these waters are!
We are talking about going to Lake Louise tomorrow, or we may decide to go to the Columbia Icefield and ride the big bus to a glacier and walk on “ancient ice.” I thought Phil had dropped that idea, but it came up again today. The day we go to Lake Louise, we will take the Bow Valley Parkway and also try to see Moraine Lake. The weather is supposed to be sunny and warmer. I have absolutely no complaints about the weather here, but the locals want it warmer. They should visit Tennessee or South Carolina for a week.
Aug. 15 - Columbia Icefields Parkway and Snowcoach Tour of the Athabasca Glacier
We decided to take the financial plunge and walk on “ancient ice as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall.” It was a spectacularly beautiful day. When we got to the Columbia Icefield Centre, we got in line to get our tickets to go to the glacier. We stood in line about 20 minutes and got tickets for the 1:45 trip. The trip started on regular tour buses. They transported us for eight minutes to the snowcoach terminal. The road to the glacier goes down a 32 percent grade. The bus driver told us to do what he does - close our eyes. Hahaha! The tires are huge and only inflated 15 pounds. The snowcoaches are made in Calgary at the Foremost company and the only other one is at a base in the Arctic. We traveled over a moraine for a bit, and then we crossed a stream. This is intentional because it cleans the bus tires before it starts driving on the glacier. It looked like soil on the sides, but he said the glacier is under there, too, about three feet under. The glacier is retreating about 10 meters a year because of global warming. At its largest, it went across the highway and covered the parking lot of the visitors’ center. I also learned that the Columbia Icefield is actually on top and goes way, way back more than a hundred square miles. It was very interesting, and we really enjoyed it. We think tomorrow we will go back to the coffee shop and get on the Internet. Then Tuesday, we will go to Lake Louise. The weather is supposed to be very nice.

Aug. 12 - Kootenay and Yoho National Parks

After we went to Second Cup and got online for a bit, we headed to Kootenay National Park. We stopped and hiked the Marble Canyon trail. It worked me, and I was red in the face and sweating. It was a canyon cut by a river. It was not a huge canyon like the Grand Canyon, but the river had that pretty green color.We had also stopped at the Paint Pots trail and hiked to a swinging bridge. A couple from Maryland was on the trail, and they told us not to waste our time because the paint pots were not bubbly at all. We also stopped at the picnic area of Olive Lake, and I took a photo or two there of that small, pretty lake. After Marble Canyon, we headed to Radium Hot Springs which is at the opposite end of Kootenay N.P. We did not even stop. The springs fill swimming pools full of people. Phil was not interested in stopping to see just the springs because he said the word radium motivated him to keep moving. We headed to Yoho National Park. I wanted to see Emerald Lake, the Visitors’ Center, and the spiral tunnel for the trains. Between Kootenay and Yoho, it started raining. By the time we got to Golden (township), it was pouring! We did stop at the Visitors’ Center. It was supposed to have a display of fossils from Yoho. It only had a couple. I could see wooden boxes above the exhibit. It is going through renovation, so only a few were available for display. That was disappointing. Then we stopped at the overlook of the lower spiral tunnels. There was a tree blocking one of the tunnels, so my photo was not as good as I had hoped. Emerald Lake came before Field, where the visitors’ center is located, and it was pouring then. We did not turn in. We may or may not go back to see it. I have been blessed to see a lot of beautiful green lakes! We still have Lake Louise to go, and maybe Moraine Lake. It was very chilly today, low 50’s. It will be a two-quilt night tonight, for sure! Tomorrow my beautiful, twin daughters turn 40. It does not seem possible! I will sleep much better tonight than I did 40 years ago!

Aug. 11 - Cascade Gardens

This morning we went to Second Cup and used the free wifi. We went back to the camper and ate lunch and then went to Cascade Gardens for the afternoon. The gardens are in back of the Banff National Park Administration Building. They are free and absolutely gorgeous!!!!! Flowers are a favorite subject, so I took a few photos. LOL! It was funny seeing pansies blooming in August! This afternoon has stayed nice, as opposed to the last three afternoons. It was 49 in the camper when we got up this morning and 42 outside, typical of the mornings here. I love it. I absolutely LOVE it!!!!

Lake Minnewanka - just a few miles from campground here in Banff

Aug. 8 - We got up early (for us) and drove the Icefields Parkway to Banff. That drive is extraordinarily beautiful. There are about 10 ice fields in the area, but the Columbia is the largest. We pulled off a couple of times for some photos, but I took most while riding. The township of Banff is larger than we thought it would be. The campground is very nice, and it is nice to have full hookups in a national park campground. We were also surprised to get a few television stations. Soon after we got set up, it started a light rain that continued most of the day.
Aug. 9 - We slept late and well. It has been really chilly the last few nights. We have needed both quilts. At 3:30 in the afternoon, it is just 61 degrees. We went downtown and walked around and went to the visitors’ center. We found out two coffee shops offer free wifi, so I may get these posted while we are here! We are also plotting what we want to do while we are here. There is so much beauty! We have great views from our campsite. We hope to spend a day going back to the Columbia Icefield Centre. For $49 plus tax, we could take a bus tour of the ice field and walk on ancient ice. I imagine we will pass. I would also like to go to Yoho National Park and go to Emerald Lake. There is a drive close by to Lake Minnewanka Loop that would be scenic. Of course, we want to take a day to go to Lake Louise. There is also the Bow Valley Parkway that we would like to drive. It was nice this morning, and then poured rain for a couple of hours this afternoon. I think there is a chance of rain or storms every day this week until Sunday.
Aug. 10 - We explored some more of Banff and found the Banff Springs Hotel - HUGE! Then we found Bow Falls and walked up steps to the top and got some photos of it and the back of Banff Springs Hotel. I got a photo of a male deer grazing right off the trail to the top of the falls. Then we went back and ate a sandwich and drove the Lake Minnewanka loop. When we pulled in the parking lot, there was a bear crossing the parking lot. I did not get a great shot, but I got a few of him or her. We also got some shots of a group of female bighorn sheet and one baby. Lake Minnewanka is beautiful and the largest in Banff National Park. There will be dragon boat races there this weekend. I imagine with its limited parking, we will miss it (but I’d LOVE to see the race!!!). My niece Lindsey does dragon boat racing with her club in Charleston, SC. We started to turn around and go back through the loop in the opposite direction, so I could take some photos as we rode over the dam. It was starting to get cloudy, so I told Phil we could do that another day. Within five minutes of the time we got back to the camper, it started storming. There was a good bit of hail mixed with the hard rain. I think after tomorrow, the chances of rain go down. I hope so! I’d sure like to see a caribou, wolf, and male bighorn sheep! Tomorrow is supposed to be downright rainy. We are going to try to go to one of the coffee houses and get on the Internet tomorrow morning. Then I can post the blog. I wish I could start posting photos! I can’t imagine how much time it is going to take to post photos since Kalispell!

Aug. 7 - Chillaxin' in Hinton

Well, not exactly chillaxin', but we have shopped and done laundry in preparation for the long trip to Banff tomorrow. We went to the Walmart here (Every one we have visited in Canada are right pitiful compared to ours.). Also, we went to Safeway to get a few groceries because we do not think there will be a big grocery store in Banff. It rained almost all day, and this evening, the sun is out and in. I hope we get a good day to travel tomorrow. There are going to be several really steep climbs on the Icefields Parkway. Phil has said he will stop at some of the pulloffs, so I can take some photos. The ones I took on the way here were mostly taken through the insect-splattered windshield. I got some really beautiful shots, if you can ignore the smudges.... I have no idea if we will be able to access wifi in Banff at all. We will be there for ten days, so if you don't hear from he, you will know why.

Aug. 6 - Hinton, AB

We woke up to the smell of smoke. It continued to get worse and worse. Later, a native Albertan told us it was from bunches of fires in British Columbia. We decided to go into Jasper and see what Lake Patricia and Pyramid Lake looked like, as well as the township. Some mountain goats grazed by the side of the road on the way there. I got some good photos. Walking around the town, I got some more photos. Lake Patricia was pretty, too. By the time we went back to the car, our eyes were burning, as well as our throats and sinues from the smoke. On the way back, the male elk were lying down in grass about where they were yesterday. Then down the road further we saw a huge herd of goats, babies included. I got a bunch of photos. The goats were hilarious. They walked down the middle of the lane and drove a truck driver crazy. Every time he tried to pass them, they’d wander over in front of him. We really got tickled. Then we went to Safeway in Hinton to buy some groceries. Gas is cheaper in Hinton than Calgary. It was 91.9 per liter in Hinton, and 95.9 and higher in Calgary. I saw something I have never seen. To use a grocery buggy, you must put a quarter in the change thingy on the handle to release it from the chained other buggies. I used a hand basket, thank you very much. Then back here to bbq some chicken and make potato salad for supper. Yum!

Update - July 29 - Aug. 5

July 29 - We had a great day going to Many Glacier. I will never visit the real Alps, but it really felt like I was there at Many Glacier Hotel. What a stunning view! The Lake McDonald Lodge was the more beautiful to me, but the view from Many Glacier Hotel was the best ever! I saw signs that said, “Do not feed the sheep,” so I was really looking for some bighorn sheep. I did not see any. I also saw a sign as we went into the Many Glacier area that said to report all bear and wolf sightings. I have not seen a wolf yet, so I was looking for those, too. Again, I was disappointed. I was totally delighted by the wildflowers. I have never seen so many varieties in such profusion anywhere - ever! I wish I had time to macro each different one I saw, but it would have taken all day. Also, the fragrance was heavenly! It was a great day. And we went back to the camper where I am trying to complete a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle before we leave. Next Wed. I am working it on the table extension, but it does not fit. I am working as much as I can before putting the extension in the table to have enough room. I guess I’ll learn to limit myself to 500 piece puzzles from now on. I have not worked a 1,000 piece puzzle in years. I am really enjoying it.
July 30 - We are following our tour guide‘s (Helen Gross) suggestions and going to Waterton National Park in Canada. It is only about 45 miles from us. Also we will go ahead and get our annual pass to the Canadian National Parks. Ouch! If you are in the parks more than six days, it pays to get the annual pass. We will be in them for two weeks.
Wow! Waterton Lakes National Park is truly beautiful. If you love wildflowers, definitely put East Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park on your bucket list. Crossing the border was very different than when we went to Vancouver. When we pulled up to the Canadian border, two RV’s in front of us were pulled over. They asked pretty much the same questions as they did when we went to Vancouver. It does make me wonder if we will be pulled over and have to pop the camper up when we cross next week. Of course, I have meat in the freezer and veggies that I hope to take with us, since I gave them away before we went to Vancouver and was never asked about them. THEN. When we came back to the USA. They opened our truck doors and examined everything in the truck and back of the truck. They did ask if we had any fruit or vegetables. Oh well, if they ask, I guess I’ll donate my food to the border patrol!
Now, back to Waterton Lakes. We went on the Red Rock Canyon Parkway and the Akamina Parkway roads. We were a little disappointed because they turn you around before you get to the Red Rock Canyon because they redoing the parking lot and rest rooms there. The drive was still gorgeous,. And I got to see my first wild tiger lilies, as well as tons and tons more wildflowers. Oh, we saw a big black bear on the side of the road before we got to the park. Cameron Lake at the end of the Akamina Parkway was very beautiful. We ate at Zums in downtown Waterton. What a quaint, waterside village! The Prince of Wales Hotel is quite striking sitting up on a hill overlooking Waterton. I took 168 photos today, and I cannot wait to post some. I will post four or five on here and lots more on FaceBook. I took my computer into Zum’s because they had a big Internet sign on their window, but you had to pay to use it. Forget that! Anyway, fabulous, awesome, worshipful day! Thank you, Heavenly Father!
July 31 - It rained and rained all morning and part of the afternoon. We read and I also worked on my 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Helen had told us about the Cattle Baron’s Supper Club in Babb eight miles up the road. I had also read reviews about their steaks being the best in the world. The club itself is pretty neat. I did not take my camera, but I did take a few photos with my phone. The place is owned by Blackfeet Indians and it is like a museum. It looks like a dive from the road and the tables and chairs are not that fancy, but the steaks were awesome! On the menu, there is no mention of how many ounces the steaks are. Phil got a filet mignon, and I got a rib eye. His filet was huge and my rib eye looked like a roast! We could have halved that easily. I brought home half for lunch the next day.
Aug. 1 - We did not sleep well because we had mosquitos in the camper. We killed a couple, but eventually we would hear another one. Then about 5:15 I had to brave the mountain lions and bears to trudge to the restroom, compliments of the Cattle Baron’s Supper Club. We are just chillaxin’ today. Phil is reading a book about the Yankees, and I finished my puzzle. I was at the point in the puzzle where every time I got a piece in, I’d want to stand up and do the Macarena. We had to pulled the table out and put in the extension, so we both rejoiced when I finished, so we could shorten the table and make it easier to get in and out of our sofas. We will ride the free shuttle to Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Rd. one day and the other we hope to make it to East Glacier and check out Two Medicine area.
Aug. 2 - We got up with the plan to ride up to Logan’s Pass. Phil decided to drive instead of taking the free shuttle because I like to stop so often to take photos. With the road construction going on, we got stopped going and coming. We were going to hike to Hidden Lake, but they closed the parking lot at Logan’s Pass because it was full. Cars were backed up both directions because of road construction stops. It was a mess! We decided to go back to the camper, eat lunch, and take the shuttle back to Logan’s Pass for our hike. When we got to the turn-off for the campground, we were met with a guy in a truck who told us they were putting down tar and gravel on top of that. It would be hours before we could get back in the campground. Change of plans! We decided to go to Two Medicine and East Glacier. We see many signs about watching for cattle, and finally we saw cattle right by the road. There was a whole herd, and it looked like they were licking the gravel/dirt in the right-of-way. Helen, we hiked! All of .3 mile to Running Eagle Falls at Two Medicine. That was .6 total. There was the warning of grizzlies in the area, and we had no bear spray, so we walked and talked loudly the whole way there and back. We did meet some people on the trail, so that was comforting. We were going into the general store at Two Medicine, but someone had “accidentally) released some bear spray in there just before we were to go in. We did a loop going Hwy 49 to East Glacier where I got some photos of the lodge there, and then to Browning and then back to St. Mary. As we neared St. Mary, the storm clouds were gathering. We had left our bedroom windows open. Just as we reached the campground in heavy rain and wind, the hail started….. The pillows and sheet were wet. I had a spare set of sheets, but I propped up the sheet and took off the pillow cases. The pillow cases did not dry, but the sheet did by the time we went to bed. Another good day! Tomorrow is our last full day here. We have the best view from our campsite from any place we have stayed. We will miss the view! Also, we are charging the cell phone once or twice a day in the 12 v. outlet in the camper, and it has not effected the battery. Thank you, solar panel!
Aug. 3 - We had hoped to ride the shuttle to Logan’s Pass and hike to Hidden Lake today, but it was rainy again. We could not even see the mountains, so we went to the Visitors’ Center and watched the video they had on Glacier National Park. It was nice. I got some more photos of the osprey nest.
Aug. 4 - We road about four hours to Calgary. We are on the west side and right off of Canada Hwy. 1. It will be easy to get back on and head up the Ice Fields Highway to Hinton, where we will be three days. We will have wifi there. Hooray! Crossing the border was a piece of cake, just like when we went to Vancouver. We expected a more difficult time. Also, there was no line at all where we crossed. We waited in line about ten or fifteen minutes when we went to Waterton Lakes N.P. I was so thankful they did not ask about fruits, vegetables, and meat! The US border does ask that every time. I’ll be sure to have none by the time we cross back to the US.
Aug. 5 - After a six and a half hour drive to Hinton through the Icefields Parkway through Banff and Jasper National Parks, we have finally gotten online. The glitch is that they have Internet through satellite, and it is extremely slow. They say uploading photos takes forever and slows the Internet down for everyone. I have taken hundreds of photos today, and I want to post them so badly…. I am so disappointed that I cannot upload some. I guess they will wait. The Canadian Rockies are amazing. Like ours, the looks change every curve or two. When we leave here in three days, we will go to a campground in Banff National Park. I hope the McDonalds or someone in Banff has free wifi, but I have no clue. We saw a huge elk on the way between Jasper and Hinton. I got photos. We also saw a bear. The color of the streams, rivers, and lakes are amazing. The Columbia Icefield is also amazing. That ice is THICK!!! It looks like the way back will be a LOT of climbing. We got 17 miles per gallon from Calgary to here (which is pretty good), so we will probably drop drastically going back to Banff. That is it for today. It was an awesome drive, just full of God’s beautiful creation.

July 27 - Last Day in Kalispell

Phil, finishing up the camper and truck washings.

We made the grocery store rounds and got gas for $2.70 a gallon (cheapest in a long, long time) at Smith's. We could not possibly get another thing in the frig. Phil is washing the camper and truck as I type. This campground allows that (which is unusual, especially for how cheap it is). I think we are going to get pizza for supper and then start organizing the inside for the move tomorrow. Although I will miss my toaster oven, microwave, wifi, and cable, I look forward to our week of roughing it. It is nice to have the change. We have enjoyed paying no sales tax on anything in Montana. I'm going to take a shower and then do a last load of laundry. By the way, yesterday got up to 91 degrees. Today the high has been 74 degrees (at 3:20 p.m.). I like that! If NOAA's forecast is right, we will have nights in the upper 40's and days in the low to mid 70's while we are at St. Mary's Campground. If you do not hear from me for a bit, it will be because we do not have access to wifi. It looks like we will have to each purchase an annual national park pass for Banff and Jasper National Parks' two weeks. From what I have read, the Icefields Highway (think that is what it is called) is going to be awesome. If we did not purchase the annual pass, we would have to get a daily pass every time we entered the park or exited and re-entered. The annual pass will be pricey, but we will probably never travel there again. It is cheaper than getting that many days' daily passes. Oh dear, I am rambling..... Have a good one! We still marvel at the beauty God has created!

Lake McDonald Lodge

We went back into Glacier National Park, west side, one more time. I wanted to go into the Lake McDonald Lodge and check out the back. It was really, really nice. I think I liked it better than Old Faithful Inn. It is smaller, but I liked it. There are a lot of small log cabins to larger house cabins there too. They have a general store there, restaurant in the lodge and a stand-alone restaurant, a post office, and place to catch the red Jammer tour buses. There is also a tour boat that gives a one hour tour of Lake McDonald from the dock at Lake McDonald Lodge. One thing that was a little surprising about the west side of Glacier is how few roads there are that are paved. The biggie is the Road-to-the-Sun Rd. We stopped at Walmart on the way back for the last time. Tomorrow we will shop at Smith's and Super 1 Food Store to finish stocking up for St. Mary and Canada. We leave here Wed. morning for St. Mary Campground in the east side of Glacier National Park. We will be there for a week. We have no idea if there will be a hot spot for internet anywhere near or phone service. We know we will take the battery out of the phone when we go to Canada.

July 24 - Two months on the road

We left Townsend two months ago today. We have enjoyed each day and look forward to more adventures. We leave here next Wed. for St. Mary Campground in Glacier National Park. We have enjoyed this campground and our campsite the most of all the private campgrounds so far. It is also one of the most economical (less than $25 a night). We will also enjoy our no-hook ups site at St. Mary's for a week. We hit a used book store and are ready for some serious reading! We will shop at Walmart and maybe Smith's to load up as much food as we can stuff into the frig and cabinets before we leave here. After St. Mary, we will head to the Calgary area for one night and then to Jasper for three nights. Then we head to Banff for 10 nights. That will be two weeks in Canada where we will disconnect our phone. I hope we will be able to hit some hot spots to keep up with e-mail. Yesterday Phil put some kind of quick disconnect on the battery, so when we connect the solar panel cord to the charge controller, he won't have to take off the battery cover. He also made an extension cord that he hopes will work. That will enable us to put the solar panel further back on top of the camper if that area gets more sun than the front.

This campground has a really nice stream/creek that I would love to paddle around in our raft. Phil does not want to go to all the trouble of blowing it up and then getting it back into the box..... I hope to talk him into it, even if I have to get all the air out and fold it to fit back into the box!