Aug. 29 and 30 – Helena to West Yellowstone to Colter Bay, Grand Tetons

The ride from Helena to West Yellowstone was beautiful. We did not go on the interstate, but went most of the way on Montana Hwy 69 to 287, a very scenic and smooth ride. I took a couple of photos of Earthquake Lake which is above Hebgen Dam. It was formed from an earthquake and still has the dead trees that used to be on land before the lake was formed. We spent the night in West Yellowstone. Phil went to the Yellowstone Outlet and got a bargain t-shirt and a good rain jacket. There was ice on the truck bed cover, so we know it got down to freezing. It was quite nippy when we dragged ourselves out of bed at 7:00 a.m. Colter Bay Campground on Jackson Lake is first come, first served, so we wanted to be sure we got a good campsite.


Aug. 30 was another very scenic day as we drove through Yellowstone National Park to get to the Grand Tetons. It is always a treat, and you never get tired of seeing the marvelous features there. We will probably make a day trip or two while we are at Colter Bay. We got set up and can actually see the tip of one of the majestic mountains.

We love Colter Bay. It is one of our favorite places on earth. They told us when we entered that there have been nine grizzlies roaming around the campground this summer, more than ever before. I did not say anything, but at this time of year, they are usually high up the mountains. When we were at West Yellowstone, we heard on the news that a second hiker was killed by a grizzly. He was high up. Still, it would be a treat to see one. I am thinking more about hearing the bugling of the elk.

The only things I miss when we camp with no hookups are my microwave and my toaster oven. We might try to run them with the generator, but in the high altitude, Phil does not want to risk messing anything up. We do use it to make our coffee each morning and recharge the battery.

Phil did an awful lot of stuff yesterday, and I am thankful to say his back did not go out like it did a while back.
We did not have our bicycles last year on the trip. We have been afraid for Phil to take them off the ladder bike rack, but he did yesterday. Now I can ride my bike. I am a happy camper!

Quake Lake - formed by an earthquake - you can still see the old, dead trees in the lake.

took these as we traveled through Yellowstone

another view of Quake Lake

I e-mailed the campground in the Outer Banks where we go each Oct. 15 to Nov. 15. I do not know how long it will be before I hear from them, but we are thinking that trip will probably not happen this year because Hwy. 12 near there is gone. Our campground is in Waves which is in the Rodanthe, Mirlo Beach, Salvo area where the road suffered the worst. Oh well, we will be able to stay out here longer if Phil's back holds up.

Aug. 28 - travel day to Helena, MT

No photos today, but the entry back into the good ole USA was interesting. We found last year that this particular entry was the most critical. Phil had to open the locked truck bed cover, and they opened the doors to the truck and looked through things. This year they asked if I had any fruit or vegetables. I had a roma tomato and garlic (that I wisely had put inside the truck). I had to give the guard my tomato. That is the first time ever that I have been asked that. Then they asked for the camper keys, and a guard opened the camper and looked inside. We did not have to park and do the slides out, so it was not much of a look. They were very nice, but just more involved than usual (except when we came back from a day trip to Waterton last year).

We were going to stop at Great Falls, MT, but we decided to keep on riding and ended up in Helena for the night. We did grocery shopping, but we are going to save laundry until tomorrow at West Yellowstone. From there we will probably go straight to Colter Bay in the Tetons (one of our all time favorite places).

Aug. 27 - Bison Paddock, walk around town one last time, Prince of Wales Hotel

The last day at Waterton had three things on our agenda. It was very windy again and hot (well, hot for here – 82 degrees and low humidity – but hot in the sun). We did our walk this morning and got some last shoreline photos and got Phil's back loosened up. We rode to the Prince of Wales Hotel and took some nice shots of Waterton and the lake. The hotel sits up high and overlooks Waterton township and the upper Waterton Lake. The views on this sunny day from there were wonderful. The lake really showed its colors, too. We went into the hotel lobby and to their giftshop where I got the grands some fossils. I got the girls necklaces with a slice of a fossil, and the boys fossils. We got them t-shirts last year. Phil did not think they were overly excited about them, so I decided to try something different. I hope they like them.
Then we rode to the bison paddock where they keep a small herd of descendants of some of the original Great Plains herd. We saw seven.... It must be a very small herd! When we got back, we went to Pat's, the only gas station in town, and got about six gallons of gas at $1.25 a liter.

Took this on our last morning's shoreline walk

The view from the Prince of Wales Hotel bluff

The view from inside the lobby and even some restaurant/high tea tables

The entrance side of the Prince of Wales Hotel

View from bluff at Prince of Wales looking down on Waterton township

zoomed in on the marina and township

Phil was hungry for some pizza, so we walked around town and went to the pizza place. The pizza was very good. Then we went and got a saskatoon ice cream cone to share. THEN, we went to the chocolate shop and got a piece of saskatoon pie and a thing called a grizzly. It is a baked apple covered in crust and caramel and icing drizzled on it. We will share the piece of pie tonight and then share the grizzly tomorrow. I guess you could say we pretty much ate our way through town today.
We have enjoyed our week at Waterton. The only thing we did not do was go back to Cameron Lake and walk the Stinnet Lake trail. There was so much traffic in town today and it is a good ride to Cameron Lake. Phil said it would be nearly impossible to get a park. Then we agreed that we both are kind of pooped today. We have a lot to do to get ready to travel tomorrow morning to Great Falls, MT. There we will have to grocery shop AND do three weeks of laundry!!!!!! The frig is just about empty. Phil would like to get it all done tomorrow and only stay one night in Great Falls. We shall see....

August 26 - Goat Haunt Cruise

It was pretty calm day yesterday, and we were wishing we had gone on the cruise yesterday because the wind is normally really stiff here. Well, today we woke up and walked to Pearl's Cafe to have breakfast and access the internet. When we got back, it was still calm, so we jumped in the truck and got our tickets for the 1:00 cruise to Goat Haunt. If you go to the Glacier National Park web cams, there is one for Goat Haunt. There are no roads to Goat Haunt, and the easiest way to get there is by the Waterton Lake cruise that we took. The actual Upper Waterton Lake is partially in Canada(Waterton Lakes National Park) and partially in the United States (Glacier National Park). There is a United States Park Service Ranger station at Goat Haunt (Glacier National Park) and a border patrol office. For people wanting to hike from there, they must take their passports and return by 8:00 p.m. to get on the last cruise boat leaving Goat Haunt to return to Waterton township docks. We walked to the dock from the campground. Wouldn't you know the last ten minutes of the cruise and most of the walk home was in a light rain with thunder in the distance.

We learned that Waterton Lake was frozen this year until May 17, much later than usual. The cruises usually occur from April 1 until Oct. 3. We did not see any animals out of the ordinary, which was a disappointment. Still, it was a nice day, and we feel blessed.
Phil's back is always very stiff and crampy in the morning. Walking loosens it up, thankfully. Some chairs are tough, and he will have to stand up and walk around for a bit. It was a pretty good day for his back so far.

Boundary markers between USA and Canada

The boundary clearance must be maintained and is cleared every 15 years (WHAT A JOB!!!!).

Our cruise boat, The International



I never get tired of beautiful water!!!!



parked at Goat Haunt - more photos on FaceBook

We are thinking about all on the East Coast and hoping Irene will not be as bad as feared. We hope the campground in Waves, NC, in the Outer Banks where we hope to spend Oct. 15 – Nov. 15 survives!!!

August 25 - Cameron Falls, Cameron Lake

along the lakeshore (Waterton Lake) walk

Cameron Lake - about a 10 mile drive from the campground

Cameron Falls - an easy walk from the campground

We took a nice walk (about an hour) this morning to Cameron Falls and then along Waterton Lake. Then after a snack for lunch, we went to Cameron Lake and walked the 1.9 mile trail along the lake shore. With stops for photos, it took about an hour and a half. Cameron Falls is just on the other side of the campground. The campground has paved trails along the lake and to Cameron Lake.
The wildflowers were nice along the Cameron Lake trail. They are pretty spent elsewhere. Last year, we were here earlier, and the wildflowers were the most beautiful I have ever seen and so thick – EVERYWHERE! We did not see any cougars or grizzlies. There are signs posted about it being berry season, and the grizzlies are active in the area.
Phil's back was a little better today, which gives us hope. He hurt it when he was hooking up the sewer connection (in the middle of the site) earlier in the week. We are in hopes that that injury is healing. As I have said before, we take it one day at a time. If we need to leave for home, we will with no regrets. We feel so blessed to have been able to visit the beautiful places we have seen or revisited this year.
Our son is working in Charlottesville, VA, this week and is supposed to stay through the weekend because the hospital where he is installing patient monitoring systems is brand new, and the move is being made this weekend. This week's big earthquake's epicenter was 27 miles from him. Now it looks like he will have to be concerned about the hurricane and 100 mph winds this weekend. We are praying all our children (and my parents, sister, her husband, brothers and their families) will be safe. We will probably not have internet again until we leave here Sunday and get back into the U.S.A. To know the hurricane's path.

There is a cafe here that gives two hours of very slow internet with a purchase. We ate lunch there Wed. and are eating breakfast to post this. It took an hour and a half of the two hours to download the photos I put on FaceBook Wed. I won't make that mistake again! I barely got to check my mail and children's FaceBook entries and photos before my time was up! I will wait until we get to Great Falls, MT, on Sunday to download photos, probably!

Aug. 23 - Red Rock Canyon Loop and Blakiston Falls and town walk

Lovely day to hike the Red Rock Canyon loop and then to Blakiston Falls here in Waterton Lakes National Park. We saw a big black bear on the way there and a small herd of big horn sheep. The deer are all over the town and campground.


We came back to the camper and then after a snack of roasted almonds, we walked around town. We ended up at an ice cream shop getting a Saskatoon Berry (huckleberry) ice cream cone that we shared.
It was a really nice day after a horrible night with Phil's back. It was the first night he could not get comfortable in any position. He did finally take some ibuprofen and was able to get a little sleep. That was two bad nights of sleep for us, and we were about ready to head home. We are taking it one day at a time, and may head home sooner than we planned.

The internet connection here is either very slow or this site is slow. I only loaded four photos, but only Blakiston Falls shows up (and I have waited forever). I will see if FaceBook will load faster.

Tomorrow we hope to go to Cameron Lake and walk the trail there. There is a cougar warning there. The rangers have had to kill one. They think the two lost their mother. The one they killed was emaciated and so desperate that it could not be scared off. The one that is still there has so far been more skiddish, but it does come in close proximity of humans. I hope it stays skiddish!

Aug. 18 - 20 - Banff and Cascade Gardens

Beautiful day! We visited Cascade Gardens in back of the Banff National Park Administration Building at the end of the main street through Banff. The gardens are gorgeous and free. The terraces of colorful flowers are abundant in their very short growing season here. I heard a worker there say they could not even work the soil until well into June. Phil and I were talking about how in a month, the flowers would be gone because the temps would be below freezing. It might have gotten that cold last night because it was 35 outside and 39 inside the camper this morning. It got up to 61 today. It will be a little warmer tomorrow and in the 70's this weekend. They get really excited up here when the temperature gets up to 30 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow we eat one last time at the Balkan. For $7.50 we get a delicious donair and Greek salad. The donair is a gyro in a pita wrap with lettuce, tomato, and a little creamy sauce. After lunch, we will go to Canmore just to check it out and see if they have a grocery store with an easier parking lot to get in and out of. The Safeway here is very difficult to get in and out. Tomorrow we will start getting things ready to go early Sunday morning. We will be going to Waterton Lakes National Park for a week before heading back into the U.S. Since we have not camped there, we do not know what to expect as far as getting any wifi. Here there are lots of coffee shops with wifi. Online, Phil found one place in Waterton with free wifi (with purchase of coffee, etc.). We also found a restaurant that sells time online.




Aug. 19 – Another beautiful day! We ate at the Balkan for lunch and then drove over to Canmore (about 15 miles away). The population is over 12,000. We found a Safeway with a large parking lot. It was wonderful! There are no spacious parking spaces here in Banff. The only prices on food that are comparable to what we pay in the U.S. are bread and some fruit, like blueberries and cherries. One of their specials for this week is an 8 oz. block of cream cheese 2 for $7.00. Cheese is very expensive here. I brought a bunch with us, so we would not have to purchase any here – meat, too. Skinless, boneless chicken breasts are on special this week for $4.99 a pound. It is funny that some of the things they advertize are in pounds and others are in metric weights. Gas in Banff is $1.14 a liter.

Downtown Banff

Beautiful downtown Banff

Cascade Gardens

Aug. 20 – sitting in Starbucks on Sulphur Mountain with jacket and jeans on. Beautiful day! Heading to Waterton Lakes National Park tomorrow.

Aug. 17 - Lake Louise and Moraine Lake

Lake Louise

Lake Louise

Lake Louise

Lake Louise

Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake

These are the animal crossings on TransCanada 1.

Lake Louise

I tortured myself this morning and rolled out of bed at 7:00. Phil got up about 7:30, and we set off for Lake Louise after getting gas. If you do not get to Lake Louise early, you will not get a parking place. It was a beautiful day! Last year when we went to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, it was very smoky from wildfires in British Columbia. I was so disappointed. I was NOT disappointed today! We walked a lot further than we did a year ago, but we did not make it to the tea house(sorry, Helen G. - we tried!). We walked more than four miles today. After we left the Lake Louise area, we went to Moraine Lake. Last year, Phil could not get a park, so I hopped out and got a couple of shots. This year, we got a park!!!! Truly, I think Moraine Lake is more beautiful than Lake Louise. Lake Louise is beautiful and a kind of milky aqua, but Moraine Lake is sparkly aqua/emerald. We hiked up the path/steps to the top of an old landslide to get a few shots looking down. When my bulk meets a hill and thinner air from the elevation, especially after hiking around Lake Louise and one significant climb there, I am one tired fat woman! Then when we got back, we parked and walked several blocks to eat at our favorite restaurant, The Balkan (Greek). We got a Greek salad and Greek pizza. I am sore and tired, but had an awesome, blessed day! Thank you, Lord, for showing us your incredible beauty! I will put seven or eight photos on the blog and many more on Facebook.

Aug. 14 - Icefields Parkway

We rode to the Icefields Parkway Center where we rode the Snowcoach to a glacier last year. We got into some sprinkles closer to the center, but I still was able to get some good photos. At one of the pull-overs, I was taking photos, and my eye caught something dark. It was a big bear eating berries right below me. He stopped eating and looked at me for a minute before he decided I was not a threat. In that time I gauged that I could make it to the truck if he started running up the embankment to get me. It was a black bear.

Grizzlies are scarce here. I heard on the news that the biggest threat to their small grizzly population is trains. They do go to great lengths to protect the animals with eight foot tall fences down both sides of the highway and a good many overpasses just for the animals. They are quite unique. Tomorrow is supposed to be very chilly and rainy. I have been in jeans for the last four or five days. We had to close up the camper one time, and we will probably have to do that tomorrow, too. I just love it!!!!

The stare-down!

I never get tired of seeing glacial lakes!

The glaciers seemed to be thicker this year. I hope so!

Beautiful views EVERYWHERE!!!

Bridal Falls

Aug. 14 - raining - the set-in kind - By the way, I totally left off photos from the Vermillion Lakes walk.... have to post them on Facebook, along with more that I took on the Icefields Parkway.

Aug. 12 and 13 - Banff

Aug. 12 – Vermillion Lakes hike and Mt. Norquay ride




We did a 45 minute hike on the Fenland Trail loop around the Vermillion Lakes near Banff. The Vermillion Lakes are wetlands, and are not the beautifully colored glacial lakes. They are beautiful in their own right. The stream or creek that was on a lot of the trail was crystal clear and reminded us of the color of Silver Springs in Florida. The bottom was white sand. Then we rode up the road to Mt. Norquay. In the winter it is a very busy place for skiiers. It also has a pullover with wonderful views of Banff.



I have come up with a few differences in being in America and being in Canada. You know you are in Canada if:

1. You never see a sign for restrooms – only washrooms.

2. The Staples going-back-to-school commercial advertises lots of items for less than a Loonie.

3. You hear “eh” and “aboot” for “oh yeah?” and “about.”

4. You get excited about the gas prices until you realize the price is for a liter, instead of a gallon.

5. Speed limit signs of 100 and 110 are NOT in miles per hour!

6. On the news there was a story about decals city workers could put on their cars, but decals is pronounced “deck-uls.” Also, the injured are taken to hospital (not to THE hospital).

7. The news is very slanted against the U.S., and comparisons are constantly made to put the Canadians in a better, superior place. According to their news, their economy is much better than ours and when the world's economy stabilizes, Canada will be in the top countries economically (implies the U.S. will not).

8. News programs and any local program constantly gets the audience attention by saying, “Listen to this, Canada,” or “All right, Canada, it's time to vote for the dancer of your choice (So You Think You Can Dance Canada”, etc. I seldom hear the audience addressed as Americans on our television. The Canadians do seem to be more patriotic than Americans. That is one thing I'd like to see us improve!

9. Progress and some other word I cannot recall have long o's in the pronunciation.

10. Even though I am from the South, in Canada, I am a Yank.

11. They drive KIA Spor-tazsh (instead of Sportage) and Mazda is pronounced with a short a.

12. The road signs are in English and French.



August 13 – Danna and Donna's birthday!!!



Our twin babies are 41 today. They are still beautiful, and I adore them! It was so good to talk to them. They were both getting ready to go to the pool and then later they were going out to dinner with their husbands and three or four more couples. Last year we were in Canada on their birthday, and we did not have the Canada/USA plan, so I had to wait until we got back in the U.S. to talk to them.



Phil has been waking up with cramping in his back/buttocks the last couple of mornings, but it has eased until today. We started out on our walk, and he had to have his back brace. We walked very slowly and had to stop very frequently for the first 30 minutes. It eased up some, and he was able to walk better for the remaining 15 minutes. He is icing it. He does not understand why because we have not missed a day walking, and he does his exercises twice a day faithfully. We are praying daily for his back.



The most eventful thing that happened today was a coyote was about 15 feet from our screen door. He stood there while I got some photos, and then lay down. When I opened the screen a bit to get a better shot, he ran off. He was probably hoping to get one of the many Golden Mantle Ground Squirrels that are all around the campground.



Brice went back for his followup. The tooth that was bonded to the bone did not take. Also, the surgeon wants him to go to his dentist and get the one that calcified checked, too. He said he thinks it is barely attached to the bone, and if that is the case, it will probably work lose over the years. He said he can still put in two posts if all four teeth are removed, and bond a tooth to the other one for each post. Brice said if all he has to do is extract the teeth, that is no problem. His pain was in his chin where they take the bone out for the bone graft.

The coyote right outside our camper

What was on the coyote's dinner menu (didn't get it)

beautiful full moon!

It is cooler this year than when we were here last year. We are enjoying our jeans and sweatshirts! Next week is supposed to be even cooler and rainier.

Aug. 9 - Lake Minnewanka and Two Jack Lake

After going to McDonalds for coffee and their free wifi, we went to Lake Minnewanka. We were here last year at about the same time. I think we arrived one day earlier this year. The dragon boat races will be held at Lake Minnewanka this Sat. They have free bus rides from the Brewster Tours building to Lake Minnewanka and back. The problem is finding a parking space at or near the Brewster building.




We enjoyed seeing beautiful Lake Minnewanka and Two Jack Lake. At the Two Jack Lake picnic area, we saw a Big Horn Sheep with baby. Down the road, we saw a black bear cub. I got some good photos of it. It was a treat to see! Because the threat of rain is 50% tomorrow and 60% Thursday, we are thinking it may be Friday before we take the computers to get wifi. We are studying the area map to see where we want to go and what we want to do. I know we want to go to the Vermillion Lakes and to Lake Louise. We are going to check to see if their library has wifi available. That would be the best – not feeling like you have to purchase anything to use it!

We have enjoyed talking to Karsyn and Brice while we have been here. Last year, we did not use our phone here at all. We are glad Brice is doing well, even though his chin and tooth they bonded to the bone is still sore. He is not happy that that one tooth is crooked. He said he may even tell the oral surgeon to take it out and go with the original plan of bonding a tooth to one of the ones that will go on the implant post. He went back to work this past Monday.