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.

Aug. 8 - Banff (and some photos from Logan's Pass in Glacier)

We slept like logs last night and woke up a little after 8:00. It was 48 degrees. Ahhhhhh! It is supposed to be a really nice day. There is a lot of rain in the 10 day forecast, so we will make the best of our sunny days after today. Today will be a little more leisurely as we recover from staying up so late our last night at St. Mary and then driving to Banff.

Glacial Lilies at Logan Pass

The yellowish color is from all the Glacial Lilies!

How would you like to be from Head-Smashed-In?

Across the street from the campground - You cannot get a feel for how huge this mountain is from the photo.

Another view from another direction in the campground

And another direction and views from the campground outside of Banff

Closeup of the Glacial Lily (or Glacier Lily - forgot which)

These flowers were all over the campground at St. Mary.

We went to town to Second Cup, got coffee and a maple walnut muffin. I only ate half my muffin, although I wanted it all!!!! They are the best muffins I have ever had! Last year, Phil tried several others before getting one. Since then, he only has gotten maple walnut muffins. We had access to free wifi there, so we checked e-mail (I had 165 since yesterday.) and Facebook. I type my blog before we go there, and just copy and paste and submit it and the photos. It only allows eight or nine photos per blog. I have many more!!!! We walked all the way up and down the town sidewalks. We will walk around the campground, too. Right across the street is an overlook of the Bow River. I'll take my camera and get some photos. Phil remarked how he had forgotten how steep the mountains are here and how high. It is truly a gorgeous place! We are so blessed to be here again.


P.S. It is Tues. a.m., and the forecast is for 60-70% chance of rain tomorrow and Thurs., so I probably will not get to post until Friday.

Aug. 6 (St. Mary) and Aug. 7 travel to Banff

The island is Wild Good Island and is dwarfed by the majestic mountains of Glacier Nat. Park!

The tour boats on Lake St. Mary

Many Glacier Hotel - with the most beautiful views anywhere!

Beautiful piano and violin music in the lobby

They always have beautiful flowers outside in the summer.

Saturday – We went back to the Cattle Baron's Supper Club for a fantastic filet. It is owned by Blackfeet, and they raise and butcher the meat they serve. They put some kind of marinade or glaze on it that makes it delicious (my favorite anywhere). Also, they do not tell you how many ounces anything is. The filet is huge, about as big as my entire hand and almost three thicknesses (Needless to say, I have a lot left over.).




A neighbor camper told us he'd talked to an astronomer at the visitors' center who said we should be able to see the Northern Lights that night. The astronomer had viewed them the night before, and said they should be even better tonight from about 11:00 until 12:30. He was leading a group up to Big Chief Mountain for the best viewing. The group would not get back to the visitors' center until at least 2:00 a.m. As much as I wanted to go, I knew we would be getting up early to go to Banff. Phil needed his beauty and driving sleep! We had a good view to the north except for a slight hill and trees, so we thought we'd be fine. I was so excited!!!! I asked in Banff last year when they got to see the Northern Lights. They said the winter.



About 9:30 p.m. a group of boy scouts came and started setting up camp north of us. When 11:00 came, they were still setting up camp. There was one bright lantern and all the headlights they all wore. The motorhome beside us (north side) had lights on inside, too. Finally the boys settled down. We started seeing what looked like distant lightning. Some times after the flash, there was a shimmering of light, but no colors that we could see. We did see three shooting stars. I did not get any photos because the shimmering was the only thing that lasted and it was not very bright. So our experience with the Northern Lights was a little disappointing. We stayed up until 12:20 before we crashed. By the way, it was the first night I wore jeans and a jacket! It was very chilly!



The drive to Banff was uneventful, just the way we like it. Crossing the border was a snap. I had my potatoes, an onion, and part of a bulb of garlic in the backseat, if they asked if we had fruit or veggies to declare. Phil loves Tim Horton coffee (chain store in Canada), so we stopped at the first one about two hours into our drive. They have wonderful pastries, too, but we got a breakfast biscuit. The Canadian Rockies are visible almost the entire way, even though most of the drive until you are north/west of Calgary is just slightly hilly and a lot flat. Our GPS took us around Calgary, and it was much easier than last year. Last year we stayed the night in Calgary, and the GPS directed us right through the heart of the city – no fun pulling a camper! Today was a breeze on Hwy. 22X.



We have a lovely campsite at the Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court. I am so spoiled now with all my new toys that I love to have my hookups! We camped three nights with none, and that was fine. We enjoyed St. Mary, but I am glad to get back to my hookups! Phil laughed today at how last year I would bellyache about forking out the money for full hookups, and now I see no problem whatsoever with whatever we have to pay to get them! I love Social Security! I hope it does not go away!


For the rest of today, we will relax. Tomorrow I want to vacuum and mop the camper. I defrosted the freezer part of the frig after we got set up today. I am still loving having that large frig/freezer in this camper! I hope we will go down to Second Cup tomorrow morning, get some delicious coffee (maybe a maple nut muffin), and check our e-mail. I have not taken any photos today, but I'll be taking some tomorrow, I am sure!


At 3:00 p.m. in Banff, it is 68 degrees with a very chilly breeze. I love it!

Aug. 4 and 5 - St. Mary (Glacier National Park), MT

Aug. 4 we left Conrad and drove to St. Mary. It was only supposed to be a two – two and a half hour drive from Conrad. When we got to Browning, Hwy. 89 was closed, so we had to take a detour that was over twice as long as the 31 miles it would have taken from Browning. We had to go to Babb and then down to St. Mary. Then Phil made a wrong turn, and we ended up on Many Glacier Rd. headed for Many Glacier (a GORGEOUS place!!). However, the road is awful, AND they were doing road construction. We went maybe 10 miles before we found a place we could turn around and head back to St. Mary. It was a long day! We got to St. Mary, drank a Big Sky brewery beer (Summer Honey or Trout Slayer), and had leftover spaghetti. It really got chilly last night (low 40's), and we slept great!

This is what the sky looked like our first evening at St. Mary.

The bridge across St. Mary Lake/River taken from the foot bridge to the visitors' center

last year I never got a shot of one of the curved horns of the Big Horn Sheep

Many Glacier area

taken at Logan Pass in Glacier National Park

Please note the solid snow on the Hidden Lake trail...grrrrrr!

Can we say treacherous? I prayed all the way down!!!! Slippy, slidey!!!

Leaving L.ogan Pass, this is the view

Aug. 5, we walked down to the St. Mary Visitors' Center and back for our morning walk. After lunch we decided to take the shuttle to Logan Pass. We decided we would attempt the hike to Hidden Lake because Dad and several other people have told us how beautiful it is. I wore my Crocs because I walk in them every day. The path to Hidden Lake is paved and boardwalk, so I thought no problem. What we did not count on were the broad patches of snow on inclines/declines. After the third patch, we decided it was too dangerous. We did not take our walking sticks, either. I do not think the shoes would have mattered(except for keeping my feet warm), but the hiking poles would have been wonderful! We saw people with snowboards and skis going up and had a snowboarder zip past us coming down. I was so disappointed we could not make it to see Hidden Lake, but within a minute after we turned around, we heard thunder and felt a mist of rain. God was looking out for us! I'd hate to have made it and gotten struck by lightening! It was a great day, and we did get a good bit of exercise (for us). We had a good walk down to the visitors' center and then the walk up as far as we got on the Hidden Lake trail. We felt pretty good until the girl waiting for the shuttle back to St. Mary said she went on a 20 mile hike yesterday....



When we got back to our camper, I checked FaceBook. The Glacier National Park had a link to an announcement of a bear attack on a 50 year old man who was hiking one of the trails to a waterfall near Many Glacier (our side of the park). It was a sow with a sub-adult. The man had bear spray, but he could not get it before she attacked him. I think it was his left leg and arm/shoulder that got the bites. Also, she pulled him by his leg and shook him before she left him. He was able to get back down the trail where he ran into a ranger taking a group on a hike. An ambulance took him to a hospital in Browning for treatment. He is very fortunate to have survived! Lesson learned: Keep bear spray in your hand or easily accessible pocket!

It is wonderful to be back at St. Mary. There is a lot more snow still on the ground than there was last year. The rivers are still a little flooded from snow still melting. It is beautiful here and the lakes and mountains sing God's Glory!