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!

Aug. 3 - Ennis to Conrad, MT

Well, I am going to learn to check the state DOT's for construction sites because Hwy. 287 was mostly under construction, and we took it for over 100 miles to get to I-15 at Helena. There were miles and miles of just dirt with a little gravel on it. The worst part was a long, long, long section of tar with loose gravel (called chip and seal). It sounded like we were in an awful hail storm. There are tar covered pebbles all over the truck and camper. Phil said he would probably never get it all off. He was just a little irritated by it (gross understatement). So we left Ennis around 10:00 and got to Conrad around 4:30. I am so glad I had some homemade spaghetti sauce in the freezer for tonight! Tomorrow we go to St. Mary, which is no more than 150 miles from here. We will stay three nights before going to Canada. I have already started praying that we have a quick, successful crossing at the border because this pantry and frig are full to the brim!
I took some photos today as we traveled. It was fun to go through Townsend, MT. I enjoyed the Missouri River and saw a good many float boats and even two people tubing.

Dirt with a little gravel on and on and on....

I LOVE this sign!!! Wish we could get one for our Townsend!

I have yet to get out my jeans. Last summer, we probably were in jeans all but about 10 days. This summer is much hotter. The only place we had a problem with mosquitos was St. Mary last year. This year I hear they are awful in Yellowstone, Tetons, AND St. Mary/Glacier. I hope they are not bad in Banff. The weather report for Banff has it raining our first five out of six days. I also hope we can get to Lake Louise this time without all the smoke from fires in BC.

Aug. 1 - Ennis (side trip to Bozeman)

I am going to post a couple of photos I took yesterday evening. The mixture of storm clouds, sunshine, and finally a rainbow made for some great evening photos. We went to Bozeman today to get the oil changed in the truck and do some heavy duty grocery shopping for the trip to St. Mary and then three weeks in Canada. Young adults were panhandling at both entrances to Walmart. One even had a sign that said, "Why lie? I need a joint bad." Can you believe that???? If we had had to stop, I'd have told him he needed Jesus bad, not a joint!

We do laundry tomorrow and start getting things situated to go to Conrad for Wed. night. Then we go to St. Mary's Campground, a national park campground, with no hookups for three days. I am spoiled. I really like to use all my toys! I miss my toaster oven and microwave when we dry camp, but with the generator, we can at least use the coffee maker in the morning and keep the cell phones charged.

I also have scheduled my phone to cover us in Canada. I will not be able to use my Internet, nor e-mail services, though. Son Brice is having oral surgery to start the implant process for three bottom teeth this Thursday, and I want to be able to check on his recovery. While we are in Banff, we will go to a coffee shop every day or two to check our e-mail. I hope I can resist their fabulous maple nut muffins!!!

When we came back to the campground today, Phil was unloading stuff while I put groceries away. He said he saw a motorhome on fire. The fire department showed up  and extinguished it. Phil said it looked like it was in the kitchen area. I guess that ruined their trip! It would mine!

This is the view looking northeast. dark storm clouds in the distance and sun shining on the meadow

I took this one through a window on one of the slides looking west. (sorry for the glare)

This is the view southeast.

When I looked out the view from the slide window, this is what I saw. I took it through the window but did not get a glare this time.

We had a scare with Phil's back. He was bringing in a 24 pack of bottled water and felt something in his back move. He dropped the water and then went for a walk. He said it feels real tight. He is going to take some muscle relaxers and see how it goes. All prayers are welcome! Thank you in advance!

July 28 - Downtown Ennis and Beyond

We had a lovely day exploring Ennis. We went downtown and walked up and down both sides of the streets. The sign says the population is 890, so it is a small town with a lot of character. Flyfishing is the name of the game here. Everyone we have spoken to who flyfishes says now is the greatest time to fish. Poor Phil is afraid to get in the water because of his back. One slip, and he could be right back where he started. He does not want that! We rode around looking at the public places where one can put in a float boat or wade in to fish, but the water is running really fast. I wish he would try just fishing from the bank..... I'd sure like to try my hand at pan-frying some trout! This one couple from California said just about every time they cast, they caught at least an 18 incher. Not bad!

Don't you love the artwork on the building?

On top of a flyshop

mesh art

A view from our drive about 15 miles out of town

We will go to Bozeman next Monday to get the oil changed in the truck and grocery shop. We will stuff as much as we can before we head into Canada Aug. 7. This will be the last chance to shop at a large grocery store and Walmart before going into Canada. Groceries and gas are really expensive in Canada! We did find out that it will not cost any more to have phone coverage there. Only my phone will work, though. Phil will have to take his battery out while we are there. I will not be able to use our e-mail or Internet without buying data coverage, though. We will just turn that off while we are there, but it will be good to be able to be reached by the children and to be able to reach them on the phone.

Ennis - July 25 nd 26

We had big wind yesterday that rocked us pretty good, but it finally died down. A couple in a motorhome from Knoxville parked next to us for the last two nights. Their names are Don and Kay Chase. I think he is a retired oral surgeon. We enjoyed chatting with them and another couple from California.

Today we went to Virginia City and Nevada City, 14-15 miles from Ennis. They are a tourist attraction because of the gold rush. Both look like cowboy ghost towns. We wanted to find Boot Hill in Virginia City, but the Visitors' Center was closed. I took some photos. When we got back, we rode a few miles from town to Lake Ennis. I got some photos there, too.

The amazing thing about being here are the views. This camper has lots of windows, and no matter where one looks, there are gorgeous views.

stagecoach tour in Virginia City

or a firetruck tour

view from an overlook between Ennis and Virginia City

huge flyfisherman art at junction in Ennis

Lake Ennis

White pelicans in Lake Ennis

Lake Ennis looking down toward Ennis

Lake Ennis looking North

We heard on the news that a skier's body was found. He had been missing since March.

Phil's back was much better today, and he is relieved (both of us, actually). We are so thankful!
P.S. I uploaded a lot more photos, but only nine show. I'll have to post more on FaceBook.