About That Lake Louise and Jasper (July 12 - 19)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada! What a thrill it is to be in this beautiful part of the world. The views are breathtaking and it is so much fun to see the animals.

We arrived at the Lake Louise Campground on Monday evening after driving 110 miles from Calgary. The campground was in the middle of the woods and truly lovely. We toured many stunning places in the Banff/ Lake Louise area (Chateau Lake Louise, Johnston Falls, Moraine Lake to name a few).

 Camping in style at Lake Louise (Bear and Roger in front of the Tour)

 Look closely at this beautiful elk buck. 

 Big Horn sheep

 Lots of waterfalls around Banff

 Moraine Lake

Wednesday morning it was time to move on to Jasper. Along the way I snapped a few pics that do not do the area justice. The trip took us about three and a half hours.

 Beautiful valleys and waterfalls 

A rest stop along the way to Jasper

Mountain goats along the road bring traffic to a stand still.

We spent two nights in Jasper at a campground within the national park. Thursday morning was a tram ride to the top of a mountain for spectacular views of the town of Jasper and surrounding countryside. 

 The tram (gondola) follows this path to the top.

 Downtown Jasper and the Athabasca River

Roger is above the clouds at the top of the mountain.

Sightseeing also took us to Athabasca Falls located within the Jasper National Park. In Canada's national parks, people are allowed to take their leashed dogs. Bear got to go with us for this park experience.

 The power of Athabasca Falls

 Could Bear be looking at Athabasca Falls? No, he is fascinated with a chipmunk!

 Hiking along the Athabasca River

On Friday, we left early for the seven hour drive from Jasper to Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The population of Dawson Creek is 12,000 and the average temperature in July is 60. This is an historic outfitting point for those going on to Alaska. The pictures below show our trip.

 We are still in the Canadian Rockies at this point.

 Turning onto Alaska Route 40

We will be in Dawson Creek for two nights. Thank you for checking in with us on our adventure to Alaska. Hopefully I can always find a McDonalds along the way that has great WiFi.

About That Trip of a Lifetime (July 8 - 13)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Calgary, Alberta in Canada! I told you in last week's blog about our "trip of a lifetime." We are on a two month trip through Alberta, British Columbia (Provinces), The Yukon Territory and then Alaska. We left Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on Tuesday, July 9th. We are with a group of 23 RVers. We have a Wagon Master (Ben and Nancy) who have led many trips and a Tailgunner (Bill and Kathy) who follow behind to make sure no one is having a problem.

 Hooking up the car to the RV for the trip

The trip from Coeur d'Alene to Ft. Steele, British Columbia was around 140 miles. We went through customs at the border in record time. The agent asked us three questions, checked our passports and we were through to British Columbia.

Ft. Steele was our first stop on the trip. It sits at the beginning of the Canadian Rockies. In the picture below Roger poses with Bear at our RV stop.

Our Wagon Master briefs us at Ft. Steele. We go over the trip planner for the next day and discuss any sights that we may want to visit the next day.

Our trip to Calgary and the Stampede (very famous rodeo) was uneventful! Below are pics taken from  Calgary and the Stampede area. What is truly amazing is that this entire area was underwater two weeks ago from mountain stream runoff and four days of continual rain. The city and surrounding area pitched together and the Stampede began on time. Though the Stampede is a two week event, Thursday night was the rodeo for our group.

Roger at the Midway area

Motocross entertainment before the rodeo begins

Opening ceremony 

Six cowboys and girls fly in on trapezes

Oh Canada

Friday was a trip downtown to Stephen Avenue where lots of activities are held pertaining to the rodeo.

 Parades, Square Dancing and many Booths

Friday evening was our night to see the ChuckWagon races at the rodeo. Below are pics from that event.

 Four teams with two outriders race around barrels in the arena and then around the racetrack circling the arena.

A very exciting finish

We leave on Monday morning for Lake Louise, British Columbia. The internet may be spotty, but I will keep trying to blog each week. Thank you for checking in with us as we take this incredible trip.

About That Coeur d'Alene (June 30 - July 6)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. We have moved the RV to Blackwell Island Resort that sits on the Spokane River, in northern Idaho. This is the gathering place for our two month tour of Canada and Alaska, that begins on July 10th.  Before I tell you about this incredible trip, I will fill you in on the last week with our fabulous granddaughter, Abby.

The Tooth Fairy found Abby in Polson!

We spent Sunday, June 30th doing the prep work necessary for moving our RV to Coeur d'Alene to Polson. We did find time for a last minute swim and saying goodbye to friends at Polson.

We left on Monday morning (July 1st). Abby had ridden with us when we moved the coach from Dallas to Kerrville, Texas so she knew what to expect when riding in an RV. The 180 mile trip from Polson to Coeur d'Alene was beautiful. We drove on US 93 and Montana roads (200 & 135) before merging onto I-90 that took us to Coeur d'Alene and Blackwell Island Resort.

 Abby has her seat belt on and is ready to roll.

 Our first break along the Big Sky River off of Montana 200.

 Abby and Bear share co-pilot jobs.

Crossing into Idaho

Downtown Coeur d'Alene sits on the lake. Roger, Abby, Bear and I walked around the public beach area so that Abby could see where her father, Rob, competed in his first Ironman, several years ago.

Abby and Bear looking at Lake Coeur d'Alene

Muggsy is a famous moose in Coeur d'Alene. Abby stands by a sculpture commemorating this local children's book character.

Abby's father (our older son, Rob) arrived on Wednesday, to spend a few days with us before returning to Dallas with Abby. We were thrilled to have him with us for part of the week. We spent our time celebrating the Fourth, cycling, swimming and enjoying the cooler temps of this beautiful area.

 Abby is having fun swimming in the Spokane
 River with a friend.

Abby and Rob

Our Fourth of July was spent cooking out and then enjoying the spectacular fireworks display. Rob and Abby had fun at the parade earlier in the day.

On Friday, Roger and Rob drove to the Hiawatha Trail so that Rob could cycle the same trail that we did several weeks ago.

On Sunday we will say goodbye to Abby and Rob. It has been a tremendous joy to have had the opportunity to spend over two weeks with her. She makes us so proud to be her grandparents.

One year ago this week, we watched 24 coaches take off for Alaska with a tour company. Roger and I were enthralled with the idea and spoke with the tour leaders about the trip before they left. In short, we immediately signed up for this year's trip. Because it is such a popular trip, we were listed as number 6 on the waiting list. Lucky us, several months later, we found out that we had made the trip. 

This trip will last two months and will head to Calgary on the 10th, for the Stampede. We will work our way to Banff and then north, arriving in Chicken, Alaska, on day 24. We then circle Alaska, making many stops. By the time we return to British Columbia, we will have covered 5,720 miles. Unfortunately WiFi coverage will be spotty so the blog may not be published weekly. Thank you so much for following our odyssey in the Tour. We appreciate your interest in our lives on the road.

About Our Last Week in Polson (June 23 - 29)

Dear Family and Friends,

This was our last full week in Polson, Montana and we had so much fun with our granddaughter, Abby. The week flew by as we packed it with lots of activities. The pics below show some of the fun things we did in this beautiful part of the country.

Lots of Monopoly games!

Swimming at Polson RV Resort

Going out for shakes!


Playing with Bear

On Sunday, we drove to Glacier National Park (about an hour and a half from Polson) to ride horses on a trail ride in the park. It was great to have had this experience with Abby. We arrived for a safety talk with wrangler, Danielle. She talked to us about the way to handle our mountain horse. Roger and I have had experience on horses, but Abby had not been on a trail ride. Our ride lasted an hour and took us through some beautiful scenery in the park. We were not allowed to take pictures while on the horses so the pictures below show us before the ride.

 Abby poses with Waylon, her horse for the ride.

 Abby is ready to get on Waylon.

 Our wrangler for the ride, Surae is pictured on the left after she helped Abby mount Waylon. Notice Abby's helmet.

The three of us are ready to go. Roger is on Ace and I am on Buck.

Waylon has a mask around his mouth to prevent him from grabbing a snack along the route.

After finishing the ride (with smiles all around) we headed back to Polson. On the way back, in Hungry Horse, we stopped for dinner and Huckleberry Pie. Yum!

We had a rainy day on Monday, so Abby and I decided to go to the Museum of America in Polson. It is touted as the "Smithsonian of the West." The museum has lots of everything both inside and outside. We had a great time discovering an older America.

Checking in at the front desk

Colonial America

Abby loved the player piano

Soda Fountain

Huey Helicopter

School room

On Friday night, the three of us went to the Polson Rodeo. This rodeo is a sanctioned event for the National Rodeo Association and had all of the contests that you would see in a large town rodeo. They began with Mutton Busting, which is a contest for 4 - 7 year olds that do not weigh more than 60 pounds. Abby decided to pass on this event. The children wear a helmet and chest protection. It was fun to watch.

On Saturday afternoon, Abby, Roger and I went white water rafting on the lower Flathead River. Our guide Paul took us down about eight miles, encountering several class 3 rapids along the way.

 Boarding the bus to take us to our river launch. Notice the rafts on the back of the bus.

 Paul and Abby

 Roger, Abby and I pose with Paul before we start.

 Abby jumps into the river for a quick dip.

Paul takes a break while Abby rows.

What an incredible week we had with our granddaughter, Abby. She made it very special for us. Thank you for checking in with us. We leave for Coeur d'Alene on Monday.