OH Canada.

We made it to Canada" aye".as they say here.Jeni got us some loonies(one dollar)and tunnies(two dollar)coins and we were ready to contribute to their economy.
We took hwy.89 from Glacier into Canada which became Canada hwy.#2.Our first stop was Cardston where we made it our home base so we could visit Waterton Glacier National Park. This park is an extension of Glacier Natl Pk.on the Canadian side.What a beautiful park it is with its European architecture,massive Glaciers,and abundant wildlife.We saw more wild life in Waterton than in Yellowstone or Glacier.We saw bears,Moose,big horn sheep,and elk.All in their natural Habitat.
The weather so far on our trip has been fantastic.Warm sunny days and mild nights.

Jeni and I did a lot of hiking in the park.One of the locals told us about a nice trail to a hidden lake where Moose often are seen.We didn't see any moose but the area was magnificent.As we hiked back to the car,we heard rustling in the bushes.Grizzly bears are here in the park,so we cautiously took a wide path around the area.Jeni and I always carry "bear spray"when hiking in bear country and the parks have plenty of info on what to do if you should encounter a bear.
At the south end of the park there is a lake Cameron lake that is ringed with huge glaciers,A scene right out of hallmark could not rival the views around this lake.Adventurer Jeni getting caught up in the scenery talked me into renting a canoe and rowing out to see the Glaciers.What could I do but get my wallet out and book that canoe even though I can't swim,and the temp of the water is probably below 0.Let me think....have I offended Jeni in the last few days? Well off we went like Lewis and Clark the explorers.

Once we got out on the lake,and mastered the art of paddling together,we had a great time.Jeni was in the front of the canoe so I took the picture of us approaching the Glacier on the far side of the lake.Unfortunately sometimes pictures don't capture the real beauty of the area.
After our Canoe adventure we decided we earned a nice dinner in Waterton village.We had a nice time in the park today, hiking,canoeing,viewing wildlife,and shopping and dining in town.
One thing we are learning in our first few days in Canada....Canada ain't cheap! the exchange rate is almost equal and gasoline is about 1.29 a liter. 3.8 liters=s a gallon so gas is almost $5 dollars a gal. The dinner also was great but expensive for where we ate."Comon Phil",quit complaining and enjoy the trip! AYE! OK back to vacation mode,its getting late so we headed back our home base in Cardston. We are staying in a nice family owned RV park there but the price....PHIL stop that!

We saw a lot of bears in Waterton even a mama bear with 2 cubs. This black bear was grazing in the meadow about a thousand yards away.

We saw this female moose feeding in this pond near the road in Waterton.
We could of stayed here for weeks there is so much to see and do.
Driving the roads in southern Alberta is a breeze. Not much traffic and the highways are wide and well marked. You just have to make sure your driving the speed limit in kilometers instead of MPH.The speed limit on the major hwy's is 100 kilometers(62Mph).We drive the RV from basically point A to Point B and drive the car to do all the errands and site seeing. At a buck a mile for gas in the RV and .14 cents a mile for the car we choose the car to do most of the site seeing.

In Cardston Canada where the RV park we are staying in is located, we visited this Carriage museum in town.It is billed as the largest collection of coaches,carriages,and wagons in the west. It was a great museum well organized with carriage rides,a great and informative tour, a gift shop/snack bar,and was beautifully landscaped.We were very impressed.
Cardston was founded by Mormon settlers and has one of the biggest temples in a small town I've ever seen,but its clean and quiet with lots of parks a walking path and something Jeni really liked....a Dairy Queen!

Here are a few of the carriages in the museum.This one was Jeni's favorite.I've got to keep an eye out or she will be looking for horses to hook up the wagon to.










Another of the very nice wagons and carriages that they have here.They have over 250 wagons,coaches,and carriages on display.They also have workshops on site where they can restore,rebuild,and refinish the pieces that are on display.
Well we are firing up the "ole" RV and heading to Banff National Park up west of Calgary.

Banff is a beautiful place with towering glaciers and the rocky mountains.The continental divide runs through Banff and Jasper National Parks.We stationed our RV at River bend RV park in Okatoks Canada just south of Calgary.

In Banff, Canadian Hwy #1 is the main road through the park.The overpass you see in the picture is a unique idea the Canada park service came up with to stop the wildlife from getting hit by a car or truck.They have put a high fence along both sides of the highway and constructed these overpasses where the animals can get from one side to the other.The terrain on top is natural and gives the animals cover as they cross over.What a great idea! The park service also installed motion detector cameras to monitor how many animals were using the cross overs.They posted pictures in the visitors center and from the pics it looks like a real success so far.

We stopped in Lake Louise which is in the park.It is a quaint little village with campgrounds,tour boats on the lake boat rentals,and lots of hiking trails.Again,Jeni and I hiked the more popular shorter ones to lesson a chance encounter with a grizzly bear as they are very common in this area.We grabbed a bite at the diner which is on the second floor of the village.What a fabulous view we had.




Ok, Ok, now for the unbelievable.We have ridden horses in Cody Wyoming,we Canoed in Waterton Natl.Park,and now Jeni did what she has always wanted to do,her bucket list sort of.....she rode the Zip Line!! She's a trooper..."me,ride the zip line",hey no way,but Jeni,she was game.The last leg of the ride was a challenge as she had to clime up to a high tower where she rode down over the river and she did it!
Here she is like a 747 coming in for a landing.



And Touchdown with a big smile.She loved it and would probably do it again.The gal that helped her was very nice To Jen and very helpful.


















We jumped over to Yo ho National park in British Columbia to see  what it was like.It was equally scenic like Banff.
















           
The Bow valley parkway is a back road from the town of Banff to Lake Louise with lots of forested scenery and wildlife a plenty.We took this road on our way back through the park.lots of bears!














BIG BLACK BEAR!

We also went to the ice fields in Jasper National  park.More glaciers and rocky mountains.














One of the many beautiful lakes in Jasper.

And the Waterfalls rival anything we have seen on our trip.














This is the Ice Field Glaciers.There is a visitor center snack bar and you can board a specially fitted tour bus to actually ride up on the Glacier and get out and walk around on it.












We had to check out the beautiful city of Calgary.We went to Stevenson walk where the Calgary stampede was in progress.The shops and eateries were buzzing with patrons.We opted not to go to the Stampede rodeo as we went to one in Cody and the crowds were big.but we got a flavor of the Calgary Stampede.







This is the Calgary tower in the downtown area.This is a big city and it was tough getting around but the good thing was they had bypasses around the city so when we went to Banff and back we took the bypasses and saved a lot of time.















We left Calgary and headed the motor home east on hwy #1.We had boondocked(no utilities) at our last RV park in Calgary for 3 or 4 days and when we drive the RV it charges the batteries....usually but we were losing amps like newspaper in the wind. Before we knew it we lost power on our dashboard including our rear view camera which is essential so we pulled over and checked it out.We decided to not boon dock in the next town, Swift Current and opt for full hookups (elec-water-sewer) at the RV park. When we boondock it is a lot cheaper than full hookups so we save a little moola for dinners and entertainment.Hookups average about $35 a night and boon docking(no hookups) average free to $10.We can only boondock for about 5 days as our water tank gets empty and our holding tanks get full so we have to dump and refill.
Our last stop before we left Canada was the whimsical town of Moose jaw Canada.A colorful and bawdy little mecca.Al Capone used to hide out here in  the backrooms and underground haunts in the downtown area.Booze flourished back in the Prohibition years and I'm sure Capone probably had a vested interest in the doings back in the day.
We stayed one night in Moose jaw and we headed south toward the friendly USofA.
Our elec.problems seemed to have repaired themselves for now but we will keep an eye on it as we drop south on our journey.
We loved our time in Canada and even though it was a little expensive there we were glad we visited our northern neighbor.We traveled through 3 provinces British Columbia,Alberta,and Saskatchewan.and saw some amazing sites.Next stop North Dakota but "OH CANADA! see ya.

Cody Wyo.,and Glacier National Park Montana

We are in Cody Wyoming and we were really surprised what a great place this is.Lots to see and do.
We stayed at Buffalo Bill State Park while in Cody.We hiked a lot of their trails and enjoyed the Sioux river which runs through the park.The sticks Jackie and Dustin gave us are getting a workout.We have been buying these little hiking medallions that you place on your stick.All the parks and national monuments are selling them now,their very popular,well at 5 bucks a pop between both our sticks so far,I figure we got about 80 bucks in them! But its fun anyway.Hey if hiking keeps the Doctor bills away its worth it.





Every day when we went into Cody

from the park,we saw "Bobs Big Boy" out there on the prairie all by himself.nothing else around and no big boy restaurant in town....what gives! I talked to the locals and their theory was...Aliens put him there.I think one of those big ranchers that live nearby had a "Big Boy hamburger fetish!"
We did a lot of things while in Cody.We rode horses,went to a rodeo,checked out the local Museums,went to some fabulous western dinner shows,shopped downtown,It was non stop.

 The Cody Nite Rodeo is very popular.They fill this place every night.We bought what they call the "The Trifecta".Its a chuck wagon dinner,western musical review,and the Rodeo.They must sell this same package to the tour operators because there were a ton of tour buses in the rodeo parking lot and half the audience were from another country.
My favorite was the clown in the barrel.He could not get one of those bulls to take a run at his barrel.It was a great night of entertainment.           
One of our favorite Museums was the Buffalo Bill Center Of The West.

It is dedicated to the life of Bill Cody.
He was a Rancher,a guide,and a Showman.This Museum spotlights his talents.It is 5 museums in one.Your entry fee  is good for 2 days because you can't see it all in one.
We took a scenic drive out of Cody on the"Chief Joesph scenic byway" rated one of the best drives in the USA according to the late Charles Karalt.It goes up into the Bear tooth mountains and loops around into Montana at Red Lodge Mt.At the top we ran into snow and lots of it....In late June! 

We left Cody and entered Montana.We made a slight detour to Billings to get the car fixed as our backup screen went black.Luckily it just needed an adjustment.We did some site seeing around the Billings area.

We left Billings and drove all day toward Glacier.We stopped for the night in Helena Mt.We stayed an extra day to play tourist.We checked out the city and the downtown area.They have a nice Museum dedicated to the old west in and around the state.It was a very nice.Very informative and a lot of history.Bill Cody,General Custer,Jeremiah Johnson,Butch Cassidy,and other famous outlaws roamed Montana back in the day.
Jeni loved this church in the downtown area.I think it was a catholic church,but it was old!

We finally made it to Glacier National Park.We stayed in St Marys on the east side of the park at a very nice campground.
The only downside here is they are working on the "going to the sun"road that runs through the park.The real bummer was you could not travel all the way to the west side because the road was closed 13 miles in.plus they had delays of up to1 hour at 2 places along the route.No animals were within 100 miles of that road so while it was very scenic,it was slow go.
Hey,you make lemonade out of lemons,go for plan B.

I talked with the Mgr at the campground and he told us to go a little north of St.Marys and there was another road that goes in to the park,Many Glacier.It went in about 7 miles but what a fantastic drive!
Glaciers all around,and lots of water.We also saw a herd of Big horn sheep while hiking.I think this was the true Glacier park.

We stopped by this beautiful lodge right on the lake.It was very European.
Jeni and I took a little hike around the area,had a nice picnic,and took pictures
It has been cold and windy here.The locals say snow is not uncommon.in mid June here.
One thing that has been good in Wyo.and Mont.is the lack of traffic.The highways have been a pleasure to navigate with the motor home.

Jeni and I spent the whole day in Glacier just enjoying the views and catching up on reading.
.all for now from Cody Wyoming,and Glacier National Park Montana.