6/7/07 - Calgary Tower & Downtown

We had a beautiful day to go to downtown Calgary. Just before leaving the park we went to pay for another night since we had decided to stay over in Calgary an extra day. We found out that Dubuc's and us would have to move to different sites as the ones we were in were reserved for tonight. All three of us ended up moving.

We had to go get everything ready to move. We moved and Pat got his satelitte dish set up in less than an hour....think that must be record time for us.

We caught the light rail train from the south end of Calgary and rode it to downtown. Took about 30 minutes...sure beat figuring out where we should go and then finding a parking space.

Our first stop was the Calgary Tower. Elevators take you up 626 feet in 62 seconds to sweeping views of the city and mountains.

Standing on the glass observation deck.

Looking through the glass observation deck to the street below. You can see Pat's feet on the right.

Looking out over Calgary from the Tower.

Looking from the Tower at the Calgary Stampede Grounds.

The city's best-known event is the annual Calgary Stampede, "the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth," which takes place at the Exhibition Grounds every July

Flower baskets were hanging in the downtown plaza area that is blocked off to traffic. There were many eating venues throughout this area.

There were several cow statues throughout the downtown plaza....this was one of the more colorful ones!

The six of us @ Eau Claire Market

Cody & Addie hanging out on the couch last night...what a life!

They were in the "doghouse" literally when we got home today. They had proceeded to chew on the back of Barb's passenger chair while we were gone today. Don't know how we can break them of this chewing until they are finally past the puppy stage which should be anytime now....hopefully

soon!

We are headed to Banff tomorrow morning.

We just heard from our friends Ralph & Carol in Thayne, WY and they got 4 inches of snow yesterday. I'm sure it was very pretty, but they said it did quite a bit of damage to trees and also to gazebo's that were up.

It was in the 70's in Calgary today...everything looks so pretty and green. after the big rain they had on Tuesday.

It's 9:45 @ night and we probably have another half an hour before the sun goes down.

6/6/07 - A Rainy Day At the Motor Home

We had planned to take the light rail system into downtown Calgary today but due to the weather situation we stayed at the campground. It had rained all night and didn't stop until about 3:00 this afternoon, so we would have been wet ducks if we have gone anyplace! Richard & Karen had lost power from their inverter last night, so Richard, Pat & Joe worked on that throughout the day and finally got it to working. We have blown our breaker several times today so we don't think the power is the best in this park. Got caught up on laundry and my blog is finally current. We are going to stay over an extra day in Calgary and head downtown tomorrow. They are having flooding in Banff which is were we are headed from here so it is probably just as well that we hang out here for another day.

6/5/07 - Calgary Olympic Park

In 1988 Calgary hosted the Olympic Winter Games. The Olympic Park is about 15 miles west of downtown Calgary. The Park operates as a multi-purpose competition, training and recreation area designed for year-round use by both athletes and the general public.

Karen, Barb & Hannah on the winner's podium!

Once inside we purchased the self-guided audio tour which allowed us to drive around the grounds.

We were able to tour the Ice House, the Bobsleigh Track, the Ski Jump Tower and the Olympic Hall of Fame and Museum.

More winners inside the Museum

As we were getting ready to go up the ski tower there was a group that were going to do"Sky Lining" which involves putting on a harness and then hooking the harness to the cable that takes them from the ski tower to the ground below. This short thrill costs $49.00.

We had lunch at the Olympic Park and then headed to the SpacePort which was located out by the airport. They had a F-18 Jet Fighter simulator that Pat wanted to ride in. So it was off to the airport in our 3 Jeeps.

There were no signs as to where the SpacePort was and some directions that we were given were wrong and we ended up in the commercial vehicle area. After several people asking "what we were doing and that we didn't belong there" we were able to get out and into the short term parking at the airport. We had a good laugh over the fact of where we ended up and said we were sure that wouldn't be the last time we ended up in the wrong place. Pat did get to do the ride and thoroughly enjoyed his 10 minutes of being a pilot.

We ended up in rush hour traffic and had only been back to the campground a couple of hours when Calgary got hit with the worst rain storm in their history. There was a lot of flooding damage and lightning hit and burned one home. The highway that we had just come down hours earlier was flooded at most of the underpasses.....so once again God had protected us.

6/4/07 - Ft. Macleod to Calgary

We left Ft. Macleod and drove to Calgary, Alberta. No pictures today. The countryside was very flat and green everywhere. There were a lot of farms on the way today. There are a large number of cattle and horse ranches as well. It appears that the farmside is really well taken care of as everything looks so neat and pretty. We are staying at Pine Creek RV Campground just south of Calgary. It sits up on a hill and has very large green spaces between sites. No trees so Karen was liking that until her satelitte quit working. They were not able to get it up and running so that is always frustrating. Pat set up our portable dish and she will be able to use either ours or Dubuc's for her internet work. We really are depending on our satelitte dishes in Canada. The cost of phone calls from here is horrible....$1.20 per minute to the states.....so needless to say we won't be making any more calls than is absolutely necessary.

6/3/07 - Kalispell, MT to Ft. Macleod, Alberta, CAN

We did not mention that on Friday, June 1st on our way to Kalispell, MT that our lead motorhome (Joe & Hannah) hit a deer about 20 miles west of Missoula. Joe tried missing the deer by braking as hard as he could, but still hit it on the passenger side. It tore the light out and did some fiberglass damage, but all in all it could have been much worse. We thank God for protection for Joe & Hannah. Pat & Joe put duct tape on the front and we were on our way. Hopefully that will be the last of close encounters with wildlife! We left Kalispell, MT on Sunday, June 3rd at our usual departure time of 8:30. We taveled around the southern edge of Glacier National Park. At the summit we crossed Marias Pass (5,220'). This is the lowest point crossing the Continental Divide in Montana and a railway was built through here in 1892.

The 3 rigs @ Marias Pass.

Pat & Barb @ Marias Pass, MT

Coming up around the eastern edge of Glacier National Park the scenery was spectacular.

We commented "What are we going to see in Alaska that can top this?"

We crossed the Canadian Border @ Pt. Piegan.

The three of us were checked through in about 10 minutes. We had to show them the dogs Rabies Certificates and our driver's licenses.

They asked "Where we were going, how long will we be in Canada, do we have any alcohol or tobacco" and we were on our way! Pretty easy from some of the stories that we had heard.

Welcome sign to Alberta.

We drove to Ft. Macleod, Alberta and spent the night at Daisy May Campground.

6/2/07 - Glacier National Park

Forgot the Montana sign on the last blog.

We toured Glacier National Park on Saturday, June 2nd.

These are the Red Tour Buses @ Glacier National Park. They were the old 1930's buses that were originally used in Yellowstone National Park. A few years ago they refurbished them and started using them @ Glacier National Park.

We did not go on these buses (we like to take our own tours). However ,we were stopped on the Highway going to the park as their was a group of at least 7-8 of these buses that were taking a group of the Montana equivlaent of "Make A Wish" kids through the park.

This is the 3rd time we have been to Glacier and we have yet to be able to travel on "The Going to The Sun Road".

There was only 15 miles open coming in from the west as they were still plowing the road for snow removal. The eastern entrance was open about the same distance...so they still had quit a bit of road that needed to be plowed open yet.

This is the view that was waiting for us at the Visitor Center!!!!

Lake McDonald is a beautiful glacier lake.

I would have been happy just sitting on the shoreline looking at the beauty that God had displayed before us for the rest of the day!

But after a short time here we were on our way for as far as they would allow traffic to go.

There were streams flowing everywhere with the heavy spring run off.

This is the largest stream that we saw that was flowing into Lake McDonald.

Tomorrow we leave Kalispell, MT and head across the Canadian border.

6/1/07 - Along the River of No Return

We left Salmon, Idaho headed for Kalispell, MT about 9 am. Our travels would take us along the path of the Salmon River, known as "The River Of No Return". What a beautiful drive.

Our journey us into Montana over a high pass. The mountains were snow capped and very majestic.

At the top of the pass was a very nice rest area and information center. We stopped to pick up literature, which we really didn't need, stretch our legs and walk the dogs. Coming down out of the mountains we were faced with the Mission Mountain range. Majestic high, snow covered peaks.

Our next stop was a viewing area that overlooks the

Flathead Lake. This lake is approximately 20 to 25 miles long and appears to be totally surrounded by homes. I think there are more people living around the lake than there are people in Kalispell. It is a beautiful area with Pine trees down to the waters edge.

From Kalispell we will head for the Canadian border on Sunday and see what adventures await at the crossover. We have heard all kinds of stories as to what to expect and since they are all different, I'm sure that each of us will undergo different questioning by the border officials.