Al and I really saw the sights of Vancouver and area. The first day we went to the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) which is very similar to the Austin County Fair only on a bigger scale. Beverley flew in for the weekend on Thursday so we went to Seattle to pick her up. It was a good chance for me to see where I would be driving when I eventually leave Canada to go to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Needless to say no matter how long a stay -- a game of golf had to be arranged. The next [View Full Entry]

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I spent the weekend with Marilyn and Dave Humphries in Abbotsford, BC. We have been friends since we arrived in Medicine Hat back in July of 1977. At that time they loaned us pots, pans and dishes, and Marilyn’s car (affectionately known as the “blue bomber.”) We had rented an apartment until we could find something more permanent so our kids spent many hours playing with their kids in their back yard. We also spent our Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas dinners with Marilyn, Dave and Dave’s parents, who became my kids adopted grandparents. They made our move to a n [View Full Entry]

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I pulled out of Medicine Hat with a tinge of sadness. I know I won’t be seeing Jayne, Kev or the girls for quite a while. My trip to the Banff National Park Tunnel Mountain Campground went well. I even pulled out a lawn chair and read a few chapters of my book! I didn’t take any pictures of this part of my trip because I already have posted several. I have been through this area three times this year and I think I will always be blown away by the beauty. The sky was cloudless on Wednesday morning so I [View Full Entry]

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Jayne and Kevin had reserved a condo for a short family vacation at the Panorama Mountain Village Resort which is 12 miles out of Invermere which is at the southern edge of Kootenay National Park. The resort was built as a ski resort and has dozens of ski runs, from the very basic bunny hills to heli-skiing; for the small price of $4500/person you can rent a helicopter for the day to carry you repeatedly to the top of the particular ski runs that the cable cars don’t reach. Kootenay NP is south of Banff National Park and is usually a [View Full Entry]

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I was excited to take Carole and Brian to Medicine Hat. We had lived there for ten years before moving to Texas and of course Jayne and family are still there and Carole was Jayne’s Godmother. We only had one full day but packed in all we could. We went to see the world’s largest teepee, where we had lived, and we walked around “the Hat.” We enjoyed two lovely suppers with Jayne, Kev and family. Carole actually played a game of ten pin bowling and tennis with the granddaughters on their Wii. I got carried away with excitement and forgot [View Full Entry]

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We left the National Park behind and made our way to Edmonton, the capital of Alberta. I had been to the Alberta Legislature with Jayne, Kevin and family last year so I’ll just touch on some of the things I didn’t mention then. The Province of Alberta was formed in 1906 and named for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (I guess Battenberg), one of Queen Victoria’s daughters. The interior of the building is lined with marble brought in from Quebec, which must’ve been quite a task when it was built; 1906-1912. A visit to Edmonton wouldn’t be complete without a visit [View Full Entry]

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Early in the morning of our first day in Whistlers and just enjoying a cuppa tea, the crows set up a lot of commotion as they chased a coyote from their territory. The animal ran down the pathway right past the motor home, we would have been able to get a great shot but the guy next to us was busy cleaning his windshield so as soon as the coyote saw him he really sped up, so my pictures are completely blurred. We settled down to breakfast when we could hear a squeak, looked out of the door to see a [View Full Entry]

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We planned to take the gondola trip up Sulphur Mountain on Friday and awoke to clear blue skies. The gondola has been an attraction in Banff for a long time; we rode the original one back in 1979. A new gondola with Swiss built cars was installed in 1998, the cars are enclosed and can accommodate four people so we had a private ride; just as well as unknown to me Carole had never been on a cable car before! The trip up takes about 15 minutes. The views are magnificent on the way up, but are absolutely breath-taking from the [View Full Entry]

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It has been more than a month consisting of lots of activity and I have included a lot of photos, hope y'all don't get bored. I pulled into Medicine Hat on Saturday June 14th as schedule and enjoyed four days catching up with Jayne, Kevin and the girls, relaxing, and getting myself and motor home ready for my trip through the Rockies with my friends Carole and Brian from England. On Sunday morning we participated in a Father’s Day walk/run event at the local YMCA. Sarah and I walked, Kevin and Erin ran 5 kilometers and Jayne ran 10 kilometers and [View Full Entry]

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My original plan was to travel to South Dakota on I-70 through west Kansas, however there was a storm system that was heading west so I decided to go north and try to get over the top of the system. There road out of Kansas was great, I went through Belleville, Kansas and couldn’t resist taking a picture of the welcome sign and including it here—couldn’t take a picture of the town because there really wasn’t one! We think Bellville, Texas is out in the country--we are urban by comparison. My plan was to drive north into Nebraska and the west. [View Full Entry]

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