Geo: 45.7836, -108.505Sitting in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan we had a choice to make. We could turn left and head up to my old stomping grounds when I was an underground miner earning money for University- Flin Flon, Manitoba. Past detours that I've made into my somewhat foggy past have proven entirely unsuccessful- not only have some of my former hometowns changed dramatically but my somewhat faulty memory has left us wandering aimlessly looking for something I might recognize. Our other choice was to turn right and head back into the U.S. via Montana and, with a short backtrack, set up a visit to the legendary Yellowstone Park. On the way we could even stop at the site of Custer's Last Stand. Checking out the battle ground of one of the more notorious battles in U.S. history ... read more

Geo: 51.461, -112.707Back in the early days of her policing career, DH worked with a significant number of dinosaurs so she was eager to explore the former dinosaur playground in Drumheller. Theoretically this area holds abundant evidence (including a treasure trove of fossils) around the extinction of dinosaurs, but DH is convinced that many of them (including the relatively small brained Testosteronasaurus) survived the ice age. Many palaeontologists might argue that the sense of humour of a dinosaur started and finished with body noises which, again, would support DH's argument that extinction nor evolution has happened in all species.On the other hand, the sense of humour of the good denizens of Drumheller has evolved well beyond flatulence, and they've spread fibreglass dinosaurs all over town and, when we were there, they were just removing knitted wool ... read more

Geo: 51.1752, -115.573If I were forced to choose I'd have to admit that I liked Jasper a little more than Banff. It had more of the ski village/holiday town feel to it. Banff has grown into a small city (we counted 3 Tim Hortons to the 1 we saw in Jasper) and it did feel a little crowded at times. That said, the crown jewel of this part of the world, Lake Louise, is right next door to Banff.Because of its stunning setting, Lake Louise is a photographers destination in the winter and summer seasons. We were in between seasons so the lake was covered in the slushy remains of winter so it was not the right time of year to capture one of those magical hang-on-the-wall images. And apparently it wasn't even the right time ... read more

Geo: 52.83, -119.277We're just about to leave B.C. and DH has given me my camera back (the only reason I got it back before Alberta had to do with a close encounter with a black bear- even DH knew that this bear was demanding to be photographed). It's really too bad I couldn't get a few more shots because this westernmost province is one of the most spectacular photo op areas on the planet. DH doesn't want to spoil the surprise for the airlift of visitors that she is expecting once we do settle into our new Kelowna condo later this year. I used to live in B.C. some years ago and my job required extensive travel throughout the province. Either they added a few more lakes, grew some mountains, and added vast tracks of forest ... read more

Geo: 46.3525, -124.053We are back on the Pacific Coast Rd as we enter Washington and our big objective was to take Billy Thunder to the beach- not a road or parking lot next to the beach, but right on the beach- the longest driveable beach in the world. I assume that you're supposed to drive at a substantially reduced rate, but DH (where the 'D' stands for Daytona 500) had beach goers and seagulls scattering as she plowed through a number of sand castles while doing a number of high speed donuts in the sand. Much of the beach seemed to be set aside for the vehicles and most of the vehicles were 4x4's but every now and again we'd see some poor soul who didn't seem to understand the limitations of a rear-wheel drive family ... read more