July 20th. Today Val, Mike, Pam and I went to sightsee the Edmonton Fort. Amazing replica of the original fort built for fur trading. Back to the hotel late afternoon and then it was Auntie Derda's 90th birthday dinner. About 40 family and friends gathered for a great evening of excellent dining, speeches, and a few family secrets revealed in quizzes. Pam and George [View Full Entry]

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July 20th and 21st. Today Val, Mike, Pam and I set off for a three day tour of the Canadian Rockies, before returning to Kimberley (Anne and Michael's house. We spent two nights in the park at Sunwapta Lodge, which borders Jasper and Banff National Parks. The scenery is fantastic helped by excellent weather conditions. Saw many glacier ice fields, turquoise lakes, waterfalls, a black bear, deer, a hoary marmot and lots of tourists. Pam and George [View Full Entry]

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“The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” Known as the Calgary Stampede is simply an excuse for cowboys to have a great party! Nine days in July, it culminates in $1.8 million prize money being given away for the best cowboys in various disciplines. Of course it is also a great opportunity for the people of Alberta and Calgary in particular to show off their own brand of ‘something special.’ We are now recovering from our week of non stop partying and look back at our time filled with lots of Yahoo’s, Yeeha’s, dancing, laughing and meeting some wonderful new friends. [View Full Entry]

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July 22nd. Left Jasper NP and continued south through Banff NP on our way back to Kimberley. The weather was cloudy and wet initially then brightened to be a glorious day. Stopped at all (or most) of the scenic look-outs and spent time at Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Dinner at Radium Hot Springs then on to Kimberley to Anne and Michael's house. We will stay here sightseeing until Val and Mike leave for the UK. Pam and George [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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So, I'm sure you've all just been waiting on baited breath for my next post. Well you can stop waiting, because here it is! Woo.... It's my last day here in Calgary and I can't believe it's been nearly a month for me here in Alberta. I've had the chance to see a good part of the province, play tourist for a bit and been able to just relax too. I met up with Adam and Amanda in Kelowna and after spending the night with family friends of Amanda's we headed for her parent's place in Whitecourt, a couple hours outside [View Full Entry]

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Just a few pictures that show this patch of 'badlands' in the middle of the prairie near Hays, Alberta. Included are Rose with daughter Julie, and Grandkids Cohen, Brenna, Grace, James, Jadie, and escorted by Grandpa Don. Our daughter-in-law, Janine, volunteered stay home and to look after Julie's one year-old, Jaryn while the rest of us made this evening journey. The road in to this spot was really just a trail that was in places a bit treacherous with a soaking from rain the previous night. Deer were plentiful. The destination very worthwhile! Unfortunately we saw no ratllesnakes but it is [View Full Entry]

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Hi folks, Vanuit de levende metropool Seattle, aan de westkust, vertrokken we met onze huurauto oostwaarts naar de ruggegraat van het Noord-Amerikaanse continent: de "Rocky Mountains". Langsheen de "Rockies" strekken zich noordwaarts vanuit de USA over de grens met Canada een onophoudelijke reeks van nationale parken en UNESCO biosferen uit. Ons eerste doel was het internationale vredespark Glacier National Park (Montana, USA) en Waterton lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada). Toepasselijk genaamd "Crown of the Continent" herbergt het gebied een goedbewaard ecosysteem voor black en grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, moose,... en een kleurrijk geheel aan alpiene flora, azuurblauwe meren en gletsjers (alhoewel [View Full Entry]

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As we entered into Alberta we were surrounded by mountains that slowly gave way to foothills and big open fields with canola flowers. Seas of bright yellow spread for miles! Just before that though we stopped at Lake Louise and got the classic shot of us at the lake that was surrounded with more tourists than one could imagine just to look at a blue lake. It was beautiful don't get me wrong. There was snow still in the mountains and a chill of winter still left in the air as the sun shone upon us. I wished I grabbed my [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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