Day 318. June 20, 2014. Northward toward Alaska!

LOCATION:  Grande Prairie, Alberta in northwest part of province

WEATHER:  Sunny send nice. Highs around 70

We packed up from Jasper National Park and hit the road.  As we were leaving the park, we saw a grizzly bear along the road.  It is easy to spot wildlife.....just slow down when cars are parked along the side of the road, or sometimes just stopped in the middle of the road!  We also saw some mountain goats high up on a cliff, and a coyote.

We drove 250 miles northwest to Grande Prairie, through lots of pine forests, both provincial parks as well as commercial land.  Lots of logging trucks and oilfield trucks.

We will be staying with my aunt and uncle for about 10 days, here in Grande Prairie.  They have lived here for about 35 years.  My uncle is my mother's brother.  They grew up 300 miles south of here in the country near Edmonton.

The flowers here are so pretty.  This was taken in Lake Louise.  I think the flowers like the long days.

We had a nice evening.  Before we knew it, it was 8:00, and we were eating a nice dinner that Martha  prepared.  

At 10:30 we went to bed, even though there was this sunlit view from their deck

Day 317. June 19, 2014. Wildlife in Jasper!

LOCATION:  Jasper National Park in western Alberta

WEATHER:  Beautiful. Sunny, highs in 70s

We hiked on one of the trails in the park.  The trail followed a series of emerald-colored lakes.  We encountered two bears while hiking.  This was the first time we've been up close to a bear without being safely escounced in the car.  It was a little scary, but they were more interested in eating grass than us.

Then we drove to a picnic spot along a roaring river.  George had a peanut butter/honey sandwich.  I kept a lookout for bears who might have picked up the scent of honey.  George climbed down the rocks to fill our water jugs with the fresh mountain water.  He looked like he was going to fall in, and be swept away.  

In the afternoon, we drove to another hot springs.  It was so nice to soak in the pools surrounded by trees and mountains.  A lot of Europeans were there.  On the road near the hot springs, we saw lots iof big-horned sheep, and this big moose nonchalantly chomping on grass, not bothered by cars and people.

On our way back to town, we stopped in the Jasper Fairmount Lodge.  Like the hotel at Lake Louise, it is very high-end.  We met a couple this AM staying there.  They said it is $600 per night, but they got a "deal" at $400.  We had a drink on the patio overlooking the lake.  Really luxurious feeling

This little guy dined next to us

Back at the campground, George built a fire in the picnic shelter and cooked some sausages.  These shelters are so nice.  We relaxed and had an appetizer of wild boar pate which George bought in an unsupervised moment when we were at the gourmet food shop in Lake Louise. 

As we were eating dinner inside the camper, this herd of elk wandered into our campsite.  They were about 2 feet away from our door.  Amazing!

DINNER:  Jambalaya with some of the grilled sausages.  I added the rest of the  bell pepper and onions to use them up.  Quite good!

Day 316. June 18, 2014. Majestic Icefields Parkway!

LOCATION:  Jasper National Park in Western Alberta

WEATHER:  Couldn't be better! Sunny, highs in 70s

We packed up in Lake Louise and hit the Icefields Parkway.  It is named the most beautiful highway in the world.  We had a sunny day for the drive, too, making the mountains popping in the foreground.

This is a typical scene, with mountains, river,  snow and glaciers.

 We stopped for a picnic where a bear was running through the grounds.  We also stopped at the Columbia Icefields, but it was overrun by tourists.

We are giddy about the lack of rain here in Jasper with warmth  and sunshine.  We are staying outside of town in a nice, woodsy campground.  After getting set up, we put our damp clothes out to dry.  Probably look like country bumpkins!

We drove into town.  It was bustling with tourists and sporty-looking locals.  Several Canadian passenger trains arrive and depart here, with tourists connecting with tour buses.  I would love to take this train one day.  It has a roof dome to see the sites.

We went to the Jasper Brewpub for a beer and to watch the World Cup.  (At least that is what everyone else was doing!)

The hanging baskets throughout the town are pretty

We took another scenic drive in the evening, seeing bears, this caribou,

..and this elk

The days are so long that we didn't eat dinner until 9:00.  

DINNER:  Before this trip, I never bought too many canned meat-type products, but now I frequently buy canned tuna, chicken, sardines, corned beef, etc to have on hand. I invented this recipe that turned out well:  Pasta with clams.....I sautéed onions, leftover red bell pepper, and the rest of the frozen spinach.  I stirred it into a garlic/butter sauce.  At the end, I topped with a can of smoked clams and some diced smoked Gouda.  Smokin'!  

We went to bed about 10:30, and it was still light

Day 315. June 17, 2014. Hot springs!

LOCATION:  Lake Louise in Banff National Park, in western Alberta

WEATHER:  A bit warmer.  Sunny PM. Highs near 70

The day started cloudy again.  Here are the mighty Canadian Rockies soaring out of the clouds.

We took an all-day loop drive starting south on a scenic parkway in Banff National Park.  Then we drove through Kootenay National Park to Radium Hot Springs.  (We want to make sure we take full advantage of the Canadian National Park pass we bought!)

The natural hot springs were wonderful.  Very steamy.  We soaked in the hot pool, which warmed us up.  Hopefully the radon did not toast our innards!

We saw lots of beautiful mountains, mountain goats,  and waterfalls

On our way back, we stopped in Golden, British Columbia for a break.  We loved the town.....mostly young people who like mountain sports.  We had B.C. craft beers and a goat cheese dip.  Yummy!

Back here, we went back to Lake Louise.  Here is the lake with the glaciers behind.  It was much colder here, due to altitude and the clouds rolling in. We walked through the luxurious Lake Louise Chateau by Fairmont.  

We stopped at a mountain inn for a drink.  Really cozy with a fireplace.  It is fun to talk with the staff.  They are mostly college students here for the summer.

DINNER:  I really had to improvise on a hash brown omelette recipe I wanted to try.  The grocery here did not have frozen hash browns, so I substituted with  a can of corned beef hash.  This was the first time I used the convection oven in our microwave/confection oven combo.  It was essentially an omelette with the hash browns on top, then sprinkled with smoked Gouda.  It turned out well, but made way too much, so we will be eating leftovers.

Day 314. June 16, 2014. Rain, rain, go away!

LOCATION:  Lake Louise in Banff National Park, part of the Canadian Rockies in western Alberta

WEATHER:  More cold and rain. Highs in 40s

Since it was raining, we decided to do scenic car trips.  We visited the chateau/hotel at Lake Louise.  This is what it looks like on a sunny summer day

And this is what it looks like in winter

We had lunch in a village cafe.  Everything is super expensive.  We sat next to a woman, Fran,  who has been full-time RVing for three years.  

We drive to Yoho National Park which is next to us, in eastern British Columbia.  We saw lots of beautiful lakes and waterfalls.  All the parks have really nice lodges with cabins.  We stopped at this one to take a look inside.  The fireplace in the lounge area was cozy, and they were setting out afternoon tea.

The bar was cute, too, with mining carts on the bottom for a design.

I asked about the price for one night....$460!  

Bears are a big deal here.  Our campground has an RV side and a tent side.  The tent side is surrounded by an electric fence to keep out the bears.  The highways have overpasses and tunnels so the wildlife can cross safely.  Many of the trails are closed due to bear sightings.  George calls it Bear-anoia.   At the visitor center, we learned that this is more to protect the bears than the people.  They are trying to keep the bears natural, rather than becoming habituated to man.  We did see one grizzly along the highway.

We invited Fran over for drinks.  She is a professional photographer, and very interesting.  Always good to swap stories about interesting places to go, and campgrounds to hit.

The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow.  The constant rain is depressing!

I made the mistake of not grocery-shopping before we got here. Today,  I took my shopping list to the store in Lake Louise Village.  It is very high-end.  It is like a gourmet shop with a few staples.  Super expensive.  I ended up scrapping my menu ideas, and just buying a few things.

DINNER:  We needed to use the last 2 wieners, so I made a chili with them, and served like a chili dog.  Hearty, so hit the spot.

Day 313. June 15, 2014. On to Banff!

LOCATION:  Lake Louise in Banff National Park in western Alberta

WEATHER:  Cold and rainy. Highs in 50s

We packed up from Waterton National Park and headed northwest.  We drove on the "cowboy trail".  Lots of cattle in the fields.  The few ranch houses we saw seem very isolated.

We stopped at a historic site called Bar U Ranch.  It has been preserved in the style it was around the turn of the century.  We took a walking tour of the stables, chow house, ice house, and iron smith shop.  

People in period dress explained things.  It was very interesting. We had cowboy coffee with a lady who told us about the round-ups.  We learned that these chuck wagons were converted from old ambulance carts from the USA.

Unfortunately, the weather was cold and we got rained on.  This ranch was the largest Percheron horse breeders in the world.  They still haul the tourists around.

We were able to take a mountain road through a pass that had just opened up today, after being closed all winter. It was a beautiful drive.

We had planned to stop at a provincial park along the way, but the rain continued.  We decided to drive on to Banff.  We are in the town of Lake Louise, famous for its beautiful views and lakefront hotel.

By the time we got set up, it was 8:00, so we just had dinner and read.  We plan to stay here a few days.  Hope the rain stops.

DINNER:  Don't laugh....I had planned to shop today and had planned grilled chicken over the campfire.  We didn't shop, and it was not good campfire weather, so I dug into my back-up food box.  We had scalloped potatoes with jalapeño SPAM, with a side of canned corn. 

Day 312. June 14, 2014. Watery Waterton

LOCATION:  Waterton National Park in southern Alberta

WEATHER:  Cold and rainy

We awoke to a miserable cold rain.  The clouds were really socked in over the mountains.  It rained almost the entire day.  

We did a repeat on our scenic drives, thinking we might see different wildlife in the rain.  We saw a baby cub hiding in the branches of a tall tree.  Then, these big horned sheep appeared and seemed to want to run us down!

They were not afraid at all

We had lunch in a little cafe in the village.  It is so cute

We have thousands of prairie dogs running around the campground.  A British family camped next to us yesterday and their little children spent hours chasing them.  

They make big holes to hide in.  You really have to watch your step to avoid stepping into one

There is a red fox that runs around the campground, snatching 5-6 per day.

In the PM, we rented the old Robin Williams movie "RV".  It was hilarious.

Then, to end our stay, we visited the grand Prince of Wales Hotel which overlooks the village and lake. It was built in 1927.  

We had a drink in the lounge and enjoyed the view, which had cleared up.

DINNER:  Spaghetti in a pesto sauce with canned chicken, onions, and garlic.  I added a small can of peas and carrots, then topped with Parmesan.  I made Parmesan toast on the George Forman grill, too.  Yummy!