90...90..90..90 F every day

We have now left Great Falls MT behind us after a great boat tour on the Missouri River on Thursday. This must ave been a daunting sight for Lewis and Clarke in 1805-06. The Limestone walls rise several hundred feet above the water ( although they estimated the height at over 1000). It was 105 minutes in length and well worth the $16.00 pp charge. Friday ( yesterday) took us to Fort Benton which was the first recognised town in Montana. It was quite important as a shipping hub for rail, river and road traffic. Today it is a small sleepy place but with a great ice cream parlor. Great Falls is at an elevation of 3000 + feet and is classed as a high plain. Today we left the plain and river valley behind and entered into mountains once again. One pass was at 7300 feet. It is quite arid in this part of Montana, but snow capped mountains are just a few miles away. We are in White Sulphur Springs where we'll stay for two nights, then it's into Yellowstone National Park for a few days. The photo one the left is the entrance to Gate of the Mountains. If you look closely near the lower left side, you can see the small finger of water. That is the entry. More pics an be viewed at

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

It happened during breakfast

Well, if there was a convoy coming to meet us in Fort Benton we ain't gonna be there. The State fair is here in Great Falls this weekend and we have decided to stay for it. We will make a day trip to the fort tomorrow and on Friday take a river cruise at The Gateway to the Mountains. This is a river canyon that Lewis and Clarke travelled back in 1805. Stay tuned for continuing developments.

And on we go

We have found that the prairies really are flat but far from boring . There are 1000's of acres of various crops...hay, wheat etc. Some of the grain crops have been harvested already as shown by the top picture ( if it will post). We visited a couple of antique places on Monday which were somewhat different than some we've seen...a lot of old rifles and pistols along with saddles and bridles. Yesterday ( Tuesday) we took in the Lewis and Clarke centre, boy those guys really faced some challenges back in 1805. Around here there are 5 waterfalls they had to portage around...the largest being what is now Great Falls where we have been staying. Today we head off to Fort Benton for a night. The bottom picture is a hydro corridor across some of the farmland we passed on the way to the falls.....and I had trouble getting fence posts lined up.

Good-bye

to Alberta and to Canada for a month or so. As mentioned in the last post, there was a problem at the practice for the Alberta Airshow in Lethbridge on Friday. The CF-18 crashed and was destroyed. The pilot ejected and was taken to hospital with minor injuries. The show itself was good with a mix of WW11 aircraft and modern iron. Throw in a few guys jumping from really good airplanes with a nylon device on their back and aerobatic planes and you have a good afternoon of entertainment. We are now in Selby Montana for the night and tomorrow drive the 80 miles or less to Great Falls for a couple of nights. The weather has warmed up to the mid 80's and sun. That is expected to continue for most of the week.
I seem to have problem posting pictures with the blog, so if interested, go to the album pages.

Surprise....we ain't in Banff !!!!!!

Yes, we did leave Calgary and the next stop for two nights was Fort MacLeod. The tour of the original fort was very informative and the NWMP musical ride was good as well. It is performed by students, most of whom had not ridden before this year. Prior to going into town,we had done a tour of Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump. This is a location where the native people drove herds of buffalo off a cliff in order to obtain meat for their winter. It was a very complex procedure as in the beginning, they didn't have horses and relied on stealth to get in behind the herd and get it to the cliff.
Your map will show you we did not go to Banff etc as mentioned in the previous post........way too expensive and we had seen it on an earlier trip. We are in Lethbridge for tonight ( Friday ) and Saturday. We bought tickets to the airshow here tomorrow, however as CF-18 Canadian Forces plane crashed there this afternoon, just after we checked in at the campground. The pilot managed to eject safely, although we has bruised up. We are now waiting to hear if the show will go on or not. The plane came down nose first.....nothing left.
After leaving Lethbridge, we will be USA bound again, with the first stop planned to be Shelby Montana.
Check for photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Calgary Summary

Well, the Stampede is over for another year. I must say the first day ( Sat ) for us , was a bit uncertain. We were fortunate that we had a guide, in the person of Elizabeth Dube, Denise's mother-in-law. Not only did she save us from the frustration of the Calgary transportation system, she was excellent in getting us through the first day of the Stampede. We toured some of the buildings and grounds. The midway and concession booths make up a lot of the outside space. There is also a lot of free activities to partake in. After a day of walking the grounds, we went back to Yvan and Elizabeth's for a BBQ supper. We also left Brandy behind, after their generous offer to look after her while we "did" the second day at the Stampede on Sunday.
On Sunday, we got a little later start, as we had tickets for the finals of the Chuck wagon races at night. Upon arrival ( by C Train ) the Indian Village was the first place to see. It was a display of Native Teepee's, and various item of their lifestyle, both from the past and present. We also had a great show put on at one of the buildings, of skating by Elvis Stoyko, and a pair that won at the Olympics as well as many other great performers. Also, there was, in another building, a interesting display of horsemanship. The horses and riders were controlling cattle by not allowing them to escape out of a confined area. We also enjoyed a Bluegrass show. Later that night, was the Chuck wagon competition finals.....very... very exciting. This was followed by a great stage show of dancers, motorcycle riders and Aeriel performances. The ending was a dramatic fireworks display. During the night, a total of 3,300 pyrotechnic devices were set off.
Monday it was time for a "haircut" for Brandy after picking her up from the Dube's. We came back to the trailer for a bit of R&R until it was time to pick her up. Later in the afternoon we visited a friend from Shelburne, Kathy Marshall ( Mersereau ) and her dad Jim. After leaving Jim ( he is in a nursing home) it was off to Montana's for supper with Kathy and her youngest son Tyler.
Today ( Tuesday) is a getting ready day, for continuing the trip. The truck got an oil and filter change and a general going over. We head towards Banff next.

Yee Haw !!!!

Finally, we have Internet once again.
The last post indicated a BBQ was planned...well it happened and two of my brother's kids and some of their families joined as well. On the way to his place, we stopped off at city hall to watch some street performers, some of whom were very good. Monday we took in the Fort Edmonton Park, which is a museum of sorts showing the growth of Edmonton from the 1700's to the 1920's. They do this by having streets set up with shops and houses, as they would have appeared in the time period represented. The fort itself shows life from the very earliest times of the Northwest and then Hudson Bay Trading companies. We were able to sample bannock here, which is similar to a tea biscuit but un-risen as they prepare it in a skillet. Getting to the Fort from the entrance is via a early 1900's steam train. The ride back to the entrance can be either the train or as we did, a 1930s street car. Later that evening, my brother came to the trailer for dinner.
Tuesday it was off to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum. For those not familiar with this facility, it is a transportation museum, started after the WWII by Stan Reynolds. It is now operated by the Alberta Gov't. Only part of the afternoon was spent here as we were intending to return on Wed. Not only are there a terrific number of cars, trucks and airplanes displayed, but there is also several storage facilities that are not open on to the public. We were fortunate to meet "Dennis", a volunteer at the museum. He liked our charming faces and wonderful personalities and he took us into the warehouse (s), where we spent several fantastic hours being shown the future projects and some of the rare vehicles not on display in the galleries. These displays included a fully size mock-up of the Avro Arrow. Yesterday , Thursday had us arrive in Dumheller and take a visit to the Tyrell Dinosaur display. While it was interesting, I found it not to be as informative as Dinosaur Provincial Park. We also took a 43 km circle route called the dinosaur trail. As well as a 12% grade there was also one of 5 remaining cable ferries, in Alberta. Sorta neat and very slow. This morning we headed off to and arrived in Calgary. Tonight it's a supper at the campground and tomorrow the first of two days at the Stampede. A tornado warning has been issued for an area some distance from here. It's sunny and 70F now after a heavy rain an hour ago.
There may be pics posted later, although we have a restriction on the number of MB we can use.

Big Cities

From Dawson Creek to Grande Prairie, we both commented on how "normal" the trip was....no mountains etc. We saw mainly Canola fields and rolling hills. The wildlife sightings are also getting fewer. There were 2 Mule Deer ( big ears) and one fox. Also seen was a 3,000 lb. Beaver that was 18 feet high and about 20 ft long. In G.P. we had the chance to visit with Derek and Nancy, friends from Shelburne, that now call G.P. home. From there we stayed in White Court for the night at a very nice campground. Then it was Edmonton as our destination,
getting here on Friday the 9th. After settling in, we paid a visit to my brother's place and went to Boston Pizza for supper with him. Today ( Sat) was spent at the mall ...West Edmonton to be exact. It is as large as the last time we visited. They now have a hotel on site which makes a lot of sense as the place is immense. Tomorrow evening it will be a visit with my brother and his family for a BBQ at his house. Pictures to follow on the web album shortly.

Good-bye

to the Northwest. We are in Dawson Creek BC, where we checked in on Sunday July 4. On the 2nd, when we were in Fort Nelson, we visited a great little museum called Fort Nelson Heritage Museum. It covered all the "normal" stuff pioneer museums have, as well as a great car collection. This collection was started by and is still maintained by a gentleman called Marl Brown. He is also the founder of the museum and the curator. I had a very enjoyable 1 hour visit with him enjoying the oral history of many of the cars. He owns 13 of them and knows the history of the rest. We also enjoyed a film on the making of the Alaska Highway containing original footage taken at the time. The next day it was off to spend the night at Pink Mountain, bear in mind it was "gay pride day". Sunday the 4th we arrived at the Mile 0 campground in Dawson Creek. This will be our last stop in BC as tomorrow we will be in Alberta. On the way to Dawson Creek, we took a very short detour and drove part of the original Alaska Highway crossing the only remaining wooden timber bridge on the highway...it's called Kiskatinaw and is 531' long and curved.. Today a visit was made to "downtown" and a viewing of the mile zero milepost as well as the various murals painted on some of the downtown buildings. Before driving down there, we walked next door to the Pioneer Museum...funny how many things don't seem that old anymore

Bin bizzy

It should be noted that "up North" things are very different from down there. Virtually all lodges/roadhouses and most individuals rely on generators for power as well as TV and Internet. Telephones are few and far between and cell 'phones don't work. As a result, getting Internet service is a treat and is provided by satellite. On the 26th of June we left Whitehorse and headed to Teslin for the night. The 27th saw us get to Watson Lake YK, which has a sign post forest of city and town names from around the world. This all started when the Alaska Highway was being built and a soldier wanted to show how far it was to his home. There are now more than 63,000 signs including one we put up from Shelburne. We used a Frisbee from Fines Home Hardware and used felt marker to put our names on it. Check the photo album http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A. June 28 was the 6 month anniversary of this trip and we entered back into BC and dry camped at Liard Hot Springs, as the main campground was full. En route we spot 5 Bison, 2 black bear and 1 grizzly. The morning of the 29th had Sue put on er bathing suit and go into the hot springs. These are sulphur springs, so the smell ( weak) of sulphur was noticed. The temp of the water is from about 180F and up, depending were you are in the water. After getting out fully relaxed, it was off to Toad River for the night. gin, wild life was everywhere. 60 Bison (+/-), 1 black bear, 3 Stone Sheep including one young one. At the campground, there was a white swan and a moose.
For interest sake, there has been a Harley Davidson bike race going on. 1,000 bikes started from Fort Lauderdale FL. heading to Homer AK. There is one prize....., $500,000 in gold !!! There are check point along the way, where the riders are giver the next portion of the map. You must also sleep with your bike...no motels etc. One problem arose... the route was done on MapQuest...and NOBODY RODE THE ROUTE to prove it.
The last day of June was time to head north once again, this time to the NWT. On the way to Fort Liard again all orts of critters on or near the roadway. 4 Stone Sheep, 4 Caribou, 1 Bull Moose 1 Ptarmigan. We went through the highest pass on the Alaska Hwy. Summit Pass at 4,250 ft. We also traversed the longest Bailey Bridge in the world. We are now members of the North of 60 Club. The main residents up there are the Acho Dene tribe. We awoke this morning July 1st) to rain. The road from Fort Liard to Hwy 97 in BC is 113 miles long. On that trip down today, we saw 1 vehicle in the first 50 miles....not too busy. Oh yes, the view of wildlife today was limited to one bull bison 200 yds from the campground gate. The night is being spent in Fort Nelson BC