All packed up for the road

Our around the world traveler,Lilo, will be joining us on our adventure..

View of the farm and rows of strawberries. They smell heavenly!

Yum!

John with Peachtree Center and the Westin in the background.

Cannot Pass up the See Rock City sign…Rock City is 90 years old this year!

Panorama of the mountains..

I am actually doing a red diamond! Haha!

The remnants of Fort Mountain Wall

Peacocks

More peacocks

Even more peacocks…

The town has one industry: Shaw textiles i.e.Mohawk Carpets. \240While there, Julie noticed there were a lot of Peacocks everywhere (Not live ones). In fact the main road, US41, has the nickname Peacock Alley .Like our highwaymen paintings that were sold on the roadside on US1, in the 1920’s and 30’s tourists, salesman and entrepreneurs would come to this region to literally buy thousands of Chenille bedspreads that hung on clotheslines in roadside stands.

The enterprising industry began with the tufting of one woman, Catherine Evans Whitener. Mrs. Whitener career began at the age of 12 when she saw a tufted heirloom bedspread at a cousin’s home. Determined to emulate the process, she worked diligently spinning her yarn and then tufting fluffy little tufts which she called, chenille. She clipped the tufts and then boiled the whole bedspread in hot water several times to shrink the cloth in order to lock in the tufts… She streamlined the process, taught some of her friends and the Chenille Bedspread industry was born. However, it did not stop there. The process expanded to mats, bathrobes and soon became mechanized. \240A one needle tufting machine became a 12 foot tufting machine and the carpet industry was born.Today, 90% of the rugs made in America are tufted and it all started with Catherine Evans Whitener in Dalton, GA . You go Girl!

Getting back to the peacock….The peacock was the most popular bedspread design.

Interesting fact…In 1916, ten bales of cotton was worth $1,000and one of every four bales of cotton that was grown in the U.S. was used in Dalton, GA.

We did did all the normal stuff had lunch and went in some shops too…

Dental report: Julie’s tooth is still not happy…..

John relaxing at campsite

Wish we were able to see the monkey beats a little later in the evening!

Scary Dino on the Dino trail.

Julie and John practicing to be Jedi!

The Jedi trail…These lights pulse to the music and shine different colors with the beat…They would be great on our lower living room wall….

This was not a \240Disney water show but it was still pretty spectacular to watch.

Neon Flamboyance! Yep that is a flock of flamingoes and these guys were real!

Just because ….the little girl looked like she was telling the giraffe to hit grandma in the head…

Cheek and the hotel struck a bargain and Maxwell House Coffee was born.( A side note- The hotel burnt to the ground in 1960 so we couldn’t take a picture of it.)

When President Roosevelt stopped to tour the childhood plantation home of Andrew Jackson, he also had a locally prepared dinner. The cook served him Maxwell House coffee. President Roosevelt declared that the coffee was, “Good to the last drop.” The slogan was born and marketing made Maxwell House the most popular brand of coffee in the US. \240Cheek Sr. sold the Maxwell Coffee Brand \240to Postum foods (Think Post foods) in 1928 for $45 million dollars! That figure in today’s dollars would be: $760,813,157.89 not too shabby for a ho-hum cup of coffee.

… because people needed to eat during the depression the family \240was insulated from the market crash and \240work on the estate continued. It is not as large as the Biltmore but it is huge. It originally contained 11 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. Cheek’s daughter, Huldah, donated the estate to the city of Nashville and it became a public art museum and botanical gardens in 1960.

The front facade

One of the many fountains on the property

The son’s “office.”

The real library

The drawing room

The grounds were gorgeous too…

I swear Magnolias are bigger here than Alabama!

The water garden..

This is a wisteria arbor…think, Bridgerton with all of the purple flowers in the springtime..

Another fountain

And just a cute bunny

The area of Nashville this is located in was completely dilapidated in 2017. Since the mural was completed this area of town is seeing a renovation.

Okay so we don’t know country music…but we do like Nashville

Notice the Batman building between the two middle trees.

Just because…

Courtyard of the Nashville Public Library! This place rocked! We parked in the library’s parking garage so Julie had to pop in.

The library’s ultra modern sinks

The Peanut shop one of the oldest family owned stores in Nashville located in the Arcade.

Loved this museum… didn’t realize that there are so many studio musicians that played for multiple bands and recording artists. \240It takes a village.

Just a Michigander…..

I’m not sure who the guy on the right is … oh I meant the left. So Tommye says the guy on the left is Chet Atkins. He was known as Mr. Guitar and created the sound that made Nashville and country music famous… John was so lucky to get to sit a minute with him!

John in the first mobile recording studio

Puckett’s BBQ for lunch …supposed to be one of the top 10 in the city…not. We will try again tomorrow.

The bat building

Just because

A selection of the bands…

Elvis of course

People

Partying

Overnight stop…we are on the road again tomorrow to Illinois.

Sunset at our campsite

were going the other way

National Quilt Museum

Paducah, Kentucky

On our way up to Rend Lake, we stopped at The National Quilt Museum in Paducah,Kentucky…

We had to drive about 1/2 an hour out of our way. John was not on board with the idea, but after a little cajoling, he came around. Happy we decided to stop!

My favorite

If you zoom in, all different materials…talk about color matching!

Amazing hand work

Up close ..

Huge hand construction..

Up close each octagon about the size of a quarter.

Up close hand work.

Gun Creek Campground Rend Lake, Illinois

Doesn’t look like much but Mahi with sun dried tomatoes and red pepper sauce

Staying at Lincoln’s New Salem Campground adjacent to the New Salem Historic Site.

Love what the locals do here… \240It seems as if everyone at the campground knows each other. \240It is like a local street party. \240Kids are everywhere running between campsites, riding their bikes, parents socializing… it should catch on other places..

In addition to the Historic Site, the State’s Official theatre is located on the premises. It is a a little open air theatre perfect for watching a local musical opening night performance under the stars!

Way back when, this was a musical starring Shirley Temple complete with soft \240tap dancing … definitely some opening night issues….loved the audience’s enthusiasm for their players!

Okay, so this was a Key West moment for Julie. \240When we were twenty-something’s, she longed to see the pristine clear waters and the white sand beaches located in the Keys. Reality - the keys are built on coquina rock and the the beach sand is trucked into private locations (there are a very few exceptions). \240What a disappointment when she learned that!

This was a Key West moment.

The Dickson Mounds Museum and parking lot was built directly atop the burial mounds. We were able to look at other mounds from a distance but the main one was air-conditioned. If you want to see the real cradle of North American Civilization go to Cahokia Burial Mounds UNESCO site outside of St Louis.

Paleoindian, hunter gatherer tribes, inhabited this region from 12000 cte -1000 ad. Which is amazing ! They were one of the first of the continent’s peoples that did not follow seasons or game for subsistence living.

View from observation deck. Dickson Mounds are actually 10 ceremonial burial sites.. only two of which are accessible by footpath. We tried to go to one down “Forgotten Road” and \240ended up in someone’s driveway

Maybe this is a burial mound?

Artifact

Cool grain barges on the Illinois river

Glad we decided to try \240Broadguage in Petersburg to get a Hot Chicken sandwich instead of in Nashville. This sandwich \240is a Midwest staple but one is enough even though it tasted exceptional!

• Spicy fried buttermilk chicken tenders
• Pimento cheese
• Red cabbage Slaw
• Honey brioche bun
• Homemade bread and butter pickles
• = Stomachache for Julie but it was delicious

Lincoln didn’t actually own a house in New Salem \240but lived wherever he could get a room while he worked at his various temporary careers: \240Shopkeeper, Surveyor, \240amd Postmaster. Basically, he struggled to find his path.

This little town only existed for about 10 years and Lincoln was here for 7 of them. It then faded away due to poor planning. It had everything \240for a time: Twelve log houses, two stores, a wool mill, school, tavern, and various workshops including a cooper and a \240wheel wright. \240The works!

School

Cooper’s home

However, even back then it was all about location, location, location. \240New Salem was on the end of a dead end road. It was up on a bluff and unprotected from the winter cold . \240The area was deforested to build the houses and, according to one of the re-enactors, a muddy mess. \240Petersburg, just down the hill about two miles away, was much more successful and by 1840 New Salem was vacant. \240180 years later it looks idyllic with the huge trees and paved paths. In reality, it was a little dirty backwater town.

We were unaware that Lincoln had only one year of formal education.

Eventually he ran across some books on law (where?) and found his passion. He became completely absorbed in them and brought his new knowledge into the \240debates in the local tavern. \240Folks were impressed and when he ran for the legislature the second time around he won.

This building was AMAZING for 1830’s. \240It was a Carding mill where folks would bring their wool.

The picture above was the Carding Mill Ox Turntable. \240This thing was huge! \240The Ox walked up into what was basically a stall and tied to the front rail. He had to walk to stay there because the whole thing was tilted.

The Carding Mill machine was powered by the turntable.They came up with this in the 1830s!! \240Amazing.

We couldn’t figure out what this was and had to ask. \240There were several throughout the town. \240It’s an Ash Hopper. \240Town’s people put ashes from their fireplaces into it with hay. \240Add rainwater and let it sit for a bit and out comes lye and whitewash.

Exterior facade of the home…

The “parlor”

The sitting area in the main bedroom…

Realize these two homes were only about 60 years apart in age….

Next we toured Abraham Lincoln’s home which was about three blocks away.

Lincoln and Mary Todd purchased their one and only home in 1844 for $1500. It originally had three rooms and was single story similar to the model below.

Over the next seventeen years they remodeled the home sixteen times. Talk about a nightmare! Lincoln had it easy..Most of this time, he was traveling the judicial circuit and was gone for months at a time. Mary Todd had to contend with the noise, dust and problems associated with all of the renovations plus kids!

Adding rooms etc.

To what you see here…complete with two stories, drawing room and parlor.

The Lincoln’s Parlor- notice how different the two styles were even though the age was not more than one generation different .

The wallpaper in Lincoln’s bedroom was positively scary!

• no indoor plumbing
• no electricity
• final plan- 4 bedrooms and \2402 stories.

Bottom line-The Washington elite and wealthy industrialists were already living in the 20th century and Mary Todd was trying to play catch-up.

Cider and Brew on a Sunday morning

Ugh…talk about a stomach-ache..just couldn’t do it.

Capitol …no one …anywhere

Still no one.. there is no life downtown..maybe that is why it is spotless?

it was weird…

Grace Bedell, an 11 year old, wrote to Lincoln and told him, “All the girls like whiskers. If you let your beard grow, the girls will tease their husbands and get them to vote for you.”

Lincoln grew his beard.

The Lincoln’s in front of the White House plus one.

Mary Todd… was from a large wealthy slave owning family…

She was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t:

She tried to fit in with the Washington elite..they wouldn’t have anything to do with her.

If she didn’t entertain and dress in the most up-to-date clothes, they commented she was just backwoods trash.

Some historians think she was bipolar.

Her only surviving son institutionalized her because she was spending an exorbitant amount of money on spiritualization and seances after her second son and Lincoln died.

Mary Todd dated Stephen Douglas. She decided to marry someone more ambitious and chose Lincoln.

The Lincoln’s did not discipline their children…. AT ALL..

Lincoln’s tomb

Silos

More silos

Still more silos

And on

And on

Crossed the mighty Mississippi today! It is huge even in Iowa. The picture doesn’t show but it was moving fast!

George Wyth State Park is a sleeper…

Not a park that will be high on our list. \240Still backwaters, muddy, no water, and lots of mosquitoes…Little to no Internet even with two Verizon cell towers at the other end of the park… and John had to work. Frustrating.

Fields of flowers instead of wheat and sorghum.

This is brand new regional park. \240It is too far away to drive into Minneapolis to sightsee but beautifully maintained. Trees are only about four feet high.

Next two days laundry and grocery resupply.

Mississippi River still big in Monticello, MN.

Lakes and Rivers are beautiful here in Minnesota!

Lake “beach” at sunset

One of the lakes in the regional park we stayed in.

Dinner- Mahi with kale, apples, onions chickpeas and farro.

Topsoil blowing off the fields

Another picture of the dirt blowing

Haven’t seen a dinosaur Sinclair station for years. We thought they went out of business.

Red River Rec Area used to be a neighborhood of 500 homes. In 1997, the Red River overflowed its banks and devastated the area. FEMA bought the structures then turned it over to state. It became a 1200 acre greenway smack in the middle of Grand Forks.

Our beautiful campsite.

The flood gate in Forks

A tribute to those who lost their lives and those who helped in the 1997 flood.

Just for fun

We see a moose!

On our way on a sunny day..just looking at this water tower would make Julie happy every morning!

Border crossing was nearly empty… they didn’t even search us. Julie guesses that we could be super G-MA and G-PA \240spies for the CIA.. we stick out so much in a crowd no one bothers us.

Made it to Canada!

Headliner for Indigenous Day Lunch be Concert … She was really good!

The iconic red chairs

Went on a River cruise… water is overflowing the steps.They have had some severe flooding and rains in Manitoba and everything is just starting to dry out. \240Our tour guide stated that the Red and Asssinboine Riversweee currently 11’ above normal. \240 Everything is muddy or dried out muddy. Local cars look like they have never been washed since winter…”

Cool bridge

Our campsite

Spinach ravioli,mushroom,and chicken cutlet in a white wine sauce..not too shabby

The marina.

How different tulips and trees just opening in late June.

A purple Martin tower that was actually occupied.

Some of the fishing boats

The lighthouse

Great restaurant for Pickerel

Today’s ice fishing \240boat

A sea of electric lines for miles

The story of Winnie the Pooh, the real bear, began in Ontario in 1914. Lieutenant Harry Coleburn, a young veterinarian who lived in Winnipeg purchased the orphan bear cub for $20 \240on the train platform in White River from a hunter. Colburne named the bear, Winnie after his adopted hometown. The bear travelled with Lieutenant Colburne overseas via packet ship and \240became the unofficial mascot of the Fort Garry Horse Militia Regiment

… Colburne spent months waiting to be called to the front lines and In that time he trained Winnie to be gentle to all humans.

When he was called to the front lines, Colburne found a spot in the London Zoo for Winnie. \240There Winnie gave visitors “bear hugs” by gently rubbing against them and allowing visitors to pet her. \240Visitors to the zoo adored her and she them. Colburne had every intention of taking Winnie back to Winnipeg after his tour but Winnie adjusted to the zoo and people so well he just couldn’t do it.

Two of those frequent visitors were Christopher Robin Milne and his father A.A. Milne. Christopher persuaded his father to purchase a stuffed bear for him. .He named his \240bear Winnie the Pooh after the sound Winnie made when she tried to rid her nose from flies by swiftly blowing out through her nose. Christopher Robin continued to see Winnie offer during his formative years and she was a large part of Milne’s inspiration for writing the tales of Winnie the Pooh.

Christopher Robin and Winnie.

And the rest is history

Random cool artwork

Awesome street tacos for dinner!

Happy Father’s Day ! We love you Papa John!

It was hot! 37c or 104f!

Le Moi sculptures.. A Ukaraian, he moved \240to Winnipeg during WWII and lived in the community until his death.

One of the many park buildings

Crazy sculpture . Not Le Moi.

.

Just coming into the park

Our campsite

John checking out the pines

Babbling brook behind our campsite

The Canola Fields

Rise that hides the valley

A hoo-doo

Lewis and Clark \240thought the River looked like milky tea and so named it the Milk River. It is the only river that begins and ends in the US, but meanders through Canada. It was the principal conduit for Whiskey trading in and smuggling during the 1860’s

The “tall people “ tribe of Blackfoot were approximately 7’ (men) and 6 1/2’ (women). They used this area especially during the cold winters.

Writing on Stone was occupied for thousands of years and the last picture was legally etched in the 1920’s, several pictures of model t’s by Bird Rattle.

Table rock is in the background ..

Table rock. It reminds Julie of Pride rock.

Looks like a fish but our interpreter and historians believe it to be a representation of the area:the two distant mountains, two coulees, and several Hoo doos.

The valley at sunset

Deer on our walk

Our campsite

Hoo Doos

Driving up to our next destination, Waterton National Park

Canada’s National Park mascot,Parkee.

Gorgeous views

Part of red rocks canyon…whole families were playing in the white water a little further upstream

You can really see how the fire wiped out the area in this picture

Gorgeous scenery..

John trying to give me a wet willie

Line of \240demarcation between US and Canada and yes they need to cut the trees every five years or so and the countries take turns.

We thought this would be the only bear we would see

Little deer grazing outside the camper.

Real black bear…we didn’t know it but all of the bears were out of hibernation only about a month and still staying in the lowlands.

Lake Cameron boy the mosquitoes were like vultures!

John is attacked by a bear ! Oh no!

Same black bear eating marigolds on the side of the road on the way back from the lake.

Brown? Baby grizzly?about 1/3 mile up the road from the black bear eating more marigolds…all the bears were out today!

Deer with baby antlers just coming in for the year back at the campground.

Spotted a huge beaver dam

What a guy!

Out in nowhere land towing the trailer down the gravel road…

The jump

The wolf skin the Blackfoot tribesmen wore

This details the story of the Blackfoot tribe and when the Buffalo disappeared in 1879

Buffalo skulls

Canadian Mounties and European hunters would fashion Buffalo hide coats like this one… They would skin the Buffaloes and leave thousands of carcasses rotting in the sun.

We left feeling a lot like we had just toured an exhibit similar to the Holocaust museum.. it was awe inspiring the courage these people had and so sad how greed just cut all the Buffalo down.

Dirt road

More dirt road

We finally arrived and met, \240Jim Mittelstadt, the current ferryman. Jim started the job at 75 and is now 83. He was born and raised a couple of towns over in Rosesale. He always wanted to \240be a ferryman and loves his job. He is going to work for two more years. He looked 65! Maybe 60! And was quite a character.

He has eagle, hawk, pheasant , falcon feathers in his hat. They are all feathers people have given him when making the crossing.

The crossing is open Late May-October and farm families on both sides of the Red Deer River use it all the time since it is another forty miles to the next crossing/road. He also said it is a tourist destination and we can see why. He is the main attraction!

Just going to meet Jim made the day worthwhile.
He said the wind/weather can get very bad and one time, the whole ferry was pushed four feet downriver. Luckily the cables held.Last week, waves were crashing over the guardrails.

Jim normally has 6-7 cars a day but sometimes it can be up to 20 or more. When it isn’t busy he fishes Gold eye and Walleye. He catches fish only on one side of the river and doesn’t understand why. Never thought we would have so much fun driving around the middle of nowhere Canada!

An old grain elevator we saw on the drive

The abandoned /turned museum Atlas Coal Mine.. one of the few things we did not get to

Dinosaur miner

We didn’t get on the river but it is a beautiful site

Picture before rain! It is supposed to be sunny and 80 next week! Ugh…

First fire and freezing!

Bow River Provincial Park-The Bow River was originally named because the Creek Indians would make bows from the Douglas Fir trees that line its’ banks. It was used in the 1870s as a primary means of traffic and commerce… Trans-Canadian Highway #1 runs next to it for a significant portion.

We thought this was a Big Horn Sheep- nope just a Mountain goat that is losing all its’ winter coat.

Elk on the way in to our campsite

Downtown Banff … we saw the highest concentration of US plates here. Had a great Elk sausage pizza with Kale \240and chili crisp dipping sauce at Three Bears Brewery downtown… crazy amount of tourists here not our cup of tea.

View from sitting on a bench at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site we were talking to Scott. What a beautiful view!

Cave and Basin National Historic Site is Canada’s first National Park.

Lake Minnewanka

John checking out the weather.. the only time I have seen him more attuned to the weather was on our sailboat,Cradle Song.

Our chariot has arrived!

Rode up with one of the workers named Leigh. She was from Ontario and said most workers are from Quebec or Ontario and Australia.. those Australian’s so like to travel!

Town of Banff in the distance and the Fairmont Hotel.

Bow River going through the town

Incredible open faced salmon sandwich with avocado and crème fraiche at the Sky Bistro up top.

Talk about a scenic view for lunch.

Postcard picture

Kids on tour playing for their supper on top of the mountain.

So this is a bonafide grizzly with tag and everything saw him eating dandelions and other tasties on our way down to Upper Kananaskis Lake to go fishing. He was enjoying himself so much he literally sat down in the wildflower/dandelion patch.

We found out that you can tell it is a grizzly by the big hump on it’s shoulders. A brown bear has German Shepherd like ears.

You can see his tag in this photo

Okay so here are more mountain goats standing in the road and licking the pavement.

More mountain goats

And more mountain goats.. we imagine locals get really very tired of them. The goats were principally standing down the center line of the road and licking the pavement.. we can only surmise that they were getting salt out of the raised/indented road bed in the center lane either that or mountain goats get a Rocky Mountain High off road lickor (liquor).. haha

Rock flour, fine grained sediment from glacial erosion reflects the blue sky.

Just liked this picture with the flag and the glacier in the background.

Finally the sun came out… okay saw some really whacky photo shoots and tourists here

1. Woman wearing stiletto heals trying to pose on rocks.

2. Man flossing his teeth

3. Woman wearing skin tight leathers (she almost fell into the lake posing.)

4. At the visitors center- Asian woman getting dressed in complete wedding gown and tennis shoes. Not sure if she was just going to just do a photo pose, get married or doing cosplay.

5. Julie is in a sweater and green parka. Asian woman in white cotton sundress \240with spaghetti straps, straw hat, sandals and sunglasses.. She was determined everyone knew she was enjoying her warm summer vacation.

Magical

The glaciers in the background

Look to the right and see the snow on the mountain peak!

The glass floor in the skywalk is 3 sheets thick!

Walking on glass

John is holding on for dear life! For those of you who don’t know John is afraid of heights and this is huge for him! He didn’t stay on the skywalk long but he did it! Go John!!

Looking down into the ravine

Another view

We were in awe by the vistas around every turn. Photos can never capture or do the scenery justice. The area around Columbia Icefield has winter season typically 8 months of the year. A normal season sees 30ft or more of snow per year. It snowed 10” last week. One animal, the Yellow Bellied Marmot hibernates 9 months of the year. Most animals including bears, elk, deer etc prefer lower altitudes. The Golden Eagle is the supreme predator here preying on Bighorn Sheep and Mountain goats.

Abathasca Glacier on the Columbia Icefield. It is receding around 30cm per day

This is the Ice Explorer.. only 20 of these are In operation in the world and 18 are in use at the Icefield. \240They are really necessary and not an advertising hype.. The Icefield changes daily and a geologist will certify whether it is safe to drive on and where the boundaries for tourists will be. The Ice Explorers needed to go down a 30% grade in order to reach the glacier and cross a runoff stream.. our tour guide said to buckle up and she wasn’t joking .. Although we were going very slow it felt like we were hanging.

The snow/ice was really blue

Hold on! The wind is picking up!

John is loving it!

A short video of the glacier

Napi and the Big Rock

Napi had cheated someone out of the nice buffalo robe he was wearing as he trekked northward with his pal Coyote. Napi had played tricks on so many other creatures the Sun and the Wind thought that they would play a trick on him. The Sun shone very brightly making Napi hotter and sweatier and the robe heavier. When the robe got too heavy to wear

Napi asked Coyote what he should do with it. “Why don’t you give it to the Big Rock?” said Coyote.

So that is what they agreed to do. They went over to the Rock, praised the Rock, and Napi made agift of the robe to the Big Rock. No sooner had Napi and Coyote headed off again when the Wind started blowing very cold air. Napi began to think he should have kept his robe. He tells Coyote to run back and take the robe from the Rock. Coyote doesn’t want to have anything to do with taking back the robe.

So Napi goes back and tells the Rock that he has come for the robe. To which the Rock replies, “You gave the robe to me.” Napi responds, “What are you going to do? You have always been here and are going to stay here. I am going to be on my way.” Napi takes the robe and heads off again with Coyote reluctantly by his side. All of a sudden Coyote hears some noise and looks back and sees the Rock rolling after them. Coyote and Napi become quite startled at what is going on and the two of them start to run.

Rock rolled faster and faster toward Napi and Coyote.

Napi asks squirrel to stop the rock and squirrel agreed.. but rock ran right over them.. that is why the area has ground squirrels instead of tree squirrels because Rock pounded them into the ground.

Napi now asked beaver for help.. Beaver agreed but Rock just ran over his tail. \240(The isnt our picture, we still have only seen a dam).

Finally Napi asked Swallow to help him and Swallows pecked and pecked or in other stories pooped and pooped until Giant Rock split in two and Napi escapes.

These are the rocks where the story originated. Nature and erosion are still splitting the rocks.

The speakeasy.. was behind a false wall and completely opened up to a beautiful patio area behind the screen.

Our flights.

Our prohibition hostess progressed from being a teetotaler to fairly soused as the tour went on!

Yep!This was amazingly delicious but Julie still cannot eat sausage! Ugh

Old Combine tractor

Chuck wagon

One of the barns

Back again.

Midway

Just having fun in the Nutrien Arena

Cutting Horse competition-the \240horse has to keep the cow from going back to the rest of the herd. It is harder than it looks.

This was a HUGE bull

Mounted troops

We also saw Calgary Theatre’s Emerging Young Actors’ presentation of the Merry Wives of Windsor.

Lilo in the post office

Main Street with Mountie walking down it.

John in “jail”

Ferris Wheel and Merry-Go-Round

Camp kids have to dress up in order to attend the week. They sleep in the barn converted as a dorm and each day attend presentations and do experiences from all of the different jobs.

People working in character.

Loved the grain elevator.

More from the Stampede!

Ha!Ha!

Stock dog competition was a lot of fun. \240The dogs have to follow a preset path to drive the sheep around 3 barrels and a fence. Sometimes the sheep just don’t want to go and the dog gives the sheep a “grip” a fancy word for bite.. the dog gets disqualified but boy it was worth it.

Picture from the bucking horse competition. We also watched the bull riding, barrel riding and bull roping.

CS also has a huge pow wow

Heavy draft horse competition

For Tommye… no we didn’t eat donuts, fried onion blossoms, fried Oreos but CS had it all.

Wow amazing fun

Bull riding

Made it to the furthest North location on our trip.

Check out the daisies

And the elk in our campground

Mama Bear had two babies only one is in the picture. \240They were having sooo much fun romping in the field and climbing the tree in the foreground.

Tiny orchids

So this is a bear right near the side of the road

AND here is the Bear Jam.. there are signs everywhere not to feed the bears, get out of your car etc. people are so stupid.

More Bear Jam

Really beautiful Alpine Roses

Maligne is French for “evil” or “wicked.” Father Pierre-Jean de Smet, a Belgian Jesuit Missionary, used the word to describe the river after \240having trouble crossing it on his horse in 1846.

The lake close to the 5 glaciers \240that feed into it is a bright blue green color. The farther you get from the lake, the more normal green it becomes. \240“Rock Flour” pours off the \240glaciers and reflects the blue from the sky as the silt settles on the bottom of the lake. \240If it is churned in a river or lake, the water will be a white color until it settles.

Indigenous tribes called these 7 mountains the Hall of the Gods. They believe that if the gods came down from earth, they would sit here.

Maligne Lake and River feeds into the Arctic, Hudson Bay.

The record cold on the lake was -56c or -70f. The lake typically freezes completely over to a depth of 10 m. A freight train could drive over the ice and not break it. However, brook trout and shrimp survive to breed. \240

Spirit Island

Having lunch beside the Maligne River

Maligne Canyon

More red chairs

Sunwapta Falls

Down the road… we are now at Pinegrove Campground.. It is not pristine, secluded or photogenic but John is sitting next to me getting something done. We have hamburgers cooking on the grill and all is well.

Working day.. made quiche, spanakopita, oatmeal scotchies and scones then off to do laundry

Our new campsite at Pinegrove Campground,McClure.

2nd stop the Gray Monk - wow what a view of Lake Okanagon. We had a nice cheese tray complete with Blue, Camembert and ? \240and a couple more glasses of wine . Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir were the winners!

Our first lunch!

The view!

Where Gray Monk had old world charm, 50th parallel rocked modern from the menu to the decor. We had oysters on the half shell and shrimp cerviche. Chardonnay was the winner!

Lilo in the vineyard

Intrigue was our next stop.. this is a Lille mom and pop… wines were not as good but they were very reasonable so we purchased a light white and a chocolate bar .

Next and last stop was across the street at Peak Cellars.. wow saved the best for last. Rrelly pretty building with the bar shaped like an oak keg.. the grounds had a stunning view of Lake Okanagon. We purchased a Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and a Chardonnay.

The vineyards

Our haul…

Lake Kamloops

Wild Horse sign in the reservation..

The First Nations people appear to keep their forests thinned out and consequently they looked much healthier!

Fraser River \240Canyon. \240Pictures just can’t do this justice. \240

Not running on empty!

A pretty waterfall taken going 60mph and cropped

Bridge ahead

Maybe they are made of wood to replace quickly if they wash out? Julie missed taking the one lane tunnel and the” watch for Grizzly Bear”sign. Like we weren’t having enough to watch for.

Here come the Pacific Mountains and the hair-raising part of the drive!

Just one bumpy section! Watch the video and the truck! Our cabinets stayed on!

Time to check the seat belts!

So worth it

At the campfire!

Move over Edward and ET, the Cooke’s love your forest as much or more than you do!

Fun at Shannon Falls!

Look at the plume!

The wharf…when we left it was around 65 degrees.

Everyone bundled up to go out!

On our way!

One of the islands near Victoria!

A \240fishmongers stall

Okay so this was really different and cool.. Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site, which was located next to the wharf , was having a special day and booths were set up outside for kids and adults to participate in activities.

One of the activities was SCRAPING FISH SKINS and then tanning them.. this was once a very common way to make leather

Fish skin leather

This is what a sockeye salmon actually looks like, for those who have never seen a whole fish.

Notice the name on the machine… the area wasn’t racist or anything. One of these machines would replace 30 humans on the line and this cannery had 3 of them.

Gut and chop off fish heads

John feeding the fish into the gutting machine

Fillet and boning

Out pops the can. from here tops are put on and the can is pasteurized..

Women worked in the freezing cold with their kids from sunup until sundown… it was a crazy dangerous environment that makes the sweet ships in London look like a peaches and cream job.

It’s a big one!

Cannot ask for a more romantic setting Okanagon wine, crab, French bread, and corn under the huge pines.

Look at this root system plus the \240blow down! \240The \240trees are still growing even with all of the moss!

Bearded tree!

View from the lake

One of the forest tree trunks

People enjoying the warm weather at the lake “beach”

An exquisite campsite! The campground office had a notice of Santa Claus asking a little girl what she wanted for Christmas. The little girl replied,”A dragon!”

Santa said, “ That is really difficult.. what is your second choice?”

The girl thought about it and asked, “How about a camping reservation at Porteau Cove?”

Santa groaned, “What color dragon do you want?”

This sums up the fabulous campsite!

We didn’t do a whole lot of running around but chose just to enjoy the view with several campfires and dinners.

John enjoying the view

Sunset at the campsite…John was playing with editing the picture but \240it looks great!

Our other view

The rock mover, Julie has a thing for standing in front of big vehicles this trip!

Our guide directing our little mine train

Diamond drill which used water and air compressor to power it. Yes it was LOUD and our guide said that they often had 30 drills going at once.

The softball size rocks would start at the top of the mine and drop levels after being crushed and pulverized. The factory was ungodly loud …when the rock dust was ready, workers would fill large wooden troughs with water and pine oil. The copper would float to the top, They would take this slurry and make cakes and then smelt t.

Rock/copper was ground on top floors, floated, caked and then smelted. The runoff went out into the bay.

Building was built right into the rock

It doesn’t look like 20 stories high but it was huge. Building had over 14.000 window panes.

Panning for gold

All done for the day!

Our new home

Part of team Canada’s competition.

John having fun before the show

A food truck

Another cool one

The Snow Birds performing

Part of the crowd

Part of team Spain’s show

Eagles do not get their white heads until they are mature..

Divot having a ball

After whale watching, we went to University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens. It was so hot, we felt like we were melting. We did not stay as long as we had planned. But we did walk under the canopy of Cedars and Redwoods while there. Some of the trees were several hundred years old.

This Golden Redwood from China was once thought extinct. Now it is grown in over 400 botanical gardens all over the world.

Just a pretty daisy

We are melting!

This is one flower!

John checking out a split cedar tree! Some trees had 2 or 3 varieties all twined together.

Stopped for a cold beer across from Kitsano Beach.

Squamish means “ mother of wind” and it isn’t unusual for Howe a sound to have 30-50mph winds.. the sound also has 18ft tides

Cleaning our fish in the camper… ugh

Fresh fish with peach salsa

Glacier fed river

Rock overhanging roadway

Look at that great airstream!

Former volcano

Pine sap just glistened in these pinecones

Wow what a view!

We also went to the National fish hatchery.. they were working on counting Chinook salmon and getting the fry to release in October.

Tiny fry already learning to jump

Monster trout in the kids’ fishing pond..

Stuffed Animals in Hank’s grocery store in Twisp.

Real craziness… pinch to enlarge ..really ?

Really?