First of all I'd like to say: Happy Birthday Sean!

Seems that my "baby brother" is turning 40 today. Hope it's a good one and I wish I was with you to celebrate!

We're still in Jasper. We were told to get up early and drive out to Talbot Lake in order to spot some wildlife since they go into shade during the afternoon. We got up at 7 to drive out there to spot the elusive moose that is supposedly living there. On the way, Monica spotted something in the river so we stopped in a clearing and walked to the edge of the river and saw a herd of elk, with 9 babies, trying to cross the river. They were on some kind of sandbar, contemplating their next move when, all of a sudden, they started leaping into the water, one by one. The current caught many of them and they started drifting down the river, whelping. We were surprised that they eventually regrouped, got their bearings and made it to shore.

Afterward, we hiked Maligne Canyon, which was beautiful. It took us about 2 hours to make it to the end where Monica bummed a ride for us from what she thought was a shuttle, but turned out to be a charter of some snobby Illinois woman. She reluctantly gave us a ride back to the parking lot since it was on her way. Monica gave her money to "go buy herself some ice cream"  after she dropped us off.

 Maligne Canyon

 Wildflowers along Maligne Canyon

Next, I'll tell you how we spent our evening, but I'm running out of time again....

Pond filled with ice

 Angel Glacier

Today we made a trek to the Edith Cavell mountain base where the glacier is falling off in chunks. The road to the base of the mountain was slow-going and rough.I had never even heard of Edith Cavell, but she was a British nurse who helped allied prisoners escape and was executed by the Germans during World War One.

Then we drove over to Pyramid Lake and Pyramid Island, just north of the town of Jasper. We spotted one elk along the road, but she got away before I could photograph her. Doug told us we could see more if we get up early tomorrow and drive up to Talbot Lake and see them when they are feeding. Also, a moose has been spotted there as well, so I'm hoping to see one soon.

Monica at Pyramid Lake with Cavell Mountain in the background.

Afterwards we had Thai food for dinner. Let it be known that French-Canadians can not prepare Thai food. We are sad to be leaving here. Monica wants to come back and take a 5 day horseback ride to Tonquin Canyon. Unfortunately, we can't do it this time around.

We decided to take a day off the bike, hang around town, and relax and pick up some last minute souvenirs. We are trying not to think about leaving here. We keep pushing our departure date further and further away. Besides, the weather has been fantastic. Probably almost a little too warm, but we understand that everyone else is either having a heat wave or is being washed away by rain. I guess we can't complain.  Totem pole by the train station.

 Jasper train station. A LOT of trains go through here.

Glad we like trains.

 Myself and Monica with Jasper, the town mascot. Taken at 9:45 at night. This place is making us night owls.

 We thought we'd try a different place for dinner and headed to the De'd Dog Pub where I sampled some Canadian beer. Another reason we like Jasper so much is that we keep scoring free food. Monica's sandwich was, unfortunately, served with a bun going a bit moldy and the owner was so mortified that she gave us both our dinners for free after apologizing profusely.

  Monica enjoying a minute out in the central park where people hang out in the afternoons.

We went back to our original B&C with the malamutes. We'll be there tomorrow night as well. We are considering staying until Friday because there is so much more to explore here and we hate the thought of having to head south to go home. We want to be out of here before Canada Day on July 1, which I guess kicks off the season of madness here in Canada.

Until next time.............

We keep being told how lucky we are to have such wonderful weather. They had rain for 2 weeks before we arrived. Last June they had rain for 45 days straight.

 Today we rode up to Maligne Lake and rented a canoe and paddled most of the afternoon. The Maligne Lake is the largest glacial fed lake in North America so it's a beautiful blue-green. Monica had not canoed very much, but she did really well. We had a wonderful time. The lake was amazing and the backdrop was stunning. We didn't want to go on the big speed boat with the rest of the tourists. We picked up fresh local cherries and a sandwich from the local deli and had a picnic along a solitary shore. We asked the guy at the dock if there were any bears to worry about. "Oh, no, not around here...oh, well, no, I take it back. There was a grizzly spotted on shore a few days ago. Just stay on the right shore."

Somehow, we did not find comfort in this, but we had lunch with one eye over our shoulder the whole time. We were told to make a lot of noise when hiking or around bear areas so Monica would occasionally yell out which gave me the feeling of having lunch with someone afflicted  with Tourette's.

  How can you resist this view??

 A perfect lunch spot.

We had to take up temporary residence in a different B&C tonight, but are planning to return to Anne's tomorrow and Wednesday night because it has much more charm. We went back to Earl's for  Monica's birthday dinner and drinks. She tried something new: a raspberry crush martini after her Mr Tea.  Oops, almost gone!

Afterwards, they gave her a decadent dessert, a chocolate toffee pudding cake.

My big thrill for the day was meeting a real Canadian Mountie!

 Me and Constable Andrew. The only thing missing was his steed. Oh well, can't have it all. He told us how easy it would be for us to become Canadian citizens so we may look into it! We love Jasper. However, we did find out, today, that the snow is not the big problem; it's the 30 degrees below zero that seem to make life difficult.

Monica tells me she had a great birthday, but I can't promise to drive 2500 miles every year to celebrate. That's it for today.

Go back and view the pictures I finally managed to post on the previous entries. Go, now. Do it....I'll wait.

Ok, fine, did you see them? Nice huh? Don't you wish you were here? This is our mascot, Bear. He's been hanging on through all kinds of weather since Virginia City, NV. His kerchief needs to be mended though.

We left Canmore yesterday after spending some downtime at the hostel, catching up and regrouping and washing out our socks. We drove into Banff and spent the afternoon wandering around town, picking up postcards and bawking at the 89 cent price for postcard stamps. Hence, you will not be receiving any postcards. Consider this your card. We had lunch at some joint called Wild Bill's. Banff is pretty touristy so we weren't so excited to stay there. Just as we were leaving, Monica (literally) ran into Edward and Jane again on the street. Our guardian angels are following us. We drove  through the park and went to Lake Louise after checking into the hostel. The hostel was much busier than the one in Canmore and we ended up in a 5 bed dorm, but only one other person. We drove up to the lake in the evening and saw the throngs of people, Many were canoeing, but Monica thought it felt too much like Disneyland. All that was missing was Davy Crockett. We headed to the lesser known lake called Moraine Lake where we chatted with the canoe rental girl who gave us the lowdown on the bear situation. We are a little freaked out about the grizzlies and all the advice we've been given: hike in groups, carry a bear bell, don't carry a bear bell, Bear bell=Dinner Bell. Stand up to the black bear, Submit to the grizzly. Egads, I think if I ran into either of them I'd drop dead anyway.

We went to bed late (again) because the freaking sun never goes down here and it's up in 5 hours. It's ridiculous. Even now, I think it's like 11pm and it's still light!! Our roommate stumbled in around 3am, rooted through her luggage and dropped empty beer bottles everywhere. We finally got the 20+ female we thought we'd have. We'll take the 60 year old man back any day. Oh, yeah, we ran into him again too. Monica yelled across the restaurant, "Hey, there's the man we slept with last night!" Nice. Thank god everyone here speaks French and they didn't understand her. Then, the roomate woke us up at 6:30 with her stupid cell phone and then proceeded to root around in her bags again. Did she not see us in the room? I thought she was going to sit on Monica's bed and finish getting dressed. Monica said to me, "OK, I think I'm done with the hostel experience." Yeah, me too. I'm a little old to be climbing into the top bunk like I'm at sleepaway camp. 

Then, of course, it's tire check day so we checked the air in the tires with Cousin Bob's fancy tire gauge and, because both of us are so freaking inept, we let all the air out of the back tire just trying to check the pressure. We knocked it down from 41 lbs to 19 lbs. Geniuses. Bob made it look so easy. So, evidently, the air machines at Canadian gas stations have different valves! Hey, but it was free. Free air that you CAN'T GET INTO YOUR TIRE!! We blew brake dust all over each other for 30 minutes before suddenly, out of nowhere, comes a guy on a Goldwing and wonders why  we are both lying under our motorcycle. Dorks. Even he can't use the pressure machine and he let the rest of the air out of our tire!! Thanks for nothing! So, you think there are a lot of service stations  in the "town" of Lake Louise?? I assure you, there is NOT. We carried the bike to the only other service station in town and PAID for air and actually got it into the tire. Miracles of Miracles.

We stopped at the local deli to pick up sandwiches to go:   No, thanks, I'll just have a diet Coke..

 Another self portrait.

On the road again....We took the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise to Jasper, Alberta!! Yay!! We made quite a few stops along the way. The highway was beautiful and we've seen some of the most gorgeous scenery.

Monica spotted this view and noticed the reflection of the mountains in the lake.

 Peyto Lake. That really is the color. The glacier run-off gives it a turquoise color that I've never seen before.

  Monica gets a better view of Sunwapta Falls, another stop along the Icefields Parkway.

We stopped along the highway at one point and ran into a group of riders from Calgary who gave us all kinds of tips about making a route to get home.  (Home?) They said the best route is through Fairbanks, Alaska. We're not sure we have enough time for that. We have, for now, abandon the hostel idea. (out goes the tent, out goes the hostels...geez we're fussy) In Jasper, a lot of the residents open their homes as sort of a bed and breakfast, sans breakfast. More like a bed and coffee--a B&C. We found one and booked it before we arrived here. Simple, cheap, comfortable. They have these amazing Malamutes, Bubba and Takota. They are gorgeous and look like the sled dogs in that movie...what the heck...? Yeah, this one....  They look like this guy.

Anyway, they're cool. So, we're happy with our accomodations. The fences all around the house are made with upright skis because the guy runs a ski shop. It's quaint. We can walk to town and have dinner and drink like the big girls. We don't drink if we have to take the bike anywhere for dinner. We love Jasper. We want to stay here forever...or until it snows... because it snows like a son of a buck here. Canadians are really great. We love 'em. We had a great dinner and drinks at  Earl's tonight, a place Anne, our hostess recommended. Good deal. On our way out, Monica mentioned that she wanted to come back and have the decadent they were offering: chocolate toffee pudding cake..She wanted to go back for her birthday, which is tomorrow. (So long, sweet youth) They handed her a $25 gift certificate! Guess we're going back! Besides, they had these killer specialty drinks called Mister Tea: vodka, passion fruit liquer, earl grey tea, and fresh lemonade. These go down too easily. Yes, Emilia, she's back to the sissy fruity drinks! Someone else enjoyed a couple as well.

Well, that's all the news for now. Oh, by the way, I've been looking high and low for what I thought was the provincial flower, the Wild Rose. What I thought was the provincial flower was actually an Indian paintbrush, which Monica knew, but was too kind not to mention. It looked SO MUCH like the Indian paintbrush in California. So, for you novices who don't know the official flower of Alberta, Canada it is:

 This

NOT this:  

Of course, the similarities are astounding. Anyone could make the same mistake.

Ciao for now!

Silly Americans signing off!

Day 9 June 23

Left Glacier Park and headed north to cross the border into Alberta, Canada. I've never been to Canada so it was kind of a thrill. Monica can't believe I've driven her here 2000 miles on the motorcycle. We stopped in Pinscher Creek, the first town we came to across the border and grabbed a couple sandwiches and some Canadian currency. People here are incredibly friendly. As we were leaving, we detected a few raindrops, so we donned our rainsuits. It was the first rain we've had since we left home. We got into some heavier rain out in the middle of nowhere on these country roads, 50 miles from  the nearest town. One of us decided she didn't need a face shield with her helmet because she doesn't like to be closed in, while the other one badgered her for 6 months about getting one. Now, it became clear on why a face shield is a good idea. The rain drops pelleted my face and blurred my vision pretty much. Oh, now you know who the big dummy is. oops. Anyway, by the time we got the next town of Longview it was sunny and dry and we stopped for coffee to warm up and get gasoline. We were just off the road to through the wildlife sanctuary on our way to Canmore where we had hoped to check into the Alpine club hostel for the night. We headed out the road when in front of us the clouds began to loom very black. Monica said, "I don't want to cross a pass in a thunderstorm." But the other road, toward Calgary didn't look any better. I turned around and went back to Longview to "discuss" it with Monica. We met a couple in a VW camper van who was on their way to Alaska and they asked us about the route. We told them we had actually turned around and were debating on what to do. I considered checking into the hotel there and waiting it out, but it was not my ideal, nor was riding through a thunderstorm, especially without a face shield. We chatted with them for a while and noticed the road ahead was starting to clear up so the couple decided they were going to chance it. I'm sure why they were so concerned about rain while in a van, but I didn't ask. They offered to follow us and help us out if we got into trouble.

Five miles down the road, it started to rain again, but this time the stinging pain was 10 times worse, but I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized it was hailing tons of pea-sized hailstones. They were beating down on me so severely I couldn't see and all I could do was hunch over and let them hit the back of my helmet while I tried to safely get the bike to the side of the road. The couple stopped and let us take shelter in their van. We found out there names were Edward and Jane and were actually from California. After a bit, the rain/hail stopped and the sky cleared up, blue and sunny which made our ride through the area amazing. We spotted a few big horn sheep, but we think they were females because their horns were not very big.

 The roving Bike Cam

We finally arrived in Canmore, found the hostel and, yes, another gravel road. I decided to chance it because I was tired and didn't want to spend a lot of time searching for a new place to sleep. The hostel is great. We secured a dorm bed in a room with 4 beds. Apparently, another person was going to stay in our room, which was fine. We checked in, then made the trip down the gravel road to get dinner in town. We had a great vegetarian dinner and walked around town a bit before going back to the hostel. We opened our dorm door and a tall older man said, "ARe you in room 3 also?"

"Also?" we asked in unison.

We thought we'd be in with other females, as that is the tradition with hostels. We are not sure if it was an accident that we got placed with him or not, but it was too late to do anything. So, instead of the 22 year old female college student we were expecting, we slept with the 60 year old man from New Jersey.

Today, we are heading to Lake Louise for another hostel experience. The Canadian rockies are beautiful and Canmore is such a cool town.

Ok, gotta run...time is running out!

Ciao!

The only good thing we found out about staying in a skanky motel is that you get up really early and hit the road. After my cold shower the night before, I wasn't excited about another. Monica, somehow had a hot shower the night before and she thinks I don't know how to work the faucet. I know better. Anyway, 6:35am, we're off and running. We took the road back toward the park and drove around the 40 miles to the east entrance, thinking this would be the hot tourist spot. We stopped along route 49 which wound around through some amazing snow-capped mountains and visited the Lake at Two Medicine. It was a little cold: low 60's. The weather had been superb, sometimes cool, but always sunny with a few big puffy white clouds. We ended up outside the park in St. Mary which had a grand total of 2 hotels. The one we found The Red Eagle was on a hill overlooking the park. More gravel. I'm getting better.

 St. Mary's Lake, Going to the Sun Highway, Montana

We drove the 17 miles on the Going to the Sun Highway eastward and ended at Logan Pass. The road was still closed due to mud and snowslides. Normally, we would have been able to get through the entire park. The closure was affecting a lot of people's plans, especially the bicyclists because 7 miles was turning into 50 miles for them. We got to Logan Pass where it got much cooler because the place was like a winter wonderland, snowpacks 4 feet thick. People were cross-country skiing and snowshoeing around. The views were astounding. It was like being on another planet. The ride back down was amazing too. We spent a lot of time just enjoying the rich green pine valleys with the mammoth snow-covered mountains surrounding them. Rivers and waterfalls everywhere we looked all ending up in a glacier emerald lake. We hated to leave. I think this place is more amazing than Yosemite or anything I've ever seen, actually. It's certainly not packed with tourists, although it may be early in the season too.

Cont....

Day 7  Wednesday June 21. Summer Solstice

We left the Symes Hotel around 9am, continued on SR 28 and then to 93 to Kalispell, MT where we had a little breakfast. There we found out the Going to the Sun highway was partially closed which stymied our plans to drive through Glacier Park. We decided to go on into the park anyway and see what we could see. We hoped to secure a motel before going to the park, but the closest town had one hotel which was too expensive. We have been trying to stay in the 45-60 dollar range which isn't easy. We stopped and called a motel in Whitefish, back on the west-side. It was called the Whitefish Motel...pretty catchy. Then we drove into Glacier Park and stopped at the ranger station where we met an 80 year old ranger who'd been raised in the area. He changed our itinerary completely. We had planned to only see the west side of the park in one day, return to Whitefish and then head north into Canada. He said we HAD to return the next day, travel around to the east side and see that part of the park, then travel to Canada from that point because route 40 in Canada was a wildlife sanctuary  through Kaninaskis country. This changed everything since we had booked a motel in Whitefish, but we decided to take his advice. For today, we'd just drive the 13 miles into Avalanche and hike to Lake Avalanche. We started out a little later than we would have liked, but the hike was beautiful, mostly through woods along a clear rushing river. It was only a 4 mile round trip hike, but at 4000 feet and uphill, some of us with one lung are a bit slow. When we reached the lake it was magnificent, surrounded by high mountainous snow-covered peaks with 6 waterfalls flowing into it. The deer were rather prolific as well. We had a picnic there and got back to the bike around 7pm.

We rode back to Whitefish to find our motel, which turned out to be a feat in itself. Monica asked some guy she saw stumble out of a convenient store and he told us where it was, "Either right before or past the Dairy Queen." We found it after that and it was then we realized why it was so cheap, compared to the rest of Whitefish. Apparently, it was used by loggers for weekly and monthly rentals and hadn't been remodeled or repaired for 30 years. The woman at the desk  with the sign over her head that read "Protected by Smith and Wesson, who owned the place  told us how "clean" it was. In any other place, a kitchen and suite would be a dream, but this place was pretty much a nightmare. We had no option but to stay because we would have lost money and the other motels in town were all booked. The ranger had told us how charming Whitefish was and recommended a couple of restaurants, but, just for the heck of it, we asked the woman at the desk. She pointed to her right and said, "We have a really nice bowling alley that has an all-night diner."  Ok, we honestly don't connect a bowling alley with good cuisine. We asked her if she knew about the Cuban restaurant, but she didn't. We found it on our own because we're clever like that. We stayed there until they closed just to avoid going back to the motel.

To be continued......

Now that I'm awake and refreshed, I think I may be able to handle this computer a bit better. Where did I leave off? Oh yes, we had just left Coeur d' Alene on our way to Montana. Sorry, I still can't get pics online, but I have tons so far. I hope to get a few online at the next stop.

Day 6: Tuesday, June 20

We had planned to take the interstate across the panhandle of Idaho and cross the border into Montana. We stopped at a town called Wallace just shy of the border to get some last minute Idaho souvenirs when we stopped into a shop to ask for a bathroom. We ended up chatting with the shopkeeper who talked us out of using the interstate and, instead, plotted out a backroads route to Montana. He told us we'd go through the town of Murray and we "had to stop." He also told us of an historic hotel and hot springs in Montana. We found the first country road very easily and found a beautiful mountain stream surrounded by wild flowers and had a picnic. Afterward, we followed the signs to Murray, but we ended up on a gravel road, not a happy event for a motorcyclist. Naturally, it was curvy and steep and as I traveled it, I began to think we were on the wrong road and dreaded having to backtrack. We wound deeper into the hills and I was getting a little anxious when Monica spotted the main road again over the hill. We stumbled upon Murray and it was nothing more than a roadside bar, called the Scagpole (should have been our first clue)  and post office. The only activity seemed to be coming from the bar so we parked there to stir up some local color. The only person we actually saw was a woman who wandered, glassy-eyed from the bar. Monica asked her something about the road and the woman just stared at us and took a drag on her cigarette. I suppose they don't often see two women on motorcycles around there. I got a weird feeling and told Monica to "get on the bike." I told her that it seemed like a town where people turn your skin into a leather coat and I just didn't want to hang around. All the way to Montana we were singing "Won't you take me to Creepytown..." We stopped for coffee in a more welcoming town of Thompson Falls then traveled up SR 28 and ended up in Hot Springs, out in the middle of nowhere and followed the signs to the Hot Spirngs Symes Hotel which was built in the 20's to make use of the natural hot springs located there. The hotel hadn't changed much and we secured a room cheaply because it was already 7pm and we thought a little downtime in the hot springs was in order. The sun stays out past 10pm here so we haven't been getting to bed very early. We spent most of the evening sitting in the mineral springs.

Cont....

I have to make this short since I lost everything I just typed. We are in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. I can't believe I just sat here for 20 minutes and the machine shut off and erased everything I worked on. Sorry. Hopefully, I can get access later and update you.

Tami