Manning Park to home

Manning Park is one of those places we always like to stop at on our way to and from visiting Uncle Frank in Penticton but we've never camped there.  We decided this time as part of our cross Canada adventure we should stay at Manning Park.

We stayed at a place called Lightning Campsite where there is a hike around Lightning Lake.  The bridge in the distance is called Rainbow Bridge which is the beginning of the trail.

Part of the trail was a landslide.

It didn't take long to discover why they called it Lightning Lake.  You can see evidence of lightning strikes.

Quite the show of aerial roots on this tree.  Amazing that it is still standing.

Love the halo effect on the mountain.

Was talking with this grey jay and then a flock of friends came to investigate.

Great to visit with our BC cousins on our return trip.

On our cruise home.  It's always great to be away but ALWAYS great to return home.  I think one of the purposes of going away is to appreciate home again.

On our way home, we were already talking about our NEXT trip so ... until next time.

Beautiful British Columbia

As we drove from Alberta we took the Crowsnest Pass.

As we passed the Frank landslide Bruce recalled how his grandfather took one of the first trains through after this landslide.  The whole town of Frank was buried.  Now the highway and the railroad has been cleared out.

I was certainly less than impressed with this "Welcome to BC" sign.  The British Columbia part of the sign was so washed out you can hardly read it ... and the bush is so overgrown you can't see the sign very well.  A lot of the small towns had much more impressive signs!

As we drove towards Kimberley it was a little hazy (smoky) from the wildfires but they are now clear of being evacuated.  Seniors had been evacuated but they have been transferred back to Kimberley again.

When we arrived in Kimberley as we looked for our cousins we found this mule deer who was quite at home in someone's back yard.  We had a wonderful visit with our cousins once we found them.

That night we camped at Fort Steele RV campsite and went to the Canadian Museum of the Railway which brought back a lot of memories for both of us.

A great quilt that was done in 2005 commemorating the town of Cranbrook.

Remember the old dining car and the sleeping berth?  The Railway Museum have restored cars that you can tour.

Then we headed off to Kootenay Lake (an area that neither of us had ever been to).  Our friends had invited us to attend their church camp for the weekend.  It was something we were looking forward to.  Church camp has always been an important part of our lives and with this trip across Canada we missed the church camps on Vancouver Island this year.

The beach right on Kootenay Lake

The view from the Lodge

The campfire area by the beach.

Sunset from the deck

And on to Penticton, we stopped at this lookout of Osoyoos for our lunch.

These fall crocuses were smiling at us during our morning walk in Penticton.

Until next time ....

Alberta Revisited

Arriving in Alberta again...

Love how the sun breaks through the clouds and the rays escape to shine and light our path.

Evidence of oil drilling along the highway.

Lots of white and it's NOT snow.  So much salt in the ground in certain areas.

Field of buffalos as we headed to Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump

View of the Buffalo Jump.  There was a good video explaining this whole area.  It made me sad to see all those buffalos scared to their death.  I much rather see the buffalo in the field that we passed coming to the site.  Below is the cliff that the buffalo were herded over for the kill.

Here's the visual map that explains the site.

Inside these buffalo show the jump.

And you can see there are many other animals as well in this area.

This exhibit is under the buffalo cliff and show the years of excavations that have happened in this area.  There is another great video explaining what they have found in this area.

Then we were off to Pincher Creek for the night.  At such high altitude, it sure was cold waking up in the morning.  I bought fleece blankets to keep us warm but haven't needed them since then.

Our next stop was the Waterton Lake National Park where we took a water tour that took us into Montana to Goat Haunt Peace Park. One of the highlights was seeing a bear on one of the beaches.

Mama bear watching us as we were taking pictures of her from the International boat.

Us on the beach by Goat Haunt.

Back on the Alberta side, we found the Cameron Falls.  Waterton Lakes was affected by fires last year and that is very evident in the park.  When we were on the water tour we could see smoke in the distance of a wildfire called Boundary fire.  There were hoses on the beach ready incase the fire moves close to the lakes again.

View of Waterton Lakes taken from the Prince of Wales Hotel where we had dinner.  There are lots of hiking trails from here that we would like to come back to some time to explore.  This view was a wonderful way to finish our time at Waterton Lakes for this time.

Until next time ...

Saskatchewan Revisited

The first thing we did when we arrived in Regina this time was to revisit the RCMP Museum gift shop because Bruce wanted to pick up some more fridge magnets that he picked up there before.  You don't really expect to bump into people you know from home while visiting across Canada but that is exactly what happened here.  I used to work with Marianne and she is RVing as well.  What a great surprise.

Besides connecting with family again, we went to the Regina Museum and visited walked around in that area including the legislative building.  We were to the museum years ago and love the dioramas there.  It's hard to know where the background and the foreground end and begin.  There is also a very good First Nations exhibit there now.

A favourite is the beaver lodge.

Then the First Nations exhibit ...

Did you know that the poles of the tipi symbolize different morals?

A beautiful mural of the Spirit Eagle.

The emphasis on the Sacred Place and World Views reminded us of our own journey across Canada. and the wide open spaces.

The next day we came back here after worship and saw more of the sights in our walk.

A very large grasshopper made of small elm trees.

The Legislative building with its beautiful gardens.

On the side of the legislative building are a group of tipis signifying the talks have begun.

The statue of Walter Scott overlooking the Legislative building.

And the next day, we are off to Moose Jaw.  The ladies at the church in Regina told us to get our picture in front of the moose.  They said we would miss it.  At the time, I wasn't  too sure what they were talking about but they were right.  When I saw the moose I knew this is what they were talking about.

On the way to Moose Jay a farm with bales of hay and a train in the background.

Lots of these little guys where I found this large moose.

And Moose Jaw is the home of the Snowbirds training ground.