Editorial

My apologies for the delay on these updates - IE 9 created a compaltibility issue.
If you are interested all you need to do is hit the compatibility view icon (it looks like a torn piece of paper) and then IE 9 works like IE 8 used to

Terry

Days 45-49 - 25-29 July 2011 - Point Farms Prov Park

Days 45-49 - 25-29 July 2011

A different type of camping for this week. We are with our old camping group at Point Farms, a park we have not been to for a few years. It is still as nice as ever. Taylor's, Hildebrandt's, Curtis's, Hamilton's and us are enjoying a very lovely week.

Saw sunset on Tuesday night and for the second time in my life I saw the green flash at the instant that the sun went below the horizon - sorry no picture but if you try to get the picture you never see the green flash - you'll have to try to experience it yourself. It is rare to see in Ontario, more common to see in the Caribbean - Sharon saw it once in Jamaca.

Day 36 to 44 - at home

Day 36 to 44 - at home

Day 35 - 15 July - Barrie ON

Day 35 - 15 July - Last Day of First Leg of 2011 vacation

We arrived at Michael's place.

A heat wave has started!

It was nice to see Spencer and Tegan

Day 34 - 14 July 2011 - Sault Ste. Marie

Day 34 - 14 July 2011 - Sault Ste. Marie

After a long drive we stopped for the night at Mike and Diane's house, had a great dinner but a short visit but we will be back for a full week in 4 weeks for the Titanium Rally at the KOA in SSM.

Day 32-33 - 12-13 July 2011 - Kakabeka Falls

Day 32-33 - 12-13 July 2011

We finally stopped for a restfull two days - sorry it took so long to get this updated after we got home.

They changed our site 22 - favourite site - but they made it better - I t now has 12 more tress and the parking area is lined with 6x6 and filed with screenings.

Lots of sunshine both days.

Day 31 - Monday 11 July 2011 - Winnipeg

Day 31 - Monday 11 July 2011

Bit shorter day - so left later and arrived by 4 pm at same campground in Winnipeg that we used last year. And we lost an hour as we went to Central Daylight Time.
Today we had a head wind - so no great mileage like yesterday - today it was 11.98 mpg in the am and 13.68 mpg in the pm - the afternoon wind was more on the side than head-on and the numbers reflect that.
As we drove east today we crossed both the Assinaboine and the Red Rivers - both are still very high. We also crossed what I think was the flood bypass canal - it was full and only the levees were holding all the water in. I sure am glad we live in Ontario and don't get floods like they do here.
Much like last year we have noticed for the last couple days that in all of AB SK and MB, the crops in the fields seem to be fewer, many fields still have water in them and some fields are half crop half water.

Day 30 - Sunday 10 July 2011 - Regina

Day 30 - Sunday 10 July 2011

Drove all day so no pictures (unless I get the one Sharon took of the tallest TeePee in the World at Medicine Hat).

We left Calgary with a little bit of rain and drove into sunshine and a nice driving day. With the wind behind us we were actually pushed across the praries and made remarkable time. We left at 7:11 am and were in Regina by 4:26. When I check my mileage I'll come back and post if it made any difference. Wow what a diference - normally I get between 20 - 21 mpg without the trailer and 14 - 15 mpg when towing the trailer - today I got 15.79 mpg in the morning and 16.66 mpg in the PM (the wind must have been heavier in the PM).

Day 29 - Saturday 9 July 2011 - Chuck Wagon Day

Day 29 - Saturday 9 July 2011

We and the Cook's went to the pancake breakfast at Sirroco Rd and 17 Ave SW - it was only 11 minutes away. Last year we went to the grand-daddy of all pancakes breakfast at the Chinnook Mall - it was 35 minutes away so we picked the closer one this time. Lots of entertainment (all good) and lots of people - a fun time; Winston even got a hand-out at this one....and oh yes - the breakfast was good.

Came back and relaxed for awhile, got a chance to catch up on this blog, had a good lunch, took Winston for a long walk, then headed back to the Stampede to browse some more and take in the night show.

The Chuck Wagon Races (one more bucket list entry checked off) were very exciting; 10x better than watching it on TV; one of the many pictures I took shows the photo finish of the first race. The 7th race was even closer but my photo was not as good.

The Grandstand show truely was "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" (their motto). It was almost 4 hours of non-stop action, The fireworks through-out and at the end were better than Disney (and before this I thought Disney was the best). The acrobats and gymnists (the picture shows 4 on a tampoline making it appear they were walking on the walls etc) rivalled Cirque du soliel; and the rest of the show was top quality from start to finish.

Day 28 - Friday 8 July 2011 - Calgary Stampede

Day 28 - Friday 8 July 2011

We started the day off by watching most of the Parade on TV - a much better way to see most things - but we had to do it that way cuz we could not leave Winston inside the camper all day and eve. Went off to the rodeo by 10 home by 7 - it was an awesome day. Picture shows start of rodeo with all the cowboys in a semi-cirlce. The other picture is two famous chuck wagon drivers - Kirk and Kelly Sutherland; we also met Jason Glass and Jerry Bremner. If you watch the CBC Stampede summary each night at 11 PM EDT I am sure you will hear all those names.

After the rodeo we went to the Ice Show, Jamie Sale and David Pelltier were good but were only on for 5 minutes- the rest of the show was amateurish.

Back to the C-train to get back to Crowfoot station, then drove to campsite from there.

Day 27 Thursday 7 July 2011 - Calgary AB

Day 27 Thursday 7 July 2011

When Will & Kate heard that we were going to be in Calgary for the opeining of the Stampede, they just had to show up here. We did not get to see them personally but they are everywhere in the news and we saw a lot of them on TV.

Got here early, met Rosemarie and Cookie, who got in yesterday and also ran into Richard & Maddy. Rosemarie's brother and wife from Maple Ridge are also visiting here.

We went off to Okotoks to visit the same meadery that we visited last year and got some samples. Talked to the beekeeper there again - he had a 60% winter loss this year - ouch.

Right next door to the campground is the Canada Olympic Park. The picture shows the ski jumps, but of course they are closed for lack of snow. We saw the bobsled run (closed also) but the park was alive and active with mountain bikers everywhere.

Back in time for a pot luck dinner at Cooks.

Day 26 - 6 July 2011 - Banff AB

Day 26 - 6 July 2011

Sunny all day high of about 28 C (low was about 11 C). Fantastic drive today, the Canadian Rockies are the best of all the mountains we have driven through. The scenery is breathtaking at every turn.

We lost an hour and are now on mountain time; we got to Banff National Park (see picture of front gate) at about 4 PM.

We set-up, had a beer, took off the mirrors and headed to town. Went to Banff Springs Hotel, Bow River Falls, Sulphur Mtn and Sulphur Hot Springs and Gondola car. Then picked up diner at Boston Pizza got back to camp site at about 7:30 tired and hungry. We have been here many times before but got to see a few different things this time.

Many of you know how paranoid Sharon is of meeting a bear, well this park has had two cougar sightings - even I am paranoid of running into a cougar - needless to say we only walked with Winston within the campgrounds and kept looking over our shoulders.

Off to the Stampede for the next few days - not sure when the next post will come.....

Day 25 - Tuesday 5 July 2011 - Kamloops BC

Day 25 - Tuesday 5 July 2011

We now have hit the hot weather - but so has the rest of the country. Today we drove with not a cloud in the sky all day. (Picture is at one of our rest stops but shows how blue the sky was). We hit a high of 32 C (with no humidity) so it was kinda nice - it sure makes the beer more enjoyable! Our drive today was an elapsed time or 5 3/4 hours (with an hour worth of stops) so we got to Kamloops well before 3 PM and had time for a walk with Winston to enjoy the area.

Days 22 23 24 - 2-4 July 2011 - Maple Ridge

Days 22 23 24 - 2-4 July 2011

After dropping J & C & H and Jaws at the airport, we got organized again, went and picked up the 5th at the horse farm; did some grocery shippng and were off to visit our friends Norm and Linda in Maple Ridge - a subburb of Vancouver just east of Burnaby.

We did a lot of neat things like: drank beer; went to the Bloedel Observatory (that is where the two pictures are taken from - one shows the new roof being added to BC Place and the other is Sharon Linda and three people they picked up at the Observatory), drank beer, went to the Greek festival for dinner, drank beer, fixed a few things on the 5th wheel, drank beer, toured different parts of Vancouver and saw Empire stadium, Roger Bannister Statue, and the old Canucks Arena (sorry forget its name), drank beer, and went to Abbortsford, Aggassiz, Chilliwack, and Lake Harrison Hot Springs. And if I didn't mention it - Norm and I had a few beers each day while Sharon and Linda drank wine.

We had a great time in Maple Ridge.

Days 19 20 21 - 29 30 June 1 July - Vancouver

Days 19 20 21 - 29 30 June 1 July

Back to Vancouver for three more days of rest and relaxation with Jamie Cassie and Hadley. We have had a great time with our grand-daughter.

Terry got his chipped tooth fixed at Jamie's dentist.

Jamie bought a new car (see picture) so we spent some time cleaning up the old Volvo so he can pawn it off (sorry - sell it). Moving the roof racks and generally setting up the new SUV.

Sharon took Winston for a walk and found $40.00 - the next day we all offered to take Winston for his walk and found $0.00

We went to Wreck beach; for those that don't know it is on the UBC campus and is a nude beach - yes we can confirm that the beach was nude (temp of 18 C might have had something to do with that).

We went on a hike up to Cypress Creek - had to be the best hike ever because on the way down the mountain we went over to the creek and low and behold there were three beers chilling in the water. Jamie said someone sure was going to miss them but later fessed up that he had put them there - still it was great to have a cold beer on a hot hike.

Had dinner at the Wolfe and Hound and all called it an early night since we had to drive them all to the airport early Saturday morning

Days 16/17/18 26-28 June 2011 - TOFINO BC

Days 16/17/18 26-28 June 2011

SURFS UP! Not for us but for Jamie and Cassie.

We took three days to go see Vancouver Island. Tofino is a beautiful place. Jamie had found a lovely cottage to rent and even though it rained a lot (it didn't matter really, Sharon was surprised that Jamie went out surfing in the rain - ??? LOL) we had a great time. When they surfed we hiked and walked the beach. We saw sea otters in the wild for the first time; Cassie wanted me to lie and say we saw a great white shark - but she has this thing for sharks (thus why her dog is named Jaws) and no one would believe her anyway...

For the record we passed the 49th parrallel on the drive to get there for those that are keeping track of where we are.

When we left Tofino we stopped just outside Port Alberni (if you look real close at the picture of Cathedral Grove you can see an Ewok behind one of the trees, left over from the filming of Star Wars) and we drove back the long way via Victoria; we all had lunch there then Jamie Cassie Haldey Jaws and Winston headed home and Sharon and I toured Victoria for 4 more hours - we got on a bus tour and saw everything. There are many more pictures that I can post here. The driver stopped the bus at one point to show us a bald eagle nest with three chicks (we saw the heads of two) and Mom was sitting watching on a tree near-by. We missed the 6 PM ferry by a few minutes; but got the next one. The ferry trip back was picturesque thru the islands

Days 13/14/15 23-25 June 2011 - Kitsilano BC

Days 13/14/15 23-25 June 2011

Kitsilano is a part of Vancouver, and that is where Jamie Cassie and Hadley live. (That is Hadley in the picture on the left). They were the excuse for this trip (as if we needed one eh?) and we took the opportunity to chill out with them and enjoy three days of rest, a few dinners out, and lots of laughs.

Day 12 Wednesday 22 June 2011 - Seattle WA

Day 12 Wednesday 22 June 2011

No picture today - since I got lazy....

We are at the KOA in Kent WA just south of Seattle; our last day in the states. The drives and the scenery have been great and today was no exception. We left the heat of ID and OR and got into WA. WA has some of the same terrian as in OR and ID but it also has mountians (but not as many as BC) and it has orchards (we saw cherries, grapes, and some unknown fruit trees). We stopped at a fruit stand and got some local cherries at very reasonable prices (ie a lot cheaper than at home).

Tomorrow we get to Jamie's Cassie's and Hadley's place in Kitsilano. Updates may slow done for the next few days.

Terry & Sharon

Day 11 Tues 21 June 2011 - Pembleton Oregon

Day 11 Tues 21 June 2011

We are back in summer weather - hit over 80 F (26 C) today and we enjoyed it. The drive was wondlerful, the scenery was spectacular.

We stopped at Camping World in Meridian (just west of Boise ID) and picked up a few supplies and what-nots that we can only get a camping world.

We are now in pacific daylight time - and there is no jet lag at all in either of us.

And for the record we crossed the 45 th parallel today - that is the half way point between the North Pole and the equator. For those that need a better reference point, the 45th parrallel in Ontario goes through Bracebridge.

The picture today is of our door showing all the places we have camped in with our 5th wheel - you will note that Oregon just got filled in and Washington is still empty for one more day.

Day 10 Monday 20 June 2011 - Twin Falls ID

Day 10 Monday 20 June 2011

Great day for a short drive, 430 km from West Yellowstone to Twin Falls Idaho. Sun was out all day and very few clouds - feels like we are back into summer weather again. Forecast is for sun the next three days and it may hit 90 F in Idaho tomorrow (but we will be in Oregon).

Went to see Perrine Bridge and took lots of pictures; then walked a bit west and saw the sight of Evil Kneivel's launch over the snake river (if you remember this was the stunt that ended with his parachute deploying early). Rumour has it that his son Robbie is now planning to try the same stunt from the same launch site (he must need the money).

The we went to Shoshone Falls. It is 50 feet taller than Niagara falls - but not one straight drop. The picture just shows the lowest tier.

We finished with a little shopping and then back to the campsite for a cold beer (Shaorn had a cooler)

Day 9 Sunday 19 June 2011 - Yellowstone

Day 9 Sunday 19 June 2011 - Father's Day.

This was the only Grizzley bear we saw all four days at Yellowstone, it was at the entrance to our campground.

Today was a down day to catch up on rest and relaxation. All we did was grocery shopping and go to the Museum. It was an old Union Pacific Railway station. It was the end of the line since no RR went into Yellowstone Park.
It was interesting to see all about the Yellowstone fires of 1988 and the earthquake of 1959

On the road again tomorrow.

Day 8 Saturday 18 June 2011 - Yellowstone

Day 8 Saturday 18 June 2011

Picture of Tower Fall (yes the s is supposssed to be missing)

Today we drove the Upper Loop. 206 km and an entierly different terrain. First we stopped at Gibbon Falls on our way to Mammoth Hot Springs, where we had lunch. Then stops at Undine Falls, the Petrified tree and Tower Fall. We have pictures of all these places if you ever want to see them.

The sun was out all morning (even though rain was forecasted) and we had a great day. The PM met the forecast but we were on our way back by then. When we got to Washburn Mountain (10K ft) there was still a lot of snow on the ground - we even had some flurries in the air. They say this is not normal (but they did have 4 inches of snow 4 July 2004) for this time of year - but they had a severe winter here and it is taking a long time to find spring.

Today we saw: Elk, Bison, Swallows, Deer, Swan, Pronghorn Antelope, Black Bear, and a chipmonk.

Day 7 Friday 17 June 2011 - Yellowstone

Day 7 Friday 17 June 2011

Pictures are: snow at Fishing Bridge campground, lower falls and Old Faithful.

Yellowstone National Park is a fantastic place. We had a low of 34 F (1C) overnight and a high today of about 55 F. Today we drove the lower loop - this means we went about 216 km. Leaving West Yellowstone we went east thru the first of many traffic slow downs because of Bison - there are thousands of them here and they think the road is for them. Our first stop was the Fountain Paint Pots; these are fumerals with steam rising and boiling mud and lots of sulphur - reminded us a lot of Rotorura in New Zealand. Then off to Old Faithful, where we spent almost two hours first waiting for 12:22 (+/- 10 minutes) to see her blow, then sitting in on some films. We then crossed the continental divide twice then on to West Thumb. Then along the north coast of Yellowstone Lake into Fishing Bridge where we had lunch and stopped at the Visitors centre. Stopped at Mud Volcano and Sulphur Caldron (more of Rotorura memories) then up to Canyon Village area - the highlight of the day. This area is like a mini Grand Canyon - we have lots of pictures. We got back to the campsite by 6:30 pm - a long day but a very enjoyable day.
On the way we saw: Bison, Blue Heron, Eagle, Canadian Geese, Easgle Nest, Elk, Red tail Hawks, Raven, crow, Ducks and a Heringer Hawk.

Day 6 Thurs 16 June 2011 Cody WY / Yellowstone

Day 6 Thurs 16 June 2011

Overnight we had some high winds that shook the trailer a lot and the temp dropped to mid 40 F.

We are in West Yellowstone Montana tonight. The internet access is not good enough to add a picture to the blog tonight - failed twice I am not going to try for 3. (now added 2 days later). Here is the picture of the Buffalo Bill Statue.

Since today was a short drive from Cody WY to Yellowstone we did not rush out of Cody and went on the Trolley Historical ride. We both enjoyed it - lots of history of the area and lots of background on Buffalo Bill Cody (not to be confused with Wild Bill Hickock).

After lunch left for Yellowstone - the drive continued to be very scenic and the sun was still shining. Although cool overnight, it warms up quickly when the sun is out.

As we got into Yellowstone we were amazed to see SNOW - yes that is what we saw, and lots of it. In some places it is still 2 to 3 feet deep on the side of the road; in the bush under the shade of the tress it seems even deeper. Expected low tonight is 28 F - it feels like we are camping in Algonquin in late October - tomorrow's low is forecasted at 32 F with highs in the mid 50's and Sat has flurries in the forecast.

Sharon asked me to tell you that the average ranch in Wyoming is 37,000 acres - clearly bigger than ranches in Texas for what it is worth....

Day 5 Wed 15 June 2011 Cody WY

Day 5 Wed 15 June 2011

We drove less km today but it took almost as long since we did a lot of ups and downs and winding roads thru the mountains, so we went a lot slower.

We had sunshine all day.

Today's scenery was spectacular; Wyoming has a lot of variety from lush farm lands to desert areas to mountians. We also saw more wildlife today than any other day - including a Moose - Sharon says we almost hit a Moose but I say he saw us coming and decided we were bigger than he was so he ran away.

We crossed the Big Horn Mountain range at the Powder Pass at a height of 9,666 feet. I wanted to add a picture of the snow that was still on the ground at that altitude but decided a better choice was a new beer that I heard of - I'll bet none of you have ever had this beer.

Cody is the home of Buffalo Bill Cody. We are going on a history tour tomorrow morning before leaving for Yellowstone, so I'll say more tomorrow; but, today we went to the Irma Hotel (built by Buffalo Bill himself) and still in business today, in order to watch a re-enactment of a gunfight. Wyatt Earp was there, as was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - the rest I can't remember their names. We ended up having dinner at the Hotel - then rushed back to watch the 7th hockey game - enough said about that...

Day 4 Tues 14 June 2011 Devil's Tower WY

Day 4 Tues 14 June 2011

Today we drove clear acrosss the state of South Dakota, and went thru 5 downpours in the process.

When we crossed into Wyoming we gained another hour; so we got in at a decent hour and immediatley went for a hike around the tower. If you have seen the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" you may recognize the attached picture; this is the location that the movie was mainly filmed at.

The KOA shows the movie every night - so I went and watched it again; Sharon went to bed early that night.

Day 3 Monday 13 June 2011 Mitchell SD

Day 3 Monday 13 June 2011

We made it to Mitchell SD today, the home of the Corn Palace; that's it in the background. The facade is all made of corn.

We were not in a rush today, we planned a short drive but it became strenuous - we went through 3 thunderstorms, the first was the darkest we had ever seen; but we survived all and got here early.

The trip up I29 along the Iowa Nebraska border follows the Missouri River. The big news today is the the Army Corp of engineers decided to ease the reservoirs and there is flooding everywhere. At one point on I29 we crossed a bridge that was less that 12 inches from the top of the water - but we got thru.

We have good Internet tonight, the3 satellite is up and Running and we are about to watch the hockey game. There is till thunder and the forecast is for more thunder storms - hope our dish stays up for the whole game.

Day 2 Sunday 12 June 2011 Des Moines

Day 2 Sunday 12 June 2011

We gained an hour yesterday, so we put it to use by automatically waking up early and getting on the road sooner than expected. Last time we went this way we had to get up early to miss the Chicago traffic - today we missed the Chicago morning rush hour because it was Sunday - but we both wondered where so many people were going on a Sunday morning.
Sharon insisted that we stop at the outlet mall near Williamsburg IA, so we did - the biggest we have enver seen. We hit about 20% of the stores before we had to get on our way again; but we both enjoyed it.
We got to Des Moines in plenty of time, set up and got interent access (but it was sporadic). I went into panic mode when I could not get TSN on the satelite and could not find the hockey game on CBC; sent an urget message to both sons asking how to stream the game - got a quick reply from Jamie with a long explanantion with pointers and full instructions and a P.S. at the bottom: the games is tomorrow night...... DOH

Day 1 Saturday 11 June 2011 Michigan City

Day 1 Saturday 11 June 2011

We started off today but don't expect to get this posted until we get a decent Internet connection, probably Des Moines or Mitchell KOA.

In this year's version we will be travelling thru the states to Vancouver to visit Jamie Cassie and Hadley with the main stop being Yellowstone National park, on the way back we will take the Canadian route and stop at the Calgary Stampede.

No pictures today, we just drove, went from Home to Walmart in Michigan City Indiana; did all our grocery shopping for the week and crashed early.
The only interesting thing about today was the the border crossing guard was more interested in talking about beekeepng than what we were bringing or how long the line was behind us....