Operation Vacation Nation

Trains, planes, and automobiles

2011-10-02T17:46:00.005-04:00

We used LOTS of different types of transportation on this trip. Some trips went smooth and some. . . .lets just say, not so smooth. But I do have some funny stories you might enjoy.

On the plane flight over the Atlantic, I was able to get bulkhead seats. Great, I thought, lots of room to stretch out. Well, lots of leg room, but less hip room. Let's just say that the bulkhead seats are for the tall and skinny, of which I am not. It was not the most comfortable trip I have been on. On the way coming back, though, my son and I shared three seats between the two of us. We have plenty of room to spread out sideways. Also, the bulkhead seats were right by the stewardess's cabinets and the area was noisy and buys all the time. Note to self, do not get bulkhead seats again.

The London rail system was fantastic! We could get just about anywhere in the city or even the countryside with the network or National Rail, Underground, or Light Rail systems. The bad thing was the time it would take to move around. It would still take an hour and a half to get from The Globe Theater to Greenwich.

Oh, and you were not instructed to "Watch your step", but instead were told to "Mind the gap."

Yes, that is a bird in the train station.

We took two tour buses. One trip was a three hour panoramic tour of the streets of London. The tour guide was informative, but seemed rather bored. At the end of the trip I asked him about two landmarks he pointed out but didn't give a history. One was the Monument. It was to commemorate the fire of London. The other was the Marble Arch, which was extra stone from building Buckingham Palace. Gee, I wish he would have said that when we passed by.

The other tour bus, was a long distance coach to Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge. Our tour guide here was a delightful woman name Sondra. She had an adorable voice and way of speaking. "Bong, bong. Time to wake up my little pretties," she would say when we were approaching our destination. "The view is just lovely," she said about our decent into Bath.

After we had seen Stonehenge and were heading back to the bus, we were informed our bus had a flat tire. Great . . . not. . . we were stuck in a parking lot. We waited for the truck to fix the flat, then waited from them to actually fix it. And it took forever. . . so "forever" that our driver met his driving time limit. So we had to stop at a rest stop and change drivers. So, with all the delays, we were three hours late getting back to the apartment. Yuk. . . .

And that was the day after we had another late night. Because I had rented a car and got lost in downtown London. . . . .

Yup, we had our wonderful day out in the countryside and then drove around downtown London for two hours! None of the roads in London are straight, they change name for no reason and the traffic circles are guaranteed to confuse the visitor! My sister pulled out her blackberry and fired up the GPS system in it. It gave me directions, like turn left on St. Martin's, but St. Martin's Street was not on the left! Arrrgggh! I knew that if I crossed the river, I could find the way back to the apartment. We did stop and ask directions multiple times. Finally, we found a bridge to cross the Thames. We were home twenty minutes after that. But it was still 11 pm and we were all exhausted.

Our Apartment

2011-10-02T17:38:00.003-04:00

Our apartment was great! I would recommend it to anyone. Although, it was not in the city center, we had a fifteen minute train ride to get to Victoria Station or Charing Cross Station. The neighborhood we were in was Catford. Just outside the Catfor train station was many shops and food markets where we could buy food to take home. We saved a lot of money by eating breakfasts and dinners in our apartment. The building was a converted brownstone, once a large house, now broken up into many apartments. We had the largest with four bedrooms.

Greenwich

2011-10-02T17:22:00.005-04:00

Greenwich Mean Time has been the standard of time through the years and the world. We were able to go to the Royal Observatory where time began. Were were able to straddle the line between the eastern and western hemisphere. Here is one of the largest telescopes in Europe, 28 inch in diameter. We had some wonderful views of the city from up on the hill.

I got into a conversation with a local gentlemen who was a navigator with the air force during World War II. He showed me this monument that was shot during the war. A German fighter plane came straight down this boulevard shooting bullets, and hit the monument. The statue on top was removed for safekeeping during the war, but the monument show pot marks were the bullets hit its target.

The Globe Theater

2011-10-02T17:04:00.003-04:00

Any Shakespearean afficiano knows that the actor built his Globe theater in London in the late 1500s. The original theater was destroyed by fire a few years after it was built. It was rebuilt and only thrived for a few years more years during the 17th century. The Globe theater we visited was a reproduction built about 750 feet away from the site of the original. We wanted to take a tour, but the cost was stupid expensive. Twelve pounds for a two hour tour? Uh, no. . .

But I did get some pictures of the outside and the nearby Thames River. I appeared that the tide was coming in. The Thames (pronounced "tems") has a unique feature in that it is a tidal river. The ocean tide actually flows upstream into London. While looking at the river, we noticed a lot of waves and violent water activity. We were expecting to see the river flowing out to see, but it seemed stationary, and just bobbling around. We were guessing that the tide was pushing against the natural outflow of water as we watched.

The British Museum

2011-10-02T16:40:00.003-04:00

London has some of the best museums in the world! And the British Museum is the best of the best. Unfortunately, we were not able to spend a lot of time in here. But we did get to see the few things that I was interested in seeing.

First up was THE Rosetta Stone. It was right there, in the middle of the room, surround by glass and lots of people. I had to queue up too and take pictures. WOW, just wow. . . . I was in awe that me, some nobody, could be within a foot of such an important piece of history and learning.

We also saw the famous Greek Parthenon Marbles, also know as the Elgin Marbles. These marble statues were taken from Greece in the early 1800s and shipped to England by Lord Elgin. You can look up the Wikipedia article for more information. However, they are beautiful examples of classic Greek artistry and the detail is phenomenal.

King's Cross Station

2011-10-02T16:36:00.004-04:00

If you don't understand this photo, ask any child about what is at King's Cross train station in London.

Changing of the Guards

2011-10-02T16:23:00.005-04:00

One of the big tourist attractions in London is to go to Buckingham Palace and watch the changing of the guard. The guard actually gets changed every four hours, but once a day (in the summer) at 11:30, there is a bug huge deal made of it. How big? Like hundreds of guards, marching bands and horse drawn carriages. I found it all rather lengthy and somewhat boring. All I could see was a lot of marching, stomp-stomp, turn, change gun hands and more stomp-stomp. The crowd was so bad that I was four people back from the fence. I took most of these pictures without seeing what I was taking. Just point and shoot and pray. I culled lots of them already. Anyway, here is what I could capture, including a few shots of the crowd.

Windsor, Bath, and Stonehenge

2011-10-02T15:47:00.006-04:00

In order to get out into the areas of Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge, we choose to take a bus tour through Grayline. All inclusive in the price was the bus ride and the admission to the attractions.

Our first stop was Windsor Castle. This is one of the official residences of the Queen of England. Like the Tower of London, this complex was not one building, but many surrounded by the usual thick fortress walls. We were able to go into the formal Staterooms, but were not allowed to take pictures. Very beautiful. Here, we also got up close to a Royal Guard. In St. George's Chapel (some chapel, it was HUGE), many people are buried including the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth's sister, Princess Margaret.

Bath was the cutest little town. It sits on hills and the views of the buildings are just so pretty! All of the buildings are built with the same blond limestone to give a uniform look to the city. We visited the Roman Baths. These are hot springs that the Roman discovered 2000 years ago. We were able to tour the restored ruins and museum. The gift shop here had the BEST soaps and lotions and bath accessories I had seen. It smelled so good in there. I wanted to buy everything! I settled for a few bars of soap and some (fake souvenir) Roman coins.

Stonehenge was WOW. . . my son and I were giddy over a pile of rocks. . . it really was LOL . . . But seriously, the mystery in Stonehenge is because no one knows who built it and why. Archaeologists can tell through carbon dating that the project took over one thousand years to complete. Very awesome! We were able to get relatively close to the stones.

The Countryside

2011-10-02T14:57:00.006-04:00

I wanted to drive out into the English countryside, so I rented a car for the day. Driving on the left was really not that bad. What was challenging was shifting the manual transmission with my left hand. I did pretty good staying to the left. When driving on an "interstate", you really can't tell you are on the left, other than the far left lanes are the slow lanes. What I did notice, though, was that I would drift to the left of the lane. In the USA, when driving on the right, the driver sits in the left side of the lane. In the UK, when driving on the left, the driver sits in the RIGHT side of the lane. I kept drifting to the US side, instead of staying on the UK side.

What I was really interested in seeing was a hotel that used to be the manor house of Baron Grey du Ruthin. I had done some research on this English lord and really wanted to see the house and grounds and the town of Wolston, where the house lived. We also visited the church where he was married and buried. And I do mean buried. He was buried in side the church, not the churchyard. There is a graveyard around the church where other people of the town had been buried. But he was in the church. It was not uncommon for nobles to be buried inside churches. West Minister Abbey is the final resting place for more than one hundred people. We did not get inside the church because it was closed on Saturday.

Finally, we wanted to visit a typical castle, that was a stronghold and not a royal palace. I had heard about Warwick Castle and we were nearby. I had no trouble finding it. However, the castle had become Castle Disneyland with reenactments, dragons, costumed characters and a steep price. We had got there at 5 pm. The place closed at 6pm and they still wanted 17 British pound sterling (GBP) to get in. . . . uh. . . let me think about this. . . NO! So instead we took some pictures of the tower and walked around the cute little town of Warwick.

The Streets of London

2011-10-02T14:31:00.007-04:00

On a gorgeous sunny afternoon, we took a double-decker bus tour of the sights of London. We saw many of the famous sights, monuments, and buildings of London. I was struck by the mixture of old and new. But the effect was not ugly or dissonant. A local residnet had told us that the British are trying to preserve as much of the old buildings as possible. They would pull down the facade, brick by brick, then tear down the old building, put up a brand new building and put the facade back, thus keeping the old look.

London!

2011-10-02T13:40:00.003-04:00

London was fabulous, awesome and fantastic. Did we have a great time? Heck Yeah!!!

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. There was NO time while we were in London. It was go go go the entire time. Okay, done with boring stuff, let's get to the pictures!!

Our first full day there, my son and I went to the Tower of London. Great place, full of history and intrigue. This was were prisoners were held and executed. Jane Boleyn was beheaded here along with many others. The men were usually taken up to the hill for public hangings, while the women were beheaded in a more "polite" manner.

But the Tower was not only a prison, but also a stronghold for the royal family. There are two ou er walls, each eight feet thick. Then, within the fortress are more towers with thick walls. The Tower of London is not just on building but an entire city within the walls. There are twenty towers that make up the complex. Currently there are 125 people living in there. They are the Beefeaters and their families. The Beefeaters are the guards in the Tower. Today, they act as tour guides and answer innumerable questions of guests.

Also with the walls, are the British Crown Jewels. Awesome and gorgeous and dazzling. . . . and we couldn't take pictures of them.

Within the Tower are ravens. There is a legend that if the ravens left the Tower, the walls will crumble. My son pointed out that ravens are also known as rooks. And in chess, castles are also known as rooks.

Pictures and More Pictures.

2009-07-29T18:27:00.008-04:00

We have thousands of pictures for our vacation. I took about 800 pictures, my daughter took about 2000 and dearest hubby took about 3000.

I will post some of the best of these to give you an idea of some of the scenery we saw.

This post has more pictures of the Calgary Stampede.

Yes, my son has his nose stuck in his iPod.

Enjoy.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2009-07-28T20:09:00.004-04:00

Now that we are home, we looked back on our vacation to see what worked and what didn't work. Here are the results:

Good: Rival Hot Pot Express. This little electric pot enabled us to heat up water in our hotel room. We could make oatmeal, cup-a-soup, hot chocolate, hot tea, or even coffee if needed.

Good: The car roof top carrier. This basket type carrier enabled us to pack all the luggage on top of the car, leaving the inside for the food box, cooler, electronics, and other items used during the car ride. I especially liked that the luggage did not rest directly on the roof of my car. The carrier was connected to the crossbars, which kept the weight of the luggage distributed to the frame of the car, not on the roof. See pic of my car all packed and ready to go. We had four suitcases up on top.

Good: My car. The Honda CR-V ran like a champ. My gas mileage was not all great because of the weight in the car, but I still averaged about 23 mpg.

Good: Air mattress. Since we had five people and most hotel room only sleep four, we brought an inflatable air mattress for the fifth person to sleep on. The mattress inflated with portable air pump and less than three minutes. In the morning, the mattress rolled up small enough to hide in a suitcase. We never had a problem with it leaking air and it was used every night.

Good: Food box and cooler. We were able to keep our food costs down by buying grocery store food, like deli meats & cheese, bread, hot rotisserie chickens, potato salad, etc.

Good: Power strips. We took two power strips to use at the hotels. Hotels are notorious for having too few electrical outlets in hard to access areas. The power strips allowed us to recharge our electronic gear without having to swap plugs in the middle of the night.

Bad: Cramming three people in the back seat of my car. We had five people in the car, which meant three had to be in the back. We would "shoe horn" in. It was tight. But we all switched seats and rotated so the same people (children) were not always in the back seat. Equal opportunity to be crammed...

Bad: Five people in one hotel room. Many rooms are not very big and five people living in one room can get ugly (Hmm... should this be under "ugly"?) But we all lived through it.

Bad: Internet. Internet availability was spotty at best. At our chalet in Banff, we could not get internet in our room and had to go to the hotel lobby. Even then, the internet connection was from the hotel across the street. We had three hotel rooms (out of seven) with WiFi in our rooms.

The ugly: The pace of the trip was grueling. We should have planned more relaxing time, but once we got all the way out west, it seemed a waste to spend a day doing nothing. So, we need a vacation from the vacation. . . lol. . .

It's Corny

2009-07-28T19:58:00.002-04:00

On our long drive home, we stopped in Mitchell, SD, at the Corn Palace.

It was different. . .

They were still decorating it.

Enjoy the pictures.

Wall Drug

2009-07-24T19:59:00.002-04:00

I don't care what other people have said, but you really should go see Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota.

I am impressed that a small business man can transform his store from "corner drug store" to tourist attraction and still be appealing.

I found the whole enterprise kitshy, fun, and entertaining. . . and, yes, I had free ice water and hubby got 5 cent coffee.

We bought souvenirs and spent money at this slice of rural/cowboy Americana establishment. And had fun. . . did I mention fun?

It was goofy, but cool.

The store is more like a department store with many different building copped together. Each department has a different focus, like western hats, or candy, or children's toys, or the cafe, or the kids play area, or even. . . (gotta love american ingenuity) a place to pan for gold.

Enjoy the photos.

The Badlands

2009-07-24T19:41:00.003-04:00

The Badlands were nothing less than spectacular. . . ! Absolutely breathtaking! I took a gazillion pictures. Here are a few, but pictures just don't do justice to the beauty of this landscape.

Big Step Watch Your Head

2009-07-24T18:06:00.003-04:00

We took a tour of Jewel Cave that was . . . interesting. It was the Historic Lantern Tour. . . which meant that we got to see the cave as the early cave explorers saw it, with lanterns for light. Each person in the group carried a kerone lantern. That was the only light in the cave. There were no overhead electric lights. We could only see by these lanterns.

We then proceeded into the cavern and squeezed into tight passages, stooped through low ceilings, climbed steep stairs and slithered down dusty rocks. The group was great with a lot of communication between the people. The family in front of us would tell us to watch your head and there is a big step. We would hold our lanterns up for each other so you could see where to step.

My boys loved it. I was disappointed that we did not see the pretty formations that Jewel Cave is famous for.

The Grand Tetons, Devil's Tower, and Mount Rushmore

2009-07-20T22:14:00.009-04:00

WOW. . . . !

What else could I say?

Just look at the pictures.

The Tetons are as majestic as rumored. We drove to the top of Signal Mountain for some of these pictures, which had a cell tower on the top.

Devil's Tower is as bizarre as rumored. . . weird and awesome. . .

Mount Rushmore was just cool. . . I have always wanted to go to Mount Rushmore. One of these pictures was taken from Iron Mountain Road, from within a tunnel. The tunnels were built so the people emerging from the tunnel had a view of Mount Rushmore. Is that cool or what?

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

2009-07-20T21:28:00.008-04:00

Not *that* Grand Canyon. . . but the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It's not as big as *that* grand canyon, and not as long, but just as colorful and picturesque.

And it has water falls, and rapids, and big rocks.

And we saw an osprey nest. Look for it on top of the big rock formation.

Dunraven pass is the highest elevation in the park.

Beartooth Pass

2009-07-20T20:59:00.007-04:00

The Beartooth Mountain range run next to Yellowstone from the northeast section of the park out across the northern border of Wyoming and Montana. Highway 212 cuts through the mountains and creates the highest place in the US that a car can drive, Beartooth Pass. As soon as I heard about this pass, I knew I had to drive it. I wanted to be 10, 000 feet on a mountain.

Getting there was a challenge. Even though Highway 212 is a US route, it stll climbs steeply and has tigh turns. And it was long. As the crow flys, the distance between the two cities on either side of the pass, was about 40 miles. Driving distance was 52 miles and the time it took was two hours.

But I was on top of the world. . . . literally.

In one picture, you can see the curvy switchback road.

Yes, that is snow up there. We were above the tree line. The weather was sunny and warm, about 72, but windy.

My daughter is standing next to the elevation sign, 10, 947 feet above sea level.

I also posted some pictures of bison (buffalo) in the park. They roam free and as you can see, stand right next to the road. The visitors are warned not to get too close to them.

This Landscape Does Not Exist Anywhere Else on Earth

2009-07-20T20:12:00.007-04:00

We spent the day exploring the unusual landscape of the Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). More than once, I remarked on how the early explorers might have been amazed at the features. White calcium carbonate from dissolved from limestone build up deposits on the base of the hot spring, geyser, or fumarole. You can always find a “hot spot” by these deposits.

Of course, I had to take plenty of pictures of Old Faithful, but there are more pics of other smaller and just-as-interesting geysers.

Around Old Faithful, there are benches that seat hundreds, probably a thousand people. The benches start to fill up about 30 minutes before the “performance.” By the time Old Faithful explodes, the benches are filled and more people are standing around watching. The largest and more dramatic explosion is in the first few minutes, about fifty feet in the air. After that, the geyser slows down and the water is not as high, maybe ten to fifteen feet. Depending on how the wind blows and where you are sitting, depends on how much water you see spraying.

We walked around the boardwalks to the other geysers and were rewarded with the eruption of a few smaller geysers.

The oddest thing was a bubbling boiling, steaming lake. Really!

I think our favorite was the Dragon's Mouth, which was a cave releasing steam and waves of water. The cave was also roaring, the effect of the steam being released. Odd. . . just very odd.

We also saw the Mammoth Hot Springs, which are mountains of the calcium carbonate. The springs of water leave the dissolved minerals on the ground where they build up into these massive terraces of white rock.

The Land of Internet

2009-07-20T09:38:00.002-04:00

We are back in civilization after five (six?) days of traveling and being in Yellowstone National Park. There is no WiFi in Yellowstone. . . none. I looked.

A few times that I did leave the park, I was able to use WiFi for short periods of time, like sitting in a car outside a coffee shop, but not long enough to download pictures and post to the blog. I only checked email.

But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Look for many posts later today (after we visit Mount Rushmore) with lots of pictures..!!

Oh, and later today. . . HOT TUB. . . !

Going to the Sun??

2009-07-14T00:39:00.007-04:00

Our day of Going to the Sun was rained out. But we went anyway. . . and the views were still gorgeous. . . !

Enjoy the pictures. Some have clouds. Some have rain spots. But the moutains are still awesome.

More Misc Photos

2009-07-14T00:29:00.006-04:00

Just more pics of Banff and our drive to Montana. Also is some pictures of the Cave and Basin Historical Site, the site of the discovery of the hot springs in the park. This used to be a bathing site, but is now preserved.

Mountains and Lakes

2009-07-11T11:36:00.009-04:00

While driving to and from the glacier, we stop to admire the alpine lakes and tall snow covered peaks that feed them.

When we stopped at Lake Louise, the place was packed with shutterbugs. Everyone had cameras and was taking pictures like crazy. And with good reason. The lake and surrounding mountains were GORGEROUS . . . !

Picture postcard gorgeous.

If you have seen a picture of the lake before and wondered if it really looked like that, the answer is, “Yes.” The view was so perfect that my middle son said it looked like the pull down backdrops that photographers have for their portrait studio. So I had to take a few pictures of my children with the lake and mountains in the background.

The hotel here is the Chateau Lake Louise and is one of the hotels built in the mountains by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1800’s. The lobby and interior screamed money. We ate lunch there and spent waaaaay too much. But it was fun!

The other lakes were Moraine Lake, then Peyto Lake. I was so pleased the colors of these lakes came through to the photos. The light turquoise color of the alpine lakes is caused by “rock flour.” The glaciers grind up the rock into a fine powder. The powder flows to the lakes during the spring melt and stays suspended in the water, giving the lake their color.

There is also a picture of a statue and plaque set near Castle Mountain Junction. During the First World War, the Canadian government sent suspected enemy sympathizers to work camps here. The workers built the first highway through the mountains. Most of the workers were of Ukrainian descent and the local Ukrainian group erected the monument. The actual work camp has been obliterated by the forest and the government does not publish its exact whereabouts, to discourage artifact seekers.

The Columbia Icefields

2009-07-11T11:03:00.009-04:00

The Columbia Icefields

How is it possible that each day here in Banff could be better than the one before? We drove up the magnificent Icefields Parkway to the Columbia Icefields and actually walked on a glacier. . !

How cool is that?

No. . .

How freakin’, blow your mind, absolutely out of this world, amazing is that?

I was giddy the entire time. And I don’t think it could all be blamed on the high altitude nor the icy wind blowing off the glacier.

I’ll try to make some sense out of these pictures. I have shots of the glacial surface that we walked on. Near the edges, are shots of melt water running off the glacier and down to the lake it feeds. My middle son had a water bottle that he filled with glacial run-off. We were told we could drink it; it was that pure. Walking on the glacier was tricky. The surface was slippery and uneven. One had to be careful.

The bus we rode to get onto the glacier was no ordinary bus, but a specially designed snow coach. They are able to drive on gravel roads with a 17% grade and the surface of the icy glacier. One coach is being used by the US government in Antarctica. The other twenty-two are here. The tires are four feet tall.

The glacier had mountains on either side and of one these, Snow Dome, has the distinct honor of being the peak of a triple continental divide. From this mountain, the water runoff flows to three different oceans, the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic.

One of the pictures I took from the visitor’s center shows a snow coach out onto the glacier so you can see where we were when I took the pictures on the glacier.

The Calgary Stampede

2009-07-09T23:56:00.005-04:00

“Bison burgers for everybody?”

Where else but the Calgary Stampede could that question be asked?

We took a day away from the mountains to go to the Stampede in Calgary. What’s that, you might ask? Think of a county or state fair, then put a cowboy spin on it.

Midway carnival rides. . . check.

Food, food, and more food. . . check.

Crowds. . . check.

Now add cowboy hats and boots, large ugly belt buckles and swagger.

The heart of the Stampede is the Rodeo. Not just any rodeo, but the Olympics of rodeos. The contestants in the rodeo have been working the rodeo circuit for years and have to work up to the Stampede. They win money. . . lots of money. Every day, the cowboys compete for the day’s purse. At the end of the entire Stampede, the points and money add together for the grand prizes.

But for the audience, we got a show. And it was some show. The cowboys are fast, and make the event look easy. But you knew there was lots of training behind the feat, just like the Olympics.

We saw Saddle Bronc, Tie-Down Roping, Steer Riding, Steer Wrestling, Bareback, Barrel Racing, and Bull Riding. For more details on what these events entail, visit the Stampede website at www.calgarystampede.com

The contestants courteously signed autographs. My daughter is pictured with one of the winners of the day. Can you say “hot men wearing leather”?

The cowboys wrestling the steer were huge! I could tell, even though we were standing one hundred yards away, but then the announcer mentioned the size of the men, too. Most of the men weighed over 250 pounds and were extremely buff. They had to be to wrestle over 300 pounds of steer to the ground in less than five seconds.

And. . . I had to laugh at the cowboys names. Really now, I laugh at most of the names in cowboy romances. Who comes up with these names? But then, I saw them in the flesh. Some of the contestants’ names were Brady, Gavin, Tyson, Hunter, Trevor, Ryan, Clint, Lonnie, Bryce, Riley, Lee, Luke, Wade, Dusty, Dustan, Cody, Heith, Chad, Ross, Wiley, Reese, Curtis, and Ben. There also was a Mike, Joey, Bobby and Steve.

Oh, and those bison burgers? Very tasty!

Enjoy some of the pictures of our day!

Is That Snow??

2009-07-08T20:50:00.006-04:00

"Is that snow?" My husband pointed to white stuff floating down.

"Ick, yeah. . . but it's July. Why is it snowing in July?"

Being ever curious, I had to ask a native. I leaned over to the girl working the cash register. "Does it normally snow in July around here?"

Without blinking, she looked me square in the face and said, "Yes."

My mouth dropped and she continued, "It snows about once a month, even in the summer."

So, snow in Banff in July was not unusual.

But I was still cold and getting wetter by the minute.

We were on top of Sulphur Mountain. We rode the gondolas up and were enjoying and fabulous view of the valley below us.

Enjoy the pictures of the cloudy, snowy, rainy day.

We also had to soak in the Upper Hot Springs. Banff was founded because of the natural hot springs coming from the moutains. The Upper Hot Springs uses those natural hot springs to creat a giant hot tub for people to use. The water was wonderful. . . and hot. . .

Our day also consisted of just walking around the town ringed by moutains. The shops were chosen with the tourist in mind. There was all kinds of souvenirs, clothes, and other assorted junk available to buy. We found two grocery stores and a drug store.

We went to the Bow River Falls. . . . and took more pictures of falls. . . do you think I like water?

I also included in this post a few more pictures of our chalet that we are staying in for the week.

Rocks and Lakes and Trees, Oh My!

2009-07-07T16:29:00.003-04:00

Our drive from Thunder Bay to Banff was as grueling as expected. But we made it safe, but tired. While the others sleep or soak in the hot tub, I am sitting poolside, blogging... just for you...!

The western part of Ontario was very hilly, rocky and full of thick fir forests... not like the lower part of Ontario. After we crossed the border into Manitoba, the landscape changed drastically into the prarie grasslands one thinks of the mid western states. It was similar to Nebraska and Iowa.

Saskatchewan was still flat, but we had rain in the night. It was hard to see, but luckily, not many vehicles out on the road at 2 am. Alberta brought morning and dry weather... and some foothils.

Driving through Calgary was awful...! Traffic, and more traffic and road construction and NO interstates and the main highway goes through downtown and did I mention the traffic? Whew.. glad I won't have to do that again.

Why are there not any rest stops on the Canadian Highway 1? I must be spoiled with the USA system of insterstates and rest areas every 30 to 60 miles. Every time we needed to "rest", we had to find a gas station (with invariable dirty bathrooms) or a McDonalds, Tim Hortons, etc.

We made it to our chalet by noon. It's fabulous, just fabulous. See pictures...!! We have one bedroom (for the people footing the bill), and the loft is for the kids. We have a great room with a couch, table and four chairs, a kitchen area, a fireplace, and a deck. The view out the deck is mountains, the view out the front door is more mountains. We can walk into the parking lot and see more mountains.

My youngest son said it best, "wow..."

Pictures Galore

2009-07-05T19:57:00.015-04:00

We visited an amethyst mine in Thunder Bay today. The gems lay on the ground just ready to be picked up. We got a bucket and searched for "jewels". The cost was $3 per pound. We bought about ten pounds, total. I searched for the red gems which are the most rare.

The bigger rocks on the tables are also for sales, mainly used in landscaping.

At the mine, they pick out the best for themselves, then throw the rest of the dirt on the ground for the tourists to dig through.

Cool truck...!

Here is the mine vein.

The Sleeping Giant

Kakabeka Falls. . . . GORGEOUS. . . .!

Around the Lake

2009-07-04T23:41:00.002-04:00

After another day of driving, we are spending the evening in Thunder Bay.

We were able to visit with our friends, Fred and Connie, in the UP this morning. It's always great to see old friends. We actually were at a slightly inconvenient time for them. Connie's son got married today. So, we were glad they were able to carve out an hour to see us.

Hope the wedding was beautiful, Connie! And best wishes to the bride and groom...!!

We had a long, but beautiful drive around the north shore of Lake Superior. The terrian was rocky, and the forest, lush.

Tomorrow we see the sites of Thunder Bay.

Packing ... and then some

2009-07-03T22:47:00.003-04:00

"How long did it take us to get here?" my husband asked at rest stop 80 miles from our house.

I deadpanned, "Four and a half hours."

Actual driving time was ninety minutes. The other three hours was packing. I knew I living a fantasy when I asked for packed luggage at 7 am. I seriously hoped to leave by 9 am. . . but noon?

But, ya know, we are on vacation. . . so no sweat. We made it to our first stop in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan (SSM). On the way, we passed the 45th parallel and had to stop. This is the point where one is equal distant from the equator and the North Pole.

In SSM, we went to see the famous Soo Locks. We happen to be at the locks when we saw a tug boat parade. The boats had gone up river through the Canadian locks and down through the US locks. The boats were decorated up. I thought of floats in a parade. The occupants of the boats were partying. Fun. . . !

We also walked through the casino to show the kids.

Itinerary

2009-06-29T12:28:00.000-04:00

We leave this week....!!! Yay...!!

I am posting our itinerary so you can follow us on our journey.

July 3 - Drive to Saulte Saint Marie, MI
4 - Leave MI, drive to Thunder Bay, ONT
5 - Day in Thunder Bay
6 - Leave Thunder Bay, drive day and night to Banff, Alberta, arriving July 7
8 - 11 - See Banff National Park, Jasper NP, and Calgary Stampede
12 - Leave Banff, drive to Whitefish, MT.
13 - See Glacier NP
14 - Leave Whitefish, drive to Yellowstone NP, Stop at Three Forks State Park
15 - 17 - See Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Bear Tooth Pass
18 - Leave Yellowstone, drive to Spearfish SD, stop at Devil's Tower
19 - 20 - See Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave
21 - See Badlands NP, Wall Drug, drive to Sioux Falls
22 - Drive to Madison
23 - Drive to Milwaukee, ride ferry across Lake Michigan to Muskegon, drive home
24 - Collapse at home and wash mountains of laundry

Galcier Park Lodges

2009-04-05T14:30:00.000-04:00

Aren't these lodges gorgeous! I wish I could be staying there, but we are not. We can stop in and see them, and have plans to. But look at the mountains in the background. Perfect for laying around the pool, sipping a cool one, and relaxing.

I think I need to schedule more relaxing times. I have us going almost all the time. But part of me says that I may not ever be here again and I want to see everything I can. And part of me says I will be frazzled if I keep up the pace I have set.

ah.... just relax.....

Glacier Park

2009-03-31T17:37:00.000-04:00

After we leave Banff on Day 10, we head south, back to the US, to Glacier National Park. I have a whole day planned for the drive. On Day 11, we take the Going to The Sun Road. Here's what the NPS says about this road.

A Heritage for the Future
The construction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road was a huge undertaking. Even today, visitors to the park marvel at how such a road could have been built. The final section of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, over Logan Pass, was completed in 1932 after 11 years of work. The road is considered an engineering feat and is a National Historic Landmark. It is one of the most scenic roads in North America. The construction of the road forever changed the way visitors would experience Glacier National Park. Future visitors would drive over sections of the park that previously had taken days of horseback riding to see.

Just across the border, in Canada, is Waterton Lakes National Park. In 1931, members of the Rotary Clubs of Alberta and Montana suggested joining the two parks as a symbol of the peace and friendship between our two countries. In 1932, the United States and Canadian governments voted to designate the parks as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the world's first. More recently the parks have received two other international honors. The parks are both Biosphere Reserves, and were named as a World Heritage Site in 1995. This international recognition highlights the importance of this area, not just to the United States and Canada, but to the entire world.

While much has changed since the first visitors came to Glacier, it is possible to relive some of Glacier’s early history. You can take a horseback ride like an early visitor. Miles of hiking trails follow routes first used by trappers in the early 1800's. Several hotels and chalets, built by the Great Northern Railway in the early 1900's, house summer guests to the park. A visit to Glacier National Park is still a great adventure!

I can't wait to see it...!!!

The Next Few Days...

2009-03-28T23:21:00.000-04:00

On Day 5, we arrive in Banff, but I am not expecting us to see much other than the inside of the chalet we reserved. We will be exhausted from 30 to 35 hours on the road. The road between Calgary and Banff is gorgeous and I'm glad we will be doing that in the day. I love to see the mountains in the distance, then have them get larger as wee drive closer. Before you know it, the mountains are looming above us and then we are in them.

We have four days in Banff. I have not micro-managed them, but instead have chosen some activities for us to do.

Walk on a glacier. http://www.explorerockies.com/columbia-icefield/

Go to the Calgary Stampede. http://calgarystampede.com/

Soak in the Hot Springs, http://www.pc.gc.ca/regional/sourcesthermales-hotsprings/itm2-/banff_e.asp

Take the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain http://www.explorerockies.com/banff-gondola/

Drive up to Jasper NP. http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/jasper/index_E.asp

Or course, walking through the town. http://www.banff.ca/home.htm

We leave on day 10 to drive back to the state.

Watch for more...

Itinerary

2009-03-25T20:06:00.000-04:00

Our trip is scheduled for twenty-one days. Over the next few blog posts, I will post a run-down of the days and what we have planned for that day.

Day 1 -- Leave home and drive through Michigan to Sault Sainte Marie. We have friends in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near Sault Ste Marie and we plan to get together for dinner. We try to see our friends, Fred and Connie, about once every two or three years. Since it's a long drive, sometimes, more years than that go by before we make the drive to the Upper Pen. For the evening, we plan to show the family the locks and visit the museum. We will spend the night in Sault Ste Marie.

Day 2 -- Another long driving day. We leave the Soo for a trip around the northern shore of Lake Superior. Although the miles are about 400, the road is not an interstate, so speed is not fast. We have driving this before and we plan on spending eight hours driving. But what a drive! The northern shore of Lake Superior is gorgeous! Rugged wilderness, forests, and glimpses of the lake shore. Our day ends at Thunder Bay.

Day 3 -- We take a break from two days of driving to spend the day sight-seeing in Thunder Bay. This city was created when the cities of Port Arthur and Fort William combined in 1970. One sight to see is the Sleeping Giant, a peninsula of rock extending into the lake that resembles a giant laying on his back. Fort William, an historic trading fort, an amethyst mine, and Kakabeka Falls are also on the list of things to see. We spend a second night in Thunder Bay before heading out.

Day 4 -- Westward Ho..!! We leave Thunder Bay and head towards Winnipeg. Yes, it's a long drive; about eight hours. We plan to eat dinner in Winnipeg and see some of this prairie town. We leave after dinner and drive through the night and next day (Day 5) until we reach our destination of Banff. There, our chalet awaits..! The drive from Thunder Bay to Banff is almost 1300 miles. Pure drive time with no stops is about 24 hours. So, we have built in enough time to stop for food or other reasons. We can check in after 3 pm on Day 5.

More later. . .

What Do You Want to See or Do?

2009-03-22T09:35:00.000-04:00

I have posed that question to my family over and over again. What do you want to see? What do you want to do?

This is not just ~my~ vacation; this is the family vacation. I don't want to be making all the decisions.

One son wants to bathe in the hot springs in Yellowstone? Can we do that? Banff has natural hot springs. That the main reason the town is there.The railroad workers would bathe in the hot springs after their day was complete. The town and national park sprung up around the hot springs. In the town, one commercial area is available for "taking of the waters," the Upper Hot Springs. The Cave and Basin National Historic Site shows the history of the hot springs. In the plans is time for soaking in the hot springs.

But what about Yellowstone? Hot springs abound in the park. Is there anywhere to bathe in the springs? Most books warned about staying on the paths so you don't get burned. Legend has it that fisherman use one hot spring to cook their fish. However, diligent reading has produced paydirt.

On the road from the north entrance of Yellowstone to the our lodging at Mammoth Hot Springs, a sign markes the Forty-fifth Parallel, the line of latitude midway between the equator and the North Pole. If we take the trail that leads upstream a quarter mile to the Boiling River, a stream empties into the Gardner. Although the tributary itself is off-limits, people can soak in man-made pools surrounding the confluence.

A natural hot tub... what could be better!

Scenic Drives

2009-03-14T09:51:00.000-04:00

Going through the guidebooks has been very exciting, but one scenic drive caught my eye. This, we need to do.

The road that goes through Glacier NP is called "Going-to-the-Sun Road". Is that an awesome name or what?

From Fodor's, here is a description. This magnificent, 50 mile highway--a National Historic Civil Engeering Landmark--crosses the crest of the Continental Divide at Logon Pass and traverses the towering Garden Wall. Arguably the most beautiful drive in the country, Going-to-the-Sun Road connects Lake McDonald on the west side of Glacier with St. Mary Lake on the east. Turnoffs provide views of the high country and glacier-carved valleys.

The guidebook does warn the traveller that the drive is jammed packed with tourists in July and August... and we will be one of them..!

Hiking

2009-03-13T23:19:00.001-04:00

I love hiking as long as I have something to look at during the hike, something interesting, not just trees and grass and shrubs. I like to look at mountains, waterfalls, lakes, etc.

I have been the Yellowstone NP guidebook and all the day hikes they have within the park. They have many beautiful hikes with lots of stuff to see. How does this one sound?

"Tucked away in the northwest corner of the Midway Geyser Basin, 197 ft Fairy Falls receives relatively few visitors, even though it's only a short jaunt from Old Faithful. Beyond Fairy Falls the lollilop loop trail continues to a hidden thermal area at the base of the Twin Buttes, to conspicuous bald hills severly charred in the 1988 fires. The geysers are undeveloped, and you're likely to have them to yourself - in stark contrast to the throngs around Grand Prismatic Spring."

Don't you want to go there? I can't wait!

Accommodations

2009-03-10T20:23:00.000-04:00

After getting our itinerery set, my first concern is lodging in the national parks. As I suspected, lodging is at a premium. I was able to book four nights in Yellowstone and five nights in Banff.

Last night, I booked two nights just near Glacier National Park. I am not concerned about Thunder Bay or Saute Sainte Marie. Neither of these cities are tourist towns and hotels and rooms are plentiful. We are only staying one or two nights.

My next concern was the Blackhills of South Dakota. It seems there are plenty of hotels in the cities of Sturgis, Deadwood, Spearfish and Rapid City and the area. Hubby doesn't want to book anything ahead of time. Even Fodor's guidebook says "Towns with services are plentiful, so you needn't worry about how much gas you've got in your tank or where you'll find a place to stay at night."

Also from the guidebook:

This region has the highest concentration of parks, monuments, and memorials in the United States qualifying the Blackhills and badlands as more than just a stopover on the way to and from the huge national parks of western Montana and Wyoming.

So, we are probably set with accommodations for now. Next, planning our stay in each region.... what to do, what to see, where to hike. Which book should I look at first? Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff, Jasper, Black Hills? So many trails, so much to see!

The Planning Begins!

2009-03-08T14:55:00.000-04:00

Planning a vacation is really fun...I think it's almost as fun as taking the vacation.

For planning, you get to pour over maps and choose destinations, read guidebooks and book hotel rooms.

So, the planning begins....

This July, our family embarks on a three week tour out west. We are driving from our house in Ohio to just over the continental divide in British Columbia and Montana and coming back. We are driving out through Saute Sainte Marie, around the north shore of Lake Superior, to Thunder Bay. We get a day's break to explore the town before going west from there through Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Calgary to Banff National Park where we will soak up the scenery for five days.

Our drive turns south to Glacier National Park in Montana, then on to Yellowstone National Park for four days. We head east toward home, but not without a stop at Devil's Tower for a day. We plan a few days the Badlands of South Dakota and want to see the Mall of America in Minneapolis.

Whew...! That itinerary should keep us busy driving. We will grab the cameras and post our adventure as we go.

We have already done some planning and I just need to write down everything we have booked and decided.

First thing was a calendar. We needed to plot out our twenty-one days. How much can we drive in a day? How far do we WANT to drive in one day? Where do we want to stay? Where can we afford to stay? What is on the "have to see" list? What is on the "nice to see" list. How much of both lists can we do? Lots of questions, lots of decisions to make.

As we made decisions, more sights made it onto the "must see" list and some dropped off. We found we had to make some park lodge reservations quickly or miss them.

We booked four days at the Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge at the north entrance of Yellostone National Pak. The rooms promise no amenities, no air conditioning or even attached bathrooms. Those are down the hall. But we will be in the park. Funny enough, these "rustic" lodging were all that were available in when we booked in Janauary. One guidebook suggested booking two months in advance for the busy months of July and August. Huh? How about nine to ten months in advance. No, the book was not old; just published in 2008.

I started looking at lodging in Banff and was shocked. Hubby and I had been there in the mid eighties and remember a quaint little town. Now this quaint town has become a huge tourist attraction and rooms were quite pricey... like, real expensive. Using a popular "cheap travel" website, I found rooms in the $150 to $250 per night price range...! Yikes..!

I kept looking, trying other websites, AAA, and Entertainment book. Then we started looking at hostels. Even those were pricey. If just one person is travelling, the cost for one bed per night was only $38. But multiply that by four, and for the same cost, you can rent a hotel room.

Discouraged, I just kept looking every day. For what? A miracle?

Then a miracle did happen. One of the travel website had a chalet for a great price. Was that real? All day, I kept checking and looking and the price was still there. It had not disappeared. So I booked it. . . !

I am still pinching myself. I have checked back at the same website and now the chalets have gone up $15 per night. My great deal must have been for just that one day. I am so happy I scored them! In the chalet, we will have a kitchen, living room and a bedroom. Upstairs is an open loft with two double beds for the boys. Plenty of room to relax for the five nights we will be in Banff.

Last night, hubby and I were driving by Barnes and Noble and he suggested stopping in to buy some travel books. Me pass up a chance to go to BN? Not on your life! We perused the travel section and came home with seven books. One never knows what one will find at BN.

So now we are more closely looking at the "must see" list. So many sights!

I'll keep you all posted on our planning as we make more decisions and map out our route.