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The morning of the 14th we left for Jasper, Alberta, in the same cloudy weather and a tour was scheduled enroute to the next RV park.  We all met at the Columbia Icefield.  This tour was much better than awesome.  We all got on a regular tour bus (where it was snowing at the time), and rode up to the beginning of the ice fields where we boarded an Ice Explorer Bus with giant tires which took us up to the Athabasca Glacier.  There was one point where we were riding straight up and another where we felt like we were going to drop off at the top.  We reached the glacier and exited the ice bus for 15 minutes to walk and take pictures.  We learned that we were standing on the largest mass of glacial ice in the Canadian Rockies.  What a beautiful view!  We then were driven back down on the ice bus and tour bus and on to continue our trip.  We were back on the road again and headed for the next stop when we almost went into shock when we spotted 2 bears on the side of the road ahead.  I keep my  small camera in my lap with my trigger finger on the On/Off button so I can snap at any time and I caught one picture of the bear but not quick enough for the other.  All traffic on the highways here stop when there is an animal sighting so you better have your camera ready because they move fast.We then stopped at the Athabasca Falls with that  same beautiful color water that is from the glacial flour.  How many times can you say “Gorgeous.” That made our day complete.  Hope you enjoy our posts but up here WiFi is scarce and phone signals are few and far between so BEAR with us if we do not post as often as we would like. (One bit of trivia – there are only 23 Ice Explorer  Busses in the world and all 23 are at the Columbia Ice Fields)

Before leaving Banff, we went on the Gondola ride up to the top of Sulphur Mountain.  The weather was still not on our side.  At the bottom the sun was shining and the temp was mild.  After an 8 minute ride to the top we exited, walked out to see the view and the wind got up, the snow came down and we got soaked.  It was so bad that the Gondola company handed out blankets and ponchos to all the people on top.  After about 30 minutes of waiting in line to go back down, the sun came out and all was beautiful again.  We caught a few pictures of the view and some mountain goats that were on top of the mountain, but honestly after waiting in line in the storm we looked worse than the wet goats.

Spent the day on the tour bus to Banff National Park and more.  First stop was the Spiral Tunnels, the steepest and most scenic railway lines in North America and we were lucky enough to actually see the train running.  The next stop was Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, BC which is frozen from November to June and the color is a beautiful turquoise which is caused by powdered limestone.  Then we traveled to Moraine Lake which took us back to Alberta and is called the “Valley of the Ten Peaks.”  The water was an unbelievable blue green color that is created from glacial silt.  Then on to lunch at Lake Louise Ski Resort and on to Lake Louise which was much more than we expected.  The water was more beautiful than all we had seen yet. The emerald color is caused by melted water from the glaciers called glacier flour, and this was our first view of a glacier, the upper and lower Victoria Glaciers.  How about a $ 1,000.00 a night stay at the Lake Louise Chateau overlooking the lake and glaciers ?  Other stops included the Natural Bridge and Johnston Canyon where we hiked to the waterfall which was more than worth it.

We included a picture of our first bear sighting from the window of the bus.  Can you see that black spot in the picture.  You have to move fast to catch a picture of the animals.  Just so glad we were on the bus.  One more interesting fact – the overpasses are covered by grass and trees so that the animals can safely cross the highways.

The weather did not cooperate with us today but we still were determined to visit the hot springs and “WOW” are we glad we did.  It was awesome – about 101 degrees and even though it was lightly raining, it was so soothing that we stayed in for about 30 minutes.  Quite a few of our tour group did the same.  With the mountains above us and the hot “healing waters” it was just about perfect.  Sorry we didn’t include a picture but our hands were wet, along with everything else.  We talked with one of the local ladies in the store and she said you can appreciate the waters more in the winter when your hair freezes.  No thank you !  We included some pictures along the way to Banff, AB  and as you can see it was too cloudy and wet to really appreciate them but the mountains were still beautiful because you could see them rising above the clouds.

We had a great visit to beautiful Coeur D’Alene Idaho as we pictured the Resort in the previous post.  The Marina and beachfront park in the downtown area were especially impressive and we couldn’t believe some of the expensive boats which seemed to outnumber the amount of people, but many of them were from Canada and other parts of the country.    We walked the boardwalk, downtown area and made several trips to Cabela’s for extra supplies (also a great place to visit).  After a great orientation and fantastic meal with the Fantasy Tour group, we left Coeur D’Alene for our first destination.  We passed through the Canadian border without any problems.  We had heard all the stories about how they could easily search your vehicle and RV for everything from eggs to chicken, potatoes and any and everything.  We presented our passports and they asked some general questions about weapons, our pet and if we had any fresh fruits.  That was it and we were on our way.  It was a beautiful trip and we arrived at our first destination today in Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia.  We hope the weather will hold out for us tomorrow as we heard it may rain.  We were really hoping to visit the Hot Springs tomorrow where the temperature is 101 degrees.  Our RV resort also has a pool, hot tub and inside pool so we do have an alternative but it would be nice to go to the springs.

Sorry we haven’t posted in a while but we have both been a bit under the weather with colds and are trying to get back to 100%.  We are now in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, at the Blackwell Island RV Park where our 60 day Alaska Tour will begin next week.  We left Bear Den RV Park in Grangeville, Idaho, four days ago where as you can see, we took a picture of an Aspen tree which was on our site.  We had to include this picture because of what we learned about these trees from a previous tour guide who pointed out the “eyeballs” or what looks like eyeballs on the bark of these trees.  He said that many people will not even pee in the woods because they feel like they are being stared at. (Hey, it was funny when he said it!)  Can you imagine a forest of eyeballs staring at you?

The trip through Idaho was quite a change in scenery from red rock and mountains to beautifully rolling hills with gorgeous evergreens, cattle, horses, and the greenest grass you can imagine.   We passed so many huge farms and ranches along the way.  We traveled Hwy. 95 and followed most of the Little Salmon River through quaint small towns full of fishermen, boondockers, cowboys, steak eaters and believe it or not coffee houses.  We could not believe the coffee cafes and drive-ins  in this part of the country that have more combinations than Starbucks can even imagine.  Who knew?  This ride to Coeure d’Alene was something new around each curve and we are really looking forward to the next part of the trip.  Aren’t you?

A really good surprise today. Cary chose an RV park in Idaho which was on the way to the city where we will start our tour to Alaska. He chose a park  in Eden Idaho which is about 15 miles from Twin Falls ID. We went into Twin Falls where we ended up at a place called Shoshone Falls. Cary knows  I love water falls. It is called the “Niagara of the West”. It is gorgeous  as you can see in the pictures. In fact the falls drop 212 feet to the canyon floor which is actually 50ft further than Niagara Falls on the US side. What a beautiful spot with a lot of history. The river  produces hydroelectric power to help irrigate the fertile farm lands. The irrigation system seem’s to run 24/7.  To add to this we drove down to a bridge called the Perrin Bridge. The bridge overlooks a deep canyon and is the only bridge where it is legal for base jumpers  to jump year round. We watched several  of them pack their parachutes  and walk to the center of the bridge, climb over the railing and JUMP. It was explained to us that since the drop is so short they must pull the cord with in 4 seconds and steer clear of the Snake River below in order to land on a flagged spot. You can see from the pictures that we stayed quite a while and watched them and of course Cary wondered why anyone would jump off a perfectly good bridge. This was quite a day for surprises and so enjoyable.  Our country has so many beautiful places that are there for us to enjoy and sometimes overlooked.

We arrived in Salt Lake City, UT  and the following day took a shuttle to Temple Square. We were fortunate to attend a live performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  We toured the grounds and learned so much about the history of the Mormons. The tabernacle is a domed building and the acoustics are so astounding that in perfect silence  a pin dropped can be heard throughout the tabernacle.  The pipe organ has  over 11,000 pipes and is the 12th largest pipe organ in the world. The statue of Christ which is called Christus was so inspiring.  This was a great day.

Just a few pictures of our time in Las Vegas, NV.  Not what we are accustom to, but exciting anyway. Gambled a few dollars and managed to pay for our dinners out. Did not arrive rich and did not leave rich. One positive we did get to  see the Jersey boys show and what a show. Worth every thing we spent. On to Salt Lake City, UT.

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Here we are at Zion NP, and I would have to agree with a friend that out of all the NP’s in Utah  Zion was the most beautiful. Even the drive through a little town called Springdale just added to the trip. We did not enter through the Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel. We were a little skeptical about the size limit as well as the fee. Zion has a great shuttle system just like the other  parks. Once again you can see the differences between this park and all the others. We hiked to the riverwalk which is called the Temple of Sinawava, and hiked along the Virgin river to the beginning of the Narrows which is a hike through the river at the bottom of a narrow canyon. On this particular day the Narrows were closed because of a threat of flash flooding which happens quite often.  As you can see in the picture  I happened upon a “knot on a log”  on the way so he joined me for the hike.(heehee)  Also I did get a good picture of a deer walking around the visitors center like he was a tourist. The squirrels at the park seemed trained because every time they would approach a human they would stand up and beg. You can guess what people are doing and shouldn’t be.    Zion was gorgeous  and we would have had to stay for days to be able to see it all.