Week 5 Journals

Day 29 July 20,2002 Saturday - Calgary, Alberta, CA ( miles driven 20)

Today we decided to stay in Calgary for one more night and go see some more of the city.  After breakfast we headed to the train station and went down to the Glenbow Museum across the street from the Calgary Tower. We could have gone in last night but would have only had an hour before closing - thus the visit today. This is one spectacular museum. We started on the fourth floor with the section called "Warriors" dealing with - you guessed it. Knights, samurai, weapons, and history  of warfare. There were also  sections on minerals and West Africa. The third floor dealt specifically with Canadian history and chronicled the struggles of the native peoples and also the life of the emigrants into Alberta. The First Nations and the Blackfoot Gallery was a powerful display of the artifacts, native dress and the rebirth of the North American Indian culture after a century and a half of repression. By the time we got thru the Indian section of the third floor we thought we were done with it and then went to see the art displays on the second floor. There was a permanent display of Asian art and a display of present day artists from Canada called the The Group of Seven. We had decided to take lunch at the Eau Claire Market which was about 8 blocks away. This little walk took us through the heart of Chinatown which was interesting. The Chinese Cultural center building looks strange in the middle of modern sky scrapers. We expected the Eau Claire Market to be something like Pike Place in Seattle but it more resembled the Harbor Place I building in Baltimore.  After lunch we wandered back to the museum to take in the section we had accidentally skipped dealing with history in Alberta starting with the Hudson Bay company up to the present time.

On the way to the museum the wind had picked up and my cap blew off and landed right in the middle of a very busy intersection. All I could do is watch helplessly as the cars whizzed by. Amazingly my cap never wound up under any tires. When the light changed I was able to retrieve it unscathed. Along the way we stopped at the Hudson Bay Company store which is a six story huge business. I believe the HBC is the longest running business in North America. Mom almost got lost in the crafts department which looked to be nice. What do I know?

We arrived back in the motel at around 5:00 pm exhausted from the full day on our feet. After a short rest I developed the logistics of finding the movie theater where we took in the 7:20 showing of "The Road to Perdition".

Chiefs Battle Dress, Glenbow Museum

Chineese Cultural Center, Calgary

Reflecions in Calgary

Street Display

Day 30 July 21,2002 Sunday - Calgary, Alberta, CA to Banff, AB, CA( miles driven 175)

In Glacier NP I noticed that my temperature gauge was getting elevated while climbing back Going to the Sun Road. On the other side it returned to normal so I didn't think about it too much as the air temp was in the high 80's. On Friday going into Calgary the temp gauge was climbing a little in traffic but settling back as soon as we took off. This morning I decided to take a look since we were driving distances again and noticed that the coolant overflow hose was out of the coolant holding tank. Jiffy Lube in St. Paul, MN strikes again. Opening the radiator cap revealed that the level was down. GM however requires a special coolant and it took a few calls to locate a supply. One guy told me if I mix regular AFreeze with the GM stuff, the mixture will gel when the engine gets cold. The problem was resolved by 10:30 and we made church in time for the 10:45 service. Then it was off to Banff. Banff is within Banff National Park so to get into town you have to buy a daily pass for each day you are going to be in town. The daily pass is $6.00CAD per person. We paid for two days.

We arrived in Banff at 1:00 PM and noticed many vacancy signs at the motels. We selected the Red Carpet after making a few calls and determining that this was OK. After lunch it was off to the Bow River Scenic Parkway which leads you past Johnstons Canyon and beyond to Lake Louise. Our object was to see the Canyon and the rest would be decided as we went. I don't really know how to describe this area other than by using the word - breathtaking. The Rockies around Glacier are super but they are hills compared to the Canadian Rockies. Everyplace you looked the vista was mountains lining the river valley. On the way to Johnston's Canyon we spotted two elk feeding along the road. One of them walked in front of my car and I took a picture through the windshield like at Teddy R. NP of the buffalo. Johnston's Canyon contains a 800 foot deep narrow canyon with a lower and upper falls. The lower falls is a 1 mile round trip which we took . It had some steeper sections but mom made it without too much trouble. It is a beautiful area with catwalks drilled into the side of the canyon wall to provide the path to continue. At the falls there is one spot where you walk through an opening in the rock wall and look directly at the falls from a distance no more than 50 feet.

After Johnston's we decided to drive up and see Lake Louise which was very close. Lake Louise is a glacier lake and is surrounded by mountains one of them holding the Windsor Glacier. You can rent a canoe there and many were doing so. It is a pretty spot. We chose to walk into the Chateau Lake Louise Hotel to see how people worthy of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island live in Canada. You could walk into the lobby, shop and tourist restaurants but there were areas that were off limits to walk-ins like us. We stopped for a coffee for me and tea for mom and then started back to Banff. At one point along the road there was a statue with a plaque and flower wreaths at the base. The statue had the words "Why?" carved into the base. The signs leading up to it only stated - Internment Camp. Yesterday in Calgary we learned that Canadians interred Japanese during WWII just like the US so we naturally thought that this was the site of one of those camps. We couldn't have been more wrong. The internment here dated back to the First World War and contained Ukrainians which were considered to be enemies as the Ukraine at that time was part of the Austro Hungarian Empire which was allied with Germany. A bit of history I never would have learned.

Further up the road towards Banff we again had a elk encounter, this time two big bulls right next to the road. One guy walked within 8 feet fo snap a picture. He was nuts and his name was Arnie Buza. Since I am writing this later I guess I survived.

Elk ala throught the windshield

Trail to Lower Falls

Lower falls - worth the walk

Between Johnstons and Lake Louise

Lake Louise/Windsor Glacie

Internment Camp Statue

Somewhere in Banff NP

Mt. Douglas

Day 31 July 22,2002 Monday - Banff, AB, CA( miles driven 236)

Today was a sightseeing day in Banff NP and Jasper NP. After picking up a picnic lunch at the Safeway we headed West on Trans Canada 1 to get to the Icefields Highway which heads north from Lake Louise to get to the Columbia Icefield with its many glaciers. The distance to the icefields interpretative center is approximately 115 miles from Banff. The Icefields Highway is one big scenic panorama of spectacular mountains and the glaciers that they generate. We arrived at the Icefields Interpretive Center at around 11:30 and purchased tickets for the 12:15 bus to the snow buses which would take us up on Athabasca Glacier. The girl driving the regular bus was a short young girl with a real good sense of humor. When she got behind the wheel she made an announcement that we were in good hands as she had gotten her drivers license yesterday. At the edge of the glacier we transferred to the snow coach with large rubber wheels, 6 wheel drive and top speed of 12 miles an hour. The girl driver talked about glaciers and stopped at a point on the glacier where crevasses were not present. We were then let out for a 25 minute romp on the ice. Mom did not get out as she is down with a bad cold and did not want to walk around on the ice. In my opinion this was a nicer trip to a glacier than the helicopter ride I took to the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska.

One interesting feature was a mountain called "Snow Dome" This mountain is shaped in a triangular fashion which crates a triple divide. From one face the water winds up in the Pacific, from another to the Arctic and from the third in the Atlantic. It is one of two such mountains in the world. The other one being in Siberia. After lunch we started our return to Banff. At a spot called Bow Summit I took a hike to the observation area which overlooks a beautiful lake. It is one of the most spectacular views I have seen so far. The hike was very steep and strenuous but luckily it was short.

After dinner  you could see that Mom was not feeling well. She went into about 20 stores downtown and did not buy one thing. Hopefully she will be over the cold in a short while.

Lake Herbert

Columbia Icefields

SnowCat -Glacier Vehicle

Athabasca Glacier - Columbia Ice Field

Columbia Ice Field Glacier

Columbia Ice Field Glacier

Along the road from the Ice Field

The grandeur of the Canadian Rockies

Banff street scene

Day 32 July 23,2002 Tuesday - Banff, AB, CA to Kamloops, BC, CA( miles driven 348)
Today was a driving day. We are moving back towards the US to get out to Vancouver Island and Victoria. We will probably take the ferry from Anacortes, WA to Sydney, BC, CA. We have thought about leaving the car behind but don't feel comfortable doing so here.  Today mom has been down with a really bad cold which started yesterday. She has been dozing most of the day in the car due to lack of sleep last night.

 After walking thru the flower gardens at the Canada Place building in Banff and breakfast at Joe Bifsticks Diner we left beautiful Banff to get to Kamloops, my intended stop for the evening. After leaving Banff NP and after spotting one more elk we drove into Yoho NP. Within this park is the Kicking Horse Pass which is also the site for two spiral railroad tunnels which were built in the first decade of the 1900's. These tunnels cut the grade of descent from 4.5% to 2%. Prior to these tunnels there were many runaways and accidents. There was the story of one engineer who had a runaway and refused to pull into sidings built specifically for runaways. He successfully managed to bring the train to a halt at the bottom in the town of Field and had a telegram waiting for him marked "Rush". The contents of the telegram informed him that he was fired immediately for not following rules. The tunnel walls and ceiling do leak a lot of water and there were pictures in the display indicating that in the winter men go into the tunnels with pickaxes to chip the ice form the walls and that boxcars have scrapers on them to remove ice from the roof of the tunnel. I don't think I would want to do this.  At Field we stopped to look at a Natural Bridge which had been worn into the river by the Kicking Horse River. At one point the the rock had been solid across the river forming a waterfall but eventually the water cut its way under and through the rock. Prior to getting into Golden there was one sharp descent on a roadway that was cut into the side of the cliff. Just like on the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier.

From Golden where we picked up lunch to go we headed into the Canada's Glacier National Park. This views in this park were awesome but since there were many "No Stopping - Avalanche Zone" signs I didn't get to take many pictures here. There were numerous avalanche canopies built over the highway which looked like tunnels. At the one possibility for a stop I had a truck on my butt and did not want to risk putting on my brakes and wait for him to bowl me over. We managed to stop for lunch at a rest area in the park marked - Hemlock Grove. There was a boardwalk that led you thru an old growth forest of cedar and hemlock trees. The cedars were big. Further up the road I stopped to look at Crazy Creek Falls. We also passed thru Mt. Revelstoke NP which again was beautiful.

The area around Kamloops is a lumber center. Up the river at Salmon Arm we saw logs floating in a bay. Close-by was a lumber operation. If mom feels up to it we will take a tour of the Weyerhauser facility here.

Throughout the day our road took us along the railroad and on more than one we were running parallel to a train with domed observation cars. The lettering on the sides of the blue train said "Rocky Mountain Traintours" . When we walked into the restaurant at the Best Western the waiter asked me if we were with the train tour. I said that if it qualified us for a free dinner then the answer was yes. He said that I would need a voucher, knowing I was just kidding. I told him that I saw the train and thus should be rewarded. Mom ordered a crab and lobster caserole dish and the waiter said that they were out of lobster but that they have been substituting scallops. Mom said OK. 2 minutes later the waiter comes back and says that the computer says they have lobster and that would be served. Mom says OK. Two minutes later the waiter comes back and says that the computer is wrong and that there is no lobster. Mom says OK lets do the scallops. What a restaurant. It's called Foresters in Kamloops.

Flower Garden, Canada Place, Banff

Natural Bridge, Yoho NP, CA

In Glacier NP, CA

Crazy Creek Falls, after Revelstoke

Day 33 July 24,2002 Wednesday - Kamloops, BC, CA to Bellingham, WA, USA ( miles driven 287)

The morning started out with a bit of disappointment. We drove down to the Weyerhouser Sawmill operation to find out that the sawmill tours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays only in the afternoons. We were told that the pulp mill gives tours daily at 10:00 AM and we arrived there at 9:55 AM only to be told that the pulp mill went down yesterday unexpectedly and hopefully would be up and running by tomorrow. That was all well and good for them but for us it was hit the road. We started south on Canada #5 towards Vancouver. The scenery along this route was spectacular like anywhere else but there were almost no turnouts for pictures. We did take some through the windshield shots while moving at 65 mph or 110 km/ph. We stopped at Bridal Veil Falls where I took a strenuous walk up a steep trail to look at the falls. They were pretty. From there it was down to Sumas, WA to cross the border. The crossing was uneventful except for the inspector to tell us to take the time to sign our passports sometime. We have been crossing the border between Canada and US a few times and this was the first time we were informed.

After the inspection we came to a sign that said - Bellingham to the right and Mt. Baker to the left. We had been getting glimpses of snow covered Mt. Baker for quite a while and the sign leading the way was so inviting. Mt Baker is around 10,800 feet high. After about a half hour drive we came to a road which indicated - Mt. Baker Vista 9 miles. The first half mile of this road was uneventful except that it got narrower as we went along. Then it turned into a narrow (about 1.5 car widths wide) with numerous turnouts where one of the opposing cars would need to pull into to let the other pass. It seemed like we were going straight up into the air even though the road had many twists and turns and quite a few switchbacks. On each side of the road was a thick forest with sunlight streaming through the trees. Eventually we arrived at the top which provided excellent views of Mt. Baker and the surrounding mountains. It was quite a sight. After drinking in the beauty it was time for mom to start praying again for the ride down. Most of the road was paved but there were some sections which were gravel and quite dusty.

We arrived at Bellingham at rush hour and and as usual driving into the sun. After locating Interstate #5 and the exit with all the motels we pulled off exit 256 A. At the top of the exit was a young panhandler (no more than 25) with a disgusting sign "The bitch needs Tampons". Mom said that she was tempted to ask me to go buy some and then go back and throw them at him. I was kind of thinking that myself and am still wondering what the reaction to that would have been.

Mom is still not feeling well with her cold. This was the third day of this condition. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow when we have a reservation on the 2:00 pm sailing of the ferry from Anacortes to Sydney, BC on Vancouver Island. we are also re-thinking our route after we leave Victoria and Port Angeles. Our original plan was to go to the Northern Cascades and then continue on to Lake Chelan. there are forrest fires at Lake Chelan and we have been looking at awe inspiring mountains since last Wednesday when we entered Glacier. We haven't driven the coast of Washington and perhaps that is where we will head next. I think it is time to alter the plan and do some exploring in the reverse direction after we get out of Victoria. We are planning to spend two to three nights there.

Sign in Rest stop on Canada #5

Windshield shot along #5

Avalanche Canopy

Bridal Veil Falls

Mt. Baker

Mt. Baker

Marina at Bellingham

Sunset at Bellingham Marina

Day 34 July 25,2002 Thursday - Bellingham, WA, USA to Victoria, BC, CA ( miles driven 134)

Our ferry reservation was for 2:00 PM from Anacortes which is about 30 miles down the road from Bellingham. Mom read about a town called Lynden which per the information is a town founded by Dutch settlers. Since we had a few hours we drove the 25 miles from Bellingham to Lynden. The downtown has a lot of small gift, antique and other specialty shops with a Dutch theme. The post office even has a sign outside that reads Postkantoor. I guess that is Post Office in Dutch. After a coffee and a raspberry scone and having our picture taken we started down to Anacortes. The area around Lynden is a big berry growing area. There were signs for raspberries, blueberries and loganberries. We could see the workers harvesting raspberries.

When we arrived at Anacortes we had about an hour before our required arrival time and I spotted a sign that read Deception Gap State Park. I had seen a postcard with an interesting bridge over a deep gorge which was supposed to be at this park. We arrived at the bridge only to find that the area was shrouded in a thick fog. With the naked eye you could pick out a bridge but with a camera - forget it. I guess the same guy that ordered the weather for our Tobermory ferry on June 27 also was at work here. The ferry was on time and by 2:00 PM the fog had lifted a little. The ferry was going to make two stops before getting to Sidney, BC. One stop was at Orcas Island and the other was at San Juan Island - Friday Harbor, the last stop in US before crossing into Canada. By the time the ferry got to Friday Harbor the sun was out. There was a ferry from Canada that was unloading at the dock and the customs operation was interesting. The ferry only carried pedestrians and about 10 people were lined up in front of the lone woman customs inspector. We noted that it was taking a long time for each person or pair of persons to pass through the inspection point. Then we figured it out. The inspector had to take more time with pedestrians here because there were no computer facilities at the dock. When passing through via car into the US there are cameras which record the license plate front and back and before you get to the window they already know who the car is supposed to belong to.

The San Juan Islands between Anacortes and Sidney are beautiful. Some are nothing more than turtle shaped bumps sticking out of the water while others have high mountain like hills on them. If it wasn't for the water you would think you were driving through a mountain range. By the time we landed at Sidney one view in the distance recorded snow covered Mt. Baker. A 90 degree turn revealed the Olympic Mountain range on the US mainland to the south. These mountains were also snow capped like the last time we were here. I had my handy dandy GPS unit with me and was following our progress across the 35 miles from Anacortes to Sidney. The ferry was amazingly fast. It was a big ship yet managed to reach 21.5 mph according to my GPS. It was passing many a pleasure craft and leaving them in the dust.

After settling in at the Days Inn we took the bus downtown to look around and also have dinner. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Cafe where we had lunch back in 2000. For desert I had cheesecake which was advertised as chocolate cherry yet was listed as Black Forest on the bill. I didn't like the cake and only ate a little. The waiter insisted to take it off the bill. After dinner we walked along the waterfront and watched the street entertainers (jugglers, musicians) working the crowd for money. Finding the bus stop for the return was a bit of a problem but after wandering for a few blocks we finally hit the right corner.

Ya, Das is us and we is Dutch.

Deception Gap

One of many islands

Sailing in the San Juan's

Day 35 July 26,2002 Friday - Victoria, BC, CA ( miles driven 114)

The day started with a food fiasco and ended with a food fiasco. Good thing lunch was fine. We went down for breakfast at the Days Inn restaurant which was relatively empty. Only two other tables were occupied. After placing our order for eggs we waited 25 minutes for the meal to come out of the kitchen. After about 15 minutes I commented on the length of time and the waitress first stated that they get orders out in the order placed. She then came back and said the eggs would be out soon. After getting our breakfast the waitress said she was sorry that the service was slow and kept coming back to make nice. After the second such visit I asked her to please drop it. All was OK. Then she came with the bill and said they were not going to charge us for the coffee. I told her she didn't have to do that and to just drop it. Then the second waitress came over and asked if there was any problem. I again said - just drop it.  Mom wanted to hide.

After breakfast we drove downtown to the harbor area to take a tour of the BC parliament building. The weather was perfect and I got a few good pictures of the harbor area and the parliament building. The tour was interesting as the guide (very proper and polite) led us through the first two floors of the building. There was much pomp and circumstance attached to this building especially in the displays of the royal family visits over the past century. The arched front and center entrance has a metal gate which is locked. The guide explained that that entrance is only used on the opening and closing of the parliament session and also whenever the royalty or their representative comes to visit. 

After this tour we decided to skip the Burchard Gardens. How can you go to any other gardens after you have seen the DuPont Longwood Gardens in PA. We opted instead to drive to see the town of Chemainus which is about 50 miles from Victoria. The drive up was very scenic with views of the straits and the mountain peaks on the mainland. Chemainus is a little seaside town that got away from total dependence on the lumber industry by creating a tourist attraction via a festival of murals. At present there are 33 murals painted on the sides of buildings depicting the history of the local area. There are many small shops in the town. Mom did some shopping in one of them. We found the murals to be very artistic and pleasant to view. At one of the murals there was an artist doing reconditioning work. He said that he had painted the original 15 years ago and now had been called in to do some repairs. We visited the Anglican Church and talked to a woman there who gave a short history of the wooden church building which was over one hundred years old. It was originally build by you guessed it - lumber people. The lumber industry is not entirely dead in this town. At the dock there was a huge ship taking on stacked lumber which was being delivered to the ship by huge fork-lifts. The lumber mill has moved to the next town but tours were as in Kamloops only on Tuesday and Thursday. I guess I will never know how 2 X 4's are made.

After a short rest we decided on a Chinese restaurant for dinner. The front desk girl recommended "Mings" downtown which had won all the awards last year. The restaurant was nice but troubles started as soon as we sat down. First the waiter brought the tea pot and said this is tea. I poured out two cups only to find that it was only hot water. The waiter had forgotten to put in the tea bag. This took a minute or two to correct. I ordered butterfly shrimp and mom ordered Ming Lo Mein. After about ten minutes the waiter brought out the shrimp portion of my meal (no rice yet)  and said that mom's would be out in a minute or two. in about five minutes he came back with the rice for my meal (which had now cooled off considerably) and said that mom's was still being prepared. The cook was slicing tomatoes. After a while moms meal showed up. I didn't want mom to have to hide twice in one day so this time I just rolled with the punches. I even suggested that we give the breakfast girls a second chance. Mom wasn't too keen on that idea.

After getting back to the motel we found out a tour bus had just pulled in with about 40 Koreans on it. I think I will let them take care of the two waitresses.

Tour boats in harbor

Parliament Building in BC

Legislative hall

Piper and Harbor view

Native peoples mural

Railroad Mural

Original artist reconditioning his 15 year old mural

Mural depicting Chinese store owner

  

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