More! More!

The word for the day from Revelstoke to Calgary along Highway 1 was "MORE!"  


Every corner we turned, we felt compelled to stop and get out to get more pictures of the massive peaks that surrounded us.  Covered in snow at the tops, they seemed to just jut out of the ground in front of us.  Clouds seemed to be born from their very peaks. 

 

I understand why men climb mountains because they fill one with awe and compel you to come hither.   Like a lover that beckons on, the mountains with their beauty call you to try and be as close as you can get, ignoring the cautions and forgetting where you have to be or what you have to do.  The mountains and the mountains alone are all that matter.

We stopped for lunch at Lake Louise and to see if the hotel and lake were still there.  We were not surprised to find it intact and as lovely as ever.  

Angela and Anita posing at the front of the lake.

Notice how the snow is hanging over that ridge!

Angela without her glasses on a hike around the west side of the lake.

They lost our reservation so we had to press on to Calgary!

And here we were driving through them as fast as we could go.  We ignored their sirens call and sped on our way to a smaller and more compact form of beauty and loveliness that captured our heart almost two years ago.  "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

Kicking Horse and prayer or How I came to survive the second day of our trip.

Okay, we wanted to go to Kicking Horse outside of Golden because our friends Nanci and Ray told us that it was the best Gondola ride that they had ever been on.  And oh, by the way, you can ride bikes down the mountain and don't forget the wonderful last supper, er lunch you can have before you go over and down, down and down some more!   I know that Ray thinks he is going to inherit my tools and Nanci has been eying my cook book collection but really guys! 


The big guy was looking out for us though because we pulled up and found out that the resort and gondola does not open up till the weekend after we were going to be there.  After talking to the bike rental guy, I realized what a massive bullet had just whizzed past my head!  They don't allow you up there unless you have double suspension on your bike AND COMPLETE BODY ARMOUR!  They give classes and rent special sturdily build mountain bikes just to be able to go down the thing.  I was disappointed but there was a certain amount of "Thank you, God!" prayers being said on the way down from the resort.

The mountains were incredible though.  I could see how those two spiders (Nanci and Ray) could have sucked us into going up just on the basis of the scenery. I will have to rethink this experience as I mature on this trip across country.


The views though are still incredible!  More on this later!

Revelstoke, BC

We made it easily to Revelstoke which is located in the midst of the Canadian Rockies.  We are surrounded by mountains on all sides.  We had a longer than expected walk from our hotel to dinner at Emos and then ice cream cones at a little hole in the wall by the gazebo.  Angela has discovered a new favorite ice cream, liquorice and orange which frankly creeps me out but did not seem to bother her!

 We had lunch in Kamloops after getting gas and some lunch stuff at Costco!  We all had a good time roaming a new Costco and showed considerable restraint in what we had to buy......

The rivers are very swollen here in BC as they have had a lot of rain.  Parts of the river front park in Kamloops were blocked off because of the high level of water. 

We were going to go swimming in the hotel pool but as I sit here in the dark tapping away at the keys, my fellow road warriors are fast asleep!  Now I have to find my Kindle and read in the dark!   What a great day and fantastic start to this grand adventure, eh?

On the road

We are off. Bathroom in Everett!  Gas in Burlington and then the border!

Father's Day

Enjoying the day before we set out to see the whales. A day of church, root beer floats, Madagascar 3, and a BBQ. Then some Euro cup to finish the day. A nice day, no?

A tale of things to come!

We are heading off to see America and a bit of Canada.  My sister Anita is flying out on Thursday to go with us.  Angela and I are really excited about this trip.  We have not driven across the country in many years so this is a chance to see it all!  You can follow along if you wish, I will be posting pictures and giving updates as I can.  Much of it will most likely be written after the fact but that is that!

We have arranged for David W. to stay in our house while we are gone and for Danny C. to take care of the lawn.  We have prepaid the bills and have tuned up the car and our bikes.  We have stuff piled in the living room and I keep wondering how we are going to fit it all into the car.  The bikes ride outside but even after taking out a seat of the Temple of the Heavenly Jade, there is not that much room!  Somehow, it will (or it won't) all get into the van and away we will go.

I tell people that we will be driving between 7 and 8 thousand miles and most of them shake their heads like we are crazy.  Crazy fun, we say!  People said things like that when we took a trip with our first van back in 1985 with three small children.  We had a great time and we intend to do the same this trip.

We are going to first go north to see Aaron, Jen and Aubreah in Calgary.  We love the stretch of road between Vancouver and Calgary.  It goes through Revelstoke and Banff.  We are going to try and Gondola up Kicking Horse and then ride our bikes down!   Ray and Nanci told us it was the best Gondola ride they had ever scared Ray with so we are going to give it a swing.  I am not a great fan of heights but if I keep my eyes on the horizon, I should be okay!

From there we will stay with the family in Calgary for a while.  Bike the Bow River, hang out in Costco, play with Aubreah and cook food for everyone.   Then we will head south to Yellowstone and the Tetons!  Gotta see the Lewis River, right?  And Old Faithful and a moose or two!  I love that place!.   Majestic beauty is a great way to start a trip off, right? 

Then we will head East to Rushmore and Wall Drug.  (Jewel Cave on the return trip)  WE will go to see the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Il.  My mom was an avid fan of Abraham Lincoln so we are going to see it for her.  She died a few years back without ever getting there.

We will go see the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Oh. Angela and I visited it before we were married in 1978 and it is the largest collection of flying things in the world so I have to go see it again! 

Then off to Cumberland, MD where we will pick up the GAP Trail and ride our bikes to Pittsburgh.  Angela figured out that it goes downhill towards Pittsburgh so we are going to back track just a bit!   Three days of cycling through amazing country along well maintained trails sounds like Heaven on Earth as long as the weather is not too crazy hot.

From there we will link up with my older sister Sue in Lancaster, PA.  We will see some Amish country and she will try to buy out every antique store.   Anita and She will head home while Angela and I pick up the Barnes collection in Philly.  We saw a small portion of it once in DC while it was traveling and have always wanted to see more of it.

From there we will head south towards DC to see our daughter Rachel who is interning there for a law firm.  We want to see the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection and the National Archives, the World War II museum and the Natural History Museum.  We want to see it all but time is such a fickle thing.

From there we will hit Jamestown and Williamsburg.  We might want to go to Busch Gardens again too since we love roller coasters but we shall see.

Then to the Outer Banks (OBX) for Kitty Hawk and warm water.  We will saunter down to the homestead in Morehead City and spend some time looking up everyone!   Hopefully we will find a hush puppy or two to eat and Bojangles is yelling so loud I scarce can wait for Wednesday!   I need a boberry biscuit!  :)

Who knows what we will hit on the way home but I want to see Chicago's Art Institute.  They have some amazing paintings by the impressionists that Angela and I both love.

Are you on our route?  Should we stop and see you????