Almost at Virginia city....

Thursday 4th September 2008

I am still heading towards Yellowstone, but there are many lovely diversions along the way.
My first diversion is the NinePipes Museum of early Montana; this was very well done, with a lot of information, incorporating Native American history along with early settler’s history. Lots of interesting artefacts with lots of information.



I then went to find the National Bison Range Park, did a huge loop but somehow managed to miss this huge park! Managed to find it on my second circuit. This was a ‘drive-thru’ park, getting out of vehicles strictly forbidden. Once again there was lots of wonderful wildlife, lots of Bison/Buffalo along with Prong Horn, White Tail and Mule Deer, along with a couple of Musk Rats and a herd of Elk – great excitement!! The complete drive was really good and I was so glad I went back to find it.



I spent the night in good old Wal-Mart whilst on my way to Missoula.

Friday 5th September

Missoula was a busy town, getting around it was quite difficult on my own. After doing my laundry I went to find the beautiful, hand-carved, hand-painted carousel which was a ‘must-see’ according to my travel books. The work on this carousel was all done by volunteers and it is really very lovely. I didn’t have a ride on the carousel due to my travel sickness!! In the photos below you can see the carousel, the workshop and a volunteer and then the third picture, also of the carousel has a flying dragon (or similar), at the top leftish, this had a string coming out of its mouth which could be pulled and, occasionally, dispensed a prize!



I also wanted to find the Historical Museum of Fort, Missoula, which was a bit tricky. But I found it in the end – however, the pouring rain meant it was too wet to walk around the outside. I did go to check out the inside of the museum where a very nice lady took me under her wing, she told me about the white people who had moved into the area, built the fort and the troubles with the Native Americans who were eventually pushed out of the whole area. The fort is still a working fort and some areas are still occupied by the military or government agencies.

After Missoula I had a pleasant ride to Hamilton and managed to get a free sleep near the fairground. I plan to spend tomorrow here and go to the museum of a Copper King!

Saturday 6th September

I went to the Daly Mansion Museum. This belonged to a very poor Irish immigrant who came to the area in the 1800s and found copper. He then eventually built this very beautiful mansion for his wife and family. Mr Daly was a friend and rival of Mr Conrad whose mansion I visited several days ago. Mr Daly was also friends with and keen rivals to Mr Clark whose house I have yet to see. All of the furnishings in the Daly house came from Europe, with many from England. It always surprises me when I visit these carefully preserved ‘old’ homes – because of course they are really very recent, I often forget what a young country the U.S.A is. My daughter and I both lived in very ordinary houses from the mid-late 1800s, when I think of old I think of pre-16th century! Nevertheless these places are very interesting and I get a huge amount of pleasure visiting them. I also discovered, from my very informative guide, what ‘alooominum’ is! The American English pronunciation is so very different to the English, so when the guide told me that the Daly Mansion had a very modern ‘alooominum’ sink. I went to have a look – to find it was we would call stainless steel or just ‘alyouminium’ – but with regard to a kitchen sink we would always say ‘stainless steel’. Just goes to show we speak the same language very differently!! I found a campsite at the side of the river which was again lovely. The next day I spent my time cleaning, sitting in the talk and chatting to various people.

Monday 8th September

I continue my journey onto Yellow Stone, passing through Big Hole Battlefield National Park. There was a huge battle here with the Nez Perce Indians, very bloody, awful battle. The drive was very beautiful through Bitter Root National Forest and Mountains. The battle was fought in a stunning valley. The countryside is generally very different, still lots of trees, but many meadows and clear creeks - no more raging rivers. Lots of folk standing in the creeks doing what I imagine is fly-fishing. Many farms, some very old, interesting small towns. A great day!!

Tuesday 9th September

A small black bear ran across the road in front of me this morning!! I watched it for about 10 minutes, incredible. A beautiful scenic drive followed, the route went to Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Park, this was once one of the largest ranches in the United States. The ranching started late in the 1800s when these two men realised that the huge amount of pasture in the area would facilitate big ranching in Montana – until then the ranching was small. This would enable them to compete with the big ranches in other states such as Texas. This is still a working ranch today and the house is another interesting museum. The old out buildings have been preserved. I had beans and coffee from the back of a chuck wagon in true Rawhide style – the coffee was disgusting, the beans were delicious!! Another excellent and interesting visit.

In nearby Deer Lodge I went to prison!! This was again so interesting; if not a little scary being the only modern prison I have ever been in! This prison was built by inmate labour and was home to at least one member of Butch Cassidy's "Wild Bunch". One display shows sturdy work shoes with concrete soles instead of leather ones. These shoes, weighing 20 pounds each, were ordered to be worn by convicts thought to be potential escapees. There were some tiny, tiny cells, just concrete, used for prisoners in solitary confinement. I also walked ‘The Mile’! There was a decent exercise area and kitchens. Some of the memorabilia was quite horrifying. But again another very enjoyable and interesting visit.

In the same small town there were several other museums which I briefly wandered round, also very interesting. I had Montana beast liver with mashed potatoes and garden peas for my lunch – absolutely delicious, liver is one of my favourites.

Next stop was Butte. Here I did a city tour in the morning, the guide, who was Butte born and bred and had worked in the mine until he was injured, talked very quickly, non-stop, I had trouble understanding him and developed a head ache! This is a copper mining town, once very prosperous now struggling and very, very poor. The city tour took us to the old workings and showed what the copper mine had done for the town when it was so wealthy. There is an amazing children’s play area and park which the guide raved about.. Mr Clarke was the copper king of this mine, he really looked after his workers and did a lot for the town. His house was truly stunning, the current owners are restoring the house to its original glory. It is a family run business also doing bed and breakfast. The house is full of antiques including some of the original pieces which they have been able to buy back, everything is in the style of the period 1884 to 1888 when the mansion was built as the residence of Mr Clark - the last of Montana’s famous three ‘Copper Kings’ whose homes I have visited. These men helped to establish the young Montana territory through their business ventures. It is interesting to me to see how each state seems to have grown and been establishes almost like small, individual countries. Each state building on and utilising their own natural resources. For my lunch this day I decided to follow the recommendation of one of my guide books - ‘Cornish Pasties’! As with many mining areas Cornish men had emigrated from Cornwall, England and took with them their pasties, my guide book recommended both the restaurant and the pastie. The restaurant was, as far as I could see, straight out of a Doris Day movie!! I even sat at the counter on a swivel chair, the restaurant appeared unchanged from the 1950s. Once again I enjoyed a first class lunch!

My next stop will be Virginia City – not of Bonanza fame.

On my way to Yellow Stone......

I am sort of going to Yellow Stone National Park but I am definitely taking the long route, in fact it could be the long and slow route!

I have a very good guide book called “Road Trip USA” - Cross country adventures on America’s two-lane highways! This book has some really good road trips with lots of really quirky stuff to see, so I decide to take highway 93 through Montana as far as “The Big Hole National Battlefield” then head east to Virginia City (which I think must have something to do with Bonanza!) This is cowboy and Indian country with Big Stetson’s, cowboy boots, long jeans with big and beautiful silver buckle belts, some guys even have spurs!

I start off with snow and rain in the Blackfoot Reservation. I have to say this is the poorest area I have seen so far. Everywhere looks sad and dilapidated; I am crossing the plains or prairies which were once filled with 100’s of thousand’s of Buffalo, that must have been an awesome sight and dotted with Indian Tipi villages. Now it is just a sad place.

Once out of the reservation the houses improve and I go through some really nice old style towns. I stopped at one that had a farmers market I think the farmer's were Mennonites. I got some corn which I have to say was the most delicious I have ever tasted. I only got 2 which I regretted after eating one, I wish I had moreJ

The road climbs back into the Rockies with lots of fresh snow on the tops and it is snowing quite hard.

Once the snow stops the weather is ok, cold at night but sunny throughout the day. The mountains look beautiful in the sun with lots of fresh snow. The roads in the reservation are pretty poor, with the rain and snow I got covered in mud so am now on the hunt for a decent supermarket and a car wash!

I have a slow and beautiful ride, passing beautiful lakes, some with lovely pretty little islands, the mountains in the back ground are snow covered, the towns are quaint with log homes and shops, some clapboard (I thinks that right) or shingle and really cute old style motels (like we see in old films).

My first fair size port of call is Kalispell where there is a museum of the “Conrad Mansion” this was built by Pioneer and Trader Charles Conrad, very interesting, very well presented with an excellent guide, well worth the visit.

As I drive onwards I pass Flathead river and lake, Swan lake and Clearwater, I also, once again, see Ospreys nesting at the top of the specially built poles along the side of the road this time there are babies too!! Wonderful!

My next stop will be “Miracle of America Museum” which both of my guide books say is a must. On the way I stop in a very small town for lunch which proved to be delicious, I had Huckleberry Cheese cake for pud, this was a vanilla cheesecake with a good size portion of Huckleberries on the side. Yum! I have never had Huckleberries before they are delicious. I believe they only grow here in the Rockies wild, they cannot be cultivated, have to be picked from the wild AND they are a favourite of the bears! Consequently they are expensive I have a jar to bring home which I hope will survive the trip!

The Miracle of America Museum may have been wonderful once upon a time but now! I have never seen such a collection of junk in my life. In and among there are some very interesting pieces but there is to much of it, each display is so over crowded its difficult to appreciate what they are trying to display, there is no order and the explanations are very hard to read and long and tedious!

A short way further along the road I stopped at a “Flathead Indian” museum and culture centre, what a difference every thing is well displayed, labelled with easy and comprehensive descriptions I enjoyed that little visit very much

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump?

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump National Historical Site. When you read that on a map you just have to check it out, I could not even begin to imagine what it was.

By the way it is also a World Heritage Site.

Well here is the explanation. Before the white man ever came to North America there were 100’s of thousands of Buffalo/Bison roaming the great plains, the Native American’s who also lived on the plains depended on the Bison for their survival, Thanks to their excellent understanding of topography and Bison behaviour, groups of native hunters killed bison by driving them over a precipice, Remember the Native American had no guns and no horses, these hunts required a lot of organization and skill to lure the Bison from their grazing and into special lanes and finally over the cliff. There is evidence that these Buffalo Jumps were practiced by native people on the Great Plains for over 6000 years. There were a number of these jumps depending where the Buffalo were grassing, the Indians would use the nearest and have their camp near by so that the animals could be dealt with straight away.

What the native hunters, and every one at the hunt camp, did was to make a kind of ”road way” very wide at first, then running narrower until just animal size at the cliff edge, to do this they staked each side of the “road” with rocks and small trees or bushes every few feet, Buffalo apparently have very poor eyesight and when they stampede the whole herd will follow 1 female, she is the only one who looks where she is going (not very well by all accounts) the braves then put other animal skins over their bodies also making them selves smell pretty bad with animal fats. One brave with the skin of a wolf or bear will torment the herd until a female thinks her calf is in danger, sometimes the calf will run off first then the stampede starts. The other braves stand at the stakes covered in their animal skins shouting and waving a small branch from a tree, the stampede hurtles down the “road” when the leader comes to the edge of the cliff she cannot stop because of the herd behind her, she goes over with everyone else following. This hunt was in the Autumn/Fall when the Buffalo’s coat was thick and long.

Legend has it that a young brave wanted to watch the buffalo tumble past, standing in the shelter of a ledge as if behind a waterfall, he watched the beasts fall. The hunt was unusually good that day and as the Buffalo bodies piled up the brave became trapped between cliff and the animals. When the people came to do the butchering, they found him with his skull crushed by the weight of the buffalo carcasses! Hence the name.

The museum at the site is excellen,t telling the whole story of the Buffalo and the Plains Indian. The whole of the buffalo was used to feed, clothe, and make the Tipi, their tools and utensils; even games were made - everything they needed to live their life! How this whole animal was used is quite ingenious. All of the bones were not used over for 6000 years, the white man has since mined these bones for use in fertilizer and explosives during WW2 (I think it was 2 not 1) But now of course all of these sites are protected areas.

A jolly good and interesting visit, I had Buffalo Burger for lunch but wasn’t keen!

After lunch I went to the historical town of Fort Macleod (I love historical towns)

This town is 1^st class having a self guided walking tour taking in some excellent preserved buildings. I had a leaflet with an explanation of each building, jolly good. There is also a fort to view, which turned out to be even more interesting then the town. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are one of Canada’s most recognized symbols. The Mounties were created in 1873 as a police force to establish order in the west! The North West Mounted Police were formed May 23^rd 1873. 1 year later they began their trek west and arrived at Fort Whoop-up 3 months later, they built their first fort on an island on the Oldman River in 1884 a new and larger fort was built and named after the man who led them Colonel James F Macleod, this post served at divisional headquarters until 1920’s

The N.W.M.P were formed and sent west not only to keep the Indian – settler problem but also to stop Americans, who were in the area, selling home made whisky to the Indians, making the whole situation worse. Apparently the whisky sellers were gone by the time the N.W.M.P arrived.

We were told when in the North West Territories that the “Mountie always got his man” because there was only one very poor road out of anywhere and if the criminal went overland they either froze to death or were killed by Grizzly Bears.

Fort Macleod was totally self contained and the town grew up around it, there was never much trouble with Indians.

The visit was very interesting with pictures of Queen Victoria everywhere, there was also a display of the Mounties on parade and a riding display, I believe this was from the local riding school it was definitely not the real thing! They did however put on a good show.

Great day,

I then went to a campsite in Cardston I stayed 2 nights doing the cleaning, internet and used my Canadian phone card up ring home to my girls. Tomorrow I will be back in the USA………………that is if they let me in!

30^th and 31^st AUGUST 2008

The next two days are spent in Waterton Lakes Canada and Glacier National Park USA. The two parks are joined with the border running through. The two national parks were named an International Peace Park by the USA and Canada in 1932 and the whole thing was designated a World Heritage Site in 1995, they are also Biosphere Reserves. I have to tell you they are stunning, absolutely beautiful………

Waterton Lakes is so pretty and peaceful, with the lakes surrounded by mountains; I had a couple of nice walks through the forest to the lake but am very nervous of bears, I only went where there were other people.

I had a great lunch in a very western Indian restaurant the burger was the best I have had so far! This is Blackfoot Indian Country with the reservation running along side Glacier Park.

Dramatically beautiful Glacier Park is Montana most treasured attraction; Both Parks have rugged and desolated alpine terrain full of lush valleys, clear crystal lakes, Glacier has amazing waterfalls. The wildlife roams across both parks they have no boarders. I saw the largest and closest Grizzly to date!!!

At Saint Mary’s visitor centre just outside the front door (on a pole provided by the rangers) there is a nesting Osprey with 2 babies getting ready to fly, they kept bobbing up and flapping their wings Mum or Dad fetched food while I was watching! Awesome !

I have also booked an interpretive trip on a 1936 Red bus for tomorrow which should be fun!

The bus is great. I get there very early and manage to get the front seat, the weather has changed and it’s freezing with snow forecaste, I wish I had another layer of clothes on, also some warmer socks!

The bus has been refurbished by Ford to its original classic design, with a few modern things added like flashing yellow indicators and a demister for the windscreen/shield, the doors are very heavy, the inside is made of wood - we are asked not to bang them because the old style catches break and sometimes the glass will break!! The whole of the roof folds back making the bus an open top! The seats are like old double decker buses, 4 or 5 across on the one seat, some people cry off because of the weather so the bus is not full.

The trip its self was superb, at the first stop I brought a pair of warmer socks. The guide was excellent, talking about the bus and the park. It rained most of the morning but we were able to get out and the views were good. Because of the canvas roof there was quite a wind coming through out! In fact across the windscreen/shield there was a gale!! This prevented the windows from steaming up, Oh by the way everyone had a blanket. Stopped at the oldest hotel by Lake McDonald for lunch. The first tourists came to this park by train, and then a horse and cart took them to the lake, they then took a boat arriving at the hotel from the lake, which of course was the front of the hotel, but now that guests arrive by road the hotel is back to front! But still beautiful with a huge log fire and cosy chairs. Lunch was very good, I had liver but declined the sweet when I saw the size of the people sat next to me, They offered me a spoon! The weather has also improved. We were able to have the top rolled back, but as we climb higher the rain comes back but we all say its ok but then the snow comes and we cannot stop to put the roof back as the road is too narrow and twisty, we are at 8000+ft but no one seems to really mind. We have seen lots of Big Horned Sheep. Learnt more about Lodge Pole Pine, after a fire they grow the fastest, straight to the sun, they do not like shade however their quick growth allows the slower growing trees like Cedar and Douglas Fir to take hold, the slower trees will over take the Lodge Pine spreading their branches putting the Lodge Pine in the shade, they then dye but their cone can live on the forest floor for over a hundred years waiting for that forest fire which gives them another turn to rule the forest!!.......................................

Jasper National Park........Canadian Rockie Mountains

Monday 11^th August 2008

I get repaired in the morning and head out for Jasper Park, fingers crossed nothing else goes wrong!!

The weather could be better, the cloud is very low spoiling the views of the mountains, I cannot see the top of McBride mountain which is a shame the pictures look amazing. The scenery below the cloud is stunning. My first day in Jasper is lovely the weather has improved; I have sunshine with clear blue skies - great!

I pay my entrance fee but do not understand the system, the lady is not very helpful, I keep smiling, but I think she is having a bad day, so I only pay for 1 day and head for Jasper Town. I did not like it at all far too commercialized for me. I just had a walk to the visitors centre, got all the information I needed along with an understanding of the entrance fees, I am ok in Jasper Park until 4pm tomorrow.

Jasper is lovely, mountains and lakes with lots of wild life, one of the lakes even had a beach complete with deckchairs - I thought I was in Scarborough for a minute! One lake, that the Indians named Medicine Lake, has no outlet, it empties every autumn/fall, there are, apparently, 3 bore holes in the bottom. Once the weather in the mountains turns cold the glacier melt stops; the flow out from the lake is greater than the flow in so by the end of autumn/fall there is just a very small stream down the middle of the lake bed, then once the melt starts in the spring the lake fills up again!

The Ice field Highway, which runs through Jasper and Banff National Park, takes you past amazing waterfalls, the Columbia Ice field with many glaciers and wonderful snowy peaks. I spent one night in the park at great expense, it was worth it, this park is truly beautiful.

I have decided to do a detour to Vancouver to see Mary and Carl to do that I have picked a very nice looking round trip starting with Kootenay National Park, the weather is also picking up and getting warmer, Kooteneay is a lovely small park with some very pretty and interesting walks/hikes. One I took was to “Paint Pots” both Indian and European Settlers came to collect the red earth to make paint. The Indian people came to collect the clay which they made into balls, then dried in the sun, ground them up and mixed with fish or animal oil to make paint. In the early 1900; s settlers did the same thing when the big paint company’s also used this mud. Mud mining in a big way was started with the mud being sent to the large towns of Canada. Mining was stopped in the 1920’s when Kootenay became a national park.

I had another expensive nights sleep!

The weather is now very hot! A visit to Fort Steele had me hurrying from shade to shade. This is an early fort in what is now a heritage town. The fort was built to house the North West Mounted Police. Superintendent Steele, with 75 troopers, was sent to resolve the problems between settlers/miners and Indians. Steele developed a very good relationship with the Chief Isadore and the settlers making things very peaceful.

The origin of the fort is linked with the 1860’s discovery of gold on nearby Wild Horse Creek and continued until 1904 by 1910 it was in a state of decay. Local residents started, in the late 1950's, petitioning the government to declare Fort Steele an Historic Park, that came in 1961. Now it is a living museum with folk in costumes of the 1880’s and carrying out activities of the day, making fresh bread. Good visit, I enjoyed myself.

AUGUST 15^TH 2008

I had picked myself out a scenic route taking me to Vancouver (Mary ‘n Carl’s) Mary had told me that the town of Nelson was one of lovely old buildings and very pretty, also her mum had grown up there. Checking out the map I could drive along the side of a lake, cross over by ferry, then come down the other side passing through Nelson, this I decided to do. The drive was amazing. Snowy mountains, beautiful trees, some very interesting little village/holiday areas with a most beautiful lake and some lovely houses. The Ferry was very busy and very well organized. When I arrived I thought I would be ages, but no, everything went like clock work. I guess when you have as many lakes and sea areas as they have in Canada you get jolly good at running ferries! Anyway, my ride to Nelson was very enjoyable, however the temperature had been rising all day, by the time I got to Nelson it was 38.5c or 101.3f - much too hot to leave my air conditioned cab! So I drove around the town as much as I could, some of the buildings are lovely. I leave after a ride around the town heading onto Vancouver and look for a shady spot to sleep, which I did manage to find, the night was quite cool I am pleased to say.

AUGUST 16^TH 2008

I had found a bit of a forest to park in last night, after I had been there around an hour another truck came along and went a little further into the forest than I had. I have also come from mountain time to pacific time, which is back an hour. I had changed my clocks hoping I had gone the right way, but really, when travelling like I am, it doesn’t really matter an hour here or there!

This morning at 5.45am there is a knocking on the door. I was asleep and because it had been so hot yesterday I was also naked! So I ignored the first knock, started to get up at the second, then the banging started on every part of the truck going round. Well you know it takes a girl a while to wake up, get up, get some clothes on, find the glasses and have a quick drink of water by this time the banging is very loud, “I’m coming” I shout. I go to the drivers' seat, (door is double locked and I only need open the window a little). It’s the guy from the other truck; he has come to invite me to breakfast!!! Do I kill him now or later???? I open the window half way telling him I was asleep, he is obsessed with going for breakfast and keeps talking, driving me nuts at that time of the morning, but then I do find out it is in fact 7.45am I had already been in Pacific Time - changing my clock had in fact put me in 'no-time' - i was already in Pacific Time when I changed the clocks, I think I was 2 hours out!! Told you the time is matterless!! I told him I had to get showered and dressed and also my breakfast was ready. He said he would go have his breakfast and return!!! I got dressed P.D.Q and left, I had my breakfast at the next rest stop alone!

This day continued to get very hot with a high of 38c, but also very beautiful - mountains with snowy peaks, so many lakes and trees, stopping at the most awesome overlooks for tea breaks and lunch. This area is the fruit basket of Canada with fruit shops every few miles, I got a box of peaches for Mary and some cherries to nibble on. Gorgeous. By the way, my fridge is now broken, I can manage to keep stuff cool but have to turn it off at night and there is no ice on the freezer. There are also a lot of wineries along the road, I do not visit any of them I think you need a mate for wine tasting.

Sunday 17^th August.

I arrive at Carl and Mary’s in the afternoon after a very pleasant ride through Vancouver on the main highway.

It great to see them both again Carl is leaving early tomorrow on a business trip. I plan to spend a couple of days with Mary……ha! ha!

My fridge does not work at all; I ring around on Monday and to try and find a Waeco 24 volt fridge in Vancouver. The shop that eventually decides it does have a 24volt in the correct size and in stock gives me the name of a guy who may fit the fridge. So far so good. I make arrangements to take my truck for him to see at his place of work on Wednesday morning BUT on Wednesday the truck will not start!!! Mary lives on a hill so I am able to roll backwards and get a jump start………….been here before. In Vancouver there is a Mercedes garage, so I give Hans a ring and arrange to take the truck to him Thursday.

My couple of days does become a week! I have a lovely time with Mary, beautiful walks with Riley the family dog. West Vancouver where Mary lives is very beautiful with forest walks and coastal walks it great. A wonderful evening spent with a friend of Mary’s who made us a gorgeous meal with very nice wine; I think I was a little tipsy!! We also had a great girlie day with another friend shopping and lunch.

The morning trying to find the fitter for the fridge was hilarious, he was working at the side of a dog kennel on a boat in a car park when we stopped (I dared not turn the engine off) the dog went crazy there were loads of them, what a din, well we walked around, went into the kennels which drove the dogs even crazier, a lady, who I guess was the owner, was not impressed until Mary told her how much she liked dogs…….. We had also got the guy a large coffee and a bun, the coffee I keep spilling. We decide he is not there and will leave if only to shut the dogs up. Back in the car park the guy’s phone rang and he popped out of a boat to answer it! After all that he couldn’t do the job until, oh, I can’t remember, I think it was 6 weeks from next Tuesday or some such.

Back at Mary’s house Mary calls a friend of theirs who will do it on Friday!! double smiles. Then the shop say they have only got 12volt - I tell him we were assured it was 24v, after hanging on and fiddling around he came back to say yes it is 24v, the confusion arose because the fridge is either or. So I am happy again.

Thursday I take the truck to Hans, who also fiddles around checking, I don’t know everything he needs to check, in doing this he knocks the wiring from the isolation switch for the batteries and every thing goes crazy. This switch is really malfunctioning, he believes this may have been the problem all the time, but we will not go there! He has not got a new switch but is able to join all the wires and bypass the switch making everything safe. Phew! I’m back on the road again.

Friday Carl is home. We go to pick the fridge up in the morning, it is larger than the one I already have in, which has a draw underneath, Carl takes this out for me and puts in a new shelf for the fridge to sit on. I am so lucky to have such good friends. I have put the draw in the “shed “ to have it resized at a later date. Their friend came late afternoon and I now have a lovely new fridge, black in colour, with a much larger freezer section I am a very happy bunny!!

Saturday I would like to take Carl and Mary for a meal, instead we go to the pictures/movies, a Canadian film made in India; it was very good we then went to a drive in. Which I thought would just be a take away that you eat in the car from the boxes. Wrong! The menu is written on the wall a waitress comes out and tells Carl to put his head lights on when we are ready to order, she then comes back to take our order. I have a British Columbia Burger with a Caesar Salad, I still believe it will come out in polystyrene boxes. She then comes out with a very long tray and asks Mary to lower both windows, the tray fits across the back of the car from window to window, the food is on plates and dishes (paper but what the heck). She then brings another tray to fit across the front from window to window with Carl and my food on!!! Well it was lovely; I guess this is a real Canadian/American thing. Carl put the headlights on when we had finished and all was cleared away. What fun, a Canadian night out, movies and a drive in, apparently these places were a hang out for the guys and dolls!!

What a lovely week I had with 2 very special people.

SUNDAY AUGUST 24^th 2008

I leave Carl and Mary’s after breakfast which followed the Canadian flavour of last night with home made waffles, lovely, with of course Early Grey tea!

It is raining very hard, but my engine starts!

I am heading now for Banff, Glacier National Park and Yellow Stone National Park in America, but I am going to take a few detours on route! ha! ha!

I have picked a scenic route from my map and head up the Frazer Highway which even in the rain is stunning. I park up very early because it really is raining very hard.

Monday August 25^th 2008

The rain has stopped, I had a very peaceful night then an early start driving along the Fraser Highway at the side of the Fraser River. The drive is amazing, beautiful snow capped mountain, trees and the awesome fast flowing river, it was a beautiful day I never get tired of this beautiful country. I parked for the night in a rest area at Craigellachie which is where the last spike was driven into the railway lines which joined both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts also joining British Columbia to the rest of Canada…………

Tuesday 25^th August and 26th August.

I spend the next couple of days driving 4 National Parks of Canada. Mount Revelstoke, Glacier, Yoho and Banff.

In Mount Revelstoke I took the high road to the Meadow in the Sky, this amazing road twists and turns to the very top of the mountain, which is covered with flowers. I guess there is also an amazing view but the cloud is very low spoiling it. However the drive and the flowers made the side trip worth while, it is also of course very high, I had no breath so did not take a walk.

There is also quite a lot of rain through out the 2 days. But once back on the main road and a little lower the views are stunning. I stop a couple of times to take a walk but there are large red notices stating there are bears in the area. I get quite scared and do not walk.

At Takakkaw Falls in Yoho N.P. I ask some people if I may walk near them because of the bears, they, of course, said yes! The falls were beautiful especially with so much rain.

The railways goes through these mountains, the gradient was so steep in one spot that when the line was first built there were a lot of accidents; so now the line twists like a cork screw inside the mountain, the trains are so long that the front of the train comes out of the tunnel and over the top of the back of the same train going in the tunnel! This has reduced the gradient from 4.5% to 2.2% and stopped accidents. Amazing. I was lucky enough to be there when a train was going in and out of the tunnel!

This drive has taken me through some awesome country, there is fresh snow on the mountain tops, I am surrounded by rugged mountains, tall trees, raging rivers and some of the most spectacular lakes I have ever seen.

From Banff Nation Park I go into Kananaskis Country Valley and the beauty continues with the addition of meadows! Kananaskis Village is from the 1988 Olympics.

This has been an amazing drive one of the very best I think, Just wonderful.

Tomorrow I head for “Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump”…………………………………

Stewart-Cassia Highway

The Stewart-Cassia Highway is a turn off from the Alaska Highway to the rough-and-ready border town of Stewart, BC Canada population around 600 and Hyder Alaska , population around 100. This is going to be a round trip of 1500K aprox, if the guide book is right it is worth the effort! It is! I hope and pray that we will be able to see Bears fishing for salmon!! The scenery on the way is breathtaking we pass wonderful waterfalls, hanging Glaciers, the stunning Bear Glacier the largest ice tongue of the Cambria Ice fields.

We also had a great time wildlife watching were able to watch at length a family of foxes, Mum, Dad, 3 kids! Mum and Dad were so skinny, their den was on a rise at the side of the road giving a good viewing position for us. The babies were playing, when we pulled away Dad walked along the road in front of me, I drove very slowly behind him, then suddenly he pounced to his right coming back onto the road with a chipmunk which he appeared to be taking back to the kids! No wonder he is so skinny! We also had a very nice view of a porcupine, after watching his rear end for some time as he kind of wandered away, they do walk very slowly, he changed direction and came straight towards me giving me a first class view - I was so excited I failed to take his photo!

What else did we see ? A Cow Moose, Ptarmigan, Black Bear - the best view I have had,

I could not stop as traffic was very close behind, more foxes and Ptarmigan. It was a very beautiful and exciting ride. Oh yes at our night stop we were able to watch beavers playing in the water.

We also met a lady with a Mercedes truck, smaller than mine, 400 series I think. We had a long chat, she had purchased the truck from a guy from Belgium only a couple of weeks previously. I gave her all the information on the Mercedes garages in Canada we had been able to find.

Arriving in Stewart we were able to get fresh bread, a car wash, a visit to tourist information who gave the info on the Salmon Glacier which sounds amazing.

Then it’s a drive into the USA and the town of Hyder, there is no border going into the US. Hyder is so small, unchanged for number of years. These 2 towns were once 1 whole town then the Canadian and American Authorities checked the border line and cut the town in half, leaving the larger half in Canada and the small community in the US! This small community has kind of got left behind, where folk just get along with living with their own rules and regulation. It all seemed like a great place to live away from the bureaucracy we all live by! There was a restaurant called “The Bus” we are told it’s the best fish and chips in town, guess where I am going to eat!!!!

But right now we are going to the river where with any luck we may see some fishing bears!

A quick lunch, then friends we met with in Whitehorse, Bev and Laurn, stop by for a visit. They have been to the Salmon Glacier and tell me it is a must see. They also invite Les and I for an evening meal (BBQ Fish) they have been told that the local tip is also a good place to see the bears; they will take us in their jeep! They have a medium RV with a jeep in tow.

We hang out along the walk way at the side of the river there are a few Salmon looking for their very own spawning spot, they looked very tattered! We did not see any bears, so we decide to go to the Glacier and try to catch the bears later. We have been told first thing in the morning or late at night. I will drive and we will only take one truck.

I do not know how to describe what I saw. This is just magnificent the glacier is on my left therefore in my left hand drive truck I get such a good view; I want to stop every 5 minutes just to look. The first part of the trip is along the side of the river which is raging glacier melt surrounded by amazing mountains, once alongside and overlooking the glacier it is just awesome you can see right inside right down the crevices into the deep blue of the ice, there are smaller glaciers coming into the side of the large Salmon Glacier it is all breathtaking. The ride back down was just as lovely because you see everything at a different angle I was also at the side of the mountain on the way down which is beautiful in its own right, but very over shadowed by the beauty of the glacier. If nothing else this journey down to Hyder was worth it to see this amazing sight.

When we got back to the car park near the walkway for the salmon river we had left it very late to get back to Stewart and our meal with Bev and Laurn, we decided to go straight to their campsite, Les did not have his passport but we had not needed it to get into Hyder so we figure going back a few hours later should be the same. Wrong! Les needed his passport we smiled, explained, begged; we said how long it would take to open the safe ect! ect! The guy reluctantly agreed to let us through back into Canada.

We spent a lovely evening with our friends he took us to a pier to check on some crab pots they were all empty (he had been speaking to a guy earlier whose pot they were) we then went to the tip (this guy really knew how to show a girl a good time) hung around for a while but did not see any scavenging bears. So back into the US and the river this time we did see a couple of bears but none fishing. I also met up with the young nurse I had met in Inuvik ,she had a friend from England on holiday, they were on their way to Whitehorse where her next job will be. They were 2 very nice kids, I told them to go see the Salmon Glacier.

We were all back at the viewing walk at 6am! Still no bears. There were around 6/8 people we all had a really nice chat al from different areas of the US mostly. There was another nurse from Canada who had just started working in the area, she was with her mum who was visiting. Around 10am we were rewarded with a very handsome Grizzly Bear who walked the whole length of the river, he kept looking at us as much to say “are you taking my picture” it was quite a swagger, he did not fish.

There were, in the little river, around 8 fish - the ranger told us the numbers reach around 50,000 THEN there are lots of bears and Bald Eagles picking them from the river, but no one knows when they are coming but come they will. I guess we are just too early, I am very disappointed.

We go to The Bus for our fish n chip lunch; it really is a bus with a couple of tables out side. We have been told that the lady's husband is a fisher man and she cooks the fish he has caught, it has therefore come straight from the sea into her frying pan how fresh! Perfect! And yes it was beautiful, I really enjoyed it we shared a table with a couple of people from the US so had a very nice lunch time!

This day I am in Les’s truck we have to go back into Canada we both have our passports no problem there. The guy asks if we are going to Stewart as that is the only place to go Les ask “Why does he ask such stupid questions” the guy was not amused. I nearly got under the seat I was very embarrassed this is the border of a country, these guys have enormous power, he could have held us there for how ever long or maybe refused us entry! Anyway I am very pleased to say after some very curt remarks and an apology from Les he sent us on our way!!

We kinda left after this and headed back along that amazing road to Watson Lake. Apart from the beauty of the road you all know what happened my batteries boiled!!!!