May 23, 2013 - Rien de neuf

Lundi la météo n'était pas vraiment reluisante, alors nous sommes demeurés, Agnès et moi, à la maison à lire et à ne rien faire. En ce moment je suis entrain de lire une trilogie d'un très bon auteur de fantaisie: Brandon Sanderson et la trilogie se nomme Mistborn. C'est Lui qui a terminer la très longue série de Robert Jordan, The Wheel Of Time, qu 'il n'a put finir à cause de son décès. - Mardi Agnès et moi sommes allés voir le dernier Star Trek : Into the darkness. C'est un très bon film et l'équipe qui composent l'équipage ressemble...

May 23, 2013 - Clumsy coming home - Kadence's traveling teddy

Hi Kadence and Fellow Grade Three Classmates!!! This is my last travel report, as I am in the car today driving from Calgary to Saskatoon. I have enjoyed the last seven months which was filled with much travel. Other than places in Canada, I visited six different countries, flew on six different airlines, and enjoyed food from many cultures. In Canada, I visited three provinces, several cities and many towns. It has been a lot fun and after all these experiences I am very happy to return to Saskatchewan. I left my heart in Saskatoon!! I...

May 22, 2013 - Updates and Changes to our Itinerary

Since my first entry, we have now changed our tour from 20 days, starting in Toronto (flying there from Edmonton and catching the bus there) to actually catching the bus at its first stop in Edmonton. We have added 9 days to our trip with stops across Canada on the way to Toronto and in the US for stops on our way back from Niagara Falls (where were were going to leave the tour) I`ve begun my scrapbook already with maps from Google and pictures of stops (overnights) from the Internet. This will not surprise a few of my friends...ok, many of...

May 21, 2013 - Rocky Mountaineer Trip Days 1-3

14 May 2013, up at 5am to catch the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver. We follow the Fraser River. boarded by the Coastal Mountains, very green countryside where Alfalfa, Raspberrys and Gin Seng are grown. Breakfast on the train starts with fruit and croissants, juice, then an omlette with cherry tomatoes mushroom farmhouse sausage which to us was fried kabana baked potato pieces and as much coffee or tea as you wanted.the scenery is starting to change more heavily timbered, mountains higher and covered with snow. Before you know it, its...

May 21, 2013 - Snowed In

It was a lazy day today. Woke up this morning to a weather forecast that said there would be up to 8" of snow in the mountains we planned to cross today. So ... decision was made to hunker down ... read a book ... work on computer ... have a drink (or three) ... see some local sights, etc. Did all the above and got a haircut, too. Lots of pictures of dead animals for you to see this time ... sorry about that ... would rather shoot a few pics of live animals. The guy who owns/runs the local museum is a real hoot. He has been collecting cars,...

May 21, 2013 - heading home

Our next night was spent in a small beach town just north of Wellington, called Otaki. The rain was about and the temperature dropping, so a quiet night and a wet bike ride, then off to the ferry the next day and a very relaxing crossing over to the south. One more night in dear little Picton town and one more fun evening at the best little Irish bar in New Zealand. Yesterday we high tailed it down the eastern coast all the way to Christchurch to spend a night with my daughter and her boys. Had a beautiful coastal bike ride part way out to...

May 20, 2013 - Offically Heading Up the Alaska Highway

It's all official now ... we are on the Alaska Highway ... mile 0 in Dawson Creek BC. Exciting day seeing a giant beaver, a giant bridge, a giant woodpecker. What could get better, eh? Landed in Fort Nelson BC for the night ... after about 350 miles ... that was enough. Another hot springs planned for tomorrow ... with a trip through the northern Canadian Rocky Mountains. Oh yes, saw a couple of towns that were family names today ... almost felt like home.

May 19, 2013 - Fête des patriotes.

C'est une fin de semaine de trois jours, on croyait bien voir mon fils Martin et son épouse Chantal s'inviter pour une journée mais il faut croire que la température les a découragé. = Jeudi j'ai commencé mon ménage de printemps à l'intérieur de la roulotte, il me reste que quelques petites choses à laver et j'aurai fini l'intérieur, il me restera le plus difficile et le plus long soit l'extérieur. Le proprio est venu faire la réparation de mon égout, au lieu de changer le tuyau brisé, il a creusé sur deux autres terrains et me poser un...

May 19, 2013 - Thinking about the guest house

As I sit in the dining room at the hostel I notice that Christen, the Australian who lives and works here at the hostel has become the main attraction. She is special in that she gives off an energy that makes you want to sit next to her close your eyes and hope some of it flows your way. I don't usually come to the dining room as after being at site, I spend as much time as possible outside when I am here. But I am seeing today what I have been missing. This is not the hostel of yesteryears when everyone is chatting and sharing the 3...

May 19, 2013 - Crossing the Border

Going well, crossed the border into Canada, staying at Ft Mcleod tonight (Alberta just out Lethbridge).2493 miles from home and per Border clerk.. 1850 miles to Alaska. Tomorrow go to Banff and staying 6 days if go as planned.. going to slow down and be the tourist! All going well, Annette drove us into Canada.. didn't get a pic.. busy but drove to booth answered a few questions and showed passport.. waved on and no place to stop until out of way.. oh well Hope all is well with you'll.. first rain day but lighter stuff and no issues. 58 for...

May 19, 2013 - We saw our first bear today

9-17-2013 Crooked River (Bear lake) provincial park to Dawson Creek. This morning it was a chilly 40 degrees, I guess this is why they still have snow on the ground here at Bear Lake. While we were traveling today we saw our first animals which was exciting! We first saw a large red fox w/ a huge white tail, about 1 hour into the trip. And then we saw our first grizzly bear by the side of the road! To be honest, He looked like he just woke up and was a bit dazed. He looked kinda skinny too. Then on the other side of the pass we saw a large...

May 19, 2013 - The Uncharted Journey Begins

Today we began our venture in uncharted territory ... places we have never experienced before. Most of our trip so far has been in areas of the US and Canada that we have visited before ... some new sights ... but territory we've experienced before. Beginning today it feels like the real trip to Alaska begins. Drove from Hinton AB to Grande Prairie AB, a city of 55,000 ... didn't know there were that many people in AB. As you can see from our pics, we saw some beautiful territory. We finished the day in Saskatoon Island Provincial Park...