Day 9 - Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, Airplanes and Star Trek!

Today was a fantastic day! We started out at 9:30 touring Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump - a Unesco World Heritage sight. Our guide, Little Leaf was one of the 3% pure Native Indians (yes he called himself an Indian!) still left called Peighans. He was very funny and very informative - we thoroughly enjoyed him. We watched the 10 minute video in the theatre about the hunt and then went outside to the site, lastly touring the museum itself. It was really educational and we really enjoyed our visit. We set off once more about 11:30.

Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump - the Actual Cliff Site.

We stopped for a snack in Nanton, Alta. and visited The Lancaster Air Museum and once more we greatly enjoyed ourselves. It was interesting to see the old plane that Dale's Dad "Gramps" was a flight engineer on during WW2. 

A "Lancaster" at the Museum

On the road again once more to Vulcan to see "Trekkie Stuff" for Dillon.
We arrived in Vulcan about 2:30 and quickly got directions to "Trekcetera". We were wonderfully entertained by Michael as he showed us around and gave us the background on all the costumes, props, etc. in the museum - lots of movie buff stuff as well as of course Star Trek memorabilia. After his short spiel he left us to look around on our own and take photos of which will come as soon as I don't have to borrow McDs free wifi! Needless to say the Nerdy Sci-Fi geek in our midst had a wonderful time and bought himself a Trekkie Mug and Vulcan baseball cap. 

The "Trekkie" Nerd with a Vulcan Sign

"Beam us up Scotty"!

We left Vulcan about 4:30 and started out towards Drumheller, Alta. for The Dinosaur Museum - tomorrow's excursion. Overall a great day was had by all!

Day 8 - Banff - the Actual Day

Lake Louise

We started the day out at Lake Louise. We went to the Visitors Centre to find out where the Cave and Basin was located, as this was how Kasey had learned Banff got started and also to buy a park pass for $19.60 - you must have one if you want to stop anywhere in Banff. I also remember seeing the Natural History museum (the first in Canada) when I was here as a child - we asked directions for that also. The lady was very helpful even telling us where the RV parking was where we could park all day. Armed with our pass and helpful directions off we went to Banff itself.

After missing the turn for the parking I had no other choice but to drive all the way around the town centre which only Vancouverite's would understand was worse than the west end on a fireworks night. We got back to the 15-20 spaces largely signed "RV's ONLY June 1 to Sept. 30" parking lot which was full including 6 or 7 CARS!!!!  Where is traffic enforcement when you need them? After driving 
around AGAIN we found street parking with 1/2 dozen probably equally choked RV's for two hours only - I might add here - it was nose in on a one way street - yes when we left we had to tour downtown again as well as having to back out into traffic! Did I mention to you all that I'm driving a 24ft. RV?
We now proceeded to walk the 3-4 blocks to the museum - not easily done as I had twisted my ankle Saturday on the uneven concrete at the pool in Kelowna and had been babying it for the last few days. We arrived at the museum to find it was CLOSED on Mondays & Tuesdays until July 1 - September 30! We sauntered back to the RV getting slightly damp as there was a short light sprinkle of rain and with my ankle now swelling we couldn't hurry.  Oh well - let's go to the Cave and Basin - it seemed much more fun and interesting than a bunch of stuffed animals anyhow.
I backed out with the help of a German tourist in a rental RV parked beside us feeling a little guilty that I now couldn't help him to back out. On to the Cave and Basin we went and guess what? It's CLOSED Monday and Tuesday! This is where I'd like to THANK  the helpful Parks Canada lady at the tourist info who sold me the $20 one day pass and assured me we could see both attractions in the one day because they were very close together! 
We left Banff about 2:00 pm - a little heavy hearted about not seeing the Caves but happy to be on the road once again. Had a little rest on the way as I had been up with Henry since 3:30. I'm very PROUD to tell you all that I manoeuvred us through Calgary's RUSH HOUR traffic that differs not in volume of vehicles than Los Angeles only in speed - Albertans drive FAST where as LA's are more or less parked during rush hour! We found a spot on the roadside to stay for the night and looked forward to seeing  Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump - let's hope it's not closed Monday and Tuesday! 

Day 8 - Lake Louise and Banff

We arrived in Lake Louise about 7:00pm last night and found a campsite. Dillon was all about "Jurrasic  Park" because of the electrified fence enclosure all around the campground to keep out the bears. 

They have a couple hanging around town so lots of warnings about food and garbage containment and keeping pets close by. No problem there as poor old Henry is sick. He's had a touch of the runs on and off which we thought might be because of the change in water - he has a very tempermental tummy and can't take changes in diet ( no food scraps like the floor Hoovering Bitsey - our other non travelling dog) He has now been vomiting for the last 24 hours. Nothing like being woken up at 3:30 am and having to clean floors and a small spot on the carpet. I've been up ever since but because of the one hour time difference I feel like I've gained an hour ;} 
Time to get this day started and wake those sleeping teenagers!

Alberta being stuck on to the map by me!

Day 7 - Time to move on!

We woke Sunday to another beautiful sunny day - a little sad that we have to leave Kelowna but the road is waiting. We part here - Dale goes back home to work for two weeks and the kids and I head East. We hope to be in the Banff area by dinner. Travel makes for sporadic internet so we may not be able to post for a while. Said goodbye to FVE and set out about 10:15.

Dave's Goat Walk -Buy corn from the vending machine - put it in the little cup - the goats turn the wheel at the top to dump it into the trough to eat! 

We had a fun stop at The Log Barn in Armstrong where we had an ice cream, fed some goats on "Dave's Goat Walk" looked around and took some great Photo's which I'll post when I download them.

A stop at the "Last Spike" at Craigellachie and on the road again and straight through to Golden, BC - a quick stop at 4:00 pm for Diesel and a snack at McD's next door to use the WiFi to post this little addition and off we'll go so we make Lake Louise or Banff tonight.

Days 5 & 6

Friday morning came and once more it was warm and sunny.That afternoon I had made plans to go with some of  the other F.V.E. members on a Wine Tour ending at a “Bling” Party from 4-9PM at the View Winery - a special wine tasting party with appies, entertainment, and special release wines. There was a mix up of some sort and my ticket was given away to someone else. Needless to say I was VERY disappointed - I had been looking forward to some “ME TIME” away from the kids and the pool. It really put a damper on the day but after a few hours of angrily brooding, Henry and I went for a long walk and spent the rest of the afternoon reading. Dale arrived a little later and it was good to see him and put me in a better mood.
Saturday morning Dale and I had to head into Kelowna because we were out of milk and orange juice (for our Breakfast Mimosa’s) - I wonder were it all went don’t you Dillon? 
We spent time at the pool and then went for Happy Hour and Dinner with the F.V.E. - a wonderful BBQ - a rack of baby back ribs and a ton of various salads with Strawberry Shortcake for dessert. It was good company and then to boot I won the 50/50 draw - $135.00! Kasey and I have plans to visit the WIT store at GNR for shirts etc. but Dale says it will be two tanks of diesel for the trip. Stay tuned for who wins this argument!

The Boys Enjoying the Sunshine!

We had one last swim and soak in the hot tub and then came back to the R.V. to watch “The Lone Ranger” before bed (the new Johnny Depp one - not the oldies one).  

Days 3 and 4

I should clarify to those that asked (and those that didn’t and are a bit confused) that Dale is still at home “working to keep me in the manner to which I’m becoming accustomed to"! He will start his vacation by flying out to Winnipeg on July 4 to meet us. YES - I’m driving there on my own with two teens and a dog in tow!  Anything that goes wrong I will have to deal with myself. 
What could go wrong one may ask? Well so far - we killed the battery on the first night; the microwave stopped working the second day although the convection oven part of it still works; and Day three we broke the latch on the pot and pan drawer so it will slide open as we move! Just minor little irritants that I’m sure we can remedy somehow.
 So now - back to our story! Wednesday we spent hanging out at the pool and taking Henry for a walk to the lake. Kasey and I joined the F.V.E. for “Happy hour” and all were having a good time until it started to shower! The party dispersed quickly and so we had dinner and watched a little TV until bedtime.

Casa Warcup

Thursday was much the same - swimming and hanging out at the pool - ho hum another day in paradise! For dinner we joined the F.V.E. group for a burger BBQ at the golf club on site and were joined by Dale’s niece Corrie and her family Jason, Tyson and Jake who live here in Kelowna. We ate quite quickly because the mosquitos were quite bad and of course the kids all wanted to hit the pool ASAP! We had a nice visit with them and then watched an episode of "Columbo" before bed - nothing like those old shows!    

Day 1 & 2 of Spam & GNR Here we come!

The start of our six week trek across Western Canada began on June 16,2014. 

After spending the day organizing and packing the Navion we finally left about 3:30 PM. We stopped at the bank and pet food store for money and food for Henry. We hit the #1 trans-Canada highway at 4:00. Our first stop was the rest area just before Hope, BC where I had to have a nap (being up at 4:00 AM to see Dale off to work!). We got to Merritt, BC around 8:30 PM, stopped at MacDonald's for dinner and continued on up the Coquihalla about 9:30. By this time it was dark and raining and I was nervous about driving on a road I didn’t know. We finally decided to pull off at about 11:00PM at one of the snow chain stops and spend the night there.

The next day we left at about 7:30 and headed into Kelowna - it took about 10 minutes! Little did I know I could have finished the trip the night before.

We stopped for gas and groceries and headed up the road to Holiday Park Resort to start our 5 day outing with the Fraser Valley Explorers.

We set up into site #510 on Sweet Life Drive!

We spent some time exploring the resort and had a bit of a swim. Dinner was BBQ. Salmon and Chicken for Kasey, garlic mashed potatoes and salad. The Lego movie was the evening's entertainment.