Bow River Bike Trail

We decided that the best way to explore a city is to ride a bike. After inquiring at the park office about bike trails we loaded up the Jeep, found a car wash and then the bike trail head. The Bow River Bike Trail follows the Bow River (duh!) which is really full right now. They had huge snowfalls in the mountains this winter and it is now melting off with the help of large amounts of rain. (I'm thinking this is happening all across the mid-west.) I found it interesting that the other river that runs through Calgary is called The Elbow River. The city of Calgary is very outdoors orientated. We saw many people on the pathway jogging, walking, biking, & roller blading. It appears that this trail is more than 300 miles long and there were many side trails leading into different parts of the city.

Olympic Village - 1988 Winter Games

We rode about 11 miles to downtown Calgary and arrived right at lunch time. The lunch hour jogging fest was in full swing! After parking the bikes we started our search for lunch. As we were waiting at a stop light, John asked the lady next to us if she could recommend a place. She not only told us all about the downtown area and some places to eat, she walked us to her favorite place. Due to the extremely cold winters, there are elevated walkways all over the city and it is on these levels that most of the cafes, restaurants and fast food joints are located.

We tried a different path on the return trip and cut off some time, hills and distance for a total of 21 miles. It was a really nice afternoon, sunshine and 58°. We will probably be sore tomorrow.

Our Alaska Adventure Officially Starts

We awoke to Sunshine! But it was only 44°! Oh, well!

We found a car wash and quickly sprayed off some of the accumulated mud and dirt and then headed to the Canadian border where we crossed without incident. They didn't even ask if we had any wine! So all 3 cases are still with us.

Our first stop was in Lethbridge where we walked to the Fort Whoop-Up Historic Site, viewed the High Level Bridge and explored the Galt Museum. This bridge is the highest & longest of it's type in North America. Lethbridge was first established as a trading center with the local Indians, then coal was discovered and mining became the main industry, especially after the 1909 trestle train bridge was built, making it easier to move the coal.

Just outside of Fort Macleod we explored the "Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump" Interpretive Center, World Heritage Site. For 6000 years the Plains Indians would herd buffalo over cliffs to their deaths. This site is the oldest, best preserved buffalo jump site. The site's name came from a young brave who decided to stand under the cliff as the buffalo fell past him. Unfortunately, the herd was so large that they piled up around him and smashed his head into the cliff wall.

We didn't get to the West Calgary Campground in Calgary until almost 7 PM so it was a mad scramble to get set up and cook supper. We intend to stay at least 3 days.

Slow start

We did not get away from Sedalia until after 1 PM on Thursday and then we had to make a stop in Kansas City before heading north. We drove thru Iowa to Sioux Falls, SD where we spent the night in a Walmart parking lot. On the road by 8 AM, we headed across SD towards Rapid City where we turned north again. As long as we were driving by SD's major attractions it was necessary to stop for a look at the Corn Palace and the Wall Drug Store.

At Rapid City our route took us north thru a corner of Wyoming and up to Billings where we spent the night at a Cabella's parking lot. John spent 30 minutes this morning visiting with our neighbor who had a system installed in his coach that purifies his black water into potable water. He said it is the same system used by NASA in the space program. Of course, we had to shop at Cabella's before we could leave town. That put us on the road late so we only got as far as Shelby, MT which is about 80 miles north of Great Falls, MT and 40 miles south of the Canadian border.

The weather has been TERRIBLE! No warmer than 62 and as cold as 42 with rain and wind most of the days. We even had to ford a river on the highway twice. If is snows on us, we are coming home!

We Are Off To Alaska!

We are leaving today for our Alaska adventure. Due back around August 25th, or sooner if the grand-baby is early.

If you saw in the news where Sedalia (our home town) was hit by a tornado don't worry. We are OK. The tornado was about 3 miles from our house. Our son incurred some minor roof damage but was really lucky as his house is less than a mile from the area of major destruction. We are so very thankful that all our family and friends here is Sedalia were spared from this storm. There has been so much destruction the last few weeks it makes one pause to consider our good fortunes.