EDMONTON, ALBERTA May 7, 8, 9 2009

We spent 3 days in Edmonton visiting the Balkans and it was good to see them again. They are always very hospitabal. We didn't do anything special except visit and do a little shopping. It was good to rest for a few days in preparation for the venture north.

CALGARY, ALBERTA May 6, 2009

It was work day in Calgary and there was a bunch of stuff we had to do, Laundry, Clean the Camper etc and it went well. Kathy did the laundry, Rod played on line poker, Kathy cleaned the camper, Rod played Wordscrapper, a good day.

Later in the day brother Pat came and picked us up and we went out to dinner. I think we surprised him by wanting to go to Swiss Chalet but we hadn't been there since the last time we were in Canada. It was a nice nite and we caught up on all the family gossip and it was especially nice when Pat sprung for dinner. After dinner we went over to Starbuck's and shot the breeze for a couple of hours before heading home.

KALISPELL, MT TO CALGARY, AB May 5, 2009

This morning we got an early start, well for us we got an early start as we were packed up and ready to go at 10AM. We had to go to Lowes to return something and low and behold there was a Starbucks next door, so after stocking up we headed for Glazier National Park which was about 40 miles away. We continued up Hwy 93 to Montana Road 40 which turned into Hwy 2 which lead us right to the park.














When we got to the park we realized that the road that goes right through was closed and would not open to June. We thought it was because they had just been dumped on with 3 feet of snow but we were told they do not open until June every year. We were able to go into the park for about 16 miles and I am glad we did.

Shortly after entering the park we saw the first of many deer.














At about the ten mile marker we came to MacDonalds Lodge but it was not open and we almost turned around at that point, but we decided to go on. It was a good thing as the last 5 miles were the most spectacular. The main focal point was MacDonald Lake which is surrounded by moutains and is fed by many springs and the MacDonald River.





MacDonald Lake













MacDonald River where it flows into
MacDonald Lake.






MacDonald River

After leaving the park we stopped for a late lunch and then headed out on Hwy # 2 which followed the park bountry completely around the south end of the park. We had planned to follow Hwy 2 until we reached Hwy 49 which would take us up the eastern side of the park to a town called St. Marys. However when we got to Hwy 49 we were not allowed to take the truck and camper on the highway, nothing over 21 feet long or 8 feet wide were allowed. We are 29 feet with the bike rakes. Therefore we had to keep on east on Hwy 2 until we met Hwy 89 which ran north west back to St. Marys. We followed this road for 35 miles back over the mountains and it was quite a ride. It was a very narrow road with no shoulders and a lot of the turns were posted at 25 mph. Then to make matter worse it started to snow and you can see by the picture below that there was already a lot of snow. It made me homesick. Not.

We finally made it to St. Marys only to find out the only gas station was closed so we headed up to Babb to get gas. The gas station there was closed so we decided to head for Canada as we know Cardston would have gas stations and I was funning on fumes. Fortunately we were able to get through customs quickly (we lied about everything ) and got to Cardston before we ran out of gas. We were back in Canada.

We had planned to stop in Fort Mcleod for the night but it was so windy there that we decided to push on to Calgary and we arrived around 9PM. We will be here for two nights and we are meeting my brother Pat for dinner on Wednesday.

KALISPELL, MT May 4, 2009

Today was a relax and enjoy day. We didn't go anywhere and we didn't do anything. Kathy had a nap in the AM and I played Wordscrapper on Facebook. We need more days like this.

We did have some visitors in our campsite in the early evening. I didn't have the correct lens on

to get close.

Tomorrow we head into Glazier National Park.

MISSOULA TO KALISPELL May 3, 2009

Another early start today as we got away about noon but it was okay as we did not have a long drive. We did take the scenic drive by heading back to Hwy 200 and taking it 33 miles north east where it merged with highway 83 which took us most of the way to Kalispell. The drive was very nice as it wound through the mountains and followed Swan River all the way to Salmon Lake. The weather was not very co-operative as it rained a good part of the way and that combined with no place to pull off we did not get many pictures.

I did, however, almost get me a Bambi. We saw a lot of deer on the drive and one jumped out right in front of us. If I had not been paying attention and seen it come out of the woods I would have broadsided it.






A couple of shots taken as we travelled
along hwy 83

Some of the deer we saw along the way.

We arrived in Kalispell around 5PM and discovered we had booked ourselves into a nice little campsite. The two pictures are the view out of our camper.

This is the Flathead River.

IDAHO FALLS TO MISSOULA May 2, 2009

It's Saturday morning and we had really good intentions of getting away early and driving right through to Katispell that day. However things did not go as planned and we found ourselves stopping at the office to thank our hosts for their hospitality at 11AM.

We said goodbye to Greg and Joan and headed out. If anybody is travelling through Idaho Falls then I would suggest they stop in and see Greg and Joan at the Snake River RV park. They are very nice people and will treat you well.


Our Hosts Greg and Joan VanSteenkite

The rest of the trip for the day saw us go up Hwy 15 through Idaho into Montana where I got a couple of shots of the " The rolling hills of Montana " but as I was feeling a little under the weather we didn't stop for very many pictures.














Once we were in Montana we continued heading north up Hwy 15 until it meet Hwy 90 and we turned west. The country as we progressed west started to look like parts of British Columbia and the mountainous parts of Alberta. It will be good to be home for awhile.

We checked into a KOA campsite and had a little trouble sleeping. We ended up next to a bunch of Rugby players who were playing in a tournament in Missoula. Unfortunately they lost so they were partying until the wee hours of the morning. It's a good thing it started to ran or they might of been there all night. I really couldn't say anything as I had been there, done that in my playing days.

IDAHO FALLS, UT (Day 3) May 1, 2009

May started off nicely weather wise as it was a warm clear day here in Idaho Falls. Yes we are still in Idaho Falls as we are waiting for a hat and a shirt.  Don't ask.  While we were waiting we took the opportunity to do some maintanance and cleaning of the camper.  We also have everything ready to leave early in the morning as we plan to drive right throught to Kalispell, Montana which is about 433 miles from here.  We should be able to do it if we get up in time, however our track record is not very good.

Well the hat and shirt arrived, well actually it didn't arrive.  I had to go and pick it up at the post office as it was a parcel but we have it in hand.  Time to have supper and get ready to head out in the morning.