Onward to Where the Buffalo Roam

Sometimes events ebb and flow in life.  One happening drifts seamlessly into another.  Other times, there's more of an abrupt end to an event.  Such was the case when we left this:

for this:

If I were to show you a close-up of this, you would see, in addition to the cool, steady city-driver husband, a crying wife with the color completely drained from her face.  And just in case you've been wondering, we do not recommend driving a 29.5 foot RV through Calgary.  Did you realize Calgary has over a million people?  Hm.  Neither did I...and I'm so glad I didn't know that ahead of time.  It totally would've spoiled the first half of my day thinking about what that would mean for details like lane changes and such. 

In my opinion, there were two, only two, great things about Calgary:

1.  Whizzing by Olympic Village

2.  Leaving it alive.  If I'd had it my way, we would've stopped our rig right in the middle of that  five-lane, called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and been air-lifted outta there.

Still alive, and we headed for somewhere a little more my pace to pull over and make some lunch.

And onward we traveled through "where the buffalo roam"...staying in bleachy, noisy Nanton, Alberta for the night.  I was only happier leaving Calgary than leaving Nanton...and that's all I'll say about that!

We oh so very happily left Nanton this morning, passing on the $12 box of Cheerios, and settling for a gallon of chocolate milk.  We had a long drive through the prairie ahead of us, and a much-anticipated stop at Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump.  The whole family learned so much, and really enjoyed this part of history coming alive to us.   The interpretive center is incredible--five floors, built into the side of the Porcupine Hills.  We learned so much about the Blackfeet Tribe and the history of the buffalo.  It wasn't until we had gone through the entire building, viewing artifacts, and reading and viewing tons of information, that we went out and experienced the actual Jump.

It was absolutely fascinating--having that base of information, and then experiencing the breadth, and the height, and the sounds, and the sights of the prairie. 

We could picture how it how it must have been back in a day.  And goodness, the prairie has a beauty all of its own.

Tonight the crickets are chirping and occasional gusts of wind shake our little house on wheels as I write.  All my men-folk, big and little, are sleeping soundly and I need to join them.  We're back in the U.S.A. today, and it feels good to be back "home."  Looking forward to whatever tomorrow brings.  I'm just beyond-thankful for the blessing of being on this adventure with my family.
 

This Place Has My Heart

We awoke on Independence Day, 2014, at one of most beautiful places on earth, to the sound of a loon calling.  The day prior, we had pulled into Waterfowl Lakes Provincial Park, needing a place to park for the night.  I had no idea how this place would steal my heart.

Our evening in this campground was the absolute best so far.  It was so amazingly beautiful and peaceful.  After spaghetti dinner on the picnic table we had a long explore...then moved on to a cozy campfire.

 

We stayed up way too late drinking tea and telling stories around it, and the boys experienced for the first time a dark, summer evening.

 I'm not sure how to put into words how I feel about this place.

 

 

Suffice it to say, it was with tears in my eyes and with my hands and face stinging from the fresh, frigid, turquoise river water of the Mistaya River that we set back out on the road on Independence Day, 2014.  I pray I'll return to this spot someday.

Jasper, Where Have You Been All My Life?

July 3, 2014
Oh.  My.  I just found another happy place, and of all places, it's in Alberta.  This wonderland, Jasper Canadian National Park, gives my beloved Hatcher Pass, AK a challenge.  Hatcher's may even be usurped in my mind, but the jury's still out on that one.

 

We drove through some of the most stunning landscape I've ever seen.  And for being a 16-year resident of Alaska, that is saying something.  We drove through outskirts of a 240 mile ice field.  Never before have I seen such turquoise waters, and such obvious carving out of rock from glaciers.

So much beauty, it couldn't be taken in.  Photos are just a shadow of what we experienced.  Amazing handiwork.  Amazing.

Completing the Bighorn Highway, we turned onto the Icefield Parkway.  We barely made it through the National Park gates and we turned off to watch these guys.

Do you see them?  They blend in so well, we barely had time to stop to view them.  And just a few miles down the road...two more Bighorn Sheep with their tiny babes.

We also saw another black bear and our first elk for this trip.

But the scenery definitely took the limelight on this day.  We turned off at Athabasca Falls, and I'm so glad we did.  The sound of unrestrained water power and how it rumbled beneath our feet and sprayed up into our faces was astounding.

After leaving Athabasca, we continued on into higher and higher elevation.  Ominous weather came in ahead of us, along with this unexpected beauty upon beauty.

With sensory overload, and fatigue from a long and incredible day, we pulled into Waterfowl Lakes Provincial Park.  What we didn't know, is we had stumbled upon one of most beautiful, magical places on earth.

Welcome to Alberta

Our stay in Grande Prairie was not real grand.  After our drive through such mountain grandeur we were all a little morose over the busyness of this booming town.  We spent the night outside a corn field on a parking lot because there was no room in the inn, so to speak.  Turned out pretty well though, because it was much quieter for us there, I think. 

The following day, June 2, we spent way too long navigating through town to have some vehicle servicing done.  However, the people we encountered were over-the-top kind and helpful.  Grande Prairie is one happenin' place, but we were happy to leave it!

We decided to take the Bighorn Highway out of Grande Prairie, and quickly felt at home again as the prairie turned to wilderness foothills of the Canadian Rockies.  The road turned back into a patchwork mess similar to the roads in the Yukon.

This  was an all-new route for us, as we did not take the Icefield Parkway driving up in 1998.  Until this day, I never knew how beautiful Alberta is.  We saw some deer--one mama with a tiny, spotted fawn, and 2 others.  One of these ran out across the road in front of us.  I had forgotten how fast they are!

On this night we perched at KOA outside Hinden, AB.  We had the best site in the park, on an end with a large lawn and right across from showers, a Coke machine (!) and a playground.  The little boys played with newly-made friends while the big boys caught up on showers.  I sat blissfully with my pen (no internet which is why I'm catching up now) and a stunning view of the Canadian Rockies in the distance.  Couldn't wait until the next day!

Our Time at "Mile Zero"

June 1, 2014
It was Canada Day when we woke up at Mile "0" Campground.  We visited a great museum with many well-preserved historic buildings.  The buildings housed oodles of interesting artifacts.  One of my favorite articles was a trunk that had been on the Mayflower.  Had to visit Canada to see that, haha!

It was an excellent display, and we all really enjoyed learning history from another nation's perspective.

The overwhelming favorite of the male-folk of the family was the blacksmith's shop.

My favorite buildings were the Taylor family house, school house, and Anglican church.  However, the most informative was the old fire hall, because an older gentleman volunteer was there, putting on fresh paint.

He descended his ladder when he saw us coming up the walk.  Wow, did he give us an earful--story after fabulous story about the dinosaur footprint up the walk,

history of his two fire engines, how the firefighters cared for the hoses, etc.  He used to be one of those firefighters.  What a treasure of a conversation we had!  He totally brought history to life for us.

Before leaving town, we took another pit stop at the visitor center to pick up a couple goodies.  And since it was Canada Day, they also served us up some delicious homemade cake, Canadian flags, and pins.  It was really fun being in Canada for their national holiday.

Feeling anxious at this point to move on to Grande Prairie, but as it was such a warm day and we are still Alaskans, we really needed some ice cream.  We discovered ice cream isn't as big of a deal to Canadians.  The ladies at the visitor center racked their brains trying to come up with a good place for ice cream.  Dairy Queen, the only logical choice, was closed for the holiday.  They thought maybe there was a gas station across town that had ice cream....but they weren't quite sure.  Then they remembered McDonald's.

Of course.

We headed off to what may be the most swanky McD's ever--automatic door, vaulted ceiling, full glass walls, beautiful seating, and a see-through fireplace.  We made quite an entrance as the boys contrasted this to Wasilla McD's where we are known to pick up a fair amount of 50-cent cones.

Anyway, we decided to buy McFlurries all around.  I told the boys they could choose between Oreo and Rolo as I didn't know what Smarties were.  Finally, I was curious enough to ask a cashier, "What are Smarties?"

She looked at me like my head had just spun around three times before replying, "Serious?"  She incredulously tried to explain to me what they are.  By this time, five employees were gathered around, vexed with this strange family circus of almost all males who didn't know what Smarties are.

I began to catch on to her description and said, "Oh--like M&Ms?"

"YES!!!"  she said with much approval and relief.  I explained we are Americans, and then the light really went on--as all the employees (there were six now) tipped their heads back and yelled "Ohhhh!!!!" in unison. 

Canada is funny that way.  In most ways it's so similar to the U.S. but then there will be something to remind us we're in a foreign country...like....Smarties...or other unfamiliar brands or packaging.  Everything is on the metric system of course, and so I take a little longer to determine distance or volume.  And Canadian signage is just plain awesome.

There is also a certain slower pace in Canada that I really appreciate.  I appreciate businesses, even chain stores, being closed on Sundays and national holidays.  I appreciate the fact there were no mechanics available to work on Canada Day.  Yes, the check-out lanes in Canada, in our experience, take f-o-r-e-v-e-r as the cashiers take their time to chat and look their customers in the eyes.  In turn, the customers take f-o-r-e-v-e-r to settle their bills.  I think, though, that we Americans could stand to learn a little chill factor from our Canadian neighbors, in the name of good ol' fashioned kindness.

On the road that day, we were happy to get a few miles under our belts.  And let's face it--a journey isn't a journey until you've had your picture taken with a giant beaver.

 This day came to a close while we were camped outside a corn field near Grande Prairie, Alberta, but not before we bought a bag of Smarties for the road.

Today We Found Mile Zero

June 30, 2014
We found our way to the beginning of the Alcan today...which is actually the end of it for us...this time, anyway.

This is how we came to Alaska in 1998...

...and this is how we left Alaska in 2014.  MUCH fuller, and in so many ways

We're hunkered down here in Dawson Creek for a night or maybe two...because this is a very pleasant place to be, and we could use a rest.

Today we also found summer.  Our campground is just a short walk away from a darling park with a swimming pond, and the boys were in their trunks and ready before we'd even set up camp!

I honestly had reverse-sticker-shock at Safeway today.  8 ears of the freshest corn we've eaten in years was $3.38.  (We typically pay 79 cents per ear in AK for much older corn.) 

We also scarfed down 2 large containers of organic strawberries for $3 each.  (These would cost about $6 each in AK and 1/4 of the container would be moldy.)  We all felt as though we'd tasted strawberries for the first time ever in our lives.  They were simply amazing. We'll definitely be picking up a couple more containers tomorrow!