Day 11::Calgary, AB - Whitefish, MT

Today we rode 309 miles.

Our day started out a bit rainy today.  We bundled up and headed out.  I'm sure it seems crazy to most people, but by the time you put long underwear, a t-shirt under your regular shirt, heated vest, hoodie and then your leather coat, you're quite toasty.  Add a thermal headband and face mask with your helmet, you're good to go!  It wasn't raining hard enough for our rain suits but the rain was short lived and by the time we got to Whitefish, the weather was gorgeous.

This is a canola field.  Gorgeous yellow and, to be honest, I'd never ever thought where canola oil comes from!

On our way to Whitefish, we rode Crowsnest Pass.  This is one of the lowest elevation mountain passes in Canada and is in southeast British Columbia.  Each mile was beautiful.

Yes, he honked his horn every time we went through a tunnel!

We had to cross the border back into the US today.  Luckily, we weren't given the stinky eye and we weren't asked if we owned guns!  However, after answering the usual questions:  where are you going, how long were you in Canada, what do you do for a living, what did you buy, etc, etc, the officer asked if we had an 88 or 81 bumper sticker.  Say what???  Then he said the look on our faces told him everything.  We could go.  Of course, if Dave had been alone, he would've said okay and gotten the heck out of there!  But I questioned the officer, "What is an 88 or 81 bumper sticker?"  He said 88 means Heil Hitler - H is the 8th letter of the alphabet so 88 = HH.  81 is connected to the Hell's Angels {which I TOTALLY can understand why we might be connected to them!  We ride a Harley, right?}  So 8=H and 1=A.  .  Who knew!?  We sure didn't!

Tonight, The Lodge at Whitefish Lake is a gift from Shelby and Mike for our 40th Anniversary {which is basically what we are celebrating with this trip}.  Pictures looked awesome but the Lodge was even more fantastic.  Shelby also made dinner reservations for us for 7 p.m.  We pulled in about 6 p.m. {or so we thought}.  We only had one hour to look presentable!  So we rushed and showered and got ready only to find that the clock in the room was an hour off...we actually had TWO hours til dinner!   We went down and had a drink on the deck until our table was ready.

Dinner is served - y.u.m.

Just a few pics of our room.  For the first time I had a bathtub!  If you know me at all, you know I love my tub every night.  This was a special treat!

I'm not used to staying in fancy hotels and was mortified that someone had come into our room while we were at dinner and 'tidied up' the bathroom!  We had been in such a hurry...my head was swirling...what did I leave on the bathroom floor???  They also brought us ice and turned down the bed.  Thank you Shelby and Mike!  It was awesome!

After dinner we took a walk then had dessert with Baileys & coffee in the bar.  We headed back to our room and, just like every other night, hit the sack.

Tomorrow:  Helena, MT  {weather reports are saying there is snow and some roads are closed near Yellowstone.  As of now, our plans remain but we'll just have to play it by ear.  We are so hoping Beartooth Pass is open!

update:: July 15

Internet connections are poor to good at best and it is taking forever to try to write a post so I will update when we get home.  Our trip is quickly coming to an end and it's been quite a ride.  We've got some pretty good stories but the best one is about our stay at the Bar N Ranch.  UGH!  Thanks to Dave's travel, we had points to pay for the majority of our rooms.  There were three nights we were looking forward to and the Bar N was one of them.  Unfortunately, we PAID FOR IT!  They should have paid us.  Stuff like that can't be made up!

Thanks for following us!

Day 9 & 10::Golden, BC - Calgary, AB {{CALGARY STAMPEDE!!}}

Today we rode 178 miles.

Our day started out rainy and cold.  Our route took us through Banff but since we had been on that same road on our way to Golden the day before, I didn't take any pictures.  All we wanted to do was get to Banff so we could stop for a hot chocolate and breakfast.   It was 38 degrees with rain and sleet.  After breakfast,  we went to the Harley dealership and got face masks and I got a fleece headband.  It was perfect.  We headed on toward Calgary and when we got within 50 miles of Calgary, the weather turned nice. 

The Calgary Stampede is like the Iowa State Fair on steroids with every.single.person. dressed in western gear and cowboy hats.  Our hotel was right on the rail system and only one stop away from the Stampede so it was really easy going back and forth.

There were two reasons for going to the Stampede.  We wanted to see the draft horse show and we wanted to go to the chuckwagon races.  The highlight of the draft horse show was the Calgary Philharmonic!  Seriously, they were so much better than organ music {which drives me nuts - and the reason I can't watch baseball}.  

The SECOND highlight of the draft horse show was getting on the KISS CAM!!!  Can you believe the luck!?   It was hilarious.  We barely got in our seats and Dave said, 'We're on the kiss cam!"  Thank goodness noone had their camera pointed at the screen!

We had friends showing at the draft show and it was really good to see Marsha and Kyle {Kyle drives for Country Lane Belgians} and they got reserve World Champion Six-Up.  That's them in the blue wagon.

That night we went to the Rangeland Derby Chuckwagon Races.  It's a wild and crazy time.  Love them and, thankfully, only one wagon went over.  

We sat next to a couple from Canada.  It was their 35th year at the Stampede.  She asked where we were from and when I told her we were from Iowa, she said, "welcome to Canada.  We're happy to have you visit."  It is so apparent that the Canadians have a lot of pride and loyalty to their country.  It was apparent in everything we saw and heard.  Alberta is also very ethnically diverse.   I highly doubt they are politically correct in anything they do.  It seems they pretty much go with the flow and accept everyone for who they are.  Kind of refreshing, eh? 

These cutie pies were adorable.  Of course, the girl won!

After the chuckwagon races, we stayed for the night show.  It was truly an Extravaganza!  My pictures don't do justice  but it was fantastic.  I was disappointed in our seats.  I purchased them months ago and, even then, they were almost sold out.   We were in the last row right behind the cameramen.  Even so, the show was great. 

Last but not least....I miss my girl.  She's very lucky {as am I} to have Alyssa care for her.  I have a feeling she will sleep for a week when she gets home.  She is not used to a lot of activity as she mainly sleeps at my feet all day while I work.  I can't wait to get her home. 

We got home from the night show and, again, crashed as usual!

Tomorrow:  Whitefish, MT

Day 8::Cranbrook, BC - Golden, BC

Today we rode 230 miles.

Here we are just before leaving Cranbrook.  Little did we know today would be our most adventurous day!

This is just a fraction of the Alpine Forests.  If you've never seen this, you cannot even begin to imagine how many trees there are!  And the pine scent is awesome.   A photo does not do justice to the beauty of these forests.  

As we stopped for gas on our way out of town, we met an elderly gentleman who was driving a bus.  He told us he was on his way back from taking the Cranbrook Bugle Corp to the Stampede in Calgary.  He asked about our trip and told us we had to see two things on our way to Golden:  the Spiral Train Tunnel near Field and Marble Canyon.  

We arrived at the Spiral Tunnel just in time to catch a glimpse of the train going into the tunnel.  In the picture on the left you can see the end of the train going into the tunnel.  On the right you can see the top of the  train coming out of the tunnel.  Here's a good YouTube video of the spiral train.

We took a long route to Golden through Banff.  We rode along the Columbia River.  The river was a gorgeous teal color because it's glacier fed.

More amazing views!

My favorite feeling in the world is when we are climbing higher on the mountain roads and ahead is nothing but sky and a curve to the road.  You climb and climb and it looks as though you will just drive off into the sky...then all of a sudden you turn the curve and there is another breathtaking view.  

These are more views as we got closer to Banff.

We missed a little town for lunch so decided to go to the next one.  As it ended up, this was a perfect mistake.  We were at Radium Hot Springs.  Because we ended up there, we ended up going through the Kootenay National Park. 

As we drove into Radium Hot Springs, we had a little traffic jam.  So cool how calm these Big Horns were.

After lunch, in Kootenay National Park we could see the damage from a forest fire that lasted for 40 days.  We could also see the new growth.  So amazing how something so devastating helps to restore and renew the forest.

Kootenay National Park

Next, we found Marble Canyon and we hiked into the canyon.  I had some pretty major heart pounding but it was so worth the hike.  It was beautiful and the water is really that color.

 This is Numa Creek.  We had to hike a ways to see the rapids and, again, worth the trip.

We rode to Banff.  It's gorgeous but the town was waaaay touristy and people were EVERYWHERE!  We mainly drove through town because we were going there the next day.  

Next was Lake Louise.  Everyone told us we'd have to park in overflow and take a shuttle but true to my trusty Navigator's planning, we drove right into Lake Louise and parked right at the entrance to the walkway to the lake!

This is the famous Fairmont Hotel right at the entrance to Lake Louise.

Lake Louise - is this breathtaking or what!?

We rode along the Columbia River and then saw Columbia Lake which fed the river.  I've never seen gorgeous blue water like this before (in the U.S.).  

Finally got to Golden, B.C.  Dave had elk for supper (bleh!) and I had something pretty boring, I'm sure.  We then proceeded to crash.

Tomorrow:  Calgary!

mid-trip update

It's Sunday and we are in Calgary.  Yesterday was one of our shortest days and one of the coldest.  It rained/sleeted on us but by the time we got here the weather was gorgeous!  We've learned to go with the flow and we're enjoying everything we see.  We are in awe of what a beautiful country we live in. I asked Dave what his quote of the day was yesterday and he said, "if anyone doubts there is a God, they should've been riding with me today."  THAT is how unbelievably breathtaking this country is.  My daily posts are a bit behind partially due to the fact that these hotels have crappy wi-fi.  The other {real reason} is that it takes a lot of time to load photos, etc and I'm tired at the end of the day.

When we got here last night we went the the Stampede.  We went to the Draft Show and we left early because we were both SOOO tired!  We wondered if taking a two day break might do us in!  NOT!  We woke up feeling very refreshed and are headed back the the Stampede.  Tonight we are going to the chuckwagon races and the nightly grandstand show.  We have been told it's amazing.

Our trip is half over!  Thanks for following us.

Day 7::Lewiston, ID - Cranbrook, BC

Today we rode 400 miles.

We left bright and early and went up the mountain across from our hotel on our way out of town.  This was the view from our hotel the night before.

This was the view from Lewiston Hill.  The view is breathtaking and the pictures are self-explanatory.

The morning started out cloudy and chilly.  Another day of layers.  It isn't bad and after our one HOT afternoon, we decided cooler weather is much preferred.  Here are some views from the back.  

Road construction of some sort.  Very icky cloud of dust!

We had three little side trips this morning.   The first was going to Clarkston, Washington {just so we could say we were in Washington}.

 The second was going to one of the companies Dave deals with in Colfax, Washington.  They were surprised to see him walk in!  It was fun to meet the people he works with.

Our third detour was to Farragut State Park in Idaho.  There was a Naval Training Station there from 1942 to 1946.  Dave's dad, along with his best friend, Keevan Hammen, enlisted and went to Farragut without telling their parents.  They called their parents from Idaho when they got there.    Dave was really hoping to find information about his dad's stay there, but when we got to the museum, we found that they had no records for him.   Military records were stored in St. Louis and burned in a fire so records are being donated by families and being recreated for the museum.  We did visit the museum as well as 'The Brig.'  It was all very interesting.  I just wish there had been records there so we could have seen where Dean was during Basic Training.   Now it's Dave's mission to find his dad's records and then send copies to the museum in Farragut.

North of Coeur d'Alene is a gorgeous lake, Lake Pend Orielle, where the Navy tested submarines!  

We finally reached the border crossing into Canada.  For some reason we got pulled over and had to 'go inside.'  The gal asked us a bunch of questions like where we're from, where we're going, where are we staying, where do we work, do we own any firearms.  No we don't own any firearms.  She must have asked the same question to us in five different ways:  Do you own a rifle?  Never?  Do you have a gun in a holster?  Do you have one at home?  Needless to say, her suspicious eye gave us the stinky eye and we had to 'go sit over there' while they searched Harley.  They even had a flashlight out there looking in all his nooks and crannies.  ha!  They didn't find any guns and we were soon on our way.  

We got to our hotel and went to the restaurant.  I had a strawberry daiquiri for supper with THE BEST apple crisp EVER!

Someone asked me how Harley's new seat is working out.  It is AWESOME.  Neither one of us have had a sore butt.  It was totally worth the investment, especially after riding 400 miles today.

Tomorrow:  Golden, BC