Day 17-18

Thursday June 1, 2006
We left Great Falls MT through the farmland with rolling hills and a view of snowcaps to the West, and anticipating the views of Alaska. North of Shelby we saw a moose, and both of us did a doubletake before we realized it was a metal moose sculpture. At the Canadian border at Coutte, we were asked about firearms and mace, so we had to confess that we had the bear spray our daughter Roxie had given us. The officer asked to see it; however it was in a compartment that could not be opened with the slide in. He asked if it would be too much trouble to put the slide out and get the spray for him, and our answer was that we were glad to. He spent a minute or two examining it, then explained to his trainee that it was OK to have -- what they would confiscate was the small pocket-size containers. How do you spell relief?

After we passed Monarch, we saw the beautiful Livingstone Mountain Range and the Continental Divide. We had labor pains -- OK, labour pains -- getting to the RV park for the night, but it was well worth it to finally arrive. George Lane Park Campground is beautiful with cottonwood trees which were shedding their fluff. It looked like snow flurries. We discovered a bike and walking path, and some local bikers explained where it went and that it was about 10K. The town itself, High River, is small, clean, sleepy, yet alive with civic pride. We found the residents to be friendly and helpful. We chatted with several of the locals as we made our way around town on our trikes.

Today is our 32nd wedding anniversary.

Friday June 2, 2006
Our morning exercise was a real treat, first taking Jake on a three mile trike ride; then taking him home to take a nap, we embarked on the 10K ride. The path was broken in a few places, but we enjoyed exploring to see where it picked up again, and visiting with neighbors along the way, who would point us in the right direction. We would have liked riding the path again, but needed to move on.

We skirted the south of Calgary on 22X, heading west for Banff. Arriving at Tunnel Mountain Campground, we were strictly warned about the bears. Wilma immediately got out her bear spray. Herb told her to put it away, as he did not want to make the bears angry. As we set up camp, we very quickly met our neighbors for the stay, Terry and Janice from Okanagan Falls BC. During happy hour, they gave us many tips on this part of the world. A tour of their beautiful fifth wheel home was a treat. Sam and Inez arrived about dinner time after getting lost in Calgary and passing the campground twice. They arrived here a day earlier than we expected.

Pictures for the past two days are here.

Walldog, Willie, and Jake