Our "home away from home"

We've spent a good deal of time in the activity room at Glacier Campground

Off the grid in Polebridge, MT

Still life with Corona

...and a yurt on Rainbow Dr.

When the weather turns colder

Lake Louise BC.....38 degrees

On to Jasper NP

Bow Lake reflection

Cloud Dragon...use your imagination

Big Horn sheep.  The next generation 

JASPER, AB - - We traveled up the Ice Fields Parkway to Jasper on Sunday and encountered some sun.  At least for a while.  The 150 mile route never ceases to amaze..and we've done it at least 10 times.  This was the first time in the summer, though.   We'll head back down towards the U.S. tomorrow.
    

In the Valley of the Ten Peaks

Moraine Lake and The Valley of the Ten Peaks

MORAINE LAKE, AB - - We're surrounded by mountains.  Most notably 10 giants all over 10,000'.  The 10 give the valley in which Moraine Lake nestles its name.  These members of the Candian Rockies were named by an early explorer after the numbers 1-10 in the Stoney Nakoda First Nations language.  This wasn't good enough for the government which later renamed the peaks after famous people, friends, political patrons and businessmen.
     Look for a paddle boarder in the lower left of the photo.  He's just sitting there taking in the grandeur.

Lake Louise

The heavy overcast hangs right at the level of a glacier over Lake Louise's blue-green water

And on, and on

The 'Bus' at one of the new Bow Valley Parkway signs

Castle Mountain wreathed in low clouds

CANMORE, AB - - 10,000 miles down and a bit more to go in the nearly 2 months until we get home.  We like the Canadian Rockies.  Sometimes they like us.  Sometimes they don't.  Rain and low clouds today; rain and low clouds tomorrow.  Fortunately we know the location of coffee shops and supermarkets in a number of towns. 
      Canmore is a mountain bike and ski bum paradise we discovered about 10 years ago.  Nice atmosphere, good coffee shops and plenty of places to stock up on supplies.  We need the supplies to stockpile because the campgrounds we stay in are mainly off the beaten path...and usually the only ones which have vacancies.  Last night and tonight we're in Yoho National Park.  Yoho is one of the five "Friends in High Places."  Five parks in the Rockies - - Yoho, Glacier, Banff, Jasper and Kootenay.  Kicking Horse Campground,  our accommodation last night and tonight (bears included if you leave garbage out overnight) is surrounded by mountains. Great views and the sound of rushing streams.  The rain is good for something.   

On goats, silly names and other things

Goats waiting for dumb tourists to put corn into the unique feed system

Flowers galore at the Log Barn

A classy older home in Revelstoke

REVELSTOKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA - -   On today's journey through the lake-filled Okanagan Valley, we encountered plenty of places to check out.  Some with interesting names:  Salmon Arm (close, but out of the way) and 'sick-a-moose or Sicamaus as the road signs list it.  And actually, it was a pretty nice place despite the 'funny' name.
      This is a fruit growing area so we checked out some stands.  The Log Barn (Armstrong, BC) gets the prize for the most items you don't really need stacked all over the place.  Think tacky Daytona souvenir shop and double it.  But outside there are flowers and more flowers in old trucks, large tires and other displays. 
     However, the real draw of the Log Barn is "Dave's Goat Walk" ...check Google or Facebook if you like.  A ramp from the goat pen leads up and over the traffic lane.  There are two stations on top with a trio of rope and pulley setups to each.  Put 25cents (Canadian) into the goat feed dispenser and you get a handful of corn kernels.  Drop the corn in the tin can attached to the rope and be noisy about it.  The goat will do the rest as they have figured how to rub the bicycle tire attached to the pulley to make the corn reach them.  Really.
     After amusing ourselves for awhile - - and only buying goat feed - - we headed on to Revelstoke.  The town/area is primarily a ski center but gets a lot of summer traffic.  We over heard a store teling a friend he couldn't hire help because the wages wouldn't keep up with the high costs.
     While browsing a realtor's window we saw a house we had passed that had a for sale sign.  It didn't look like much, probably needed a good overhaul and didn't even list the bed/bath ratio.  All for $249,000.  The house in the bottom photo is similar only in size  

Farewell coastal fog

Washington State ferry leaving Port Townsend, WA harbor

OMAK, WA - - We've left the foggy and rainy Washington coast behind and have headed inland.  Now we're northward bound for Canada.  First a ramble through the province of British Columbia on our way to Alberta province and our favirite towns of Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff.
      We rode a ferry to Whidbey Island and Anacortes, WA for a two day stay before heading out.  The temperatures have been refreshing..at least until we crossed over the Cascade range and into Eastern Washington.  Now we're hot and dry.  80+ with 20% humidity.  Quite a change from the past two weeks.

Drip, drip

Raymond, WA - - It's another MacDonald's morning...senior coffee and free wifi.  This morning is a bit different because it's raining.  While this is usually normal weather for the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, we haven't seen rain drops for a long, long time.  Like, when we were traveling through Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Like, two months ago.  The area we've been in for the past few weeks has been nicely green, compliments of the marine layer fog which nourishes the plants but doesn't leave enough moisture to knock down the forest fire danger.  The weather report says we should keep our rain gear handy.

Resting up

Resting up

All my rowdy friends

NEWPORT, OR - - This is one of our favorite places to wander around.  Newport had a fishing fleet long before it had tourists.  I've posted in past years about the sea lions (noisy as usual); the fish processing plants with boats unloading and the general funky atmosphere.  So we went looking. Not much has changed.
      We've never spent a long time on the road during tourist season.  One thing we've quickly realized is that the majority of our favorite campgrounds are FULL...even if you get there early.  This has resulted in looking for a place to stay from about noon on and even then you work hard to find a pace.  The culprit for us is that most places take reservations as much as a year in advance.  Good for the two-week vacationer, but bad for us.

Images of Port Orford, OR

The Eagle III plows ahead into a steady breeze

A work tug awaits orders off Battle Rock

The basic ingredients of the Oregon shore

More ingredients

PORT ORFORD, OR - - We found a BLM campground last night ($4) .  It was so nice we decided to stay another night.  Port Orford calls itself the oldest settlement on the Oregon coast.  Quiet, scenic and with a library which encourages you to bring you computer in. 

Sunset on the Northern California coast

The view from our campsite at Abalone Point CG

CRESCENT CITY, CA - - We've finished our Sacramento house-sit and are on the way north to Oregon.  Stay tuned.

Press One

The marine layer (fog) descends on the Golden Gate Bridge

Select option one if you are ready to jump; 

Select option two if you are undecided; 

 

Select option three for more choices

Chinatown by bus

SACRAMENTO, CA - - Friday, we headed back to San Francisco.  On Tuesday's trip we didn't have time to go to the Presidio - - a former military base and now a National Park Historic Site.  After the same drive and ferry trip to SF, we caught a free shuttle bus to the site. 
     The Presidio is much too big to walk around so they have smaller buses to take you to interesting sites, one of which is the eastern entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge.  You can walk across and back; cycle the route; or watch the crowds braving 60-degree temps with 10-15 mph winds.  We walked about 3 miles round trip.  The marine layer fog made things a bit hazy, but on a clear day the views would be spectacular.
     Another interesting part of the trip was the return shuttle bus ride through many SF neighborhoods including Chinatown and back to the ferry dock.