We had an excellent time in Edmonton visiting Tim's old friend Ollie and his lovely girlfriend Michelle. We walked around the city, went to the "Leg", visited the largest mall in North America (after business hours which was pretty cool), and ate some amazing veggie meals. Hopefully they will be coming to visit us soon so we can take them on a tour of Portland!
We headed south and cut west just before Calgary on the "1", through Banff National Park, and stopped by Lake Louise or "Lake of the Little Fishes", an awesome glacial lake just before crossing back in to British Columbia and seeing tons of bears and traveling the hot springs highway.
We used Tim's campground finder app to help us find a place in Idaho, somwhere north of Sandpoint so we could be "outside the city". We ended up in Smith Lake Campground in Bonners Ferry, ID. It is free to camp, great fire pits and clean restrooms, plus we met a magical owl. He is my favorite. And he kept an eye on us all night long (we slept in the Kia for the first time, it was so cozy and warm) tent schment!!!
We finished off the trip by driving through Enterprise, Joseph, Wallowa, and staying in Union, Oregon at the http://thehistoricunionhotel.com/, dog friendly, very neat old hotel, its not the fanciest, but if you like the laid back, rusty nail kind of place, this is your spot. Tim's favorite golf course (http://www.buffalopeakgolf.com/) and favorite bagel shop in Oregon are here, plus my new favorite rummage sale out of the old local church!
Mt. Robson, view from the Robson Shadows Campground in Valemount, BC
There were about 700 hummingbirds outside the main office, they each were different shades of bright pastels.
The fur pigs settling in to camp. It was their first drive in camping trip, and our first one in a very long time! So much easier than the backback route :) Plus I could pack way more clothes!
Furmily.
We finally got to try out our new tent that I ordered from Sierra Trading Post. The 3-person, all season, Alps Mountaineering, Zenith tent. We love it, soooo much more room than the last one! Lots of head room. http://www.sierratradingpost.com/alps-mountaineering-zenith-3-al-tent-3-person-3-season~p~1480c/?filterString=s~alps-tent%2F&colorFamily=03
The double doors and vestibules work great for 2 dogs and wet gear, easy to move in/out of the tent w/out stepping on everything and everyone!
Good Morning British Columbia!
Horny Moose, sounds like an adult beverage. For the record, I didn't see a moose. With or without horns.
One of the first little friends we made.
Big horned sheep in Jasper National Park.
Black Bear makes a go for it.
Lake Louise, Alberta
Lake Louise, Alberta, still mostly frozen.
One of several black bear families we saw near the road in Banff National Park.
Mama and Baby Grizzlies in Banff, so amazing to see these gorgeous creatures up close. (Disclaimer: it is not a good idea to pull over and take pictures of grizzlies. It is not a good idea to get anywhere near grizzlies, especilly a Mother with babies, Tim and I are setting a horrible example here, if we had stayed a second longer, Mom probably would have charged our vehicle to protect her cubs. But aren't they sooooo beautiful!!!!?)
so much of our drive was through this kind of country. It was quite a breathtaking trip.
Wallowa Lake
Trout in Wallowa Lake, this water is so clear!
Tim saw some kind of large bird land a few hundred feet from our campsite at Smith Lake, in Idaho. And we walked out to find this handsom devil, I believe he or she is a great horned owl. But his "great horns" are hiding somewhere!
A lovely spot by the little creek outside of Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise, Oregon. http://www.terminalgravitybrewing.com/
Lunch Snuggles.
The road warriors. Maggie Mae and Chloe Breaulty
Happy Campers
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