DESTINTATION CALIFORNIA July 28th to July 30th Jasper National Park, Alberta We are getting used to the good roads, towns with larger grocery stores, McDonald’s, Tim Hutton’s, Home Depot, banks, tall buildings….OH MY!!! While we were in Alaska, we weren’t able to use our TV Dish or our Satellite Radio (Jaclyn and Jason bought us for Christmas). We were too far north to pick up the signal, but now we are able to listen to our satellite radio and it is great!!! We are in the Jasper National Park and we are dry camping which means no hook-ups. No water, no electricity and no sewage at our sites. We knew this before hand so we filled up with water and emptied all our tanks of waste. We can “camp” this way for a week or so. We had a pot-luck with Rae and Larry providing the fish the men caught in Homer, Alaska, with Anitra bringing BQ potatoes and I brought the dessert. On July 29th we went to ride the tram, but it wasn’t working. So we explored the Maligne Canyon and Maligne River which was beautiful. We hiked the upper and lower canyon and found fascinating waterfalls. Then we had lunch after hiking the steep gorge in the Canyon and were happy for the respite. As we were returning to the campground, a deer and her three fawns crossed the road in front of us. That night we played Mexican Train with Anitra and Chuck. On July 30th we drove to the tram again and decided not to take the ride up the mountain because it was raining. So the ladies went into town to look at the shops. After lunch, we explored the Athabasca Falls. These falls have been carving a gorge through the Rocky Mountains for thousands of years. The water rushes through jagged cliffs and produces brilliant flashes of spray. The water comes from some of the 27 glaciers in the area. We then went to see the Patricia and Pyramid Lakes. On the way to the lakes, we stopped to see a black bear eating berries in the woods. He was about 15 feet away!!! July 31st-August 2nd Lake Louise and Banff On the road from Jasper to Lake Louise we stopped many times taking pictures of the glaciers, mountains, lakes, waterfalls and another Huge Grizzly eating berries alongside of the road. We noticed some fresh snow on the mountains and that means the END of the summer for the Yukon and Alaska…..it is certainly a short season!! One of the waterfalls we passed was the Sunwapta Falls (means turbulent river). This is a watercourse which plummets over the cliffs into a deep canyon. They even produced a rainbow for us while we were there. We could see evidence of the falls power by the deep canyon they have carved out of the mountain. These waters come from the glaciers as well. Then onto the Colombia Ice Fields. Here we took a bus to a glacier and then a special bus called the Ice Traveler with huge tires which rode on the glacier. The ice at this area is 1,000 feet thick. When we got out of the bus to walk around, it was at least 15 degrees colder around the glacier and the wind was blowing very hard. We were glad to get back into the heated bus again. We were told that the glaciers from the Columbia snow field feed the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Artic Oceans, a triple continental divide…amazing!!! We stopped a few more times to look at the scenery and to take pictures and then went to the Lake Louise Campgrounds. We hooked up our electricity (no other hook-ups) and went to explore Lake Louise and the town. August 1st we got up early to visit Lake Louise again. This time the sun was shining on the lake and it brought out the beautiful greens and blues of the lake. A truly beautiful area! Then we went to Moraine Lake and walked around the lake to take in its beauty. From there we drove to Banff and Sulfur Mountain. Rudy, Anitra and I took the Gondola to the top of the mountain. It has the highest Tea House in the Rocky Mountains. After lunch we went to see the Hoodoos. It was quite a disappointment especially seeing the Hoodoos in Bryce National Park. On the way back to the campground, we saw a couple of Bull Elk with the biggest rack any of us have seen. Tonight Rae and Larry treated all of us to a steak and potato farewell dinner. They will be traveling east and south and we will be traveling west and south. August 2nd we said good-bye to Rae and Larry and went on our way. And now we are TWO!!!! We traveled over 400 miles today. We drove through the Canadian Glacier National Park and the mountains seem to flow like waves in the ocean with the clouds between the mountains appearing like white caps. We arrived in Hope, B.C. So Faith is in Hope!!!! We went out to dinner and made some reservations for our trip to Vancouver and Victoria. On August 3rd, we drove to Maple Ridge where Rich and Sylvia live. They live on 9 acres and had plenty of space for our two rigs and two cars. They also have a huge and beautiful Potter’s Workshop and an even larger Tool Workshop for snowmobiles that Rich soups up for very steep hill climbing. Thank you Rich and Sylvia and Tammy who stood by the gate to let us in!! On August 4th, Anitra, Chuck, Rudy and I went to Victoria. After we got off the Ferry, we visited the Butterfly Garden and the Butchart Gardens which has been a showcase for blooming flowers for over 100 years. Then we went to our hotel, the Chateau Victoria. That night we had a Chinese dinner and went to the movies to see “Pirates.” After breakfast on August 5th, we took a bus tour of the city. We got off a couple of times to explore and got on the bus to continue the tour. We walked through the Market which was around the harbor and decided to have lunch as we boat and people watched. We went to the museum and got tickets to the IMAX. Rudy and Chuck went back to the harbor and Anitra and I walked down Government Street and shopped for the last time together for a while. We watched the IMAX show called “Fighter Pilot.” Right after the show we went to a Band Fest on the grounds of the Legislative and watched and listened as three different military bands played for an hour. Then we went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner, walked back to the hotel, got our car and then got on the Ferry to go back to Vancouver. August 6th we had breakfast at Tim Hutton’s and had a tearful good-bye. The four of us have been together for over two months and have laughed, played games, shopped, ate, shopped, drove, ate, cruised, laughed, explored, shopped, ate and shopped together. Did I mention that we shopped? Anitra and I have more of the same clothes and jewelry than most twin girls!!! Good thing she leaves in Michigan!!! Now we are ONE!!!!! After we parted, Rudy and I drove to Whistler’s. We passed Squamish Bay, where there was an oil spill today. The drive on the Sea and Sky Highway to Whistler, the site of the 2010 winter Olympics was very interesting. We stopped and looked around the beautiful area, had lunch and explored the many booths set up for the long British Colombia Weekend celebrations. How large is B.C. you ask? (I know you didn’t!!) Well, I will tell you how big….You can put Greece, England, Bulgaria, Hungry, Czech Republic, Scotland, Ireland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Sicily, and Whales in the B.C. boundaries. Those countries have a population of over 140,000,000 and B.C. has a population of 4,181,000!!! On August 7th we left Rich and Sylvia’s backyard and traveled to Chehalis, Washington. We noticed two very important features since we hit the lower 48 states (I love saying that!!). First, we have hardly any bugs on our windshield while before it was so thick with bugs we could hardly see out. B.C. wasn’t as bad as the Yukon and Alaska, but in Washington and Oregon we only have killed a few bugs. Second, the roads are 100% better with not many delays because of construction. That means we can drive above 30 miles an hour and do not have to sit and wait for the construction sign to go from STOP to SLOW!!!! When we got to Chehalis, we quickly got in our car and drove to Mt. St. Helen’s. It took much longer than we expected and got there around 6 p.m. It was amazing!!! She even gave us a greeting of smoke from her top. We could still see evidence of the eruption that took place over twenty years ago. There are still hundreds of trees lying on their sides…..white and sometimes black trees and stripped of all life. Many areas had no life near the volcano, but it was lush with trees in most of the area as we drove away from the volcano. I am sure there was a great deal of restoration. August 8th found us traveling through Oregon. After we got to the campsite, we ate and then explored the Redwood Forest. We drove Howland Hill Road and hiked the Stout Grove and Peterson’s Trail. Rudy and I were so amazed by the size of these ancient trees!! They are the world’s tallest living trees and are a living link to the Age of Dinosaurs. They start out as a seed the size of a tomato seed and grow to be 500 TONS and taller than the Statue of Liberty. Some have a foot-thick armor of bark. This bark seems to make them impervious to the effects of fire, insects and disease. In 1851 logging of these beautiful trees began. Then in 1918 many scientists made it known what was happening to the Redwood Trees. In 1923 a movement began to preserve the trees by making many areas state and national parks to stop the destruction of these magnificent trees. On August 9th we left the campsite and traveled on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway and saw many more beautiful trees. We then stopped to go on the Big Tree Trail. This tree is 21 ½ feet in diameter and in 1920 was going to be cut down to make a dance floor on the cut stump. I am glad someone stopped them from doing so!!! The tree was very impressive. We then walked down the Cathedral Trail to see many more impressive trees. The trees are so high (nearly 370 feet) that they block out the sunlight. Also, it is very damp and cold in their shade which is how these trees like it!!! There roots are only 10-13 feet deep, but spread out 60-80 feet. We then drove to Half Moon Bay and parked in Jaclyn and Jason’s backyard. When Jason and Jaclyn got home we showed them the movies of the bears we had seen in Hydra, Alaska. The next day we drove our R.V. to my Aunt Fay and Uncle John’s house in Monterey. She treated us to a delicious meal and we showed pictures and played cards. Well, that is the end of our travels with the RV for a while. We will be going to Bali with Jaclyn September 1st to the 8th. She is planning another Retreat and has chosen Bali this time. Stacy and Rob will be arriving on September 15th. We will all be together for a few days. Rudy and I will be flying home on the 20th and we hope to see you all when we get back. Love to all….Faith and Rudy