Banff Gondola - Up, Up & Away

Friday morning we headed up the mountain that overlooks the Township of Banff.  It was time to ride the gondola to the top.  The view was great and there was very little forest fire smoke in the area.

Terri did the stair climb to the top of the summit by herself.  It only took her 12 minutes to reach the top.  You go girl!!!

After all that stair climbing (by Terri) we were hungry for lunch.  We had a very good lunch with an amazing view.

The girl earned her beer.

Celebrating Canada's National Parks 150 anniversary.

It was another very nice day.... life is good.

Alberta, Canada - Banff & Jasper National Parks

We are in Banff and Jasper National Parks for the next 7 days.  We are enjoying the mild temperatures and a lack of forest fire smoke.  The Canadian Rockies are stunning to say the least and even though this is a busy time of the year the parks are so big it still seems like the wild.

I'll jump right in and show you photos from our first two days.

Bow Lake on our first days drive up to Jasper.

We're going to  go walk on a glacier.

The only way up to the glacier is in this monster truck.

800 feet of ice underneath Terri.

Looking up the glacier.

Next we went to see the view from the Skywalk.  It is a glass bridge hanging out over a canyon.  It takes a little faith in engineers to walk out there.

The canyon 2,500 feet below a piece of glass.

Looking down at our toes through the glass.  It did not shatter.  Good.

The next morning Terri and I went on a hike to a waterfall in Johnston Canyon.  The colors of the creek that runs through the rocks is amazing.

The lower falls in Johnston Canyon.

The first few days here have been great.  We are really enjoying traveling with Terri's brother and sister-in-law, Shan and Beth.  Preparing and eating meals together is fun.  And the nightly board games make us all laugh.

Shan and Beth on the glacier.

And as all good Canadians would say, "Life is good, Eh."

Canada Trip - First Half

Bison up close.

We're having fun on our Summer trip to Alberta, Canada.  After two weeks we made it to Banff National Park two days ago.  Along the way we went to the Good Guys Hot Rod show in Puyallup before heading to Glacier National Park for a week.

Terri and her brother's 40 Chevy Hot Rod.

We stopped in Spokane so that Shan could put his Hot Rod in storage.  We will be returning in a few weeks to pick it up to attend the Spokane Good Guys show.

Glacier National Park.

We enjoyed a great campground at the entrance to West Glacier.  It was the perfect site for our next five days.

Our wheels for touring.

Last time we were in Glacier we used our Honda to travel over the Road to the Sun, this time we went in class aboard this 1936 touring coach.  The top rolled back allowing a great view as we traveled my favorite road in America.

Terri's toes in the river, as usual.

Next up for us was whitewater rafting down the middle fork of the Flathead River.  It was a blast and Shan came close to falling out of the raft in one rapid.  I pulled two ladies back in that went out in a big rapid.  It was a fun and beautiful day.

More to come as I get the time, too busy playing to write.

As always..... life is good.

FOUR

Our Happy Little Home.
This spring we had a 12'x40' RV pad with 6'x12' porch and sidewalk put into the Tammi & Robby's backyard.
Tammi and Terri have been adding flowers and fencing.

July 1st was the completion of our fourth year of retirement and our fourth year as vagabonds.  We are back in Tacoma enjoying a rest before we begin our Summer travels to Canada.

As we begin year five we can look back and see how we have changed in our lifestyle.  The biggest change has been our extended travels beyond Mexico and RV'ing.  We keep adding to the countries we want to see.  Next spring we have plans to go to Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam.  We have covered 16 countries in the last year and a half.

RV'ing has also changed for us.  Each year we have traveled less miles.  We travel less miles on our driving days and tend to stay longer at each location.  We are trying to learn to pace ourselves, but I keep overdoing my physical limits.  Yes, aging is also changing my personal limits and that is hard to accept.  My Rheumatoid Arthritis has been kicking my butt.

When we began, we hoped to get 10 years of travel and being vagabonds in before hanging up our fulltime traveling shoes.  We still hope for 10 years but I am starting to see the need to pace myself.  66 years old is still not old age but it begins to set more limitations.

We need to develope our "go slower" skills.  Is it O.K. to take more down days?  Could I lose a few pounds and get in better shape?  Can I actually not overplan our travels?  Maybe I need a few more sitting around hobbies?

It will be interesting to see what year five looks like.

In keeping with the "Four" theme, have you noticed that I have written over 400 blog posts and have had over 44,000 page views.  Thanks for reading and commenting.

Life is good.

Our 90 Day Limit???

I've reached the end.  At least for a few weeks.  Time to rest.

Last Spring when we were touring Europe we woke up one morning and said, "We're done." The next day we were on a plane flying toward home.  We had been gone for 90 days.

A couple of days ago we looked at each other and said the same thing, "We're done."  Once again it had been 90 days.  It was time to settle down for a few weeks before we start our Summer travels.  We need a vacation from our vagabond lifestyle.

So we are heading back to Tacoma and should arrive before the end of June.

The next few weeks were supposed to have been spent hiking and seeing the Grand Tetons.  The Tetons will have to wait until another time.  It's time to kick back and be lazy.

To family and friends:  We would love to see as many of you as we can while we are in the Pacific Northwest.  Call us.  We will be around from June 29th through July 27th.

Our Summer plans include Glacier National Park and Banff/ Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada.  These travels begin July 27th and end near the last week of August.

Ranger Stations

We spent two days at Oak Creek which is over 100 miles from our last campsite but still in Dixie National Forest.  Oak Creek is a small campsite with a stunning river running through the center.

We visited the closest Ranger station to plan the days hike.  It turned out to be a jewel.

Built by the CCC in 1935

The CCC built a series of these cabin one days hike from each other through the park in the 1930's.  These were living quarters for a Ranger and his family during the summers.  With my last name I should have been a Forest Ranger.

As we entered we were greeted by a volunteer Ranger.  She had just finished baking biscuits in the wood fired oven and offered us biscuits and jam for breakfast.  She said she does this every morning to warm the cabin.  Lucky us.

The original wood stove, still in use daily.

The 30's kitchen.

We talked and picked a hike for the day, Blind Lake.  We drove 8 miles up a mountain until we found the trailhead which began at over 10,000 feet.  It was a long and dust drive on a dirt road that made us wish we had a Jeep not a Honda.

Todays hike was too much for me.  We never made it to Blind Lake but it was a nice hike through the Aspin and Noble Firs.  A rough trail, steep climb and elevation gain was more than I expected.  Better to live for another day.

Life is good.

A Few Arches Make a Good Hike

When we saw a hike that include 15 small arches we knew that it was a hike for us.  We drove up a dirt road a few miles, parked and found the trailhead.  Dixie National Forest has over 2 million acres and unlike the National Parks dogs are welcome on the trails in National Forests.

Up, up and away.

The hardest part of hiking for me is elevation gain.  I'm old and fat which makes it hard to climb.  The other factor this last week was that all the hikes start at over 8,000 feet.  In case that is not something you have experienced just imagine turning down the oxygen on Grandpa's air supply.  That's why I kept asking Terri, "You trying to kill me?"

Enough whining.  The hikes are worth the effort.

Climb high enough and you can look down on spires and hoodoos.

A row of arches ahead.

Terri sitting under an arche eating an apple.

What's in that cave?

As we wander there are many side trails, caves and canyons that we don't explore.  We only have so much energy and the question is always, "Can we make it back to the trail head?"  So far we have used common sense and made it back each time, sometimes right at the end of my limits. Terri usually has energy to spare.  Eva is usually dragging just like me.

A selfie under an arche.

We're loving our time in Dixie.

Life is good.