The last 48 hours – or back to reality.

17 Tuesday Jul 2018

Sunday started with a quick trip to the grocery store for water and a few other items. We opted for the All Canadian grocery store across the street from the hotel. It was enormous, good prices, and a huge selection. It reminded us of a classier Wal-Mart. We got in the checkout line, and the total was $23 Canadian and change. Mom hands the cashier $25 US. She had to punch a few more keys to have the machine convert to US$ total, which was about $17. The cashier is still holding Mom’s $25. When she keyed in the amount of money tendered, she keyed in $40, not $25. I quickly let her know we’d given her $25, not $40. It then took 2 store managers to try to figure out how to correct the mistake without voiding the transaction. Long story short – the transaction was voided and redone, and we were on our way south.

The sky looked a bit overcast and gray as we started, but soon cleared. Could we be so lucky as to avoid rain yet another day? We crossed back into the US a little after 11AM. A quick stop for gas as I’d forgotten to check the fuel level before we left Thunder Bay, changed the settings from metric to US, and we drove the short distance to our first stop, the Grand Portage National Monument. An incredible historic fur trading site that has live demonstrations and docents to answer any and all questions.

We had no cell phone signal for the GPS, so we reverted to good old fashioned map reading for about an hour. Beautiful views of Lake Superior all along the drive.

It felt like there was more traffic, but we were on a 2 lane state highway, and the North Shore area of Lake Superior is a vacation destination. It thinned out a bit the further south we went. The scenery changed from lake views to vast rolling hills of farmland as we entered Wisconsin. We checked into the hotel in Eau Clair about 6:30PM, and took a short drive to an area restaurant that sounded good. Unfortunately, they weren’t open, so back to the restaurant near the hotel, Shoeless Joe’s Sports Grill. It worked for two ladies who were probably a little more road weary than they thought or would admit!

Monday dawned sunny and bright. Our last day on the road. We were both glad we’d opted to bring in the bare minimum the night before as the elevator was being serviced. Two trips down the stairs and we were loaded and ready to go. First stop was The Paul Bunyan Logging Camp and Museum. Another fun, educational and interactive museum. We learned a lot about the early days of logging, and I learned my paternal great-grandfather was a logger in New Hampshire. The museum is supported and run by the local Kiwanis Club. They do an excellent job, and really bring the story of Paul Bunyan to life. I read the book many times growing up, and now need to reread it with the background information I now have.

It was time to hit the road for the final leg of Road Trip 2018. A quick stop at a local liquor store to purchase some New Glarus Brewing Spotted Cow. This beer and brewing company have a cult-like following, and you can only buy it in Wisconsin. No, I didn’t plan the trip through WI just so I could bring some home, but it was a happy coincidence. You also can’t be in Wisconsin and not stop for cheese! (Although my travel partner this trip would disagree.) We saw the sign for Humbird along the freeway, and we needed to fill the gas tank anyway. A great little place with a really nice gift shop.

The terrain continued to flatten out, and we were soon in very familiar surroundings. We realized that other than the last 5 or so miles of the drive, we had avoided duplicating roads and freeways. One BIG loop around the US and Canada!

Had to add the miles I accidentally cleared when we stopped in the Rockies!

I still have a little over 600 miles to go tomorrow to get home. If I include the miles that I drove to get to the starting point, I will log in excess of 6,600 miles in a three week period. I think I will stay close to home for a few months! At least until October, anyway, when the next big adventure begins…

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Canada, cheese, Eau Clair, Gichi Gami, Grand Portage National Monument, Lake Superior, living history, Minnesota, New Glarus Brewing, Ontario, Pau Bunyan Logging Camp and Museum, Paul Bunyan, Road Trip 2018, Roadtrip, Wisconsin

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Au revoir, Canada.

15 Sunday Jul 2018

Tonight is our last night in Canada…ça a été un merveilleux voyage. It has been a wonderful trip! I can now add driving almost completely across Canada to my completed travel list. It will take some time for the past week to settle in my mind and memories. We have had wonderful conversations with Canadians across the provinces, and we truly appreciated their hospitality and kindness.

The other thing I completed this trip was driving across all 4 time zones and back. We crossed into Eastern Daylight Time today a little after 7PM. It’s nice to be back in my “home” time zone, but tomorrow we’ll be back in CDT once we get back to the US.

Today we opted to pass on breakfast at the hotel and get a jump on the drive. We stopped for lunch in Kenora, ON. Lake Kenora is one of the largest lakes in the area, and a big vacation destination. Beautiful area, and when you’re essentially landlocked, this is a great spot to spend a hot, summer weekend! (The cooler temperatures we anticipated have eluded us. It has been in the upper 80’s – low 90’s every day.)

Scenic tours by seaplane

I took a break from driving for a bit and was able to get a few photos as we passed Lake Peggy.

The traffic was about typical for one of our roadtrips. Getting back to Atlanta traffic will be a shock!

We landed in Thunder Bay, Ontario a little after 8PM. We unwound, attempted to find a place other than the restaurant next door that was open, but ended up back at the hotel restaurant. Oh well! When it’s 9:30PM and you’ve been traveling for 8+ hours, just about anything will satisfy hunger.

Au revoir, Canada. Merci beaucoup. ‘Til we meet again…in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island if I plan things right!

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Canada, Exploring, Inland waterways, Lakes, Manitoba, Ontario, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg

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Momma and her babies – wildlife, part 2

14 Saturday Jul 2018

The wonderful thing about vacations is you can sleep until you feel like getting up…and if there are no big plans for the day, you may just sleep in a bit longer than you usually might. Welcome to my world for the last 2 weeks. I am beginning to dread having to wake up to an alarm clock again in 10 days. Needless to say, today was yet another leisurely start. We ate a “real” breakfast of eggs and all the fixings in the hotel restaurant, loaded the car and hit the road. Today was the start of a few long drive days as we make the final stretch across Saskatchewan, Manitoba and bit of Ontario. We started the day off visiting the Elizabeth II Gardens across from the Regina Legislature building. A lovely park with so much to see and do. There were walking/biking paths around the lake, beautiful gardens and lawns, and water sports (kayaking, sailing and crewing).

Nice too see Canadian geese in Canada, too!

It was in the upper 80’s today (about 29 C) so we didn’t meander for too long. As we ventured eastbound on Trans-Canadian Highway 1, I saw a few signs for “Scenic Route.” I passed a few of them, then looked over and asked “Are you game?” Off we went the next exit to explore the road less taken. If it wasn’t meant to be explored they wouldn’t have signs on the highway, right?

A two lane road that wove through field after field of canola. The color of these flowers is almost unnatural, yet it is clearly part of nature.

Lake Katepwa was the next highlight. A great vista point for photos, and a chance to throw away the week old cherries we’d been carrying with us.

GPS told us to make a right turn onto County Road 612, so we did. Seems we are destined for “off-roading” this trip! While the speed limit was 80 KPH, I kept it around 40 – we were not familiar with the area, I really didn’t want to change a flat tire, nor deal with a cracked windshield. My apologies to the few cars who passed us and clearly knew where they were going. It was worth every minute it added to today’s drive.

As we made our way back to the highway, we were treated to a moose crossing. Momma and two babies crossed the road in front of us. Unfortunately we were far enough away, and they were fast enough, that we couldn’t get a good photo. We did appreciate the fact that both times we’ve “off-roaded” this trip we got to see wildlife up close and personal. Sheep in Colorado, moose in Saskatchewan.

We crossed into Manitoba a little after 3PM. I was in need of a pit stop and stretch, so we stopped in a few little towns and drove right on through as they were really little, and we were playing tag with a Canadian Pacific train. In Virden we did stop and tried to find the visitor center. While we didn’t find it, we did find the old train station and Alexandra Hotel across the street. If you closed your eyes you could picture people of old disembarking from the train and heading across the street to the hotel.

We hit the western edge of Winnipeg about 7:30PM, and were checked into the hotel about 25 minutes later. We are right in the heart of the University of Winnipeg. Across the street is a Hudson Bay Traders store. We were going to check it out in the morning, but based on recent reviews, we’ll hit the road instead and settle for a photo.

It was a pleasant surprise to look out our window and see our second Canadian legistature building for the day.

Tomorrow is our longest drive day at about 7 1/2 hours. It is time to wrap up today’s adventure and rest so we make it safely to Ontario.

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Canada, Canola Fields, Lake Katepwa, Manitoba, Moose, Queen Elizabeth II Park, Regina, Saskatchewan, Virden, Wildlife, Winnipeg

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It’s not the yellow brick road or the yellow mustard road, Toto. It’s the canola road.

13 Friday Jul 2018

For two days we have felt like we were following the yellow brick road, but it was a beautiful crop of yellow something that stretched for acres. It looked remarkably like mustard, so that’s what we thought it was. We found out tonight from our wonderful waitress that it is canola. Yellow and blue canola is one of Alberta and Saskatchewan’s main crops. File that away in the memory bank for future reference! It was still a beautiful sight today on our way to Regina.

We started the day with a short walk through Medicine Hat. A quaint town with great shops, restaurants and public art work. It was a bit warmer than usual, so our walk was rather limited. We stumbled upon the Inspire Cafe for what we hoped would be a late breakfast, but it turned out to be an early lunch. Mom had tomato garlic soup and a curried egg salad sandwich on raisin bread. I had curried lentil soup and fried egg and cheese sandwich. We got there just before the lunch crowd arrived, and they were doing a very steady business when we left. Great art work on display and for sale around the cafe, and artists’ studios/work areas beyond the cafe.

We finally stopped at the stop light near this hotel so I could get a picture. We passed it at least 3 times on our back and forth to various places yesterday, and it made me smile. I can just picture the 1940’s – 1950’s, maybe even 1960’s, when this would have been one of the top spots in the area.

We crossed into Saskatchewan a little while later, and decided a stretch break was needed as we approached Swift Current. We parked the car and began walking down Center Avenue when I spotted a gift store. We meandered the store for a while, and I found perfect mementos for several on my list. It was early afternoon, and a rather warm day for these parts, so we opted to hit the car and continue our drive.

A bit west of Swift Current we spotted what initially loooked like a herd of goats on the side of the road. As we got closer, we both did double takes, and it took us a moment to realize it was a herd of alpacas. Given it was still 80+ degrees fahrenheit, we opted not to stop and check out the alpaca goods for sale. A short bit later as we approached Lake Chaplin, we saw what appeared to be mounds of snow. I knew in this heat it definitely was not snow, but neither of us had a clue what the piles of “white stuff” were. I surmised salt or lime as a small tractor to my left was making its way up a pile. Mark that down as something to research when we get to the room tonight…

We stopped at the Tourist Information location outside Moose Jaw for a rest stop and information on Regina. Canadian tourist/information stops are such fun. Each one we have stopped at has information about the surrounding area (think school project, state fair type displays), and a variety of local goods for sale. A great place to get a feel for the area, decide if you’ll stop and for how long, or just sample the local fare and keep going. We learned the piles of “white stuff” by Lake Chaplin were potash. Canda is the world’s largest potash producer and exporter, and the bulk of the industry is in Saskatchewan. Potash is one of the main ingredients of fertilizer.

We each picked up a few gift items, and decided it was time for a bit of local gelato. We both opted for Saskatoon berry. I still need to taste an actual Saskatoon berry before we leave – it looks a bit like a blueberry, but the gelato was definitely sweeter than that. Not sure if that was due to added sugar, or if it really is that sweet. I did buy a rather pricey jar of mustard believing that the yellow fields we were passing were, in fact, mustard. Oh well. I can make a lot of mustard sauces over the coming months if needed! A stop here is not complete without a photo of Mac the Moose.

We arrived in Regina early evening. The hotel had glasses and bottles of wine 50% off, so we opted for an elevator ride to dinner tonight. We shared a bottle of montepuliciano and a charcuterie plate, reminisced about the past 2 weeks and many decades, and had fabulous conversations with our waitress. Definitely a day and night for the memory books.

Before we head out of town tomorrow we plan to tour the Legislative Building and Queen Elizabeth II’s Gardens. We will cross into our 4th Canadian province sometime tomorrow.

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Alberta, Alpacas, Canada, Exploring, Medicine Hat, Mustard, Potash, Regina, Roadtrip, Saskatchewan, Swift Current, Travel

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The Canadian Badlands

12 Thursday Jul 2018

I heard the rain fall a bit overnight, and was afraid today would be another overcast day. Turned out to be bright and sunny, a perfect day for driving across Alberta. Rush hour was essentially over by the time we hit the road. The Calgary Stampede is this week, so there was still a fair number of cars (and semi-trucks) on the road with us until we got outside of the city. Calgary definitely has a frontier, wild-west feel to it. Of course, it was probably somewhat intensified given the Stampede. An easy city to navigate, but I’m still partial to Toronto. We have more places to see before we get home, so I may find a few new places to love.

My brain is feeling clearer, and my mood has definitely lightened now that we are out of wall to wall mountains. They are beautiful to look at, and I have great respect for those who can live on or near them. I need to see a horizon, and preferably the ocean. I did comment today that a wheat or grain field would be the next best thing to being at the ocean for me as I could at least watch the undulations of the vegetation and pretend it was ocean waves.

As we left the city behind, we watched field after field of mustard open before our eyes. Deep, rich green fields of hay and unflowering mustard followed by fields of flowering mustard so bright you almost had to shield your eyes.

We were definitely out of the mountains and back to rolling hills and prairie. Sprinkled among the croplands were livestock farms and more than the occasional oil drill.

I was glad GPS showed the road turning just before the silos. Looked like we were going right through them.

Even the hay along the side of the road is harvested.

One of the great things about the Trans-Canadian Highway is the pullouts on the side of the road. There are trash and recycling cans to dispose of waste, and a very large shoulder for resting if needed. There are also rest areas, but they are generally two unisex bathrooms which are more like port-a-potties than actual restrooms. Mom had a bad experience in one yesterday, so we pass those by. The pullouts are a good spot to stop for a photo, though!

The Badlands of Canada look nothing like the Badlands of South Dakota!

Our first stop today was the Saamis Tepee. We learned from the Visitor/Tourist Center nearby it was originally built for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, and moved to Medicine Hat in 1991. At 215 feet tall, it is the equivalent of a 20 story building. It didn’t feel that way standing under it. Inside are 10 handpainted storyboards that tell the history and influences on the area’s First Nations heritage. You can easily see the tepee from the highway, and it would be easy to pass it by as just another tourist destination. We were both incredibly moved and learned a great deal. Definitely worth the stop.

The Medicine Hat Tourist Center has free bikes for anyone to borrow for rides along the bike/walking trails or to ride the coulees. Looking at the size of the ravines, definitely not a leisurely stroll or something that I want to attempt. If you are an avid outdoorsman, this area has a lot to offer.

It was still a little early for check-in at the hotel, so we opted for a late lunch/early dinner at Medicine Hat Brewing. They opened for business in December 2016, and have an extensive, and very good, selection of beer. We each had a burger (note to self, remember to ask for it to be cooked medium or it will come out well done.) We each did a beer flight, enjoyed our burger, and enjoyed wonderful conversation with our waitress.

We were going to take the self-guided tour through town, but the wind was mighty strong. Once we got into our hotel room we opted for driving through, and maybe a stroll, as we head out of town and continue east tomorrow.

Posted by andreapw | Filed under 1988 Winter Olympics, Alberta, Calgary, Canada, Canadian Badlands, First Nations, Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat Brewing Co, Mustard, Mustard Fields, Saamis Tepee, Vacation2016

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Geez Louise! Lake Louise

11 Wednesday Jul 2018

A peaceful night’s sleep with the fan blowing and the window open. The early morning bird calls were a delight as we generally don’t get to hear them when on the road. We packed up, loaded some of the car, and hit breakfast. Breakfast was described as a “light affair” when we checked in. That definitely described it. Three kinds of dry cereal, various bread and bagels for toast, hard boiled eggs, thin sliced Canadian bacon (may have been ham), and two kinds of thin sliced cheese. Coffee was watery, but did the trick. We loaded the rest of the car and struck out for Banff National Park and Lake Louise.

It was a cloudy day that turned into a gray and overcast day, but the mountains were still glorious. Fortunately there were more opportunities for photos today. We crossed through Robert’s Pass between Revelstoke and Vernon. It’s interesting that the highest peaks in the Canadian Rockies are shorter than the US Rocky Mountains. They seem so much larger, but I think the vastness of the space between them makes them appear taller. The hairpin turns through Canada are much easier to drive than those in Colorado.

Mom got to see a few trains along the way today as they paralleled the road, as did several rivers. We fortunately stopped to purchase our day pass for the park before we arrived which made entry much easier. The area is well marked for the most part. Lake Louise Village is the first thing you see, and it looked more like shopping and dining than an actual parking area for the lake. As we continued up the mountain, gut instinct said I should have continued straight rather than going right. A quick U-turn, and we were face-to-face with a wooly marmot. I thought it was kind of him to stand up and pose for me to get a few pictures!

We parked the car, found the rest rooms, then followed the crowd along the pathway. It truly is more glorious in person than in photos. (Aren’t most places, though?) Despite the crowds jockeying for position for photos and selfies, there was a palpable serenity to the place. The vast expanse of mountains and glacier, and the calm green of the lake . Even the canoes on the lake seemed to float as they paddled along.

We walked the pathway around to the Fairmont Lake Louise Chateau, and checked out the shops inside. We admired the flower gardens in front of the hotel and took a last look at the lake.

Just as we began our walk back to the car, it began to sprinkle. By the time we reached the car, it was a pretty steady rain. We couldn’t have timed it any better!

We drove through the town of Banff, but didn’t get a chance for photos. The sky was threatening more rain, there was no parking anywhere nearby, and it was very crowded. A cute little town, though.

The terrain flattened quickly, and we were back in rolling hills and farms. About an 75 minutes later or so we were checking into tonight’s lodging in Calgary. On our way in to town we passed the Calgary Flames stadium and the Olympic ski jumps. Reminded me of watching the ski jumpers practice in Trondheim, Norway just over 2 years ago.

We lost an hour today as we crossed into mountain time zone. Waiting for dinner to be delivered, then calling it a night. Tomorrow we are off to Medicine Hat. I think we will both be a bit glad to be out of the mountains for a while!

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Alberta, British Columbia, Canada, Canadian Rockies, Columbia River, Exploring, Lake Louise, National Parks

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Welcome to Canada!

10 Tuesday Jul 2018

Sunday dawned earlier than I might have liked, given the fun of the night before. Packed up, and breakfast in the hotel restaurant. (My review would be “meh.” There’s a reason it only has 2.5 – 3 stars. But it fit the bill for all of us.) Car brought down, loaded, goodbyes said, and momma and I hit the road.

Our first stop was Chateau Ste. Michele Winery. It was about 25 minutes from the hotel, and on our route. As we’d enjoyed many good beers over the past 2 days, a wine tasting seemed appropriate to start our return trip. The grounds are beautiful and picturesque. Manicured lawns, gorgeous architecture, families enjoying picnics…clearly a place to be on a Sunday afternoon in the summer. I wish my impression of the tasting room were as good as the outside. While the staff were helpful, they did not have time to, or did not want to, give us more than the basic description of the wines and move on to the next. At $15 a tasting (we did opt to share one), and only having 5 wines on the tasting list, we could have bought 2 bottles at the grocery store and enjoyed it as much, possibly better. But we can say we have been.

Perhaps if we’d done one of the bigger tours and tasting the experience would have been different. But the Canadian border was calling us, and we had about a 4 hour drive to our destination.

We had about a 30 minute wait at the border crossing in Sumas, WA and drove into Canada about 4:08PM. A bit of traffic along Trans-Canadian Route 1 as we started, but it soon opened up. Fortunately I remembered to set the speedometer to KPH before we crossed the border. The mountains soon loomed ahead of us, and I tried to keep at least one eye on the road as I turned my head from side to side and watched the beauty unfold before us. Unfortunately, not a lot of places to stop and take photos. I managed to get a few at a rest stop near Coquihalla. The Coquihalla Summit was 1244 M (4081 feet). It seemed much higher, but will be nothing once we hit the Canadian Rockies!

We checked into our hotel about 7:15PM in West Kelowna, BC. They had a restaurant attached, so we grabbed a sandwich and called it a night.

Today (Monday) was a short drive day, roughly 2 1/2 hours from last night’s lodging to today’s. I didn’t realize when setting the return route I was taking us right through the heart of British Columbia wine region. (Those of you who know me personally may find that hard to believe! But seriously, I didn’t until I picked up the brochure last night.) Anyway, when you have a short drive day, why not stop and see how the wine is, right? We stopped first at Sandhill Winery in Kelowna. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable, warm and made us feel right at home. The wine was far better than I had expected. One of the labels at Sandhill is Wayne Gretzky’s. We passed his winery near Toronto last October but didn’t stop. I couldn’t pass this by without at least a photo or two!

If we were staying one more night in the area, we would have bought a bottle and sat on the couch for a few hours! Such an inviting tasting room and staff.

Our next stop was Blind Tiger Winery. They are situated on a ridge overlooking one of the many mountain lakes in the area. Absolutely beautiful views, and some pretty good wine there, too.

Such fun to pass apple and cherry orchards on our way down to the highway!

We left this area and began our trek north and east. There were a few scenic overlooks today where I was able to stop and snap a few photos of the majesty around us. When we have criss-crossed the US, we can usually say “this reminds me of…” and fill in the blank. The past two days have left us at an absolute loss. Mountain lakes that are fed by waterfalls of varying size, pastures that seem to be among the clouds, and the vast expanse of space. Rivers, creeks and streams that flow alongside the road, what seem to be rolling hills but are just smaller mountains. The photos will not do its beauty and majesty justice, but it’s better than nothing.

Tonight we are staying in Revelstoke, BC. Rather quiet in the summer months compared to the winter. In winter this is home to snowmobiling and heli-skiing. Not sure that being dropped off at the top of a mountain by helicopter and skiing my way down would be my idea of fun, but it seems very popular in the area. Summer is mostly mountain biking, canoeing and hiking. Certainly a picturesque area to do any or all of it!

We are staying at the Glacier House Resort, set off from town in the quiet of the forest. We have brought all food in from the car as there were bear sightings earlier. All rooms are on the 2nd floor, so we are safe. The view from the room and the peacefulness of the surroundings should make for a restful night’s sleep.