Saturday, June 30, 2007

Home At Last

Here's the last photo in my camera...out of focus, but, hey, we were in a hurry!

Stay tuned for the winners of our free Boyds stuff, coming soon!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Seattle & Alaska

What an incredible week we had on the big boat. Here's a few pics:

The view from the back of our ship:

A gorgeous sunrise (3:45 am!):

Glacier Bay:


Let's not forget the "wild" bears of Ketchikan:




And a safe return to Seattle (atop the Space Needle):


Now it's off to Arizona! See you soon!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Banff & Beyond

Mere photos do not do justice to this spectacular scenery!
The force of these rushing waters is incredible:
Lake Louise is beautiful even on a cloudy day: There are still piles of snow along the side of the road and our temperature gauge reads in the low 50's. We most certainly are thinking of Tucson's hundred plus temps as we bundle up to go out and sightsee!

A brief stop at the Columbia Icefields:

A mountain lake, still thawing from winter:Then, there's the wildlife:

A warning sign on the road, followed immediately by these:


And we couldn't forget the BEARS, now could we?


Yes, Christine, we really DO see bears everywhere, I guess!

As we leave Canada, we hope to return soon to this spectacular place. It will be great to be back in the USA...we are ready to be home now...but just one more great adventure ahead of us first. We'll keep you posted.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Banff

The Canadian Rockies, so far, have not disappointed! Here's a few from Banff, just to get started:



And a couple of bears in the art gallery at the Fairmont:

Quote for the day:


Friday, June 8, 2007

'Cross Canada

We are now 6 days into Canadian adventure along the trans-Canada highway. Ontario proved to be a slow-go, wending our way around and over an uncountable number of lakes and rivers. It's beautiful and rugged country. Full of bears and moose (though we only got to see one moose, dern it!). We can only imagine the coldness of the winters here and what it's like when all these waterways freeze solid. You would need a car or truck to live here, for sure, but you might also want to consider a boat and a snowmobile too.

And the 'skeeters. Remember my first postcard from the edge? Well, they have 'em here. First rule of thumb. Don't go out at night. Second rule of thumb. Don't open the door of your motorhome, ever.

When Ontario opens up into the plains provinces, the water follows, first in the lakes and rivers of Manitoba, then streams and rivers and big patches of standing water in shallow ponds in Saskatchewan. There's an enormous amount of agriculture here, with fields as big as the eye can see. They grow all kinds of grains. (someone told us there are several hundred varieties of wheat.)

Highway 1, the main branch of the Trans-Canada Highway, began in Manitoba and has taken us into Calgary, Alberta today. The wheat fields have given way to oil rigs and huge gas plants.

What's striking is just how huge everything is, and, outside the few cities, how sparsely populated.

As we head up into the Canadian Rockies, which loom before us much like the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, we are now entering a highly touristed section of Canada. And after so many days in "the country", we wonder if we are prepared! More to come...from Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and beyond.

Here's a few photos from recent days:

Almost all the rock outcroppings along the roads in Eastern Canada have small rock monuments built up on them. We haven't yet discovered their meaning:



And here's more beautiful lake scenes from Ontario.

And our favorite R.C.M.P.!

And our 2nd favorite!


Somewhere in Saskatchewan:

I just liked this sign:

A huge teepee structure in Medicine Hat, Alberta:

Now, onward and upward...literally...to Banff tomorrow!


Oops, I almost forgot this one:


Saturday, June 2, 2007

Oh Canada!

Today’s adventure started out with this view from our campsite this morning:
My Dad used to build birdhouses similar to this and he placed them strategically around the property. He would let them weather naturally and after a winter of sitting outside in the elements, they would turn a lovely barn board grey color. I have clear memories from my childhood of lifting up the top of the birdhouse just enough to see the baby birds inside.

We made it to Niagara Falls and I must say it was spectacular. We could definitely leave the tourist stuff, which was pretty terrible on both sides of the border. But the Park on the U.S. side and the falls themselves are definitely a must see.Here’s the tourist boat bringing plastic covered tourists close enough to Horseshoe Falls to get soaked:And here’s the tourists getting soaked:Uhh, we opted out of that part of the adventure!

Now we have crossed over into Canada and are camping somewhere in the woods north of Toronto. Amazingly, we have internet access here.
As I write this, I realize we are missing Boyd’s Bear Country Jamboree and hope everyone there is having a great weekend!

Where's Marvin?

Marvin was seen romping and relaxing in the cool green grass and almost stayed in New England...but then changed his mind at the last minute and decided he would miss us too much. Plus, he's kinda looking forward to seeing Niagara Falls today, he's heard so much about it!