Journey Through the Amazing Canadian Rockies

Monday morning......the beginning of the last part of our trip. My cousin Shirley drove me in from Strathmore to Calgary to meet up with Steve, Helen, and Angus. At 10:00AM, we loaded up and headed west. Yes......west through Canmore towards Banff National Park.



We wanted to see a little more of the Canadian Rockies. Since Canadian Highway 1 goes through the national park, they have a unique way of handling travelers. If you plan to stop anywhere in the park including the town of Banff, you must enter through the Visitors entrance and pay the fee. If you are just driving through, there is a bypass lane with no fee. Now you can still drive through the town if you want; however, if you stop and park, the fine is VERY hefty if you don't have the pass in your window.

There are a number of overpasses for the animals to pass across the highway. They are plenty high enough for RVs to pass through.

The scenery is stunning. Once we passed through Banff, we headed south on Highway 93 which we stayed on for the remainder of the day.

We crossed the Continental Divide....one of the many times we did that on this trip.

Next stop, Kootenay National Park.

 

Kootenay National Park is actually in British Columbia so we were now in another province. There are no towns in this park but there is a lot of beautiful scenery.

We saw glaciers.

And places where there had been slides.

The road had assumed significantly more grade and we saw "runaway lanes" for out of control vehicles. I wouldn't have any problem towing my 5th wheel here though and there were lots of forest and provincial campgrounds.

Our next stop was Radium Hot Springs.

This way to the Springs.

The Radium Hot Springs were not exactly what we were expecting but then, neither were the hot springs in Banff. The water is funneled into a swimming pool structure but it is definitely hot. They had rates for day use as well as longer passes. There were lots of people enjoying the odorless waters.

Angus posed as a big cat.

He figured the least his dad could do was to get into the picture too.  Our favorite mountain goats and the only ones we saw on our trip.

Another place with beautiful flowers even in the shorter growing season. The mountain air must really be good for them.

Back on the road again.

More unique mountain views. It seems that water develops these funnel-like structures.

A train carrying goods through the mountains,

By the time we passed the turn off to Cranbrook, we were starting to get pretty hungry.....the last of the Tim Horton lattes was worn off. We probably should have taken the time to turn off as food places were in short supply. We stopped at one place but they wouldn't serve us out on the patio with Angus even though there were no other customers. It was just too hot to leave him in the car.

We did find a place to eat a bit later on at a resort and gas station but I failed to get a picture. We got some great subs which we enjoyed on a bench in the shade outside.

Shortly after, we passed through Elko.

I was a little worried about crossing the border into Montana as we were crossing into the only county in Montana with some Breed Restriction Laws. However, the crossing couldn't have been easier. The guard didn't even ask for Angus's shot record let alone have any problem with him. He was mostly interested in where we were from in Texas and if we were Spurs fans. lol.  We were on our way in minutes.

We passed through Flathead National Forest on one side and Kootenai National Forest on the other.

Next stop, Columbia Falls for the night.......and West Glacier tomorrow.

We stayed the Western Inn in Columbia Falls. They have motel rooms, cabins, teepees, and an RV park and....of course, are pet friendly.

We took a walk around the grounds before dark. There were a couple of older women sitting at a table on the balcony for the second story enjoying a glass of wine.

I have to mention that this was not our best night on the road. The motel was nice. We even had beds in two separate rooms plus a microwave and small fridge. Sounds perfect right? Well, the stomping banging noise from the room above us continued until 1AM when Steve couldn't stand it any longer. There was no one in the office at night so he finally went up the stairs and tapped on the door of the room above. No one answered; however, the noise did stop.

 

The next morning, we were very surprised to see the two older women who were sipping wine on the balcony the night before emerge from the room. I unfairly suspected teenagers and not two old women to have created the din, Live and learn.

From Horseshoe Canyon to the Drumheller Dinosaurs

It hardly seems possible that a whole week has gone by since we arrived in the Calgary area. Obviously, a week wasn't nearly enough time. With only one day remaining, Jack decided we should take a trip to the Drumheller area so we took off in the morning. We passed golden fields of wheat. It is a shorter variety than what I have seen before. Lack of rain was really hard on the farmers in the area this year.

Our first stop was Horseshoe Canyon....an important part of the Canadian Badlands. Who knew that Canada had Badlands too? They start east of Calgary and run west to just past Medicine Hat and stretch from the U.S. border to quite far north,

The canyon is actually a horseshoe shape with about a 60 meter descent into the canyon itself. There are little trails running all over; however, getting over the edge to the trails looked like a bit of a scramble.

The scenery is beautiful with green and brown running into the canyon.

See the many trails? It is a popular place to hike being quite different from the nearby mountains.

There were some interesting rocks in the parking area.

They also have helicopter tours available.

I understand that this little fossil store has been around for about 30 years. This is a big area for fossils.

It's a long way down.

Can you see the little rock statues down at the bottom in the center of the photo? They are called Inukshuks which are unworked stones shaped in the form of a human originally used by the Inuits as direction markers or memorials. Close up of Inukshuk.

After an interesting time at Horseshoe Canyon, we were off to Drumheller.

Drumheller is a small town of about 8000 and there are lots of interesting things to see there.

You have to look closer at the downtown area.

See the purple dinosaur?

Well, you are going to see dinosaurs everywhere you look and there is a real abundance of museums.

Like my ride?

There are dinosaurs on every corner and each one is different.

Want to stay at the Waldorf?

The big mama of the dinosaurs is at the park.

This is a big area for fossils.

I told you this one is really big.

There were a lot of kids taking advantage of the spray park near the dinosaur.

After lunch at Tim Horton's......yes, they serve food in addition to great coffee, we were back on the road,

Lots of pretty flowers around,

Our destination was the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is Canada's only museum dedicated exclusively to the science of palaeontology. The museum houses one of the world's largest displays of dinosaurs and offers a wide variety of creative, fun, and educational programs that bring the prehistoric past to life.

The landscaping is amazing. My grandkids would be thrilled with a visit to this place.

We toured the outside exhibits and visited the Visitor's store inside but alas, we did not have time to tour the museum itself. You would need to allow at least three hours to see the exhibits inside.

This unique wall sculpture was located right inside the entrance.

It's called "The Story of Life". It was the final work created by renowned Canadian artist, Lorraine Malach.

This is a close-up of one of the panels.

Next stop, Rosebud.

So what will you find in Rosebud? There are no gas stations or ATMs but there are cafes, several gift shops and galleries. There is a golf course, campground, and the Rosebud Centennial Museum which was once the local Chinese laundry for hundreds of miners in the valley in the 1920's.

You'll also find some bed and breakfasts.

What Rosebud is really famous for is the Rosebud Theatre....Alberta's only rural professional theatre. My cousin Shirley has been to the theatre which is stage at the Opera House and Studio Stage by an acting company made up of resident ensemble members student apprentices from the Rosebud School of the Arts and guest artists from around the world. Guests are also treated to a delicious buffet and live music in the historic Mercantile Dining Room. Unfortunately, we were not there for a performance. Maybe next time.

 

 

It was an enjoyable day but it was time to head back to Strathmore. We managed to fit a lot of sightseeing in with two great family gatherings and all in one week. Calgary is still on my bucket list as there is so much more to see and tomorrow is the day we have to leave. I couldn't have had better tour guides so thanks again to my Canadian cousins.