Lake Louise pictures

Pictures of Lake Louise:)

Our Last day in Banff

It's our last day in Banff, Wednesday 6/8, so we decided to take a drive to Johnston Canyon and Lake Lousie. What a surprise the waterfall at Johnston Canyon turned out to be. The parking lot was full of cars and campers and we had to hunt for parking spot as they are redoing the bathrooms. There is a .5 mile walk to the lower falls which is a wonderful hike where the trail is suspended from the side of the canyon walls in many areas. It was the first time either of us had been on a hike like this. You get so close to this waterfall that you get wet from the spray. We thought we would only go to the lower falls but after seeing the waterfall with its beauty and amount of water flow we had to go to the upper falls. The next .75mile to the top did not disappoint us at all. There are so many areas on the hike to the upper falls where the walkway is suspended from the canyon walls and the views of the water below is unbelievable. It has to be one of our most wonderful hikes to date. The view from the top was fabulous and you can walk out on to a great viewing area. No wonder there are so many people visiting this wonderful waterfall. I love waterfalls and this one has to be one of the best I have ever seen. Almost forget on the way to Johnston Canyon we saw our first Elk with big antlers. We have seen lots of elk but none with big antlers.

We had lunch then continued our drive to Lake Louise. Again the number of tourists continues to amaze me. This lake is a beautiful blue, with plenty of ice and is surround by mountains, giving you some fascinating views. We took a short hike around part of the lake which gave us different views, all more wonderful than the first. There is a Fairmont Hotel on the lake, which was built over a hundred years ago. There are many shops to visit and there a nice yellow lab in the lobby. Marqus was his name and he is part of this hotel, visiting with the guests and walking the grounds. They say other Fairmont Hotels have a dog in their lobbies, but we didn't see one in the Banff Fairmont Hotel.

We had a wonderful stay in Banff and would be happy spending a summer here. Suzanne and I are putting this place as one to visit again.

Bye Banff and on to Jasper!!

Banff a great place!!

Took a winding drive up to Mt. Norquay and a lookout. There is a large ski resort near the top were a lot of people gather in the winter. We were not allowed any further than the ski resort do to an avalanche. The road up gave us a view of a couple of mountain goats. We got to get a pretty up close picture from our truck. I keep looking for a grizzly bear but none yet:)

Since we had the afternoon left, we decided to drive on over to Lake Minnewanka. It was beautiful drive and the lake was very big and bright blue. The lake was first known as “ the Lake of the Water Spirits.” We took a hike along the shoreline to a small bridge and views were really something. On the drive back to Banff we saw a long horn sheep. The wild animals always stop the cars on the roadway. You just wait until it's your turn to see what the fuss is about.

Pictures from our hike to Tunnel Mountain Overlook

some pictures of our STRESS TEST hike:))

Fairmont Hotel

Downtown Banff

Top of the overlook

Fairmount Hotel

Banff on Sunday, June 5th

Banff is a National Park in Canada and is really nice. The roads going to Banff are not marked the best and I missed a turn and ended up in Calgary. But with the help of a friendly person we got out of there! One piece of advise don't go into Calgary pulling a 5^th wheel and get fuel before you get into the city. The city gas stations are not camper friendly and most of them we couldn't get in. We made it to the campground, which is very nice and the pull-thru sites are very spacious. There was someone staying at the same campground, that I had talked with about going to Alaska on one of the forums and I wanted to meet them. There camper was very close so I went and introduced myself. They are very nice people and we plan to go out to dinner one night while in Banff. It is funny as we both just retired and are basically on the same route to Alaska.
Banff surprised us as it is a very nice and fun town. Also much larger than we had imagined. There are lots of tourists from all over, visiting this fun place. We really like it here and would return in a heart beat. There are lots of hiking trails and we took a nice hike up to Tunnel Mountain Overlook with an elevation of over 5,500 feet. Another free stress test hike with beautiful sites along the way. One of the most fascinating things to see was the Fairmont Hotel. What a wonderful site from the overlook. We have seen numerous Elk while in the campground and some deer. They are really neat to see and always draw a crowd of people. As we keep going north it is staying daylight longer, last night it was almost 10 before it got dark.
We sometimes think we are having to much fun! NOT!  Life is great!
Please remember David in your prayers as he will goingt into Iraq in a few days. God Bless our Troups!!

Lethbridge, Canada

We had a great stay in Lethbridge. The Henderson Lake Park is across the street from our campground and is a wonderful place to walk and relax. They had a nice little farmers market on Saturday, right next door. We bought some wonderful cinnamon buns, boy were they great for breakfast. We had sunshine in the afternnoon which made everything perfect. Remember we have lots of rain, so sunshine is welcomed.

The dogs enjoyed their walk in the park and being petted by several young children. They are always the hit of the campground:)

Going in to Canada on Friday 6/3/2011

We had enough rain to last us for a while. In Conrad it has rained for 6 of our 7 days. So Friday, 6/3 it was time to leave the good old US of A and drive into Canada. We hooked up in 47 degree weather and rain. Not fun and my hands felt like ice cubes. But off we go to cross the border. We had to wait in line for about 15 minutes then it was our turn. We handed the lady our passports and she asked us a few questions and said to have a nice visit. So off we went to Lethbridge, Alberta and the Henderson Lake Campground. We got there around 1 , had lunch and decided to drive around and see the city.
I wanted to see the High Level Bridge. The bridge is 314 feet high and 1 mile and 47 feet long and is the longest and highest trussel bridge in the world. It was built in 1909 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and took 9 months to build.
The Campground is nice and centrally located to see Lethbridge. This is the first campground that I had to pay for my dogs, $5 and pay for the internet $3.15. So the price is a little over $50 per night for a pull thru with electric and water only.  The exchange rate at Walmart was 8% . so $80 USA is $73.60 Canadian and the cost of fuel is around $4.70 per gallon of diesel. Less than regular gas, Also don't use cash in Walmart. Oh well the cost of having the time of our lives:)