Castlegar to Calgary

We woke to fog and when we left , we climbed the mountain and I mean climb, straight up and no guard rails(I am not good with heights especially no guard rails that you get to look way down!!!). We took a picture from the top and it shows the top of the mountain, the fog and castlegar below. We passed long horn sheep on the side of the road, we saw deer and wild turkey. Talk about up and down mountains. Wow!!! I mean straight up and down with 45 degree turns. Wouldn't want to do this in winter!!!! It was a beautiful drive. We went thru a lot of passes in the 4 days but I thought the Crownest Pass was the biggest disappointment as we did not go thru the mountain more we went thru the valley thought we did got thru a rock tunnel build at the edge of the mountain. All in all is was a great 4 days and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Scenery was spectacular!!

Kelowna to Castlegar

We started off the day with wine tasting (yahoo) at Jackson Triggs outside of Oliver, BC(Darn, Gary had to forgo as he was driving. Did you know that it is made up of 2 wineries, Jackson from Niagara Region and Triggs from Okanagan Region. I told them I had tried their wines but in the eastern part of Canada our wine comes from the Jackson winery and the west is from Triggs. I loved their dry Reisling , for a white it was excellent and I also bought their 7 year old merlot...Very good. We also stopped at one of their fruit stands and bought fresh apples from their orchards, Granny Smith, Macs and Gala. We had an excellent day around 16 to 20 celius what a beautiful day and the scenery was beautiful and mountains we climbed, was unbelievable...Thanks goodness we did not take our 5th wheel with us. We stayed in hotels. When they tell you to check your brakes before you go down the hill, we climbed up mountains like billygoats...straight up and then straight down...The picture from the mountain is of Osoyoos, the small town we drove thru..and then we headed inland and the mountains and valleys were magnificent. It was almost 90 degree drive downhill into Castlegar. Wow, I wouldn't want to have to drive these mountains in the wintertime. We drove right by the Canada, US border and at times it was right close to the road. Hard to believe how close it is to the border. One of the border crossing showed it was only open from 8am to midnight

Kelowna

Loved the city and today we visited wineries and picked up about 6 bottles of wine. We visited Grey Monk, Mission Hill, and Volcano. It was a beautiful day and we also picked up some apples. I can see why the Okanogan Valley is known for its orchards and vineyards. They don't call this the Napa Valley of Canada. Awesome Day...Love the wine tasting!!

Calgary to Kelowna

We are having a great visit with Dallas, Gretchen and our newest grandson, Ben. He is now 10 weeks old and such a cutie. On Monday, Sept 20 we departed Calgary heading to Kelowna for a couple of days. The trip with a stop at the Spiral Tunnel where we lucked in and a freight train was coming from Banff and it was 2 miles long so we were able to see it enter the tunnel and come out . It was awesome. The scenery is absolutely beautiful but the mountains were covered in fog or mist and we got some awesome pictures. It took us approx 8 hrs and we hit a lot of rain in fact we had to stop on the stop of the road just west of Golden BC.

Calgary

Eureka!!!!! Three weeks it took us to cross Canada and we have arrived in Calgary. The praries are flat, I have been told that many times but to be actually driving thru and everything flat for miles is very interesting.....We saw hawks chasing mice in the field and we saw a fox chase a hawk across a field and of course, no camera ready. We arrived in Calgary yesterday and we now have put our trailer in storage for a month while we are visiting with our newest grandson, Ben and he is definitely a cutie!!!! Grammie and Papa are having a ball with him....

Regina

Arrived in Regina on Sunday. It was raining quite hard along the way. In Saskatchewan , we saw a lot of the old silos that are becoming obsolute and I have taken pictures of a few and I am enclosing one. Also, the flat land with some rolling hills. Had some beautiful scenery. got to our campsite and had supper and an early night. Next day, Gary was not feeling good at all. He had a bit of a bug so we laid low as we were supposed to go and visit with Julie and Mike. This morning Gary was feeling much better so we went over for a visit to see Julie and Mike. We had coffee and tarts(her rhubarb tarts were to die for!!) . We had got a late checkout so we hooked up and headed to Medicine Hat Alberta. No that is not snow, we think it is a Potash Mine west of Swift Current. We are here at the Walmart as the campsite was booked up. Tomorrow we will be at Dallas.....I will see Ben!! Can't wait to see my new grandson

Brandon Sept 3 and 4

Enjoyed Brandon. Friday, We visited Royal Canadian Artillary Museum in Shilo. Gary's dad belonged to the RCA during WWII. It was very interesting. Had a BBQ at Al and Audrey for supper. The next day they took us to Souris and we saw the longest swinging bridge in Canada. I don't like swinging bridges but I did walk across it....Colby started across and it got scared and Gary had to take him back. It was hilarous!! His paws were like web feet, he was spreadeagle....We did a tour of Brandon and area and it was nice..Thanks to Al and Audrey for making our visit most enjoyable and special...Now we are on our way to Regina. Happy Trails

Brandon

Well we had a great drive from Winnipeg to Brandon...hit a bit of rain along the way. Staying at Meadowlark Campgrounds and once we were set up, Al and Audrey (friends from Cuba)came and got us and we had a wonderful afternoon with them and we had Manitoba specials, Perogies and cabbage rolls....Yummy so delicious!! They are very special people and we had an awesome time with them. Very talented people...he carves birds(unbelievable) and her quilts are very beautiful. Pictures enclosed!!! Beautiful rainbow on the way home.

Thunder Bay To

Monday, Aug 30 we decided to find a RV park outside of Thunder Bay and rest for a couple of days. Kenora seemed the best so we called to book a RV park and had to leave a message. Did not hear back so when we arrived they were not open would have to wait an hour so had a look around and no pull thru available checked next door and they had none available but they recommended a place in Kenora so off we went and guess what!! No availability and at this point we headed to Manitoba where we got reservations right in Winnipeg close to Jack and Bonnie Blair. It has been fun visiting them we used to live next door to each other in Riverview in the early 80's. The drive was very diverse. Outside of Thunder Bay to Kenora we saw a lot of bog with trees that were tall and skinny...very sparse. Also, along the way you saw the stone figures that are called Inukshuk and the story is they are placed to show that you were there. I am enclosing a picture. Loved them. When we got to Manitoba, flat is the word so interesting after what we just drove thru but it sure is nice to be spending 3 days here and resting up. Tomorrow, Sept 2 we head to Brandon.