Mary– 08-03-12 WY/Canada Trip – Jasper National Park, AB
This has been an amazing day for wildlife. In addition to the grizzly bear in BC and the black bears in our campground, we also spotted a herd of elk and a mule dear with two babies. Add the magnificent scenery and cool temperatures for a perfect day.

Elk herd

Mama mule deer and two babies. Check out the big ears!

Conni – 08-03-12 WY/Canada Trip – Jasper National Park, AB
We went for a drive again looking for wildlife. Most of the time, it doesn’t seem to pay off well. This time we lucked out though. We drove into B.C., which wasn’t far from Jasper and saw a pretty little lake right by the road and the entrance to Mount Robson Park.

 

 

From there, we drove into the park and kept looking for anything. I had just made up my mind that we had gone far enough when I saw traffic ahead. Typically, it means roadwork or someone has spotted something alive (could be anything). So, we drove on ahead and got in line trying to see what everyone else saw. Great catch, it was a young grizzly. There were concrete barricades beside the road, which kept people separated from the bear and it was a good distance away. I got out of the Jeep and crossed the road to take pictures and Mary stayed and waited until she could turn the jeep around and join me. Glad I had the telephoto lens with me!  

Grrrr

 

All this posing does tire one out ....

OK, we were pretty jazzed and ready to head back and check on Sadie. We hadn’t been back too long when Mary thought she might have seen a black wolf outside Figment just one campsite over from us. We both tried to spot it again out the windows and discovered that it was actually a mama black bear with one cub. We had heard berries were plentiful this year and were bringing the bears closer than usual. And, sure enough, that’s what they were eating. It was really surprising to both of us how small the mama was. We hopped in the jeep and managed to get a few shots when they passed right in front of us. Sadly, it was a shady park road and the pictures were taken through the windshield so they aren't very good but we just had to share them anyway.

Figment – 08-03-12 WY/Canada Trip – Hinton to Jasper National Park, AB
Oh wow! What a beautiful drive I took today. Not far out of Hinton, I was in the mountains again. I used the valley as much as possible, but had to do some climbing too. All in all, what fun for me. I saw rivers and marshland and mountain peaks. I kept looking for a moose, but never saw one. I guess that’s a good thing since I hear it could completely wreck me if I accidently hit one. Would have been nice to see one from a distance though.

 

We didn’t have reservations and it was a Canadian holiday long weekend, so we just hoped for a site in Jasper National Park. We lucked out and got a spot for one nite only. We’ll have to get in line all over again tomorrow and try for another nite. I’ll let the Mamas worry about that. I’m just happy in my own little spot in the forest.

The Mamas just left for a drive in Gully (I hate getting left behind). Was that a bear I saw!!!!! Oh my, I’m all alone and think I saw a bear. I guess since all their food is inside, I’ll be safe by myself. Hope so.

Mary – 08-02-12 WY/Canada Trip – Sherwood Park / Edmonton to Hinton, AB

It was very sad to leave our friends in Sherwood Park today. Hinton was just a stop in the road on our way to Jasper but it turned out being a fun stop. The drive was beautiful with storm clouds looming ahead and the Canadian Rockies off in the distance.

Much to our surprise we drove right past the scenic route to Alaska. It was tempting to make a right but, alas, we stayed the course. Alaska by RV will have to wait for another year.

As we approached Hinton the clouds formed rows across the sky. Isn't our world amazing?

Our campground in Hinton gave us a preview of the Rockies in Jasper National Park ... what a view. They also had beautiful flower gardens around the office with a few unusual vegetables tossed in the mix. Check out the above-ground onions!

One of our most delicious discoveries in Albert were giant BC cherries. They were almost too big to put in my mouth whole and the flavor was out of this world.

We drove into Hinton for dinner and caught a few cool and unusual sights. In one section of town, all of the light poles were adorned with metal cutouts of wildlife -- moose, elk, bears, etc. And, when was the last time you saw a full service gas station? We saw several and ended up refueling at one. It seemed very odd having someone pump the gas for us. Many gas stations in Canada are referred to as gas bars.





















The next morning we decided to wash the RV before heading to Jasper. It was really dirty and we knew there wouldn't be any mobile RV washers in the park. Having never attempted to wash the monster ourselves, we learned several things:

• First and foremost, it is worth paying someone else to perform the chore for us. I learned this - not sure Conni did. Even though it cost us about $55, it saved us $50-$100 for a mobile wash crew.
• Truckers (as in 18 wheeler drivers) enjoy watching two 60+ old women washing a big rig for the first time. The trucker waiting for us to finish made notice of my soaking wet clothes and asked if I thought I got any water on the RV - ha, ha, everybody has a sense of humor.
• We actually did have fun - fortunately, the temperature was in the low 70s.
• It was exhausting! Anyone who would like to come over and help wash it when we get home is more than welcome -- free beer, wine, snacks .....

I caught this picture of Conni as she was attempting to manage the hose. I'm not sure how the drops ended up on my camera lense but I think she took a shot at me (with the hose) before I got one of her.

Conni – 08-01-12 WY/Canada Trip – Sherwood Park / Edmonton, AB
Today, Bob and Francoise took us to Elk Island National Park, which is less than an hour from their home. Interestingly enough, this is not an actual island, nor is it mainly about elk. The park protects the wilderness of aspen parkland, one of the most endangered habitats in Canada. In addition, it is home to herds of free roaming plains bison, wood bison, moose, deer, and elk. After the African Serengeti, Elk Island has the second highest population density of grazing animals in the world.



Baby Buffalo



A little perspective on size of baby

Biggest buffalo I've ever seen

 

Snoozing by the side of the road

After we got back, Francoise cooked us a delicious steak dinner. WOW!

Conni – 07-31-12 WY/Canada Trip – Sherwood Park / Edmonton, AB
OK, this morning I had a scare!! Not what you would expect either. I went to check our water connection to be sure it wasn’t leaking. While I was bent over, I heard a loud “whoosh” right above my head! Glad no one was watching because I sure did jump up fast to see what it was. Any guesses? Well, it was a Pileated Woodpecker. I don’t know if it did that because babies were close or it was just having fun. Sure did scare me though. It went immediately to a tree about 25 ft. away and stayed there for a minute or so, then just stayed in the general area for a few more minutes. Got my blood pumping early. Reminded me of how Mockingbirds at home will dive bomb you if they have babies nearby.

Of course I had to look up some information on it and found it is about crow size and the largest woodpecker in the U.S.  So, think of that swooping down right atcha J



Pileated Woodpecker

We spent most of the day with Bob. We took advantage of their hospitality and did our laundry, caught up on e-mail, and even watched some of the Olympics. After Francoise got home, the four of us went out to dinner (letting someone else do the work).

Conni – 07-30-12 WY/Canada Trip – Sherwood Park / Edmonton, AB
Like Figment said, it was a frustrating time finding the campground! But, just as I went inside to pay, Bob and Francoise showed up unexpectedly. So, we went back and grabbed Mary and Sadie and headed to their house. It was so nice to have them lead the way after all we’d been thru.

They have a lovely home, with beautiful evergreens and an apple tree. Francoise showed us each room and all the beautiful things she had collected thru the years in their travels, which included Italy, Israel,  and South America.

 

To end our day, we had delicious grilled hamburgers!