TRAVEL TO CANADA TOPS LIST OF JUNE ACTIVITIES

We traveled to Banff, Canada this month. We were gone 12 days and traveled over 3000 miles. Luckily, we were able to rent a larger car so we didn't have wear and tear on our car plus it was a van so there was plenty of room for all our things. We took Deon and Gary with us. They had never been to Banff so we were excited for them to see the beauties of this area. We had traveled there year ago with our young family and my Mom and Dad so this was a repeat trip for us but so worth it.

Our large rented van. So comfortable to travel those long distances.

The first leg of our trip took us to McCall, Idaho. We had also been here for a family reunion years ago so knew this area. We stayed at the World Mark which was just minutes from the lake there. After checking in, we fixed dinner then drove around the lake. It was beautiful even though a lot of the roads were dirt. We ended up at the park area by the lake where we found ice cream, of course. 

The next day was a relaxing day driving up to a ski lodge, finding a place to have lunch, shopping and, of course, more ice cream.

A new place for ice cream, Ice Cream Alley, where
the ice cream scoops were huge and delicious.

The next day, Sunday, was Father's Day. I have been waiting for this day to come for about three weeks at which time Todd told me of the Father's Day/birthday gift the family was giving Paul.  Before we left for church, we ate breakfast, packed up the car, and then sat down in the living room for Paul to open his presents. The first thing he opened was a BYU polo shirt and a BYU insulated cup. Then I handed him an envelope. It contained a mock ticket for two on the BYU cruise scheduled for April of next year. Paul was blown away. We had talked about going on that cruise but decided we could put the money it would cost to better use. Todd booked this for the family and also booked a stateroom, connected to ours, for himself. We think Jon will be joining us, too. It will be such a fun cruise, even though we have been to the ports in Mexico. There will be no alcohol or gambling or smoking and the entertainment will be uplifting, of BYU standards. This is a once in a life time opportunity. 

The next leg of our trip was to Coeur d'lene, Idaho. We had been there, too, for a family reunion several years ago. It was a good stopping point before making it to Banff. We stayed at the World Mark which was right on Coeur d'lene lake in Harrison. Since we were there last, the city had sold off all the beach area to private parties so there was no access to the lake for a picnic or swimming. We walked down to the the lake when we first got there but that was the last time we were at the lake near our resort.

Our view of the lake

The following day we headed around the lake to Coeur d'lene. We bought tickets to go on a lake cruise before finding the home that Deon and Gary had bought when they lived here many years ago. They lived in Hayden in a sub division the was close to the highway 95, heading north. It took a while but we found their exact home. It was in pretty good shape considering it was over 40 year ago that they had it built.

It was then on to our lake cruise. We had taken this several times when we lived here, but Deon and Gary had not so it was a first for them. The weather was a little iffy and it rained part of the time but we were inside near a window so the weather didn't bother us. The cruise lasted about an hour and a half and took us around the bigger part of the lake. We even passed our World Mark condo where we were staying, There were some huge home built right on the lake to which you could only access via the lake. 

An old home once owned by Bing Crosby where the
'Rat Pack' frequently stayed

One of the many large homes along the lake

Home built on a rock?

The floating green at the Coeur d'lene golf resort

Tubs Hill which Paul and I and our family
hiked around when we lived here.

A sea plane landing after taking passengers 
to see the lake from up above.

After our cruise, we decided to drive into Spokane Valley to see our old homes and go to dinner at a Mexican restaurant we used the frequent. Our first home looked horrible as the yard was not taken care of at all. Our second home had faired better.  It had been painted a beige and the yard looked good. Dinner at the restaurant was every bit as good as we remembered. A hit with Gary as he is a avid Mexican food lover.

The next day, we packed up the car and headed to our final destination, the World Mark in Canmore, Canada - about 20 miles east of Banff. The drive was long but beautiful, especially once we neared the Canadian Rockies and caught our first glimpse of the turquoise waters in the streams and lakes.

Our first look at the beautiful blue water

Our Worldmark condo

The view out the slider of our condo.

On our first full day in Canada, we drove into Banff and walked the downtown area. The main street has been blocked off to car traffic so there were many outdoor restaurants and tourist trap shops. We drove back to Canmore and spent the rest of the afternoon at the hot tub, enjoying the soothing water and the views of the mountains.

Looking back down the main street in Banff

The beautiful views

On Paul's birthday, the 20th, we drove 2 1/2 hours to the Columbia Icefields to take a ride up onto the glacier. It was a beautiful drive and the icefield experience was great. First, we boarded a bus to take us up to the Ice Explorer that then took us out onto the the glacier. The ride in the Ice Explorer was up a steep incline then slowly down onto the ice. We walked around for a time before getting back into the Ice Explorer which then took us to the buses. From there the bus took us to the glass skywalk built several hundred feet above the canyon floor.  Quite a dizzying experience but fun.

On our drive to the ice fields,
this reflection lake took our breath away for its beauty

At the visitor's center before we boarded the bus

The Columbia glacier is in the background

The Columbia Icefield glacier has receded 
and is expected to be gone in the not too distant future.

Some more beauty seen on our return trip

Paul's birthday dinner back at the condo -
roasted chicken, rice, stir fry vegetables and watermelon.

Blowing out fake flames on the candles in the
cake Paul selected.

The next day, we traveled to Banff to catch the Roam bus to take us to Lake Louise. For $5 per person each way, we could be driven the 45 minutes to the lake. We were told that parking was a real problem and very expensive so we opted to take the bus. We dropped Deon and Gary off at the bus stop so they could get in line and we drove to park the car in a free parking area. We then walked the 6 or so blocks back to the bus stop. We were glad we got there when we did because it is a first come first serve as to who gets on the bus. We think we got the last four seats. Everyone else had to stand. The drive was non eventful but the Lake was gorgeous, as beautiful as we remembered it from years ago. The blue water was breathtaking. We were a little disappointed that the Chateau was closed to the public. No one but me wanted to walk the trail around the lake, hence, we were back at the bus stop within 45 minutes of when we were dropped off. Lake Louise is a must see but unless you are going on one of the many hikes in that area or want to canoe around the lake, there isn't much to do or see. We got back to the condo in time for lunch of nachos and fruit. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing there.

Lake Louise

On Saturday, we decided to drive to Calgary. It was about an hour's drive east of Canmore. The beautiful mountains gave way to flat plains. Calgary was a city very spread out but very clean. We drove to the Calgary temple and walked around before finding an Olive Garden for lunch. It was delicious. It was, then, onto Costco where we found some already cooked ribs for our Sunday dinner. We drove downtown to see where the Calgary stampede takes place. In the distance, we saw the Calgary tower, similar to the Seattle space needle. 

The beautiful Calgary temple

The Calgary Stampede arena

Calgary's answer to Seattle's space needle

We found a church to go to in Banff on Sunday. It was a very unique looking building and houses the Banff branch. We were told that without the tourist that attend during the busy seasons, the branch of about 25 active members. The area for this branch includes Banff, Lake Louise and Canmore. The speakers and prayers are assigned by the stake and those assigned travel from Calgary each Sunday. It was a great meeting and the tourists filled the chapel. We were glad we took the time to attend. 

After church, we drove downtown to find where we could pick up the Banff gondola for the next day. The gondola was pretty expensive for an 8 minute ride to the top and back and found we couldn't schedule a time to go until mid afternoon the next day. Since we aren't hikers to take advantage of the many trails up at the top, we felt it wasn't worth it. We decided to leave a day early. This was good for Deon and Gary as they were leaving for California on Thursday and this would give them a day to get ready. The rest of Sunday was spent washing clothes and packing and eating our delicious ribs from Costco for dinner.

Our trip home took two days. We stopped in Helena, Montana to spend the night. The drive was beautiful through the mountains of Montana following the Missouri River. We were glad when we finally made it home to find all was well.....except for our burnt lawn. The temperatures while we were gone reached 97 degrees and, not being home to monitor the water situation, the lawn looked pretty bad. It'll take all summer to get it back to being as green as we like it but the trip was worth it.

Another happening of the month was our dinner to Ruth Chris. Todd and Kailee had given us a gift certificate for dinner there and we wanted to take advantage of it before we left on our trip. The meal was wonderful but very expensive. We went early so we could get the three course meal deal and we still had to add another $80 to Todd's $150 gift certificate. Because it was close to Paul's birthday they brought him a special dessert - key lime pie.

One other thing we did was pick Jillian up at the airport so she could attend her training as an FSY counselor. She spent three days at UVU and then we picked her up and took her back to the airport where she flew out to start her 3 weeks as a counselor in California. On our way to the airport, we drove to Charlotte's condo in Lehi to show Jillian just how far Bingham High School was from there. She will be doing her student teaching at Bingham and needed to find a place to live for the 6 months she'll be there. We thought Lehi would be a great place for her as it would be close to Charlotte. By driving Redwood Road, we made it to the high school in about 20 minutes. Since our time with Jillian, it has been decided that she will buy Charlotte's contract for her condo and Charlotte will find another place to live as she wants to live with her friend, Isabella.

On our way home, we drove to Jaron's gravesite.
We hadn't seen it since the stone had been placed.

A pretty sad thing that happened at the end of the month was a debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. President Biden had accepted Trump's challenge to debate but had set some pretty stringent conditions - no audience, run by CNN host's, mikes turned off when the speakers time was up to speak. Trump accepted and won the debate handily. Biden was exposed as being old and unable to complete a full thought. He often just stared out with his mouth agape - all signs of dementia. The news media has been covering up for him for years saying that videos of him making many blunders were cheap fakes. Now it is evident that he is not cognizant enough to be president of the United States of America. Many democrats are calling for him to pull out of the race. It should be an interesting few weeks to see what happens.

The New York justice system convicted Trump of 34 felony
counts for a bookkeeping error made years ago. These
charges will never hold up in the Supreme court but the
democrats want to be able to label Trump as a felon 
in their campaign against him.

Now for the month's memes: