After not having WIFI capabilties, we had to wait til we arrived home. We arrived Saturday night, June 28th. Since we last blogged we camped near Glacier National Park for 2 days. We tried to get to the "Going to the Sun" road but it was closed because of snow. We drove up as far as Avalanche Lake and trail. We camped in a national forest site and were the only campers. The camp hosts were there. We then drove to Great Falls Montana to see the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and also the Charle s M. Russell museum. He was quite a western artist. Then we drove onto Chinook, MT to see the last battle that Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe fought. Then we drove on to Fort Peck, MT, Army Corps of Engineers campground. Friday we decided to really push it and camped in a small town just west of Fargo, ND. Then on Saturday we drove the final leg home. We learned some things on this trip. They are: 1).If the windschield gets buggy, don't worry it will rain again soon and clean it off. 2) Becca can hang on for 12 3/4 hours without going potty if confronted with a hard surface deck on a ferry. 3) If you are careful in an RV you will only kick the dogfood dish ove, twice a day. 4) Canadians pay 29.5 cents tax per liter of gas. 5) Grizzly Bears are huge. In fact they look like haystacks when seen froma distance. 6) Taxi drivers all wear turbins, even in Prince Rupert, BC. 7) It isn't a mountain in BC unless it has a treeline. 8) It snows in MT, WA, and BC in June. 9) Finally, A Dahl porpoise is a member of the whale family. So if you have seen one, you've seen a whale. Thanks for following our trip. It has been the trip of a lifetime. Bill & Beth

We are camping near Glacier Nat. Park tonight. It is located in Northen Montana near the Canadian border. We drove from Fairmont Hot Springs this morning through the rockies. It is beautiful. Anyway, Sunday night Beth, Becca & I were sitting outside our camper when Becca started whining loudly. All of the sudden we saw a bear about 25 feet from us. Beth, Becca & I bolted to the camper door at the same time. Of course we didn't all fit. The bear meanwhile took off. I did get a picture. We found out later that the bear is an orphaned cub. I did learn a couple things at the springs. First of all I still need a hip replacement and also one looks like a prune after sitting in hot water for awhile. The pools were 104 t0 112 degrees and 90 degrees. Tomorrow we head for the "Going to the Sun Road" at Glacier. It is not completely open due to heavy snow.

Here are a couple of pictures of our trip through the Canadian Rockies.

Ok we are alive. We haven't had email capabilities for several days. This weekend we are Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in southern BC hoping to cure our ailments. Ha. We left Prince Rupert BC on Monday in the rain of course. We stayed one night in Smithers, BC after driving through the coastal mountains. They are beautiful even in the rain.We saw 4 bears along the highway. The next night as we continued east on Highway 16 to Prince George, BC. Of course it was rain along with some sun. We arrived in Jasper National Park after driving into the Canadian Rockies. Wow, what scenery and the sun came out. Lots of rushing rivers and lots of snow on the mountains. We stayed 2 nights in the national park campground in Jasper with elk running through it occasionally. Becca didn't seem too concerned. Believe it or not, the sun came out so we could really see these huge mountains. We took the tramway up to Whistlers Mountain. Then we attempted to hike up 1.5 KM up to the summit (another 1000 feet). However we only got about 3/4 of the way as the altitude affected us old people. We also stopped along to see waterfalls, and canyons. Again we hiked a bunch. We saw a bull elk only because Bill took a wrong turn. Yesterday, we left Jasper and drove through Jasper Nat. Pk, Banff Nat. Pk and Kootenay Nat. PK. We saw 4 bears, 1 moose, lots of deer, and 2 big bunches of big horned sheep. We stopped at the Columbia Ice field (which creates its own weather of wind and rain), waterfalls and others scenic areas along the way. We also mad a stop at Lake Louise. It looked just like the pictures.After this weekend we head toward Glaciar National Park in the good old USA. I am tried of paying $5.30 per gallon of gas.

This time I am sending along a video of Blondie, the young female. Also for your info gas is 1.409 per liter which means it is $5.36 per gal. It is a lot cheaper than in Victoria BC which was 1.489 per liter. Enjoy the video.

Enclosed is the picture of the fiord that the bears are located. There is a ranger cabin here that makes sure no one goes into the preserve. The ranger must like the lonely life.

Hi, Today we took a boat tour from Prince Rupert BC (2 hour high speed trip) to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Preserve. It is in a beautiful fiord (picture included). We saw a mother grizzly (huge) with 2 cubs and also another young female who was by herself. We were told the male is 2 or 3 times larger. I wouldn't want to meet him in the woods. We also some porpoises. We took lots of pictures and hung around the area for a couple hours. Then we came back to Prince Rupert. One note about our campground is that an 8 point white tail buck hangs around here all the time, Tomorrow, we start to head back in an easterly direction to Jasper, Alberta.

Hi, Enclosed are 2 pictures of the inland passage in BC. As you can see on one of them it rains a lot here.

Yea, we made it to Prince Rupert! We got to the campground after 11:00 last night. We got up at 4:45 and boarded the ferry at 6:30 am. It was a long day but very beautiful going through the inside passage. It was our 43rd wedding anniversay and a great way to celebrate.The weather varied constantly from clouds to rain to sun. Still very cool. We will try to post pictures later. We met an avid Packer fan from Germany who says he watches any games he can get live on TV. They come on at one am. He is upset that Favre has retired. Says there are lots of Packer fans in Germany. Over half of the people on the ferry were from Germany. We did see some Orca whales. Lots of snow on the mountains yet. We heard we missed a big snowstom on Snoqualmie Pass in Washington by a day. First time they ever had to get the snowplows out in June.

Thursday we drove up the length of Vancover Island. We lucked out with the sun shining all day on the beautiful mountains and lakes and ocean. It was breathtaking! The southern part of the island is very populated with lots of traffic but it thined out further north. That night we stayed at a regional park campground that supports a salmon hatchery. We toured the hatchery. Right now they have Coho salmon. It was right along a river that emptied into the harbor. We walked on a trail through the woods to town. We were watchful for bears. We had seen two along the road the day before...one was really BIG! We ate lunch in town overlooking the harbor. The tide was out and many bald eagles were feeding and flying around. We have enjoyed the comments. Keep them coming.

Ok I forgot a really important event that occurred today, if you are a Packer fan. While visiting the Butchart Gardens, a gentleman who was wearing a Packer Cap, saw me wearing mine. Anyway, he said he is from Texas but his grandson is Mason Crosby, the Packer kicker. Mason's younger brother was with grandpa today. He said he has been in Green Bay a lot the past year and can't get enough of Lambeau. Good thing I wasn't wearing my Bear Cap. Bill

Today we first visited the Victoria Butterly Garden. It felt great because it was so warm in there. There were beautiful flowers, plants, birds and of course butterflies. It was setup in a tropical environment. One strange bird with a log bill decided to fall in love with one of Bill's shoes. Then we drove to see The Butchart Gardens of Victoria. There were thousands of varieties of flowers, most in bloom. Many people were there of all nationalities. The garden was about 50 to 60 acres in size. It has been there for 100 years. Of course it was threatening to rain. It is a Canadian National Historic site. Now we are camping near a town of Nanaimo, BC. Vancouver Island is very scenic with lots of mountains. Gas is close to $6.00 per gal. in BC. We may not have any blog updates til Saturday because of lack of WIFI in Port Hardy, BC

We are on Vancouver Island. Sure is wet and cold. We came over from Annacortes. WA on the Washington State Ferry. It took about 3 hours. I didn't know there are so many islands out here. We met some interesting people on the ferry. When we left Idaho on Saturday morning, we drove through lots of rain in southwest Washington but as we became closer to the Cascades, the area became semi-arid. We camped in a Washington State campground which is irrigated and lush. It was called Potholes State Park. It is on a large lake. Washington has the nicest state campgrounds we have ever camped in. Then on Sunday morning we drove through the Cascades to the Seattle area. The temperature dropped but everything became a lot greener. Annacortes, WA is 90 miles north of Seattle. This is where the ferry leaves to Vancouver Island. We camped in a town campground that is a rain forest. The sun was shining but it was so dark you almost needed a flashlight. I (Bill) have been wearing my Packer cap because if I wear my Bear cap I am afraid people will think I am from Chicago,. Tomorrow we go to Butchart Gardens near Victoria, BC. Then we head north to Port Hardy, BC where we pick up the BC Ferry and then go to Prince Rupert BC.

Just thought I would add a picture taken of the Hell's Canyon today.

We're alive! Yesterday we drove across Idaho on Hwy. 12. We lucked out and the weather cleared. It was a beautiful drive over Lolo Pass where Louis and Clark crossed. There was still snow up there. Then we drove along the Lochsa and Clearwater rivers. The water is really high with lots of scary rapids. We found the River Dance Lodge where we had lunch a couple of years ago. We ate there again and were not disappointed. Bill discovered a new beer...Waiumau Wheat. Last night we stayed at the campground owned by the jet boat company. Today we jetboated the snake river! It took all day with lunch included. The whole river is rapids and two of them were class fives. Of course we first went up them and back down through them on the way home. It was fun. The class five rapids looked like rapids Bill Bauer would have enjoyed. This is a beautiful part of the world. We are privileged to be able to experience this. The weather has been in the 60's or colder all day with rain changing to sun on and off all day. Yesterday we saw some elk and today we saw big horn sheep and mule deer.

We thought it was cool yesterday. Today is more like cold! We woke up to rain and it has rained all day except when it snowed. Yes, as we drove over the pass just east of Butte, MT, it was snowing very hard and the ground was white. Even in Butte it was snowing and 35 degrees. We managed to do some sightseeing anyway. First we visited the source of the Missouri River where the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers all meet. Louis and Clark were here. It rained! Then later we visited Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site. I got a stamp in my National Park Passport. It rained but we keep slogging along in our raincoats. We met a family from Switzerland who were shocked at how cold it is here. Tonight we have abonded our plans to dry camp at a state park and are at a private place near Garrison, MT. We didn't put many miles on today. We have seen lots of cattle and all the rivers are overflowing. Hope it stops raining in the night and we have a sunny day to drive across Idaho tomorrow.

Tonight we have arrived in Columbus, MT. We drove over 400 miles today which is a long way for us. At least we have better scenery here. Mountains! We are just north of Yellowstone. We were getting tired of the plains. It has been a pretty ride. All the hills and coolies are green this time of year. The next couple of days we won't drive so far. We are looking forward to the drive on Hwy. 12 through Idaho. This morning we woke up to fog and light rain. Had to detour back to get on the interstate. Finally the sun came out but we drove through more showers as the day progressed. It is cool...in the 60's. For those who are interested, Beth found her passport. She is not saying where it was all along! Yea!!

Here we are in Hazen, North Dakota at city campground that actually has Wi/Fi. We left home yesterday and drove to Buffalo River State Park just east of Morehead, MN. It was about 80 degrees and beautiful. They were having thing at the park so we got a free lunch...Hot dogs etc. People were swimming in a man made swimming h0le. Very peaceful and Quiet camping. Tonight is a different story. We drove through light rain on and off all day. This afternoon we toured a Lewis and Clark visitor Center and Fort Mandan near Washburn, ND. It rained! It is still raining and about 51 degrees. No wind. For those of you who don't know, we have been following the Lewis and Clark trail for a few years now. We have visited sights from Illinois to the Pacific Ocean. We have seen lots of ducks and white pelicans and white egrets and a pheasant or two. We saw a mother duck leading at least ten of the smallest ducks we have ever seen across the interstate. Still alive as we buzzed past.