Canada Trip

The moose lifted its head; her big, magnificent body not more than 20 yards away. We sat awestruck as we watched her munch away on the long strands of marsh grass beside the road. Unconcerned, she dropped her head for more. We drove on, marveling about the fact that in our own back yard was an animal every bit as impressive as what we had seen on our trip to Alaska. This encounter begins our journey to Canada with our Granddaughter Maddie and Barb's sister Sharon.

First stop; the historic town of Murray, Idaho located in the center of North Idaho's Placer Mining District. A visit to the Spragpole Museum allowed us to travel back in time when gold was first discovered in and around the Murray/Prichard area in the mid to late 1880's. Just down the block is the famous Bedroom Mine Bar. We were told it got it's name for the previous owner who wanted to placer mine. The story goes that since it was cold out, the owner knocked a hole in a vacant bedroom floor, dug 30 feet to bedrock and proceeded to mine it, somewhat successfully.

After our brief stay in Murray it was east over Thompson Pass into Montana. We antiqued our way to Polson and then along the eastern shoreline of the crystal blue Flathead Lake. The road winds through orchards that have some of the best cherries found anywhere and we ate our fill. Day one ended in White Fish, Montana; a town known for its winter sports but also an excellent staging area for our next day's trip to Glacier National Park.

Early the next morning we excitedly boarded the van for our day in Waterton - Glacier International Peace Park. Through the efforts of a Rotary International initiative, Glacier National Park, Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada were joined to form the first international peace park in 1932. The park is recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Education and Scientific Organization) as both a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage site. Spanning two nations, it is truly a global treasure.

Our day began on the West side of Glacier. Created as a park in 1910, Glacier got its name for the rivers of ice that continue to carve its spectacular alpine landscape. At Lake Mac Donald we took the famous Going To The Sun Road, a very narrow 55-mile scenic parkway, carved out of the side of the Rocky Mountains that winds its way up and over the continental divide.

When we arrived at Logan Pass the parking lot was under construction and only a few cars were allowed to park. Wanting Maddie to see the beautiful alpine meadows, Jim let Maddie, Sharon and Barb out to enjoy the sights while he drove back and forth between scenic pullouts. The rest of the day was spent taking in the majestic mountains and pristine, glacier fed lakes.

Taking the Chief Mountain International Highway from Glacier, we made our way to Waterton Lakes National Park. At Waterton, nature enthusiasts and photographers are impressed with the accessibility to wildlife. We too were impressed when we got to see a big black bear foraging for food on the hillside near the park entrance. Waterton Lakes is divided into three parts: Upper, Middle and Lower Waterton Lakes. Thomas Blakiston, the first European on record to explore the area, named the lakes for Charles Waterton, an 18th century English naturalist. Waterton Lakes became a National Park in 1895. The Waterton town site is located at the Upper Lake, putting it in the heart of the wilderness. It is a neat little resort town with many shops, restaurants and wildlife freely roaming throughout the city streets. Leaving the beautiful Rocky Mountains behind we headed out onto the prairie grasslands to Cardston, Alberta, Canada where we spent our second night.

Day three was uneventful as we traveled through the eastern plains of Alberta. Try as we may, we couldn't even find many antique shops to break up the monotony. We skirted around Calgary and headed for Drumheller, a full days drive from Cardston. The highlight of this part of the trip was the Insulator Get Together we were going to in Drumheller.

We stayed for two nights in a very nice Motel 6 in Drumheller where the first morning we met up with an insulator-collecting friend made on the Internet. Mylene English Edwards and her family along with Lena and Dennis Braman led us to the gathering place for the insulator swap meet, an old school turned into a museum.

We were one of the first groups to arrive and we promptly set up a table full of our wares; insulators, bottles, date nails, etc. All in all there was a nice turn out at the first swap meet anyone in Alberta, Canada can recall. This was the beginning of a new insulator collectors club. Maddie and Mylene’s husband, Jim, being non-collectors, had the privilege of being judges for the “Ugliest Insulator In Captivity” contest. First prize went to Lena Braman for a truly UGLY !!! insulator. There was, surprisingly, some really

The swap meet lasted about five hours and then most of the group headed to the Braman’s for a potluck. We viewed Lena’s collection that is quite varied. She has a little bit of everything and for a comparative newcomer to the hobby she has a great start. She is also a gardener, so Barb enjoyed looking at some of her unusual plants. Everyone in attendance enjoyed a good time and good food and it was with some reluctance that we headed back to our motel in the early evening so Maddie could take another swim. That girl would swim all day every day if she could.

At the Insulator Get together we were told we should not leave the area without visiting the Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, where Dennis Braman is a curator, or see some of the historic coal mining sites.

Since all of us are interested in Dinosaurs, we decided to visit the Museum. To get there you have to drive through Drumheller Badlands, one of the few areas in the world where sedimentary layers from earlier time periods have been weathered away by natural processes, leaving an exposed rich cache of fossils and even complete dinosaur skeletons. Of course, Barb had to gather a few rocks to take along.

We arrived at 9:00 A.M. and five hours later we were finally forced to travel on. What a fantastic Museum and a "must see" place to visit if you ever get anywhere near Drumheller. The museum opened in 1985 to instant acclaim and in 1990 Queen Elizabeth granted it "Royal" status. The building, which encompasses 11,200 square meters, has 35 complete dinosaur skeletons on display, the largest such assemblage in the world.

None of us had every visited this side of the Canadian Rockies so we decided to travel north to Red Deer and then west into the mountains from the historic town of Rocky Mountain House. This area once contained the sites of four fur trading posts, the first of which was founded by the North West Co. in 1799. At the Saskatchewan River Crossing we headed north on the spectacular Icefields Parkway.

The well-traveled Parkway leads north from Banff to Jasper through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world. Glaciers and icefields rise magnificently on both sides of the road. At the Columbia Icefield Centre, we learned that the Columbia Icefield is the largest mass of ice in the Rocky Mountains. It is the remnant of the great ice mass that once blanketed most of Canada. The ice covers about 130 miles. Three glaciers - Stutfield, Athabasca and Dome - can be seen from the parkway.

The Visitor center was our turn around point. We made our way back to Lake Louise and Banff and then west to another Glacier National Park, this time in British Columbia, Canada.

Glacier National Park was established in 1886.The Canadian Pacific Railway had just completed its transcontinental line, linking together the scattered settlements of the young nation of Canada. The park's first visitor facilities were developed by the railway company in response to the needs of its passengers. The famous Rogers Pass is located in the center of Glacier National Park. The Pass was named for its discoverer, Major A. B. Rogers, Engineer-in-Chief for the railway. Glacier Park is characterized by steep, angular mountains, deep, narrow valleys, and numerous icefields and glaciers, It is located in the Columbia Mountains which are very different from the better-known Rocky Mountain ranges to the east. The steep walls, numerous slide areas and severe weather proved almost insurmountable obstacles to the completion of the railroad and Trans-Canada Highway. The geology, climate, and plant and animal life are distinct. More than half of the park lies in the alpine tundra zone -above the limit of tree growth - with the rest of the park encompassing sub-alpine forests and meadows. Leaving the spectacular park behind we headed for Revelstoke.

As with many communities in south-eastern British Columbia, Revelstoke began in the 1880s as a transportation and supply center for the mining industry. This was soon bolstered with the construction of the trans-continental railway. Today, Revelstoke prides itself on its rich heritage and scenic ambiance. From Revelstoke we headed south enjoying the British Columbia scenery as we headed home.

The scenery was beautiful, the people interesting but what made this trip special was really getting to know our oldest Grand Daughter Maddie. Thanks Maddie for a wonderful time!