We had just finished our yearly trip to Minnesota for fishing and family time, and rather than going all the way home, stopped at Barb & Fred's house in Tinley Park, Illinois, for a short night of sleep and a ride to Midway airport. We awoke around 3:00 a.m…
Read MoreOur flight left early Sunday morning, and after a quick transfer in Minneapolis, we were home in South Bend (Niles, MI). Since we had just driven by car from home to Minneapolis a few weeks earlier…
Read MoreSaturday, we spent the day driving from Banff back to Helena. On our way, we were able to stop by Gord and Annie's home in Calgary one more time.
Read MoreFriday morning, we headed out to Lake Louise, about 60km Northwest of Banff. Lake Louise was beautiful and the Fairmont Hotel there is amazing. But we were surprised at the crowds. We kind of felt like we were at Disney World.
Read MoreBanff is a very touristy, little ski village with lots of shops and restaurants. In contrast, Jasper was a fairly quiet town with a much less touristy feel. We liked them both.
Read MoreOn Wednesday, we packed things up and headed to Banff. On our way we saw many wonderful sights, beginning with a black bear in the woods on the way to Athabasca Falls. Athabasca is a huge, raging waterfall, and we spent at least a half hour there taking pictures and just marveling at it.
Read MoreTuesday, we headed out to the foot of Mt. Edith Cavell. It was a scenic, curvy drive and around each corner we could view Mt. Edith Cavell getting closer and closer, bigger and bigger.
Read MoreWe woke the next morning to sunshine and clear skies. Doug, our guest house host, had recommended "Bears Paw Bakery" for breakfast on Monday morning. When we found it people were lined up out the door.
Read MoreWe spent Sunday morning and early afternoon in Calgary, going to church and then to a party/reception for the newlyweds. After church, we first headed to Gord & Annie's home to see their place and admire their new deck/outdoor kitchen.
Read MoreWe started the day with a great breakfast at Denny's with Brian & Jill. We had a little time before the wedding so we headed over to the Olympic Park which was not far from our hotel. It was hard to imagine the place as a winter Olympics site, as it was very hot and sunny.
Read MoreWe left South Bend in the early morning hours (Seth drove us to the airport), and flew to Helena, Montana, with one stop in Salt Lake City, Utah. We saved quite a bit on flights and rental car, by flying within the states and then driving to Canada.
Read MoreToday was traveling day. We were up at 6:00 am, and after showering and packing were ready to check out by about 8:15. When we went over to the Admin building, we were surprised with one last chance to see Jared, as he was on his way from breakfast to work.
Read MoreToday was our last day in the Rockies. We had many things on our “to do” list, as there was just so much we wanted to squeeze in before leaving the area…
Read MoreToday we woke up to fog, clouds and overall dreariness. This is the day we had planned for some family hiking, and since the rain was not forecast until noon, we got everyone moving and headed out to the Bear Lake Trailhead. We joined a ranger-led hike with “Ranger Drew”
Read MoreToday was a great day in the Rockies. The kids checked out the YMCA day camp where Jared works. Jared actually works only with the local kids, Kindergarten and 1st grade ages. Our kids were in the program for visitors. Chloe was a "Pioneer"…
Read MoreNothing big happened today. We were kinda' looking for a relaxing day, so that's what we had. After breakfast, we sat and talked to Barb, Fred & Stacey for awhile. Then we went over to check out the day camp options for the kids--Jared has been highly recommending it (wonder why??)
Read MoreToday is Sunday, so of course the first thing on our agenda (after breakfast) was to go to the campground church at Rocky Mountain National Park where Jared and his cousin Shanna's ministry team from the ACMNP (Association of Christian Ministry in the National Parks) were putting on the worship service.
Read MoreWe had a leisurely morning today before heading out from Golden toward Laporte (between Fort Collins and Estes Park) where we had reservations for a 2:15 Whitewater Rafting trip. This was our second attempt as a family to try WWR. The first time in Wyoming
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