Royal Tyrrell Museum

We left Edmonton after visits to four quilt shops among other things. We headed to Drumheller to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. This museum has been open since 1985 and is truly one of a kind. It contains thousands of fossils and one of the largest collections of dinosaur skeletons in the world. Most of them have been found in the Alberta badlands, which surround the museum. 

The first ones you encounter inside the museum are examples of Albertosaurus sarcophagus, a relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex. This dinosaur was discovered right in Alberta. 

Here is a photo of Mike next to the leg of one of the larger dinosaurs. The museum includes a preparation lab where you can view how the paleontologists prepare the finds for exhibit. 

The museum includes displays of the exact placement of the dinosaurs when they were discovered. 

Outside the museum is a short Badlands Interpretive Trail, which we took. We saw the stratified rocks, mud slides in which new discoveries are made, and even a few hoodoos, the unique rocks that cover the area. 

We saw the "World's Largest Dinosaur," a sight on par with Chicken's chicken and Medicine Hat's largest teepee. 

Tomorrow we start for home, stopping briefly in Minnesota to see relatives. 

Jasper and the Icefields Parkway

We left Lake Louise to head to Jasper National Park, taking the Icefields Parkway. Our first stop along this magnificent road was Herbert Lake. This is a favorite for photographers, as the lake is usually so calm, that it acts like a mirror for the surrounding mountains and trees. It was raining when we arrived and the lake was not as glassy as expected, but I still managed to get a lovely reflection of the Main Range peaks. 

We went through Bow Summit and managed to drive into a brief snowstorm. By the time we took the hiking path to the summit it was already melting! The hike is a little uphill, but worth the trip. We reached the top and while it was still pretty cloudy, we got a brief respite and managed to see the beautiful turquoise waters of Peyto Lake. 

Much of the fantastic landscape we passed was covered in the clouds, but the glaciers were visible again once we arrived at the Icefields Centre. The place was jammed with tourists trying to get on the big wheeled buses that take them onto Athabasca Glacier. This glacier once covered the whole valley. The parking lot where we parked and the spot where the centre is now built were covered in the 1800s. Now the glacier is halfway up the mountain. 

Those little ants on the glacier are the buses heading up. 

Shortly before we arrived at our campground for the night (Joyce, the campground's name was Wabasso), we stopped at Athabasca Falls and took the trails into the canyon. 

The next day we drove into Jasper and then on to the Jasper Park Lodge. We walked the paths around the lodge and then went to dinner at the Moose's Nook in the lodge. 

 That was the best meal we have had on this trip! We saw their local elk herd on our way into the lodge, but somehow I lost my photos. When we left the lodge we decided to take the short road to Lake Annette (hey, sis) and Lake Edith, as the road to Maligne Lake was still closed, due to lingering fires. 

It appears that the small elk herd, mostly mothers and their young, had taken this same road. 

Lake Louise - Banff National Park

We are in the Lake Louise area and will head to Jasper tomorrow. We hiked, biked and learned about bears and other wildlife. We ate at the lodge next to Lake Louise and enjoyed the beautiful weather. 

Someone told us we needed to go over to Moraine Lake, too. I think everyone else decided the same thing. It was very crowded, but beautiful. The turquoise color of these lakes is incredible! 

We drove into Lake Louise through Kootenay Park where we saw big horned sheep. I only got a photo of a behind heading into the forest. 

We learned that Banff National Park has a system to protect the wildlife. The main highway is fenced off from the park. They have built over and underpasses to allow passage for the animals. The result has been a 90% drop in highway deaths for deer and elk. The bears are taking a bit longer to learn to use them, but the mother bears are starting to teach their cubs to use them.   

As we don't have data coverage we are using the Town of Canmore Civic Centre  free wifi. 

Glacier and Going to the Sun Road

We arrived at Glacier National Park on Friday midday and easily found a camping spot. As soon as we settled in we got out the tandem and took a ride. The bear sign is the only bear we have seen. 

It has mostly been cloudy, but still lovely. Today we took a red bus trip on the Going to the Sun Road. Our tour guide Marlon said that the clouds would actually improve our photos as the light would be better. I wasn't sure whether this was a story, but we managed to get some neat shots. Marlon drives the buses so his wife can put up more easily with a retired earth sciences teacher. He makes a pretty good guide, but certainly liked puns. 

The light and clouds made everything greener and bluer. Is that a word? Even the photos out the window were pretty. 

Glacier is a beautiful park with many spectacular views, and some scary rivers. 

We are heading to Canada tomorrow, so won't have data anymore. Postings will probably be limited. I hope we don't run into any of the fires raging there. 

To Montana Friends

We drove through Wyoming and Idaho to get to Stevensville, Montana to visit our friends Tom and Tina. We saw part of Teton National Park on our way. The mountains were amazing!  

Tom and Tina have a lovely home in the Bitteroot Valley. Actually, they live on a bench of land just above the valley with a fantastic view of the mountains. The sunset made me understand why they love it there. 

 

Tina made meatballs for us the first evening we arrived and the next day we toured - a quilt shop for me, a brewery for Mike, dinner at a great steak house with typical Montana decor, and a visit to Lake Como. 

Thanks for a great visit! 

Colorado 4th

We spent the 4th with Dan and Karen and their family in Westminster. They have a view that is spectacular! We saw at least six different fireworks shows from their house. We met many of their friends   - I think they had nearly 50 people at their place! 

We had the pleasure of meeting their granddaughter. She is a sweety! 

The next day we did some sightseeing and had dinner with some of Mike's old co-workers at a great place ( Aji's) in Boulder. Thanks for a lovely time! 

Colorado Visits

We drove to Colorado Springs to see our Navy friends Cordy and Rod. They took us to all the local sights, including old Colorado City and historic Manitou Springs.

We had planned on driving up Pikes Peak, but the clouds got in the way. We did get to a great bakery though for some Dutch treats. 

Colorado Springs is a great spot and we had a terrific time! 

Colorado Has Breweries

We spent a day in Aurora at the Buckley Air Force Fam Camp. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise. 

We went looking for a quilt shop I wanted to visit, but it was closed. We did the next best thing. We found a highly recommended microbrewery and visited it instead. The Dry Dock had some cool beers! My favorite was their Amber. 

Tuesday morning we headed to Fort Collins, as I wanted to see where one of my favorite beers (Fat Tire) is brewed. The New Belgian Brewery is a hugely popular destination! We couldn't book a guided tour as they are filled through August. We did a self guided tour and tasted beer! And I saw the original drawing of the label! 

We bought some beer to take with us. 

Tuesday evening we went to celebrate the retirement of Mike's previous boss, Dan Gibson. It was held at another microbrewery, Fate Brewing, in Boulder. 

From what I understand, we have only touched the surface when it comes to Colorado breweries. 

We took a late evening walk on Pearl Street, which I remembered from previous visits as funky and fun. It rained on us, so we ducked into a restaurant called Riffs. It was a fortunate find - small plates of great food.  

Pearl Street itself was otherwise a disappointment. It has been gentrified too much, although some of the street performers still looked a bit as remembered.