Category Archives: 2016

EVEN MCDONALD’S WIFI WAS NOT STRONG ENOUGH FOR PICTURE DOWNLOAD.  WE MOVE TOMORROW AND WILL ADD PICTURES IF WE CAN.

After having our own church service, we headed straight to the gondola at Lake Louise which was the recommendation of the guard at Banff Gondola.

Base of Gondola at Lake Louise

He was absolutely right about getting there early because we were almost the only one’s there for a while.  We decided we would take the gondola up to the top and the open chair lift back down when it had warmed up some.  What a beautiful ride up only imagining what it looked like covered in snow during the winter months.

Lake Louise from Gondola

We explored the campus at the top with all the ski oriented amenities and then headed for our lunch on the deck of the Whitehorn Bistro at this extraordinary elevation.  On the way, a couple asked us if we wanted to join them on a short hike into the woods and since there are signs posted everywhere to only hike in groups of four or more because of the bears, we understood the question except I can’t imagine we looked like hikers.

Check out this view from the deck.

View from Whitehorn Lodge

Hotel at Lake Louise from Top of Gondola

If you look carefully you can see Lake Louise in the distance with the Fairmont Chateau Louise in the foreground.  We were mesmerized by the turquoise color of the lake even from this distance.  The snow was still fairly deep on the top of these mountains and provided such a beautiful view.  These mountain ranges have to be much higher than we saw yesterday in Banff.  Our lunch was wonderful and lots of other people started to appear at the restaurant.  Here are the pictures of our food.

Seafood Risotto at Whitehorn Lodge

Cod wrapped in Proscuitto

On the way back down, we had to keep Carol’s attention on the horizon.  The first few yards off the platform can be a bit scary.  The crowds were arriving now because every car we passed going up was filled with people and they was quite a line waiting at the base.  There were a minimum of 10 tour buses now parked in the parking lot.  Onward to Lake Louise and the hotel.

Once we got close to the village we found that all the parking at the hotel was full and they had set up a free shuttle service from an overflow lot off of Trans Canada Hwy that arrived every 15 minutes.  We were told that last year was such a disaster that this was a new experiment and it was really working.  Once we arrived at the lake and hotel it was obvious there were more tour buses.  This place was crawling with tourists from everywhere but it seemed that many were Asian decent.  The crowd was almost four deep trying to take a picture in front of Lake Louise’s beautiful backdrop.

Lake Louise by Hotel

We walked into the hotel and found a cafe with outdoor seating facing the lake and had some coffee and snacks.  How peaceful and elegant.

One last thing to see before our trip to Lake Louise is over.  Seeing a glacier was high on the list.  The tours were expensive and another 1 1/2 hours away, we decided to strike out on our own.  Driving north the mountain ranges were so high there were still glaciers, thick patches of ice, high on the mountain tops showing signs of receding but certainly not disappearing.

Bow Lake north of Lake Louise

Glacier along highway north of Lake Louise

We drove for about 45 minutes and turned around to head back to Cochrane, our home base.   We were now a minimum of 2 to 3 hours away but oh how worth the trip.

Tomorrow, we are staying close to home and exploring Calgary.  The Stampede starts the end of this week and we are hoping we can sneak a peek at some things without having to endure the crowds.  We plan on making a stop at McDonalds first so we can publish these posts.  WiFi is not the best even if you pay for it.  Boy are we spoiled!

INTERNATIONAL WIFI HAS TURNED OUT TO BE MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN WE EXPECTED.  DOWNLOADING PICTURES HAS NOT WORKED WELL FOR US.  PICTURES WILL BE ADDED AS SOON AS WE CAN GET A FAST ENOUGH CONNECTION.

Once we got our act together this morning, we headed West towards Banff National Park along with thousands of Canadians.  We thought we were being so clever not dealing with 4th of July crowds because we were not in the U.S. but we never realized that July 1st is their Canada Day and this is their 149th birthday.  Good thing we didn’t wait to take this trip next year for their 150 year celebration. The park ranger told us this is the second busiest day of the year for the Park.  We never asked what the first was.

We first stopped at Canmore just East of Banff for lunch.  According to our person at the information center, the food is better in Canmore and costs less.  Her recommendation was The Range with fresh roasted meats with an Italian flair.  Jim and I opted for an Eggplant and vegetable sandwich with goat cheese  while Carol had the pork porchetta sandwich with apple spiced butter.  We all agreed we would come back again; our measure of how good the food was.

Banff was an absolute zoo.  There were thousands of people everywhere we went within the park.  But nothing, not even the hordes of people could over shadow the majesty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.  Look at these pictures:

Lake Minnewanka – Banff Nat’l Park

Hoodoo’s(stone formation) in Banff National Park

Banff Springs Hotel

View from Terrace at Banff Hotel

There are 2,564 square miles of park to explore and we did our best to fit it all in, including Lake Minnewanka, Hoodoo’s View Point, Caves and Hot Springs and a respite of latte on the Terrace at the famous Banff Springs Hotel established in the mid 1800’s.  The gondola ride had a two hour wait line and we decided it was time to leave.

Of course my life revolves around excellent food, so we found the Iron Goat in Canmore with a view and outdoor dining to die for.

Although the dinner was delicious, the highlight was a “true Canadian dessert” called Rundle Paul.  This is a variation on “The Beaver Tail” ( didn’t help me either) but is a donut-like flat cake topped with warm candied fruit (we chose peaches), whipped cream, and a caramel drizzle.  Oh my gosh!

Rundle Paul (variation on a Beaver Tail) dessert – Iron Goat Restaurant, Canmore, AB

I have to mention that sunset here is very late.  At 9:30 p.m. it is just starting to think about getting dark and its almost 10:30 before you can call the sky dark.  Even though we were exhausted, there is something wrong about going to sleep when it is still light outside.

Headed to Lake Louise tomorrow.

Jim promises me the worst part of the trip is over and from now on we will be seeing and doing.  The last 3 days have been focused on getting from Duluth Minnesota to Calgary, Alberta in time to set up and pick up Carol, Jim’s sister at the airport.

On Wednesday we drove 10 hours and arrived to a small city park with 50 sites and two other campers in Granville, North Dakota.  We were told to park where ever you want whichever way you want, so we did.  We actually straddled two sites to avoid backing in.  This park dispels the adage of getting what you pay for and my new slogan is, “You take what you can get!”.  The nearest food was 22 miles away so back in truck since nothing was defrosted.  You would be proud of me, though.  I only asked Jim once if he thought we would be safe and only gave a passing thought to putting a butcher knife next to our bed.

Up early the next morning and off to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada after 6 hours of driving.  The landscape was beautiful with various shades of green from crops and evergreen trees contrasted by miles of yellow flowers that looked like soft fluffy blankets but turned out to be mustard plants.

The park was all that I needed after some of the other places and I even got to do some laundry while Jim went to get the truck serviced at the local Ford Dealership.  Alone at last!  24/7 is better if there are occasional breaks.

We were told a good place for dinner was Bobby’s Place which turned out to be a “real old world tavern” complete with bikers and dart boards.  We opted for their nice little outdoor patio and we had the nicest young man wait on us.  He helped us interpret the menu and we ordered Fish and Chips, and East Coast Poppers with Salt Malt.

I fully understood one of the reviews that said, I am forever spoiled for Fish and Chips.  It was delicious but the Poppers were fabulous.  Little pieces of the same cod fried in a tempura style batter with garlic and dill homemade tartar sauce and potato slices fried and topped with salt and vinegar.

Yesterday was 8+ hours of driving on the most boring road I remember seeing.  The Trans-Canada Hwy is a four lane divided highway similar to our Interstate with no or limited  amenities that we could find.

View of Trans-Canada Highway

 One of the issues with a rig this long is you always have to see a clear path out if you decide to pull in and we couldn’t always see that.  Jim even admitted he was tired of driving and we are both glad to be staying somewhere for longer than two days.

Carol’s flight was delayed and did not arrive until mid-night so we were all up very late last night with a slow start this morning.  Once we get our acts together, I think we will be headed to Banff and Lake Louise.

Pictures of our new campground in Cochrane, Alberta outside of Calgary.

We arrived late afternoon to cloudy skies, and damp 64 degree temperatures.  The good news was it was a pretty RV Park in a nice small state park and not many people.   We were told about a local restaurant for dinner so we were pretty much settled for the night.  Jim couldn’t resist the urge to ‘make fire’ so he bought some wood and sat outside by his fire reading, while I did some laundry.  I’ve decided the problem with a campfire is it only warms your front, while your back gets cold.

This morning we got an entirely different perspective on Duluth.  The sun was shining and the temperature was projected to go up to 74 degrees so we planned a trip to the downtown area to see all that there was to see.  I understood the plan to come to Duluth now.  This is the farthest end of Lake Superior, where we spent so much time last Summer while in the UP and it fits in with Jim’s fascination with big ships.  Duluth is a MAJOR shipping port for the Great Lakes and we watched two large tankers go through the port back out to sea.

Lift Bridge at Duluth, MN

This is the largest ship on the Great Lakes measuring over 1000 feet

Maritime Visitor Center and Museum, Duluth, MN

Duluth has done a good job of capitalizing on the interest people have in this seaport and has developed its once rundown port town into a destination for families and tourists of all ages.  We walked along the lake front walk by the hotels and saw endless numbers of people taking in the sun’s warmth and just enjoying the peace of the water.

Lake Walk along Lake Superior in Duluth, MN

We took the time to track down the Duluth Trading Company Store thinking the ads are so cool, so the store must be cool as well.  Unfortunately, while the clothes are definitely what outdoor people would need, the store itself was small and not what we had pictured in our minds it would be.

By now the step count on my Fitbit is close to 10,000 steps so we thought a leisurely ride on the scenic railroad would be fun so off we went to catch a train.  I am admitting the ride was so leisurely, I actually fell asleep for a short time and Jim admitted he thought about it, too.

We opted to return to the Duluth Grill for dinner tonight because our experience was so good last night.

Restaurant all the locals go to

This restaurant has been around since 1991, which is long for a restaurant and is very geared to organic, healthy food.  The slogan on the back of the staff’s T-shirt says, “Our veggies are fresh out of our parking lot” because they grow all their own vegetables in the parking lot.  I had lamb and quinoa with mint pesto and Jim had a veggie omelet last night.  Both were great.  Tonight Jim had a rabbit and chicken omelet and I had an ALT Wrap  (avocado, lettuce, and turkey) with cranberry mayo and homemade sweet potato chips that were as light as feathers.

Vegetables grow in the parking area

Tomorrow is another 400+ drive to Minot, North Dakota.  I can’t wait to see what awaits us there.

After listening to heavy rain for over four solid hours and waking to huge puddles flooding most of the roads in the RV park, we did not hold out much hope for the day.  But God had other plans and the day turned out to be beautiful.

We stopped back to Sister Bay because there is a restaurant there that has covered its roof with live grass and has three goats they put up there to attract customers.  When we got to town yesterday they had already taken them in because the humidity was too high (who knew goats had a humidity problem), anyway, we wanted to see them and we wanted to be able to put a picture in our blog.

Goats on the Roof at Al Johnson’s restaurant in Sister Bay, WI

We didn’t eat there because its a Swedish buffet and neither one of us eats enough to justify the cost, besides, the goats were doing their job and there was a waiting list.  But for all my Foodie friends we did find the Door County Creamery which specializes in all cheeses made from goats milk from their own farm.  Since goat’s milk does not have as much of the caseins that I am sensitive to as cow’s milk, I was able to eat all their food made with goat cheese.  Look at this picture.  Is it not beautiful!

Lamb Gyro with Goat Cheese

This is a lamb gyro with perfectly seasoned roasted lamb on a fresh baked pita, with baby summer lettuces and goat feta cheese and goat’s milk sour cream with a homemade slaw with kale, brussel sprouts, white beans and lettuce.  Even Jim who never likes kale or brussel sprouts thought the meal was delicious.  For me, the best in days.

From there we drove North to see the deck at Ellison Bay Bluff County Park.  You know you are driving a dangerous road with high steep drops when you see the tops of big trees in your sight path from your car window.  We did get out and walk out onto the overhang, but even the four foot chain link fence didn’t make it feel that safe.

Onward to Gills Rock where the ferry runs to Washington Island and you get a long distance view of the lighthouse on Plum Island protecting “Deaths Door”.  There were four major shipwrecks in that area and the sunken boats still lay almost on top of each other.

The best part of the day was the lighthouse on Cana Island.  It was built in 1869 and had its first lens lighted April 1, 1870 and has not missed a day since.  It is still in continuous operation under the supervision of the Coast Guard.  We were told at one of the lighthouses that the lighthouse keepers were the pre-cursor to the Coast Guard which I thought was interesting.  To get to the island, you either have to wade through the water in ankle deep cold water or wait for a wagon pulled by one of John Deer’s finest to take you across.  We opted for the wagon.

Wagon that takes you across the flooded walkway to lighthouse

We even got to walk the 97 steps to the top of the lighthouse.  Something I didn’t know was that the early lamps burned lard that had to be heated in the kitchen and then carried up the steps to the lamp every 2  to 2 1/2 hours all night to keep the lamp lit.  I can only imagine how happy they were when the lights were converted to mineral oil or kerosene that would last a lot longer.

inside the Fresnal lens

View from Lighthouse of Lake Michigan facing SW

By the way Kerry, you have to be 42 inches tall to go up the lighthouse and they let me in!

Tomorrow morning we leave for Duluth Minnesota for two days.  The ride will take most of the day so I don’t expect to write anything tomorrow.  Just a boring ride day.

We just found a new addition to our favorite top five places to stay.  It’s in Door County (notice the correct spelling this time) north of Sturgeon Bay.

This little peninsular was argued to be part of Michigan and Wisconsin for many years and can still animate a discussion between Michigonians and Cheese-heads.  There is also some arguing about the UP since it actually is contiguous to Wisconsin but whoever gets to claim it, gets a really beautiful part of the country with lots to see and do.

We arrived around noon and set off on our adventure starting with lunch.  We were told the best view and atmosphere was at Fred & Fuzzy’s on the opposite coast in Sister Bay, so off we went to find a well hidden spot with bay front dining on the lawn overlooking the bay.

Fred & Fuzzy’s Restaurant on Lake Michigan at Sister Bay, WI

View of Lake Michigan from Fred & Fuzzy’s Restaurant

The sun was shining with a mild breeze and balmy temperatures in the mid to high 70’s and it was perfect.  What a great way to wind down after the two hour drive from our last stop.  We had a detour through Sturgeon Bay because of a closed bridge and I always get nervous that those detours will not be able to accommodate our big rig.  Silly me.

After lunch we drove into Sister Bay proper and that is one hustling place.  The new beach was having a festival of sorts to celebrate it’s grand opening but I was a little surprised to see what they were celebrating.

Beach at Sister Bay, WI

In Two Rivers we decided to buy an annual pass for the Wisconsin State Parks since there are so many in this area and this is where it will pay for itself.  The first stop was Peninsula State Park and the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse built in 1868 just after the Civil War.

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in Penisula State Park near Sister Bay, WI

 The second lighthouse keeper moved there in 1878 with his wife and 7 sons and the family did all the work for over thirty years.  In fact, the youngest son was still alive when the decision was made to refurbish the house and property and he contacted family members and was able to get items back that were in the home as part of the restoration.  He was also instrumental in helping to arrange the furniture exactly as it was when he was a child.

The lighthouse is one of the shortest we have seen because it sits on a 35 foot high bluff and only needed to reach a height of 48 feet for visibility to Chambers Island.  The geology in this area is also pretty interesting.  It seems there is a mountain ridge that runs from Niagara Falls through to Lake Superior and is much harder than most of the shale and sand stone that wears away in other places.  This caused Strawberry Island which looks like 4 small islands in a row but is actually one island with very steep valleys underwater.  And this island sits right in the middle of a shipping lane creating the need for this lighthouse.One  top of the strawberry island

One more stop before we call it a day and that is back on the lakeside and south to the Cave Point County Park inside the Whitefish Dunes State Park.  Oh so worth the trip!!!!

Waves crashing into cliffs at Cave Point State Park

Cliffs of rock with caves carved out by years of the waters of Lake Michigan and since the wind was blowing east to west, the view was spectacular.  Unfortunately, you don’t get the benefit of hearing the thunderous roar as the water crashes against the rock, but it something to experience for sure.  What always surprises me is the number of teens in bathing suits walking around when its maybe 70 degrees and wind chill below that, getting into cold water like this.   OK so I’m old and wimpy!

Before we called it a day, we wanted to see the Whitefish Dunes beach that people raced to in the summer.

Waters at White Fish Dunes State Park

Well, now I know why people drive to Florida to go to the beach.

By the way, that wise crack comment (in yesterday’s blog) about my height comes from my son-in-law in Texas and there will be retaliation!

We woke this morning to a bright sunny, crisp 51 degrees and lots of plans for the day.  First a trip to the State Park to check out one of the three lighthouses in the area, and then to walk the Ice Age Trail.  A short walk from the park service parking lot revealed the Rawley Point Lighthouse.  A short walk and not open to the public, but still interesting to see because it is one of the largest and brightest on the Great Lakes and is visible up to 19 miles away.  Because of this light, there have been no shipwrecks since 1912 compared to its pre-lighthouse history of 26 schooners, barges, steamers, and brigs.

Rawley Point Lighthouse, Two Rivers, WI

The name of the trail just intrigued me, and I needed to see and know more.  As it turns out, of all the places impacted by the Ice Age, Wisconsin was impacted the most and much of the formations found on this trail were the result of the advancing and retreating of the ice engulfed around rocks and debris it picked up along its journey.  We started hiking down the trail but there is just too much city-slicker in me to handle the ferocious mosquitoes seemingly oblivious to the bug spray we were covered with.  Oh well, maybe I’ll buy a book about it.

Then off to Manitowoc which is a slightly larger city south of Two Rivers.  We decided on the Fat Seagull for lunch just because of the name.  Although Trip Advisor gave it a 4 star rating there was nothing to write about so off we sent to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and a tour of the USS Cobia.

The Cobia is a World War II submarine just like the 28 built right here in Manitowoc during the war.  It was decommissioned in the mid 1950’s and sent here and through the efforts of this museum it is 80% restored to it full working condition.

I had no idea that submarine duty was strictly voluntary during WWII and was considered so dangerous the men received hazardous pay of $120 per month as opposed to the $30 per month a G.I. received.  Here’s another tidbit I picked up:  Although the temperature in the sub was usually between 95 to 120 degrees, most of the 72 member crew never saw sunshine for the entire 90 day trip,  the shifts were 4 hours work and 8 hours off but not enough beds on board for each man so they shared beds called “hot sheeting” (when one got up the next man got in bed to the already hot sheets), the US subs were considered the Cadillac of subs by the other countries whose men endured much worse hardships on their submarines.  After the 45 minute tour through the sub, we walked the remainder of the museum and headed north towards the”West of the Lake Garden” located in Manitowoc also. .

Before we got to the garden, we spotted another of the three lighthouses so off we went trying to track down the starting point of the walkway to it.  My guess is the walkway was a mile or 1 1/2 miles from where we parked the truck.  I do know that my Fitbit logged over 11,000 steps for me at the end of the day and this walk was a major part of it.

Pond at West Gardens

The West of the Lake Gardens was begun by John and Ruth West  in 1934, who were ship builders and given the contract to build the submarines here in Manitowoc in 1942.  The grounds are maintained by a Foundation and are free to public to walk and enjoy at their leisure.  The pictures of the roses don’t give you the perspective of size but these blooms were 5 to 6 inches in diameter.  A great way to top off our day.

We ended with dinner next to our RV Park having a Friday Night Fish Fry and had fresh Lake Perch, cole slaw without mayo and a potato option. Again, not one of our best meals, but got the job done.

Just so you know, my cold is better.  I still cough like a seal, but not as often.  Tomorrow we move 80 miles north into Dorr County.

We delayed our departure from Cedar Lake because we had to go through Chicago and we thought we should wait until most of the business commuting was over.  It was a good decision but it seems most of these states wait for summer to start their construction (duh) and that makes it slow all day long.

We arrived at Hideaway Campground mid afternoon and were immediately enchanted with the flowers, rock gardens, and nooks and crannies designed for sitting and taking in the sights.

We stay here two nights and hopefully I will feel a lot better tomorrow after more drugs and rest.

We left Nashville facing another 400+ mile driving day, trying to get to the starting point of our Summer Trip (Wisconsin).  Jim found a non-denominational Christian RV Park on Cedar Lake tucked away in the NW corner of Indiana, which seemed ideal given our ultimate destination.  It took all day to get there but we liked the looks of it, until we heard the news.

The camp host greeted us with the information that they were expecting a bad storm tonight and wanted to show us where the underground shelter was in case of a tornado.  I can handle hurricanes all day long, but tornado is not in my vocabulary and I must have looked it, because she asked where we were from.  If it wasn’t so scary, it would have been comical to hear her describe how you know when to go to the shelter.  Things like, “the air turns kinda green” and “if you hear something like a train” were not working for me especially when she pointed out if you hear the train, it may be too late.  By the way, there was a train that ran by the park so we had to distinguish the tornado train from the real train.  Now I am worried.

We proceeded to our site and found the electricity hookup is on the right side of the RV and not on the left where 95% of all hookups are and our cord will not reach the connection.  We call the host and she arranges for us to move to a different site.  But this site is up in the front of the park and not close to the restrooms where she said we could run into if we can’t make to the shelter two blocks away.  Getting more worried.

We moved to the new site and got set up so we could get something to eat and gas up before this torrential storm began.  Oops.  Not so fast.  Jim has company outside.  The man from across the way has wandered over and wants to talk RV talk, like guys like to do.  He even includes that his wife told him not to be a pest because he doesn’t like it when people interrupt him in the middle of set up but he decided Jim was far  enough along to stop and talk.  Eventually he ran out of steam and we ran out and got gas and something at the first restaurant we found.  Not the best and not the worst food but fast.  While the gas was pumping I told him I was worried.  He shared with me that he was too and that is a first, given all the scary situations we have found ourselves in that he showed no fear.  Now I’m really worried.

Back at the RV, we found he local news report which preempted all the regular programming because of the storm.  We sat and stared at the weather maps for 4 hours none stop watching each tornado “watch” turn into a “warning” and then touch down complete with pictures of the damage.  Now I’m asking questions about our insurance.

By 11 o’clock we haven’t had enough rain to fill a teaspoon and all the tornadoes were gone.  I was exhausted from all the worry and now my allergies have turned into a full-scale cold with a seal-like barking cough and stuffy nose.  Pass the Robitussin and lead me to my bed!