Played golf with 2 hilarious guys from Kelowna, construction workers with Friday off….laughed the whole round, heard stories of hunting and bears in their yards, and camping with something grunting and screaming and large footprints around the trailor, awful fires on the mountains, lots of golf courses in the area….left for the US after golf..went as far as omark,wa and found the best Mexican restaurant and it was packed…then onto Yakima…. Home away from home….
Well friends and family….this adventure is over we should be home on Tuesday or wed… we enjoyed this road trip and are thinking a RV may be in our future…so much to see….

Well after 6 hours in the car both of us were bored to death, you can only look at so many antelope and cows of every color or birds or small rodents or cloud formations….so we decided to call it a day in medicine hat…found a golf course (dessert bloom) 3 years old and in a valley and played 9 holes then dinner then motel with glass glasses…who knew that was important…days inn our new favorite….

Up and off to another day of driving on flat and straight roads…but we knew there were mountains at the end so we braved up and took off….weather is sunny and nice….reached Calgary and then about an hour later reached Banff…..worth the ride…what a beautiful city in the mountains….not much snow at this level but some on the peaks….found another chilis so all is well with the world….saw a big horn sheep and deer……looking up in the mountains for sheep and one was laying by the road waiting to have his picture taken…sweet……
When Craig and Megan went through this part of Canada on their sabbatical they said they got fussy about what they thought was beautiful and worthy of a picture…after today I understand what they were saying….the high mountains, snow capped mts. , glaciers, streams, rivers, waterfalls, animals, tunnels, bridges, oh wow….. this is such an incredible part of the country….no matter where you turned it was awesome…lake louise with the sun shining on it and the reflections unbelievable…people just stared…..we stayed in Banff last night and we are in Kelowna tonight, we are going to play golf in the am and then start back to the states….

Oh my goodness is this part of the world flat, flat, flat, highest thing you see on the horizon is telephone poles…long day in the car but we are in Regina, Canada (Saskatchewan)…at a howard Johnson, computer doesn’t work, room too small, tacky, no place to hang clothes (no closet), cheap…need I say more guess who is a bundle of fun tonight…hehe….saw wonderful pheasants….lots of oil wells, straight roads in fact chuck started to smile when there was a curve in the road….gave him something to do…can’t take a pict of myself as I got really bit by something on my neck and I look like I have chicken pox, all red neck…hummmm…doesn’t itch…ugly…and oh puffy ankles from sitting in the car too long…whine, whine…whine…
Well after 6 hours in the car both of us were bored to death, you can only look at so many antelope and cows of every color or birds or small rodents or cloud formations….so we decided to call it a day in medicine hat…found a golf course (dessert bloom) 3 years old and in a valley and played 9 holes then dinner then motel with glass glasses…who knew that was important…days inn our new favorite….

Well on to the black hills of south Dakota…spent a late evening at the crazy horse memorial, a laser light show that was quite good…the face is done and they expect to finish in another 60 years…guess I won’t see it done but quite the tribute to the Indian and also the carvers…mostly allthe same family….a great story….the next day we went to mt. rushmore and uuuuuud and ahhhhhhd with everyone else in the park… climbed about 200 stairs just to get that awesome picture..…..worth the trip……then…..
On to the badlands which the name describes but they have had a lot of rain so they didn’t look sooo bad….even had a lot of green grass…saw antelope everywhere….then….the famous Wall Drug….with all the animals we remembered when we went with the kids years ago….passed by the flintstones park just took a picture..hehhe…
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Then on to The banks of the Missouri river…..I had had it I was not going another moment in the car my butt was tired…even though we were only 2 hours of the family in Olivet, SD…but we saw a sign for the chamberlain country club so we checked into the famous holiday inn and then went in search of the CC…a cute 9 hole,cost us $12 apiece… walked in 86 degree heat, played soso, had a couple of beers and ice tea and water….all costing $4.00..then on to dinner at a super resort on the Missouri….then.

On to the family…fond memories being back here….ken and lynn welcomed us and then put us right to work…I mostly just chatted and watered garden plants but chuck got right into the cow tagging and worming and goodness knows what else they were doing to those hieffers….thats cow talk for lady cows…bugs and more bugs…beautiful rainbow this morning as the rain is coming…it was 86degrees yesterday…who knows….found some old farm treasures at the old homestead and promised to keep them in the family…we will be leaving today for Canada….bye for now

WELL…..we have had 2 great days in Yellowstone ….saw buffalo, old faithful (twice) geysers galore, a wolf, 2 bears one brown black bear and one black black bear, elk, a strange bird, turns out it was a sandhill crane (according to the ranger)looked like an emu to us..hehhe….staying in all the hot spots Greybull and Gardiner….combined population of 5,000….eating in all the fine spots, gift shop/restaurant /casino/bathroom/hotel and bar combination and probably a gas station and white water rafting shop owned by the same owner…multi tasking…..lots of snow and ice still around…license plates from all over the us and tons of rental RV’s no one speaking English….all very nice and very impressed with the park…weather sunny and cool….tomorrow in rapid city…

Roadtrip2009midwest….old people roady
Well point A to point B is alive and well….only 500 miles in the car today..sheese…Sherwood to Twinfalls Idaho…looking for a chili’s to have a buffalo chicken salad which chuck has had withdrawal from since the chilis in Wilsonville closed…my bottom is permanently bent…stopped in Baker,OR for a museum break(chuck needed a bathroom)…neat museum…did you know the airstream trailor was invented by a guy from baker, he was the first one to put the floor between the axel’s so you could stand up…trivia galore….oregon trail info and all kinds of local collections…staying in shilo inn’s free breakfast and internet, and a senior discount and aaa discount and another mystery discount….$90….tomorrow Jackson hole…
Okay anyone with a scruffy beard and hiking shoes in jeans or moose, or elk or fish or cowboy hats and boots or antlers or anything else with an outdoor theme…these people are in Jackson, Wyoming…..what a fun town…stayed at a rustic inn…antler chandelier….fireplace and heated floors in the bathroom….chuck is dressed in shorts however it rained on us and dropped 25 degrees in a couple of hours…looking for thunderstorms but never happened…he is in jeans and a sweatshirt today…

We are in Gardner Montana tonight….north end of Yellowstone park…went thru Teton national park today and half of Yellowstone… not very many people and lots of buffalo (walking along the road oh I mean down the middle of the road) and elk….still snow and ice on the lakes but spectacular mountain scenery…you forget how giinormous these parks are and beyond beautiful…..waterfalls were full, no bears but hoping…