Sunday, June 8, 2008

It rained quite a bit during the night and was still drizzling in the morning when we got up.  We had scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast.  Tim is quite the breakfast chef cooking with cast iron skillets over the camp stove. 

We went to church at a Presbyterian church in Banff.  It was a small church; probably 50 people attending but they were very nice and welcoming to us.  It is good to be visitors to think about what new people coming to our church would need to know and what would make them feel welcome.  The service at this church was what Tim called “high church.”  The pastor wore a black robe and did some responsive reading where the pastor would read something in the bulletin and then the congregation would read in unison a response.  We sang hymns (some we knew and some we didn’t) accompanied by a pianist. We missed getting to go to our church but we got to have communion with them. It was neat to know that even though we are far from home our church family was also worshipping our Savior.  When the church service was over, we weren’t sure what to do so we looked for a place to have pizza.  We had to look a long time to find a pizza place and it wasn’t Gambino’s but it was delicious pizza.  

After lunch we got online and updated our blogspot and email Grandma and Grandpa to wish them a well as 50 years ago today they got married.  We got an email from Doug and Becky saying they would be in Banff around 5 or 6 this evening.  They left their house yesterday morning and were driving two long days to meet up with us in Banff.  We will travel to Alaska with them and then stay with them until we get tired of each other or until it is time for us to head home.  They are staying a few weeks longer than we are.  We were so excited that they were actually going to be joining us today that we decided we should go hiking or something so the time would go faster.

We spent some time shopping and walking around the town of Banff.  Then we stopped at the grocery store to get a little more ice and food.

We went hiking at Cirque at Upper Bankhead near Lake Minnewanka.  It was only a mile round trip but we got to get up high and look out over Lake Minnewanka and the mountains.  It looked like it could rain so we took our rain gear with us and it was a good thing because it did rain on us.  The hike was a pretty good uphill climb.  Sarah told us she likes to hike but she wanted it to be flatter which was rather funny since she has wanted to climb a steep waterfall.  We walked to some old coalmines and then to the area overlooking the lake.  It was beautiful.  Aleesha wanted to take a picture of the clouds/fog coming into the valley but the camera battery went dead.  We are thankful that God gave us a memory so that we can remember the sight even though we won’t see it again in the photographs of the trip.

We are hearing many different languages spoken around us everywhere we go.  Most street signs and information signs have words in both English and French.  It would make learning two languages a little easier to see both languages written on everything you see.  So far every shop/restaurant worker has spoke to us in English but English sounds different up here.  We haven’t heard anyone with an accent that sounded like they were from home.

While waiting for our family to arrive, we made a good fire, had supper of leftovers heated on the campfire.  We also had leftover cherry turnovers and hot cocoa.  After eating too much, Tim and Deaune took a walk around the lake.  The skies cleared and it was beautiful to see the mountains reflecting in the lake.  We got to see 2 elk that walked close to the water’s edge.  They were apparently getting too close to a loon’s nest because the adult loon started squawking and throwing itself into the water to splash the elk.  It was amazing to see this little waterfowl take on the big elk. 

We drove into town to see check our cell phone for a message from Doug and Becky and on the way into town, we got to see many elk.  Apparently the best time for viewing elk was after 10pm.  It was so wonderful to see the elk.

It took Doug and Becky longer to get to Banff than they expected but they arrived safely at 11:00 pm.  They had estimated their arrival time to be how long it would take to get to the Canadian border instead of to Banff, which is why the time was different.  It was still a little light when Doug and Becky arrived.  We helped them set up their camp, sat for a little while around the campfire and then went to bed.  The sky was clear so the temperature seemed to drop and it was really cold this evening.  We went to be about 12:30 and we were ready to snuggle down into the blankets and get some sleep.

Mileage for the day: 0

Temperature high: 50’s after the snow

Camping fee: $36.20

Price for gasoline: $1.30.9/liter

Saturday, June 7, 2008

 

We woke this morning about 7:30 to the sound of raindrops on the camper.  It was pretty cold in the camper so we decided to have pancakes for breakfast so we could use the stove and get a little heat. All our food was out in the vehicle (campground rules) and so Tim braved the cold and wet to get the stuff we needed. Breakfast was delicious.  After breakfast, we looked outside to see that the rain had changed to snow.  These had to be some of the largest snowflakes that God has ever made. If they were any bigger, they couldn't be called snowflakes; they would have to be called snowballs. Actually these looked like snowballs dropping from the sky.  The snow is very wet so it doesn’t hurt when it hits you; it just splats where it hits.  We were pretty cold this morning so we took showers to warm up and then we headed into town to do laundry in hopes that the rain/snow would let up by the time laundry was done.  It is 34 degrees this morning.

God is so nice.  After laundry, the rain/snow had quit so we went to the Banff Hot Springs.  These springs are sulfur springs so the smell was strong enough that we walked around them quickly.  There is an endangered snail that lives in the springs so we couldn’t feel the water with our hands or anything else.  There was a cave that also had a hot spring in it.  The water in the springs was bluish-green and so clear that we could see the bottom.  

 

We went the Banff Springs Hotel that looked like a huge castle in a fairy-tale.  There was a wedding party getting pictures taken at different places in the Hotel and we all thought the pictures would be beautiful.  This hotel was probably the fanciest hotel that I have ever seen.  It has a balcony overlooking the Cascade Falls on Bow River.  The view was incredible so we decided we needed to get a closer look at those falls.  Before we left the hotel we stopped at the bathrooms and instead of having a women or men’s sign on the door; these bathrooms had signs with pictures of a princess or prince.  What a fun place that was.

 

Next stop was Cascade Falls on Bow River.  The thing that made these falls so cools is that the river is quite wide where the falls are so the water churns and boils like when the tubes at Tuttle Creek are wide open.  It almost makes you dizzy to look down into the waters.  We enjoyed spending time at the falls.

 

When we got back to the campground we fixed grilled stuffed burritos.  We didn’t have shredded cheese but we did have a block of cheddar cheese so Aleesha used a sharp knife and cut thin slices of cheese and then cut the slices into small pieces so it resembled shredded cheese.  What a patient girl.  Chris cut wood with the ax so we could have a fire.  The air here is pretty dry when it is not raining so the wood wasn’t as wet as it would have been at home.  Chris chopped the wood into small pieces so we could start the fire easier.   For dessert we had cherry tarts, which are crescent rolls with cherry pie filling in them (one of Chris’ specialties over the fire) cooked in our sandwich cookers.   Chris has his own special way of cooking his cherry tart and he found a great log to cook it with.  He spends time shaping one end of the log into a point and then he puts foil over the point.  Then he shapes the crescent roll over the foil and cooks it over the fire rotating it slowly like a rotisserie.  When it is golden brown, he takes it off the fire and fills it with cherry pie filling.  It is delicious. 

 

We sat around the campfire until it was dark (which is probably around 11:00) since it was so nice and warm around the fire. 

 

Mileage for the day: 0

Temperature high: 50’s

Camping fee: $36.20

Price for gasoline: $1.30.9/liter

 

Friday, June 6, 2008

It rained during the night, but we stayed dry and warm.  We woke up at 7, but it was still drizzling, so we dozed off for a while then got up and had a hearty breakfast with the sun shining down on us.

The showers at the hippy campground were cool…too cool for the girls!  Aleesha was the first to shower in the frigid water.  She reported to Sarah and mom how cold the water was so the girls improvised.  They took turns showering, one in the shower; one getting cupfuls of warm water from the sink.  It worked very well and they were pleased to have a warm “shower.”

We spent some time in Canmore getting groceries, getting online, checking messages, etc.  Lunch was the value menu at McDonalds – everything tasted the same except for the ketchup, which was very sweet.  The girl who took our order was French, and had some difficulty understanding our “eastern” accent. 

After lunch we made our way to Banff National Park, which is beautiful but pricey!  It costs $20 a day to travel in the park.  Add on the cost for camping, which is $36, and it seems a little steep, but they cut the firewood for you and you can burn all you want.  Our campsite is right beside Two Jack Lake (Lakeside), and it is breathtaking!  The showers are great, but there are no electrical or water hookups.  We will camp here until we meet up with the rest of our family who are leaving Kansas tomorrow morning. 

The temperature today is in the 50’s, and hardly a bug to bug us.  We saw several elk in the park. 

We drove into the town of Banff to look around.  It is a very nice tourist town with a beautiful view of the mountains.  We saw a movie in the Visitor’s Center about Elk and they come into town of Banff to eat the grass and bushes in the parks and around homes.  That would be amazing to see although we would probably not respond as the movie suggested.  We are to back away slowly and quietly.  I don’t think the chances of that happening are very good.  The elk we have seen so far have been beside the highways and a good distance from us so that we could see them pretty well but we were not in their space.

Back at the campground for chicken and noodles cooked over the fire.  We even had mashed potatoes mashed with a fork.  It was delicious and very fun to cook over the open fire.  We cooked s’mores for dessert, which is always a hit with our family.  After sitting around the campfire for a while, we turned in for bed about 10:30 and it still looked like 7:00 in Kansas.  We had no trouble sleeping.  God has given the Maddocks the gift of sleeping.  Hopefully we will be able to sleep in Alaska just as well.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

 

We woke in the night to water dripping on our faces.  Apparently it was cold enough outside and warm enough inside that condensation had formed on the canvas over the beds and it was forming droplets large enough to fall from the ceiling.  It was only “raining” on the beds at the ends of the camper so Chris didn’t get wet at all.  It didn’t get us very wet; it was just a surprise when a drop landed on our faces.  Other than that we slept very well.  I am amazed how toasty warm it is under all those covers. 

We got up at 7:30am.  Breakfast this morning was cereal, milk and juice.  The sun was out and the temperature was very pleasant with a jacket.  As we were packing up our things, it got warm enough to shed the jackets.  It still takes us quite a while to get ready to leave a campsite. We left the campsite 9:30 and went to a grocery store to get food for going to Canada.  A clerk at the store told us that we might not be able to take produce or meat across the border so we didn’t buy those things. 

We headed north out of Great Falls on I-15 towards Canada.  Montana north of Great Falls is flat like western Kansas.  There are even large fields of prairie dog mounds.  It was a beautiful day for driving.  There is sunshine and clouds and big open skies. 

At 1:15 pm we reached the US/Canadian border.  We were ready with our passports, notarized note from the Keens giving us permission to have their vehicle and camper, driver’s licenses, everything we have heard that they would ask for.  It only took about 5 minutes until we were on our way into Canada.  The man at the border booth asked for our car tag number and he looked over Tim’s license and our passports.  He asked us our reason for going into Canada and if we had any firearms, drugs or alcohol.  Satisfied with our answers of going to Alaska and no to the second question, he wished us a good trip and let us proceed.  Thank you God for such a nice man at the booth.  Tim’s cousin Randy told us he spend 7 hours at the border trying to get to Canada to work at a job a Canadian company wanted his company to do.

Just across the border was a sign welcoming us to Alberta.  We stopped there to have our picture taken and have a picnic lunch.  Right beside us was an elk farm with lots of young elk.  What a treat it was to have a picnic while watching the elk.  They watched us too.  Some people from Nebraska on their way to Alaska took our picture by the Welcome to Alberta sign.

I-15 becomes highway 4 in Canada so we took highway 4 north to Lethbridge, Alberta where we found another A&W.  It was so good the other day that we couldn’t help but stop again.  Chris wanted some ice cream instead of root beer so they sold us a little package of ice cream that they would normally put in a glass for a root beer float.  Chris said it tasted pretty good even though it looked a little different.

We are still trying to figure out the liters vs. gallons and kilometers vs. mile; almost have it.  The speed limit sign says 110, which makes one think they could go pretty fast but 110 is about 68 mph, which is fast enough when pulling a camper.  

The speed limit signs along the road in Canada are very small (and easy to miss) compared to ours in the US and of course they have kilometers per hour. 

From Lethbridge we took highway 2 to Calgary.  In Calgary we saw the place where the 1988 Olympic were held.  The ski jumps were humongous.  

This evening someone asked us if we were from the east because we had an accent they didn’t recognize for this area.  I guess Kansas is a little east (and a whole lot south) of Alberta, Canada.

We stayed at Canmore, AB at the Rundle campground with the hippies.  Canmore is a resort town and the only place we could find after Calvary that had a campground with showers.  We really like showers.  We cooked hamburgers for supper; it was the first hot meal we have fixed on the trip and it was delicious. 

We turned the heater on in the camper to see if that would keep the condensation from forming on the ceiling.  It kept us warm and dry!  Did I mention that there were railroad tracks just a stones throw away, and the trains kept coming all night?  We have developed quite a habit of picking spots that are very loud…so much for getting away from it all!

It was still light at 10:30, so Sarah, Tim and Deaune took a little walk and enjoyed looking at the mountains; they surround Canmore, and they are beautiful.  Lights out at 11.

Mileage for the day: 409

Temperature high: 60’s

Camping fee: $28.00

Price for gasoline: $1.28/liter

June 4, 2008

  

Barb fixed us a delicious breakfast casserole and served homemade sweet bread and fruit.  WOW it was so good we filled our tummies and then some.  We said goodbye to the Hartley’s about 9:00 and headed north on I-90.  The mountains to our left are the Big Horn Mountains and they have snow on them.  Barb said if the mountains still have snow on them July 4^th then they should have enough moisture to sustain the valley until next winter.

 

About 10:30 am we crossed the border into Montana. 

 

Our first stop for the day was at Crow Agency Montana site of Custer’s Last Stand and the Battle of Little Bighorn. This is the site where on June 25^th  and 26^th of 1876 Lt. Col.  George A. Custer leading the 7^th Calvary unwisely attacked several thousand Cheyenne, Lakota, Arapaho and other Indian tribes.  Custer underestimated the size of the Indian forces he would be battling. Chief Sitting Bull was the Lakota Indian’s leader.  Custer and his men killed their own horses to hide behind their dead carcasses during the battle.  More than 260 U.S. soldiers met defeat and death including Custer and every member of his immediate command.  There was a nice visitor’s center with pictures and lots of information about the battle.  We all agreed the pictures of Lt. Col. Custer reminded us of our friend Craig Percival (although Craig looks much wiser).  Outside of the visitor’s center we walked the trails around the battleground.  There are markers indicating the location where the soldiers’ fell in the battle and even where the horses died.

 

We wore jackets because it was quite cool. Aleesha wrapped a KSU blanket around her as it was warmer than the little jacket she had with her in the car.  Our heavier jackets were packed away where we couldn’t get to them.  We didn’t expect to find such cool temperatures until farther north.  We were quite the K-State fans as everyone except Chris was sporting the beautiful KSU purple. 

 

After leaving the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn, I-90 took us west for a while to Billings where we stopped for lunch and changed a tire on the camper.  It didn’t go flat but was looking worn so Tim and Chris changed the tire.  We got to briefly access the internet as we ate lunch at Subway so we updated our blogspot and called our parents.

 

The weather was cloudy with occasional sprinkles or rain.  We continued on I-90 west to highway 89 where we went north to Great Falls, Montana. We drove through varying terrains during this stretch of out trip.  The Yellowstone River followed part of I-90 and was so full it was out of its banks at places and flowing very fast.  Sometimes the lay of the land reminded us of the valley between Westcliffe, CO and Horn Creek Ranch; lush green grass with full to overflowing creeks running through the grasses.  Other times it was arid and dessert-like with buttes.  There were areas that looked like the flint hills of Kansas with rolling hills and not a tree in site.

 

Highway 89 was a small highway and it seemed at times that God was giving us a private tour of this area.  We saw lots of wildlife on highway 89 including mule deer, white geese, horses, cows, prong horn antelope, and 2 moose.  This road also took us by Snowshoe ski and through Lewis and Clark National Forest. There was a lot of snow on the ground but not on the road or coming from the sky.  It was raining and occasionally there was a little ice in the rain drops. A creek followed the highway meandering from one side of the road to the other.  It was beautiful even though it was cloudy and rainy.  When we drove out of the forest there was a stark contrast because right after the sign saying we were leaving the national forest, there were not hardly any trees.

 

About 8:30 pm we pulled into Great Falls, Montana and camped at Dick’s Campground.  It looked clean and the only campground available other than KOA which would cost more than $60 for our family to camp there.  We chose a primitive campsite with no services since we were going to go eat supper, shower and then go to sleep.  We set up the camper and then went to Taco Bell for supper.

 

Our campsite was right next to a stoplight on the highway.  During the night we thought maybe they were having semi-truck drag races as many, many big loud trucks accelerated just outside our camper.  There must have been a airport of some kind close by too because we also heard a helicopter that sounded like it was landing beside us.  We didn’t feel any wind so it must not have landed as close as it sounded.

 

Mileage for the day: 450 miles

Temperature high: 38 degrees in Lewis and Clark National Forest; 50’s elsewhere

Camping fee: $22.00

Price for gasoline: $3.89

June 3, 2008

 

We got up this morning at 7:15am to birds singing and the sun shining.  Breakfast consisted of Chris’ favorite: cereal and orange juice.  Packing the camper was easier today since we have done it once before.  I imagine by the time we get to Alaska we will be very good at packing and knowing the order of packing and where to pack things.  Right now it is a challenge to remember where things are and which things to put in the camper and what to put in or on the suburban.

 

Devotions for today are Proverbs 1 about wisdom calling to us and will we choose to listen.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

 

The scenery in Nebraska is nice with the grass so green and the sky so blue. Not far from our campground, we went under the Great Platt River Road Archway Monument.  It was impressive so we took a picture of it.  I-80 follows the Platt River with many lakes/ponds beside the highway in Nebraska, which reminds us of South Dakota.  Nebraska along I-80 is pretty flat with some small hills, very pleasant to look at.

 

Lunch today was at the nicest Pizza Hut I have ever been to.  It seemed clean and large and since we hadn’t been in the mountain timezone for very long, we were some of Pizza Hut’s first lunch customers.  They were just getting the pizza out on the buffet.  It was delicious.  The Pizza Hut  in Sidney, Nebraska was right across the street from Cabella’s World Headquarters.  The Hartley’s told us that Cabella’s started as a small mom and pop store in downtown Sidney and it has grown to what it is today with huge stores all over the world.

 

We entered the Mountain Time Zone at mile marker 149 at 11:00 am (CST)

 

We continued on I-80 to Cheyenne  where we took I-25 north to Buffalo. Cheyenne had memories for us as we stayed in the smallest camping spot when we went to Yellowstone a few years ago.   I am sure there was less than one foot clearance on either side of our camper and we were between two other campers. Our door couldn’t open completely.  We didn’t need to find a campsite this time we were just passing through.

 

Wyoming is arid in the southern area that we drove through.  As we traveled north, the land became more lush with green grass and rolling hills.  Antelope are on many hillsides and don’t seem to mind us being within sight of them.  Apparently they are not as skiddish as deer.  Sarah tried to count antelope for a while until she had more than 50 then she found something else to do.

 

We read some of the Little Britches story today in the car.  Chris read all of a book about finances that the McKinley’s gave him for graduation.  Aleesha is reading a book Lindsey loaned her.  There was less sleeping in the car so we must have slept well last night.

 

Supper was at a rest area on I-25 around Douglas, Wyoming.  There were lilac bushes in bloom.  They smelled so good. We had sandwiches, chips, and fruit.  Tim and Sarah were fixing sandwiches but they needed to know if Chris wanted mayo on his ham sandwich.  We thought we had the place to ourselves.  Without looking up Sarah saw someone walk by our picnic table and said “Do you like mayonnaise?”  The person was not Chris it was an older man on his way to the bathroom.  We laughed and laughed.  He must have wondered why this little girl wanted to know if he likes mayo.  Our ice cooler is keeping things so cold it is hard to put your hand into the water in the bottom of the cooler.

 

We stayed the night in Buffalo, Wyoming with our cousins Randy, Barb, Lynn and Lee Hartley.  Tim and Randy reminisced about family get-togethers when they were kids as the rest of us laughed and laughed at picturing these two grown men with grey in their hair and beards as children riding their bikes, playing in the creek behind Randy’s house and getting into all sorts of trouble.  The writers of the Dennis the Menace series could use their stories to make many more cartoons.   Our children found out the stories Tim tells about his cousins really are true.  We sure enjoyed our time with the Hartley’s.  They have a very nice place with the Big Horn Mountains visible from their living room window and a creek beside the house.  We didn’t let the kids go outside after hearing their dad’s stories about rolling boulders and a car down the creek banks ; -)

 

The temperature in Buffalo was much cooler than we have felt for a while, probably around 50 degrees when we arrived.  It was cool enough in the camper that we used an extra blanket and pulled it up around our necks.  We were toasty warm in our beds.  I wonder how cool the temperatures will get on this trip.  We didn’t use any sort of heater in the camper.  It rained a little thoughout the night.

 

Mileage for the day: 650

Temperature high: 80 in Nebraska; 60 in Wyoming

Camping fee: $0

Price for gasoline: $3.79

June 2, 2008

 

Monday morning we woke up in Topeka, Kansas to storms.  The weather report called for softball-sized hail and high winds.  Since we had to pack the suburban and go to the store, we waited until after the storms to leave town.  It was a good thing too because our downspout was clogged and had come apart.  We had just cleaned it out a few days ago but the whirlybirds that come off our tree in the backyard had filled the gutters and downspout again.  The worst of the storm (softball-sized hail) didn’t come through our area but we did have high winds and over 2 inches of rain in an hour or so.  We ate lunch at home thanks to the youth group burrito fundraiser.  

 

We finally got out of town at 2:45pm.  We headed north out of Topeka on highway 75 and then I-80 west through Nebraska.  After all the morning storms in Topeka, it was amazing but we traveled under blue skies. The suburban seems very comfortable and big compared to our truck. Chris slept much of the trip, Sarah watched movies, Aleesha played games, Deaune read and Tim drove.  What a time we live in that so much can happen in one vehicle.  We ate supper at a McDonalds on I-80 around York, Nebraska.

 

We stopped around 8:00pm at Windmill State Park near Kearney Nebraska for the night.  It was a campground around a lake with electric hookups, showers and flush toilets.  YEA!   We set up the camper but didn’t have electricity in our campsite so Tim went to pay and ask if they had to turn on the electricity.  A very nice man at the campground office said the electricity should be on and he would come help us.  He checked things out with some kind of electricity checker and discovered that we had flipped the breaker on the camper.  Just a little switch of the breaker and we had electricity and air-conditioning.  It was rather muggy and a little warm so the air was very nice. Chris flopped on the bed and enjoyed the cool air so much that he fell asleep.  After we got camp set up, Aleesha read her book and Sarah, Tim and I went to the playground and played on the swings until the mosquitoes found us.  I think the mosquitoes were very hungry and glad to have some people around so they could have supper.  I got to run around the campground before getting a shower and turning in for the night.  We saw a bunny and many frogs.  I think I stepped on a dead frog when I was running.  It was dark enough that I am not sure and I didn’t stop to find out.   It sure felt good to stretch out on a soft bed.

 

At 3:00am Tim woke and wanted us to prepare for rain and possibly a storm.  After getting everything set for rain and wind, we turned on the radio and didn’t find any stations talking about the weather so we decided it must just be a spring rain and went to sleep.  It did rain and storm a bit in the night but the Keen’s camper kept us dry.

 

Mileage for the day: approximately 300 miles

Temperature: 80 degrees

Camping fee: $15

Gas prices: $3.83