Alaska with the Brewer's 06

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Well, the temperature here in Banff is up to a balmy 44F. ?The clouds had lifted and we could see most of the mountains, but they seem to be coming back down. ?The forecast is for rain through Monday :(
 
Tom said:
Let me get my towel out and cry? ;D

Forget the towel.....get over here and help!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, while I was doing yard work, Mike was on the roof of the motorhome finishing up the solar panel installation. You probably would have enjoyed the roof work more than the yard work......
 
LOL Wendy. We've done our share of yard work, but downsized from the large house and large yard to something smaller requiring much less maintenance.
 
Hi Betty & Terry,

If you promise to try and get those temps a bit higher for when we get to Banff.......we will do our best to keep the high temps here for when you arrive in Anchorage (assuming you are heading this far?).

Today was a RECORD BREAKING 78F !!!!!? ;D ;D

Their usual average for May is 59F.

Paul

 
Day 4  May 27, 2006  Banff.  City Tours

While Russ, Lorna, Ned and Terry went out to breakfast I slept in and enjoyed some quiet time at home.  I managed to see a deer outside our window and watched the clouds lift from the mountain tops. As the weather looked like it would be clearing, we started off as tourist to a National Historic Site of Canada Cave and Basin.  I learned a bit of Canadian History and toured fascinating hot springs.  Seems that as Canada was becoming a nation, there was a desire by early leaders to add land to the west (British Columbia) but they would only join the Country if the government would build a railway to connect the east and west. Only the rich were able to afford leisure time for travel and the train fare.  They required amenities so the Canadian Pacific Railroad built a series of beautiful Hotels.  The Banff Springs Hotel pictured in an earlier post was such a hotel. A big attraction was the discovery of the Mineral hot springs.  This area was developed as the first National Park in 1885.  The maintenance of a springs with it?s high mineral content proved too much and folks began building regular swimming pools so they stopped coming to this site.  It is now just a museum type building with a very interesting tour as we had a very knowledgeable guide.  The upper part of the springs is still open to the public and includes a spa. After a brief shopping trip in town with no purchases, Lorna and I  paid the fee for the Hot Mineral Bath and soaked in sulfur laden mineral water to cure our aches and pains and enjoy something warm.  We then treated ourselves to one of the many massages offered by the spa.  I feel like a noodle, very relaxed.  It occurs to me that I have only one body and I should take care of it with massages more often.

Stastics:  Rainfall 0.51 to date.  Some pea size hail today.
Wild life sightings:  1 deer  High of 44 degrees. 
No Memorial Day Celebrations scheduled.  Glad we have news to watch.
 

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More great photos Betty!  Were those last two of the mineral springs?  They look inviting if they are warm.  I love soaking in mineral springs but have not had many opportunities to do so.

Hope that hail was not hard on your coach.
 
UK-RV said:
Hi Betty & Terry,If you promise to try and get those temps a bit higher for when we get to Banff.......we will do our best to keep the high temps here for when you arrive in Anchorage (assuming you are heading this far?).
Today was a RECORD BREAKING 78F !!!!!? Their usual average for May is 59F.Paul

Paul,

I will try very hard to get our Canadian temps up a bit. ? I bought new thisulate lined ?wool gloves today which should ensure raised temps. ?Yes, Achorage is on our agenda but we are moving slowly so the clouds don't destroy our photos. ?We are retired with no schedule. Hope we cross paths.

Betty
 
Terry,

Are you by any chance related to Ansel Adams??? :) Some great shots and, as you have said before, there is never a bad picture of Betty. Keep the photos coming. We hope to do Banff and Jasper someday.
 
Jim

Thanks for the compliment..Here are a couple more of last nights snowfall.

You would love it up here...Come visit us in ID & you could probably talk us into come back up for a week or two.
 

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Smoky said:
More great photos Betty!? Were those last two of the mineral springs?? They look inviting if they are warm.? I love soaking in mineral springs but have not had many opportunities to do so.

Smoky,
Yes the photos were of the  Basin Hot springs, but the lower pools are for tourist view only.  You are not allowed to even put your hand in it to feel water temp. (40 degrees celcius)  Seems an endangered species of snail lives in those waters and they are being protected.  The public hot springs looks more like a gigantic wading pool and NO you are not going to get any pictures of me in a bathing suit. :)

Betty
 
Terry A. Brewer said:
Jim

Thanks for the compliment..Here are a couple more of last nights snowfall.

You would love it up here...Come visit us in ID & you could probably talk us into come back up for a week or two.

Terry,

As you know, I hope to make it to Alaska one day. I also want to visit you and Betty in ID. Not sure just when that will take place. Probably after you visit us in FL!!! :) :)
 
Day 5    May 28, 2006 Banff, Alberta Canada

Ok, I know the log say "Alaska" , but here were are still in Banff, waiting for weather to clear.  The gal at the "Guard station"  into Tunnel Mountain (the RV Park where we continue our stay), tells us  this is most unusual for days of rain and the fog-like  shroud  surrounding us.  The items of the day were to return to the Greek Restaurant and order the same soup and Greek salads we all enjoyed a couple of days ago.  Why mess with a good thing? The waitress even remembered who got which separate check! :)

A good rainy day activity is to attend a movie, so we went to see The Da Vinci  Code today.  This is a very thought provoking movie.  I enjoyed it very much  but Terry says he would rather have seen Mission Impossible III.  The thing I least enjoyed about the movie  was the guy behind me whose cell phone rang and he carried on a conversation.  Then he and his wife began a conversation between themselves.  Boy did I turn around and give them a  big sshhhhhhhh.
  We plan to wait for the weather to clear before we move  on so as to not miss any photo ops.  Stay tuned....

Betty
 
Betty Brewer said:
The gal at the "Guard station"? into Tunnel Mountain (the RV Park where we continue our stay), tells us? this is most unusual for days of rain and the fog-like? shroud? surrounding us.?

How many times have we heard the locals say that the weather is "most unusual"???
 
tells us  this is most unusual for days of rain and the fog-like  shroud  surrounding us.

She probably says that to all the tourists. It was like that when we were there too. We thought the mists/fog actually enhanced the mountain scenery, though. However, we were in Banff on our way home from AK and had nearly 4 months of stupendous mountain scenery under our belt by that time, so maybe the somewhat different scenery was more appreciated.


The items of the day were to return to the Greek Restaurant a

We enjoyed the Greek place as well - excellent food and service to match!
 
Finally, sunset color at Banff.

Bagged my first photos of eagle over by Vermillion lake.

Smokey: To get the eagle pic, I had to shoot at 450 mm handheld (leaning against the car) The long zoom coupled wiht anti-shake are my favorite features
 
Terry A. Brewer said:
Jim

>> Probably after you visit us in FL!!!<<

That will probably be 2008 on my next "Vacation Year".

That sounds great. If things work out we will be in AZ for the fall of 2007. You might be able to follow us back in the spring of 2008. I just might have to quit work that year. It's time to retire again but I'll work at least one more year.
 
Green flashes are unlikely. Too many mountains and forests. Homer will be the only possible oceanfront location, unless the sun is too far N and sets over mainland as seen from there.
 
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