A Week at Banff National Park Canada

One of the benefits of arriving in early May, we had some extra time to travel to Banff, Alberta. Leaving our rig at the "Museum at the Brig" in Farragut State Park, we traveled into Canada east over the Continental Divide to Canmore, Alberta, a small town 20 miles south of Banff. We reserved a time share condo for a week starting Saturday, May 12.

Elkhorn at Falcon Crest, Canmore, Alberta

We had a Studio with a full kitchen and a deck equipped with a gas grill.

Two hot tubs were located around the complex.

This one had a beautiful view of the Canadian Rockies.

On Sunday we found Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church,

located just two miles from our Condo.  

 

Since it was Mother's Day, we thought a little trip north to

Lake Louise would be special.
 

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Lodge
 

Delicious Mother's Day Lunch at the

Fairview Dining Room in the Chateau

overlooking Lake Louise.
 

After our lunch we took a one and half mile hike to Silverton Falls.

The trail head was at Castle Junction along the Bow Valley Parkway.
 

Silverton Falls
 

Mount Rundle and the Vermilion Lakes just

outside of the town of Banff
 

Monday we drove north on the Icefields Parkway which

 begins in Lake Louise ending in the town of Jasper.

This is about a 300 mile very scenic

round trip excursion with frequent pull-outs

and short hikes along the way.
 

Hector Lake
 

The Icefields Parkway follows along

the North Saskatchewan River
 

Climbing the switchbacks toward the Columbia Icefield
 

The Columbia Icefield extended over

the road in the last century.
 

The Columbia Icefield Visitor Center is just across the street.
 

After taking the two mile hike to Sunwapta Falls,

we decided to turn around and drive back to our Canmore Condo.
 

View of Sunwapta River heading south.
 

Tangle Falls easily viewed from the Icefields Parkway.
 

On Tuesday we drove to Lake Minnewanka outside

of the town of Banff.
 

The Red Chairs are often placed at

scenic overlooks in Canadian National Parks.

This one is overlooking Lake Minnewanka along the Stewart Canyon Hike.
 

Stewart Canyon Hike

After our morning hike we took the Banff Gondola to the summit of Sulphur Mountain. While purchasing our $64 (CND) tickets to the top, the cashier asked if we would like to include lunch at the top for $5 (CND) extra. What a deal. We enjoyed prime rib with rice, roasted potatoes, vegetables, and a drink in the mountain top restaurant.
 

Going Up

 

The Gondola took us up over 2,000 feet

to an elevation of 6700 feet.

 

The stunning view from the top.

 

Lake Minniwanka and the town of Banff below

 

A beautiful scene with the Red Chairs

 

A mountain boardwalk takes us to Sanson Peak, the highest

point on Sulphur Mountain.

 

This weather observatory was operated from

1903 until the mid-1930's.

 

Six mountain ranges are visible from this

state of the art Interpretive Centre which has

two restaurants a movie theater and exhibits.

 

Going Down

 

Big Horn Sheep

 

Wednesday we decided to take the four mile Johnston Canyon Hike

to see both the lower and the upper falls.

 

Johnston Lower Falls are

running strong with all the snow melt.

 

Much of the hike is on catwalks that

are bolted to the canyon walls.

 

Johnston Upper Falls

Lower Lookout

 

Johnston Upper Falls

Upper Lookout

 

 

Its a long way down!

 

Enjoying a glass of Guinness draught in

the St. James Irish Pub in Banff.

 

Friday we drove to Calgary, about 65 miles southeast, for the day.

Our visit to the Lougheed House gave us some of the history

of the area. Built by one of Calgary's most influential families in 1891.

 

Many hand painted stained glass windows were

commission by the Lougheeds.

 

Driving home from Calgary, we saw a large herd of

big horn sheep as we entered Banff National Park.

 

We don't golf anymore, but they

sure have some beautiful courses.

 

We had a lovely trip to the Canadian Rockies. The weather

was beautiful and there were very few tourists in mid-May.

 

Return to Farragut State Park in Idaho

We left South Texas on April 9th. After stops in Tyler, Texas, and Melissa, Texas, we made quick tracks to Idaho. Heading north out of Texas April 26, we arrived at Farragut on May 5th.

The Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming got 15 inches of snow as we approached them, so we spent four nights at Rapid City, South Dakota, waiting for the weather to clear. While we had the time in Rapid City, the truck got two new front tires and the Honda got its second oil change.

We arrived at our Campsite at the Brig Museum midday. Plenty of time to rake up all the pine needles, burn them, and give the trailer a washing.

Winter 2017/2018

After a perfect summer in northern Idaho, we departed on September 17, arriving in South Texas (Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge) on October 27. We spent the winter at our usual campsite #10 at the Marinoff Volunteer Village. This is a great place for a long term winter stay while working three days a week for the South Texas Refuges. There are 14 large campsites with long cement RV pads, 50 amp, FHU. The laundry room has 5 washers and dryers available for the volunteer's use. All shopping and conveniences are available a short drive away in McAllen and the surrounding communities. We are now completing our ninth winter season in this setting.

                                                              

Arrival October 27, 2017

Our old friends the Altamira Orioles, aka Orange Pants,

were quick to return to their habit of

pecking on our back window most mornings.

 

Every December the city of Hidalgo puts on a Christmas Light Festival. Most of the downtown area is involved in the elaborate light displays. One of the volunteers organized a group outing to Hidalgo. The best way to see the light display is by taking the trolley tour. We were fortunate to have a beautiful December evening for our trolley tour through the city.

 

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND
We have been to South Padre Island many times, but thought it would be nice to spend New Years week at a time-share condo there. Our condo week started on New Year's Eve day. We think it was the coldest week of the entire decade. We didn't get to spend much time walking on the beach, but Kurt did eat a lot of seafood and we got caught up on our Cable TV shows. Near the end of the week we had a couple beautiful warm clear days for a walk on the beach and a ride around the twelve mile Laguna Atascosa tram loop.

Peninsula Island Resort, South Padre Island  

36 inch Black Drum caught on the ship channel

at the south end of South Padre Island

 

SERVICING THE LRGV PROPERTIES

While working we often have adventures, some fun and some not so fun. In December we challenged ourselves to take a shortcut across a "dry" lake bed in order to remove trash collected by other volunteers on the Teniente Tract. After assessing La Sal Vieja on foot, we felt it might be ok to drive to the trash pile. As the shown in the picture, after breaking through the crust, we buried the truck up to the axles in slippery black mud. We were determined to get the truck out of the lake bed...

After an hour and a half of work we managed

to get ourselves out using our

shovels and logs we cut with our chain saw.

The next day, we returned with the proper equipment

and got the job done with no problems.

Haste Makes Waste.

 

Another job completed was on the Goodfields Tract:

Replaced and adjusted worn ranch gate

Spring time arrived mid-February in the desert.

 

One of our favorite lunch time stops while servicing the Boca Chica Properties. We usually work two or three days out here each winter. The tailgate of the truck is our picnic bench.

Part of our job is sign installation and maintenance.

 

An Aerostat is on the Los Velas tract. These interesting observation balloons are used for patrolling the US Mexican border. There are currently about four or five of these in the Rio Grande Valley. These helium balloons have cameras for spotting ground activity as well as radar for spotting low flying planes. The Aerostat is flown from a tether when conditions allow. They are not flown when the wind speed exceeds 30 mph or in fog.

 We took a short day trip to Mexico for some dental work. Progresso has many fine dentists that work for a fraction of the cost of their US counter parts. This time of year they are very busy with all the winter Texans.

CORPUS CHRISTI
The first week of March we booked a time-share condo on north Padre Island, just east of Corpus Christi. Padre Island is 113 miles long. Separated by the Mansfield Ship Channel, South Padre Island is accessed at Port Isabel and runs south to Boca Chica.

La Casa Del Sol, Corpus Christi 

We took a tour of the U.S.S. Lexington air craft carrier. Commissioned in 1943, it is now permanently docked and available for tours in Corpus Christi Bay.

Padre Island National Seashore

We identified about 35 shore and song birds.

Texas State Aquarium