CALAGRY

ok with spotty Wi-Fi I will try to post something... arrived here in calagry on tues around noon..got set up then off to a welcome gathering and to get our schedule of events that will be going on and by the sounds of things we are going to be busy... yesterday we boarded the bus at 8am to go off for free breakfast..the stampeded committee does a pancake breakfast every morning for everyone who wants it..they serve pancakes with a piece of bacon cooked in it served on some very fine china (napkin)..must say they were good pancakes.. then off to the Calgary tower to see the city from high up--then glenbow museum for a few hrs and didn't have enough time to see it all... now it is on the Canada Olympic village and and their hall of fame..again not enough time to see it all but we sure tried..then on to dinner and back to the rig at 7 and to bed shortly after 9..it is still light out so when I go to bed it is almost liking taking a nap in the afternoon as it is so light out... as e drove up here we saw field after field of very bright yellow flowers and come to find out it is canola (oil)...weather has been good and there are very few sights of any flooding...the city sure went to work cleaning up the city after the flooding..understand they took all the dirt out of the stampeded grounds dried it and put it bvack...sure understand that this is a real money maker for the city...lots and lots of people all over and streets are closed for activities... no pictures going this morning I will try again at another time..

ARRIVING IN CANADA

this morning we left Kalispell, mt about 9 and we knew we would have to travel over some slower roads so we wanted a early start but first we had to have coffee and a cinnamon bun with tom before we left.. got on the road about 9am which was good but first lar wanted to change one the spare tire with one on those on the rig that looked like It was showing some wear...so he did before coffee..so that done we now have changed tires on three of the four tires on the rig.. then on our way..as we were approaching Canada the really dark clouds started to appear so we knew we were going to be in for some weather ugh...no problem going thru customs we were only asked a few questions like where we were from da...did we have any fire arms NO to that and a couple of more..so the young lady sent us on our way and said have a good time... the travel was thru some mountain passes and then the rain started coming down and I mean down it was some of the hardest rain we have ever driven in along with hail...we drove in the hard rain for at least a couple of hrs even pulling over a couple of times when it got harder..couldn't see your foot in front of your hand it was so hard... in one town we stopped for lunch we saw a couple of bucks cross t he street and i am serious when I say they crossed in the cross walks...but by the time I got the camera out and set to go they were gone we are now about a couple of hrs outside Calgary and will make the final p

ush tomorrow..besides we aren't suppose to arrive till tomorrow then the fun begins hahahaha... so hopefully we will have Wi-Fi there and will have time to post some pictures of the stampede and the tours we take..

MONTANA

we have been in Montana for a few days and seen some sights and also visited with lar's friend tom from way back to the western union days...have had a good visit and tom had a hip replacement ab out 4 weeks ago and seems to be doing well...haven't been to any museums nor tourists sights ..but we sure have seen some beautiful scenery...

pictures are of a sunset outside Missoula, mt--scenery along the way..lar meeting the bull he thinks he might like to ride..

JULY 4TH

so todays is july 4th when we celebrate our countries freedom..amen to that...so last night we were treated to some fire works and didn't even have to leave the campground--the city of butte was doing their display and we are overlooking the city so we could stay put..oh we could have gone into butte then we would have had to fight the traffic getting back...easier to stay where we were.. and a nice display it was..but you know what it doesn't get dark here until 11 so it was a late night going to bed...so we slept in this morning till 7..such a treat.. we decided we would go to a couple of museums only to find out that they had closed for the holiday..so we went to the site of the largest mine fire in Montana on top of a mountain overlooking butte...nice views of the city...and interesting info about the fire.. then off to the Chinese museum of the settlers who settled here in butte..we had our own private guide as it wasn't busy at all... lunch had been decided to go find a pastie for lunch as we had had one in the UP and wanted to compare them....guess because it is the 4th of july most everything is closed even the pastie shops..we were told that Wal-Mart also makes them--so we looked at each other and said we could buy some and bring them back to the rig...guess what Wal-Mart was all sold out..so had to settle for a sub-way..which is always tastie...glad that people close up their shops to enjoy the holiday with their families so I guess we may just have to wiat till we get home and I'll try to make some...

MONTANA

this morning we were on the road by 9 heading toward butte, mt where the plan if to spend 2 nights...it was an uneventful day of travel..NO tire change amen...we just spent most of the time looking at he scenery..the only way to really get the most out it is to see it with your own eyes..just beautiful... we traveled along the Yellowstone river for some time and it sure looks like a great river to take a canoe/kayak trip on.....at the campground we the might at said that the river has few festivals with the river in mind..lots of people come out to help celebrate it..it is onoe of the rivers that lewis and clark explored... arrived in butte around 2 or so found our campground got settled..then we find out that there is a really big display of fireworks tonight and we don't even have to leave the campground as we can see from here...

DRIVING ALONG

left Worland, wy this morning around 9 or so heading toward Montana...and it was suppose to be a leisurely ride ...we thought...but guess what we stopped at a rest area a and when I came out of the bathroom I heard a swosshing noise..oh what is that I thought someone in the house over there working on something or maybe I should walk over to the rig/truck to see if maybe the sound was coming from there...yep..one of the tires on the rig ..when I got down to check it out further I noticed it was coming from the tire stem...I called lar who just came out of the jon to come o0ver and not ready the info...yep he says guess I need to change the tire...so he did...the only ones who asked us if we needed help were a couple of bikers (motor) by then wee were all done..so we talked to them for awhile and they were from ohio and w.v on their way to Yellowstone...told us not to go to cody as there was a big something going on there and the streets were all blocked and this was tko go on for a week..guess we won't go to cody... then we had lunch..and as we were beginning to pull out I noticed a van with it's hood up and the young man was pouring water into his radiator..said to lar should we offer to help...ao wedid..and of course they had a story --traveling with three young kids and we had just bought some ice cream sandwiches when the ice cream maker at mcdonalds was broken so we gave the kinds the sandwiches..got them all set and they took off heading to Kansas... arrived at the campground a wee bit later than planned cause we also had to stop at another tire store to have them replace the tire stem...as lar's says he is tires of tires... so the adventure goes on and on but we are having a good time enjoying the scenery..

WYOMING

we arrived where tyler is doing an intership for the summer..in a place called ten sleep, wy..he is working for the forest service learning how to fight forest fires (on news today the tragic loss of all the hot shot firefighters god bless) but tyler doesn't want to be on that team...he had a place all set for us in a volunteer rv site with full hook-ups right in shooting distance of his cabin...after setting up lar took a look at the rig and the tires/wheels as he always does and on the right side the tires werfe very close together and after getting under the rig decided we could very well have a possible problem so ;lar and; tyler did some research when we went into ten sleep for pizza and found on our way was a tire and brake shop that we were told did very good work but it was in worland..a change of plans for us was then to move on sunday instead of mon and have tyler follow us off the mountain in case of a problem so he agreed to do so... off the mountain and into worla

nd with NO problem thank god...time for a museum and a tenderloin vension dinner for tyler and his friend adam who came along for the adventure.... sunday morning we invited tyler over for breakfast and when he arrived he said want to see a moose...of course so off we went to see a young bull moose feeding in the swamp..could almost jumped on his back for a ride...lar also so a mule deer with her two fawns earlier..a great visit with tyler and some beautiful scenery and the only way to really appreciate it to see for yourself...it changes as you go around a curve high cliffs to desert looking landscape..in the desert there are lots of oil wells (ugh) painted the desert color to hide them ahahahhaha...oh I know that we all need gas and oil but it sure takes away from the landscape... lar called the tire place and we have an appointment at 1pm today then go from there as th what they might think our problem is... pictures somehow I goofed and it got mixed up ..mountains--hail/snow on sat might--look close and you might see a mule deer--moose