Canadian Rockies National Parks, What a Week

We arrived on a Sunday, and we leave on a Sunday.  What we have seen leaves us in awe…and tomorrow when we depart Banff, we have one of the most gorgeous drives there is, from Banff to Jasper.  What will it be like?  Well, it might be raining when we leave Banff…we “might” wake up to some snow, but it is too warm to stick around long…and the further north we go, the better the weather is suppose to be.  But I think we all have experienced the weather person’s “suppose to be” before.  Either way, we should make it to Hinton without problems, and we will enjoy the drive even if every mountain is shrouded in clouds.

We came to the area without any expectations.  We leave with many memories. Memories of Black Bears.  Memories of glacier waters which display the most extraordinary colors of blue and green – like turquoise and emeralds.  Memories of mountains that reach out all around, of forests full of wildlife, and some forests ravaged by fires fighting to regain their glory and life.  Memories of people from all over the world, most very polite, a few how are ignorant to those around them, most who are tourist as ourselves, in awe of that which abounds, busy taking pictures to share with those back home.

We will always have kind reflections of this place…even though something is telling us that we have many more memories that lay before us as we travel north to Alaska.  In two days this trip hits a new plateau…if all goes well, we will be at Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek.  There we will stay for a few days to savor the moment, to further plan our trip northward, and explore the town.  It has been 22 days since we left Sacramento…we have seen so much, and there is so much more that is before us.  As many others who have made this journey before us, we feel honored, we appreciate all that we have seen, we anticipate that which is ahead of us, and we have a gratitude to the almighty which neither words nor pictures can fully describe.