Sometimes the Snow just has to Fall

We left Banff just before 8 am, and we got to Hinton, Alberta around 3 pm.  We had rain all night, rain from Banff to past Lake Louise, and our first hint of snow hit around Bow Summit on the Ice Fields Drive.  It seemed that every time we got above 5,500 feet, it would snow.  Luckily, none stayed on the roadway...but when the temps got down to 32-34 degrees, I sure watched the road even that much more closer.  We did see the rear end of black bear where about six cars had pulled over...and a few were out of their car just 15-20 yards away.  We also saw six big horn sheep near the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre (there spelling, not mine).  

The closer we got to the KOA in Hinton, the more it seemed to snow.  There are 2-3 water soaked inches of snow on the ground here, nothing the dogs like, that's for sure.  Tomorrow it is suppose to be 60 degrees in Hinton, so go figure.  We just hope we can continue on to Dawson Creek where it is 46 instead of 38 right now.

With weak 3G signal, and very poor WiFi at the KOA, this is the best I can do for now.  We will try to post what we did see along our trip today tomorrow.

Cracked Up

Got up before 5:30 this morning and drove the nearly hours distance to the airport where mom and dad were tucked away in a Marriott for their last night.  “This one night costs as much as a week at the weekly motel!”, mom says.  A big change in atmosphere, that’s for sure.  Called them 6:30 central time and they are now safe at home.  

After we had selected to stay at the KOA, dad found out that he knew the owner.  Had not had a chance to meet him until we were just leaving….when one of his workers came by and told him to tell him hello for me.  He asked who my parents were, and when I told him, he knew them too…knew my cousins from San Jose area, and the ones from the Monterey area, and the ones from Hayward…all my mothers relatives.  So I asked his name, and you will never guess it…..yep, I knew him too…went to college back in ‘75 with him…we were on the same dorm floor.  WOW, it is a small world.  Wonder how many others I have seen, and who have seen me, that neither knew who each other were because of all the physical changes over the past forty some years or so.

We left the KOA in a downpour of rain, and rain most of our trip down into Arkansas.  So we decided to stop at Cracker Barrel for dinner in Rogers/Bentonville area, and yes, we decided to stay overnight in their parking lot with the blessings of their night manager, who, by the way, was from White Hall, Arkansas, where I lived for much of my time when I worked at the Library System in Jefferson County for 22 years.  He was in his mid-30’s, so he did not know my kids….but he has a younger brother who might, but I can’t remember the guys name.   So for tonight, we indeed are “Cracked up” at Cracker Barrel.

Deceitful Me?

Yep, that’s mom.  Where are we?  In Missouri, where we gave mom and dad a big surprise by showing up in Blue Springs (outside Kansas City) where they have been for two weeks now, with another four nights to go before they fly back to the Sacramento area.  Why?  Because we can, that’s why.

We left Cochiti Lake on Tuesday morning, and drove to Elkhart, Kansas.  What?  You thought I did the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument hike on Tuesday?  Well, I actually did that on Monday.  Implied that I did it on Tuesday in the blog to throw mom off “IF” she read the blog…she hadn’t, but mission accomplished, it was a complete surprise to them.  On Wednesday we drove through Dodge City, said hi to Wyatt, Bat (Masterson) and, of course, Kitty and Matt, as we drove quickly through (after getting gas).  Wednesday night we stayed in Emporia, Kansas.  This was the loudest park we had stayed in for many weeks, and it was not that loud….just seemed to be since we have had dead silence for so long now.

When dinosaurs are the most interesting thing to photograph as you travel from one corner of Kansas to the other, you know you have an exciting trip.  Of course, we were on a mission, travel 800+ miles in just over 50 hours, you know that you don’t have time to stop and enjoy the roses, errr, tumbleweeds.

Good weather for two days, but woke up today to the sound of thunder, and once underway, we stopped to allow the storm to pass over just on the outskirts of Emporia, then hit about 20-30 minutes of some pretty hard weather before clouds with blue skies started to appear.  Hard to tell, but it is real dark in that rearview mirror.

    

We are at a KOA in Oak Grove, Missouri, ten miles from mom and dad’s weekly-stay motel.  We have stayed her in the past, just last year, and had to renew our KOA membership to get the discount….but there is a KOA in Florida by Marcia’s brother’s house that we also stay at, so it is as it is.  Just not a big KOA fan, overpriced for what you get….but sometimes it’s your only choice.  Will be here for four nights, then off to Arkansas.  We also get to see my youngest son, who is in his first year at the Cleveland Chiropractic College just over the boarder in Kansas  He had a birthday yesterday, and I told him I would drive the 90 miles from Emporia to take him to dinner, but he had two tests today and decided stay home and study.  Tomorrow I will pick him up at noon from the College, and then the five of us will have dinner somewhere.  If I don’t blog for a few days, just know all is well.