Monday

This is an abbreviated post. Please keep reading after this post, as Saturday and Sunday are listed below, despite the fact this is marked Monday. No internet service available made doing a blog tough! Ilene

Wow, last day to spend in this beautiful place called the Canadian Rockies. Bought Dennis a shirt with the phrase, "I speak Canadian Fluently". He probably shouldn't wear it until we get into Alaska. As I have mentioned earlier, it is so international, you hear less English and more of many languages. Even the folks speaking English seem to be from New Zealand, Australia and England. The Canadian Rockies must be known worldwide as beautiful country.

After spending Sunday night without the basic electricity, etc. we are ready to enjoy Jasper. We start the day by returning our friend, GyPSy. We are going to miss that device. It certainly enhanced our travels yesterday.

We obtained a detailed map of the Jasper area, enjoyed a delicious (albeit pricey) breakfast at Papa George's and began our day.

First stop, the Jasper Tramway. This concession takes you atop Whistler's Mountain. The mountain is 7,400 feet high. Not as high as many of the surrounding mountains, but still incredible. Different from the gondolas we rode in Banff, the Tramway holds 26 people. I looked carefully at the folks boarding with us, wanting to be sure that someone shouldn't be counted as two. I know that is terrible, but I do that when I get into elevators, too.

We are off to the top of the mountain and hopefully some beautiful picture taking possibilities. The weather today is not as perfect as it has been. It is a bit cooler and there is some cloud cover. Hopefully, it will not impact our photos.

We get to the top. Brrrrrr! It is 10 degrees colder than it was below. What did I expect? The wind adds to the cool feel. Unfortunately, the clouds are beginning to cover the land below, causing shadows. Maybe there will be a break in the clouds and our view of Jasper below will be illuminated by the sun. Wrong. I guess you can't have everything. The views of the surrounding mountains are breathtaking, nonetheless.

We take sufficient photographs and decide to head back down below. We wait in line for the next tram. We almost get on the next one, but with three or four people in front of us, we will have to wait for the next one. It is only nine minutes, so not to worry.

What did I say? Not to worry? Wrong. We do board the next tram for the return trip. Notice I say, "board". Once boarding, we wait and wait and wait. Finally, we hear the operator of the tram receive communication from the ground, announcing that it is too windy! The tram cannot leave the top of the mountain. We are asked to deboard, our tickets are marked to reflect that we will be the first to reboard (given there are at least 200 other people waiting to return below) and we wait. The operator said that they have had to wait as long as four hours. Where did it say that in the fine print?
After perusing EVERYTHING in the gift shop, they finally announce that we can reboard. Good thing, as we see dark clouds in the offing and if there is inclement weather, lightning, rain, etc., we will be waiting longer.
Yeah! We leave the mountain top and slowly descend. Ahhh, back to the base of the mountain. That is one to remember.

Next, we decide that we need to find some white water rafters. We have been told that they travel behind Becker's Cottages and that there is a great vantage point. We head in that direction and wait. We are rewarded as several floats, loaded with happy and wet customers float by our perch. Some wave, some just hang on for dear life as they float over rapids and rocks. With the mountains in the background, these are great photos.

Now we need to visit Maligne Canyon. We have heard that this incredible cravasse is something to behold. We heard right. It is hard to imagine how many thousands of years it took to create these deep canyons. Furiously rushing water flows through the rock, it twists and turns, creating deafening sounds. What a great example of erosion! We find multiple vantage points, some with rapids, some with waterfalls, some with just rushing water. All are beautiful.

We have heard that many Canadian towns have public access to the internet at the libraries. Given this is Monday and we haven't had access since Friday, finding the library is important. Right on! We find the library and locate wireless internet. Life is good.

Tomorrow, we head to Grand Prairie, our last stop in Alberta. We hope to stop at a place called, Grand Cache to photograph a great waterfall. After Grand Prarie, we will be moving on to Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Dawson Creek (yes, that is where the show was supposedly set) is known as the zero mile marker for the Alaskan Highway.