Sailing on Puget sound...

We had fun sailing on Sean and AnLee's new sailboat.  It is a Jeanneau SO 37.  It is beautiful, comfortable and handles well.  

Son Sean at the helm.

I love this picture....Seattle through the windshield.

This is one of the cruise ships that head to Alaska from Seattle.  The cruise lines leave twice a week.   Holland America, Princess, Royal Carib and Norwegian Cruise Lines sail from here.

It was neat sailing in the Harbor.

AnLee at the helm.  She is quite a good sailor.

Jasper, Alberta, Canada

We passed the Glacier Fields on the way to Jasper.

Following Ozel's brother John down the road.  Isn't the scenery terrific?

We stopped for a break along the way and found this gorgeous spot on a river running alongside the road.

This place was very interesting.  The water ran through extremely deep troughs, over waterfalls and rapids.  It was located just outside of Jasper.  Wish I had the name because it was a great stop.  

We walked down the river as far as we could and then had to hike back up to the top.  What a workout!!!

Cranmore and Banff, Alberta, Canada..SEP 2012

The RV Park in Cranmore, Alberta was in a beautiful setting.  We stayed there for 3 days which was one of our longer stops.  This was our base for visiting Banff and surrounding area.  There was one interesting problem at this location.  It seems that several years ago there was a family in Cranmore that raised rabbits.  They moved and when they did, they set the rabbits free.  You cannot imagine how many rabbits were there. They were cute and came in all sizes and colors.  The bad  thing was that the dogs, especially Nissa,  didn't know that they were rabbits........squirrels?  cats?   It wasn't fun walking the Girls there.

By the way, half the townspeople want to get rid of these critters and the other half doesn't. I'll let you choose your side.....

The following pictures are of the Gardens in Banff.

This is a Lake outside of Banff.  

Across the Border and headed north.

One of the many rivers that parallel the  roads.

Our travel mates take a stretch break on the way to Kimberley, BC, Canada.

The Gang after our walk at the Campsite.

The Girls crash after a busy day!  Nissa didn't even lay down.

We saw several of these bridges.  At first we thought it was an unfinished road of somekind but after seeing so many of them realized that that was not the case.   They were built for the animals to cross from one side of these busy highways to the other safely.

These are some photos of the beautiful mountains that we passed during our journey between Lake Louse and Jasper, Alberta, Canada

There were a few snow clouds in the morning.

These next few photos are of Lake Louise.  It was beautiful but very touristy.

This picture of  John and D.K  was taken from a different 

part of  the Lake

       

This was another great lake not far from Lake Louise. We actually enjoyed it more.

Snoqualme, WA and Seattle Undergraound

These falls were breathtaking.  The electrical generation system associated with this waterway and these falls has been in place since the late 1800s

These 3 pictures show inside the first floor of one home/shop and the entrance to 2 others.  We learned some history here.   This is a section of Seattle that was raised 30 ft to deal with flooding, overly steep streets and a few other problems. We took a tour of this "Underground Seattle"  It was amazing as we saw what had been the first floor of the the buildings above us.  The entrances to the buildings at street level are actually into the second floors of those buildings.

This is a picture of John Nordsrom's first store.  We were told that Nordstrom had gone to participate in the Gold Rush but once there he realized that the sites worth anything had been claimed.  He did note, however, that the prospector's lacked good shoes.  He returned to Seattle and opened a shoe shop which became quite successful.  I suppose the rest of the story is self evident, his store grew to what it is today.

Friday Harbor, WA

Granddaughter Kara brought her knitting on board the Ferry to keep her busy.  She is learning quite fast.

This is the Ferry going in the opposite direction.  They are gigantic. Notice the beautiful mountain in the back ground - It is Mount Baker and is said to have the most snowfall of anywhere in the U.S.

This is the boat basin in Friday Harbor.  Beautiful boats and beautiful water.

The giant ferry we were on stopped at this little ferry landing in Lopez, WA.  We couldn't believe it. 

October 14, 2012

After traveling through 8 States and 2 Canadian Provinces, we are finally back in Rockport.  We had a terrific trip.  I will be posting some of the highlights of the trip in the next few days.  Now we have to empty the RV, give her a good cleaning and prepare her for a year long storage while we enjoy the ski season and then head out once more on the Great Loop on the M/V Freya.  Actually we are going to take "Freya" on a short trip on the St Johns River with our friends the Landrums.  The boat is at Lamb's Yacht Center in Jacksonville, FL waiting for us to show her some attention.

Back in Angel Fire.  The Aspens are beautiful.

The 2nd morning we woke up in the clouds. Picture out of our bedroom window.

Home at last!   We had a wonderful trip but it is always good to get home.

Our Bird of Paradise plant rewarded us on our return by being in full bloom.

A glass of wine on our back deck on a beautiful and peaceful evening was the perfect ending to our travel adventure!