kim – Page 5 – Crawford Family Sabbatical

July 29, 2013

Yoho National Park – Emerald Lake

Our last day in Banff, we decided to go to Emerald Lake. It is located in Yoho National Park that bumps up to Banff NP. It was about 40 minutes from our campground. Emerald Lake was gorgeous! The blue of the water is caused by the glacial till. It makes you think the water has to be warm like the Caribbean. Unfortunately, just the opposite-it is freezing! It was a cloudy, gloomy day. We got rained on halfway around the lake, but were thrilled to try out our rain gear we brought. The kids and Scott were really excited to rent a canoe, so we did. I was a little stressed out about what happens if the canoe tips in the middle of the lake(the water is freezing-can the kids make it to the side of the lake?). Well, it all worked out and we did not tip over, thankfully! It was pretty cool being out in the lake with a slight rain coming down. Kids loved it!!

Emerald Lake - can you tell kids are wound up? — Emerald Lake – can you tell kids are wound up?

Kane got a hole in his water bottle, so he is sharing his water with Kat.

July 28, 2013

Our longest hike yet at Banff NP!

The kids thought Lake Louise looked far away-it did!

Kids were excited to have to cross water!

Heading to the hiking trail by Lake Louise

Kids were excited to hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers at Lake Louise even with it being 7 miles round trip. Want to know why? There was a Teahouse at the top. Nothing like a little tea and cookies for motivation! 🙂 We were really proud of them. They did not complain at all. I truly was shocked. The first mile was pretty flat, the second was a slow incline and third told us we were climbing a mountain. The views were spectacular!

July 27, 2013

Banff National Park – Lake Louise Campground

Banff! Were we excited? Absolutely! Scott asked me as we were driving into Banff National Park, if I was tired of the mountains yet. No way! The scenery soothes my soul!

We stayed at Lake Louise campground in Banff NP. We had electricity, but no water hookups. Lots of biking paths and unlimited hiking possibilities. I was a little worried about our campground, because some of the reviews I had read were not good. People had complained about 2 campers right next to each other and it being really tight. It was totally fine for us! Campground was wooded with creek and biking trail nearby. We got set up and headed to Lake Louise Visitor Center. Kat was not in the mood for biking, so we drove and the boys biked. After dinner, we drove up to Lake Louise. I have to say, I was pretty excited to see it, especially after I watched the episode of The Bachelor in January that took place here. 🙂

Scott and Kane biked to Lake Louise Visitor Center.

July 25, 2013

Hello Canada!

Kane and Kat were so excited to step onto Canadian Soil! While Scott handled customs, we ran over to the Alberta sign. We are on our way to Calgary for 2 nights on our trek to Alaska.

July 24, 2013

Glacier NP(East Side) – Snow, Hikes and Huckleberry Pie

We moved to the east side of Glacier on Tuesday. I thought I had booked our site for 3 days, but realized when they put the check out notice on the window, that I had looked at my excel travel log wrong. Ohh, we were disappointed! Fish Creek is just beautiful!! Then when we got to the east side(2 hour drive) to St. Mary’s campground, there was a problem with our campsite. We ended up getting spot that felt like we were in the high desert. Stark contrast to the other side. It all worked out, because we were closer to the most breathtaking scenery!

We hiked Hidden Lake Valley Overlook Hike at Logan Pass. Kids were so excited to hike through SNOW in July! So weird seeing snow and actually walking through it in some places. This is one of our favorite hikes we have done. At the top, we were at the Continental Divide. We saw mountain goats, bighorn sheep and marmots. We wished we could hike down to the the Hidden Lake, but the fish were spawning and bears were there feeding, so they closed the trail.

We headed to lunch at Two Sisters

Cafe in Babb, Montana on the way to Many Glacier(part of Glacier). We split a piece of huckleberry pie! Huckleberries are popular here. There was a dog outside the restaurant that loved me! Tried to follow me in the restaurant, and we were leaving followed us to the jeep and hopped right in the front seat. Kids laughed so hard! That’s him at the window when we were getting ready to pull out.

Then we headed to Many Glacier(unfortunately, there used to be 150 glaciers in park, but now only 25. They say by 2030 there will not be any glaciers left). The ranger said they classify a glacier by: ice 100 feet thick and 25 yards wide and it moves. We hiked the Swiftcurrent Trail to Lake Josephine. We were able to see Gem and Salamander Glacier. Leaving Many Glacier, we spotted a big grizzly bear up on the side of the mountain. It is so incredible to see animals in their natural habitat. Headed home for dinner then to the Native American Dance Program. It was a tad busy that day! So much to see and so little time!!

July 23, 2013

Glacier NP – John Lake Hike

We tried to do the Avalanche Lake Hike, but we could not get a parking spot. This place was packed! So we went down the road to the John Lake Hike, which gave us woods, lake and waterfalls. What more can we ask for? Ate lunch in the woods, I lost walkie talkie(Kat found it), kids had a blast playing in water and fishing(no fish caught), and got in a 3 mile hike.

July 22, 2013

Glacier is my new Favorite!

We arrived to Glacier National Park last Sunday. We stayed 2 days on the west side at Fish Creek and 2 days at St. Marys on the east side. When we pulled to check in the rangers said there have been a couple bears running around the campground. Ok, that made me a little nervous, because the kids bike around the loop and play outside a lot. The next day we heard they had to capture one of them, the bear bluffed charged someone. Poor little bear got caught, taken away and is not coming back(he was 2).

We are at Glacier!

Our campsite.

We walked to Lake McDonald after dinner.

Kids, fully clothed, trying out the cold water.

July 20, 2013

Lewis and Clark were Studs!

Kids learning Indian Sign Language at Center

Rainbow Falls-4 of 5 falls now have dams built on them

Today, we visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Grand Falls, Montana. It was AWESOME! We learned so much!! I highly recommend you take the time to visit, if you are anywhere near here. It is amazing how they planned for a trip that had so many unknowns. No man had traveled by land from Atlantic to Pacific. Also, they thought the West mirrored the East. They thought the Rockies mountains were farther south and similar to Appalachian Mountains. They crossed through territories of 50 different indian tribes. Have you ever had to buy a present for someone you didn’t know? They had to have presents for a multitude of indians they did not know. They were the first white men to see the Great Falls. They had no idea there were 5 waterfalls. They had to portage their canoes and carry their supplies by hand or makeshift wagons for 18 miles. Absolutely Fascinating! I could go on and on with all I learned today.

July 20, 2013

Meals

Some of you have asked about cooking in the RV. We are trying to eat most of our meals in the RV due to our budget. I have to say, I am pretty pleased with how smoothly it has been working out. For once, almost all the food is getting eaten. We plan out all our meals for the week and purchase the right amount. Since we are on a budget, we don’t grab the extras at the grocery store, like we used to do. I think that is where we used to waste food.

July 20, 2013

Laundry

Well, today was Laundry Day and we sure had a lot! I have a new appreciation for owning a washer and dryer in St. Louis. This is not something that was at the top of my appreciation list, but now it is. Also, the cost of doing laundry adds up. This is a line item that we did not think about. I spent $11.50 on laundry(I did bed sheets, so that was an extra load). I am hoping we can stretch laundry out till at least every 6 days. Yes, we are re-wearing clothes, as long as they don’t stink.