August 1

It has been a busy month since my last posting. Annie made me promise to update this more.
Ralf and I took our holidays and headed out with our full load camping gear on July 12th. We headed over to Sooke for the first night then over to Comox. Ferries were full but you just gotta love that priority boarding for motorcycles! We fit our 'bikes in with quite a few others at the tail end of the ferry and returned to the mainland, heading along the Fraser Canyone to 100 mile house. We had a great time visiting with good friends, Noreen and Hardy; they have a beautiful log house near Horse Lake. We were treated to gourmet meals including Bison steak and hiked through the area around their property. Noreen has to struggle with deer netting around her gardens but the backyard of their home is like a park. After we said our goodbyes we headed through Lone Butte towards Alberta. We stopped minutes ahead of a black cloud and heavy rain fall in Hinton pulling into a KOA cabin outside Hinton (I believe in keeping the tent dry!).
Next morning we headed toward Camrose and spent a few days with Rachel, Travis and the all IMPORTANT grandchild, Julia. She was not at all certain on our approach (too much black leather and noise) but warmed up as we stripped down. Julia was pleased to show us the new top teeth - they are very sharp, fyi. Rachel took us all to visit cousins Edna, Gordon and Greg in Edmonton where Julia further impressed everyone by showing how much she could eat in one afternoon. We had a great time and admired all the continuing progress Travis is making on the house. Sunday, July 20th, Ralf celebrated his birthday and we headed over to Lake Louise. We had to take a motel as the campsite was full (one hour wait in line to be told that!) and the next day we hiked all over Lake Louise going to both tea houses. We headed out late afternoon and went on to Radium Hot Springs, the perfect place to soak after hours of hiking. The heat was 37 deg and it didn't cool down much over night.

(more updates to follow!)