Banff to Idaho

Monday, September 19

We left Banff on a rainy morning.  As we pulled out of town, to our amazement and delight we found snow covered mountains!   

The snow changed the look of the mountains completely, how beautiful.  We have been traveling in and through these Rocky Mountains for several days now and every day is different with one day being as beautiful as the day before yet unique. 

Driving along rt 1 in Banff we saw these beautiful bridges.  

They are not for vehicles or people but for the animals!  The government is trying to protect the wildlife from being killed on the highway so the bridges allow the wildlife to cross over.   In trying to maintain their natural habitat the bridges have been naturalized with trees and shrubbery.  On the short segment of road that we were on we went under several of these bridges.  This must have been an expensive project.  The effectiveness of the bridges was validated by the use of video cameras.

We have also noticed Canada’s commitment to recycling.  Everywhere we stopped from roadside pull outs to gas stations, there were both trash and recycle containers.  We found this in the States at the national parks but not along the roads.

We hit 4000 miles today driving south on rt 95 through British Columbia. By 11:00 the sun was out and we were enjoying the beautiful ride. 

John continued to search for the elusive wildlife along the roadsides.
He was searching for the 'big game'.

we found deer ~ just like in our back yard at home

Kootney Valley

Columbia Lake ~ source for the Columbia River

We arrived in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho and found a camp site. 


Dana’s friend Debbie and her husband Eric live in Coeur d’ Alene and we were hoping to see them on our stop here but we were a day early and it didn’t work out so we just hit some of their favorite spots without them.   

It was recommended that we take a drive along the lake.  

We were actually camped right near the beginning of the “scenic byway” so we headed out.  This was a beautiful drive and we were able to stop and watch the sun set over the lake.  











 Then it turned dark and the ride wasn’t so enjoyable anymore.  The 55 mph sign was a joke; between the dark curvy road and the deer jumping out of the woods we were lucky to average 35mph and were ready for a brew and some curry roasted cashews at the Moon Time back in town.   We really liked this place ~seemed like a great local hang out.
This turned out to be another of our great adventures with a lot of laughs.

We have completed two weeks on the road and have settled into our roles nicely; John driving, me taking pictures, blogging, texting, and feeding him.  He has discovered a new travel companion he may like even better than me;  Lunchables ~ they’re easy to eat with a cookie treat.