A Day in the Life of the Magic Campers

Thought maybe you would enjoy following us through a non-travel day to see what FUN we have! It will give you the opportunity to see a little of Magic and our views along the way.

Today - Tuesday, September 15 - we have set up the following ‘rough’ schedule:

8:00 Leave Magic for Lake Louise

9:00 Board the tram at Lake Louise to see grizzlies

10:00 Brunch at Lake Louise

11:30 Arrive at Lake Johnson to hike and eat lunch along the way

3:00 Arrive at Banff gondola

5:00 Return from gondola ride and investigate Banff Hotel - decide from here what to do about dinner - eat at Hotel or return to Magic??

So - this is how the day went:

Camp Counselor Gary got up at 5:30, as it takes him a little longer than camper Elizabeth to get going! I get my ‘chai latte wake up cup’ in bed at 7. By 7:15 the bed is made -

Bed made - check

and by 7:30 we are showered (using that LARGE shower that Gary had to have) and eating breakfast. Since the day calls for lunch on the trail, PB&J sandwiches are made and the ‘lunch box’ packed.

PB&J made in our kitchen - check

This morning we get a little delayed, as we remember that Gary needs to get a few more things done with the pictures for the blog posting of the last couple of days that we hope to get done later today - so he spends a few minutes at the computer in our office/living room.

Pictures ready for blog post - check

It is about 8:30 by the time we actually get out the door. But, that is OK - we are only a little off schedule - can make up 30 minutes easily throughout the day. Just as we pull out of the campgrounds we have our first sighting of the day - a beautiful, BIG elk buck is ‘posing’ by the side of the road for us as he eats his breakfast!! A GREAT start to the day.

Elk buck sighting - check

Well - it is now about 10 and we are finally ready to board the gondola at Lake Louise. So, off to the top of Mt. Whitehorn over grizzly country, to the Wildlife Interpretive Centre and beautiful views of Lake Louise, Victoria Glacier and the Lake Louise Fairmont Chateau. And what views they were -

Lake Louise & Victoria Glacier from top of gondola - check

History lesson - Lake Louise is a glacial lake fed from the Victoria Glacier, which is named for Queen Victoria. Lake Louise is named for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria, and is 5,680 feet above sea level. The lake is a striking turquoise color, which is created from the melting glacier silt. All very fascinating and beautiful!

With all there was to take in atop the mountain, it was 11:30 before we returned to the bottom (by the way - NO grizzly sightings!). After seeing the Lake and Chateau from the top of the mountain, we decided we needed to investigate a little closer up - and maybe have lunch there. In case you are looking at our schedule for the day and wondering how we were going to get back on track - forget about it! We have done as we do many of these days - modify, modify, modify - because we can! So - off to the Chateau for lunch, a walk around the hotel and the lake and a few more pictures.

Eat lunch with a great view of Lake Louise - check

Oh yes - one other thing happened at the Chateau during lunch. We discovered that Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra were performing tonight at the Banff Centre (their performing arts center) and thought we would try for tickets - even though we were at the last minute. I put on my most friendly face once again and begged the concierge at the hotel to call for us (remember no cell service/no internet!) - she did and got us second row!! We were soooooo excited - BUT, now we had a real schedule to keep. Had to be back to Magic to eat and clean up for the performance by 6. So - on our way.

We were back in the car around 1 and decided that we needed to drive to another lake we heard about at the Interpretive Centre - Moraine Lake. This lake is in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, surrounded by ten mountains, which house the Wenkchemna Glacier and also include Mount Temple, which is the third highest mountain in Banff National Park. Sorry - but no pictures from here as Gary did not think the lighting was right. We did however have $5 ice cream cones!!

It is now 2 and we were back in the car on our way to Lake Johnson. It is decision time - to hike or not to hike - as we would like to go through town to the Starbucks and get yesterday’s write-up posted on the blog before we have to be back to Magic to get ready for the show. We take the scenic drive back to Banff and wave at Lake Johnson as we drive by. That hike will have to be saved for perhaps next year on our way to Alaska. (For those who have not heard - we are already planning our trip for next summer/fall which will be to Alaska through Canada.)

We cruised into the Starbucks around 3 and spent about an hour and a half getting the posting done. This might seem like a long time for a techie like Gary - but this is how this process goes on the road: I have already written the narrative at home and just have to copy and paste onto the blog and Gary has the pictures all ready to transfer. We have finally learned this second time around that it is easier for Gary to move the pictures first. If we are lucky he only gets ‘kicked off’ the internet once or twice in the process. Then I move the narrative - a section at a time (around the pictures) - if I am lucky only getting ‘kicked off’ the internet after each paste!! Then when we have both looked at it one more time - all complete - we hit the “POST” button. At this point we receive the last notice - ‘can’t post as not on internet’! I throw up my hands, bang on the table and Gary gets back on the internet ONE MORE TIME! Finally it gets posted - we smile at our accomplishment and give the Starbucks back to the rest of the clientele.

At 5:30 we are hurrying back to camp to fix dinner, eat and change. With all of this accomplished, we are back in the car at 6:45 on our way back into town (all of 15 minutes) for a fantastic evening with Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra. They were awesome (as were our seats)!! There were 15 performers on the stage playing as one with incredible coordinated effort. Gary and I both tried to think of how to communicate to you their rapport with each other and could think of NO way to describe it other than we were mesmerized by them, their musical talent and their ability to communicate with each other via hand signs and head nods (there was no conductor and Wynton sat in the back with the other trumpet players - three trombone players in front of them - five woodwind players in the front - a bass, piano and drummer off to the side). Clearly they have all played together for so long they no exactly what each of them will do - even when they are doing their ‘jam’ portions. Just Awesome! They even kept Gary up past 11!!

SO - that is a day in our travel life. As you can see, impromptu and spontaneous are two words that are a definite part of our travels - even though we start with a plan.

In case you are wondering what happened to the Banff Gondola and Hotel - it was visited on Wednesday and you will get that report shortly -

Bye for now - Elizabeth and Gary

Deer, Bears and Goat Haunt - OH MY!!

Well - Sunday was a lazy day, indeed - BUT, I learned a lot!!

After a late start out of ‘Magic’ (due to the blog update for FIVE days) - we headed to the Bayshore Inn - yet again! By now John, the bartender, knows what we want to drink and exactly how we like it - tea with ice no lemon, water no ice, etc. etc. Lunch was accompanied by the ‘Tiger blow-out’ at the BMW Championship as well as getting the blog update posted (OK we confess - one of the draws of the Bayshore Inn is an internet connection!). I know - you are thinking that we are in this beautiful country full of scenery and animals and all we do is sit in the bar, use the internet and watch TV. But - we have finally learned that we need to be ‘on the hunt’ either early morning or at dusk - and today was to be an ‘animal spotting day’.

So - we planned our day around a 4 - 6PM boat cruise of the Waterton Lakes hoping to see bear and moose around the lakes as promised by the cruise brochure. The weather was absolutely beautiful for this cruise! All the crew were talking about how lucky we were at this time of year for sunshine and warm breezes. And, we again lucked out with a very knowledgeable young man, who has lived in the park area all his life, as our guide.

About half way to the opposite end of the lake we passed the 49th parallel. Anyone know the significance of this? It is the border between the US and Canada. So - on this cruise we passed from Canada back into the US and back to Canada again on our return. This parallel is marked on both sides of the lake with an ‘International Boundary‘ marker at the lake level and again at the top of the surrounding mountain. The parallel line is ‘marked’ by cleared growth from the marker at the lake level to the marker at the top of the mountain. An international patrol actually goes out and clears this parallel every 12-15 years (as needed) to maintain the clearance.

International Boundary Marker

Cleared 49th Parallel

Now, when you get to the end of the lake you disembark and have the opportunity to visit the US ‘Customs and Immigration of Goat Haunt’ (the ridge above is a local hangout/haunt of the goats). Remember I said we passed from Canada into the US while on the boat. If you plan to go into the back country hiking, you must pass through this customs and immigration check point (if ‘just visiting’ off the boat and returning immediately to Canada on the boat, you do not have to technically go through the check point). So, there is no ‘sneaking’ into the US by hiking in! As you can see below, I had to beg and plead with the customs agents not to detain me - but, just give me a stamp in my passport!! And, a great stamp it is of a goat - what else?!?! Perhaps you had to be here, but the whole set up of this ‘out post’ customs and immigration check point on a hiking trail out in the middle of no where was fascinating to me. I must say - the agents here were VERY friendly and really good sports when I started the stamp thing - as after I got mine there was a line up of everyone off the boat to do the same thing!! As you all know - I am ever the trouble maker!!

Goat Haunt Customs Office

Begging for a customs stamp

Finally.. Kerplunk

Goat Haunt Custom Stamp-Cool!!

Back in the USA .. for just a minute or two.

You might have guessed by now that our whole reason for the cruise - to see animals - was a bust! Not one animal sighting. But, the whole 49th parallel and “Customs and Immigration of Goat Haunt” things made the cruise worth every Canadian dollar. AND - we got a picture of the Bayshore Inn from the lake so you can see our haunt for the last few days.

Our watering hole and reliable internet connection - the Bayshore Inn

Well, it was now about 6:30 - just the right time to head up into one of the canyons for bear or moose sightings. AND, just on the edge of town what did we see - ONE HUNGRY BEAR!! YEAH!! We were soooooo excited to see this guy - we watched for over an hour as he worked his way down the line of berry bushes - he eats over 100,000 berries a day!! The bucks didn’t seem to care that he was there - and he didn’t care that they were there. Everyone was just out for dinner.

This young buck had rubbed its rack raw

Ummmmm.. berries

Damned tourists .. I can't even snack in peace

One more picture and I'm gonna roar!!

Boy, did this sighting make our day! We did finally drive out the canyon and saw another bear - 2 in one evening. But, the ‘berry bear’ was the best!!

Whew - after all this excitement we needed a good nights rest as Monday was another travel day.

Up and out early this morning on our way to Banff. When we left the park area and hit our first little town we needed two things - diesel and food (we had eaten all our meats and vegetables cooking on our little grill). I never thought I would be so excited to find a Wal-Mart Super Center:-)!!

We are now in the Banff National Park, which is beautiful. Upon arrival, what has now become the usual set-up routine, was completed. This includes: unhook the tow car (32 KBUS), level Magic, hook up water, electric and sewer, put slides out, put out BBQ and all ‘set around stuff’ inside, clean the bugs off the front windshield, etc.

Bug Duty .. an every travel day occurrence

Then we were off to investigate the townsite of Banff and visit the information center - always our first stop. This is another ‘cute’ town - kind of a cross between Park City and Vail. It has the charm of PC but bigger and newer - not as big as Vail but with some of the ‘Vail shopping’.

Welcome to Banff

They even have a Starbucks (the first we have seen since leaving PC), which excited us for the internet connection! (As the national park campground is great - but, no internet!!) Knowing this, I ran home to write this report so it could get posted tomorrow.

Now - off to bed because Gary is getting me up early for our drive to Lake Louise tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed our last couple of days. More soon -

Elizabeth & Gary

WOW - A Whole Week's Gone By!

WOW - time flies! It has been five days since we last posted - and I am blaming it on the lack of internet. We have been in those zones of no internet or cell service or neither - as often happens in these remote areas and campsites. BUT, this morning when I 'booted up' - there it was. So, here I am.

We last left you after our activities on Labor Day. Tuesday was another golf day - at Whitefish Lake Golf Course in Whitefish, MT. The course was beautiful and reminded us very much of the Park City Muni course - green, treed, in the mountains with the ski area in the background. On this type of course Gary is always left saying "where is the ball"?!?!

Aww .. where is my ball this time?

After golf and lunch we drove around Flathead Lake - the largest natural fresh water lake in the US! It reminded us of Lake Tahoe and we were surprised to learn that Flathead Lake was larger. We found a nice little state park on our way, where we just had to stop and have our mid-afternoon snack!

Flathead Lake

When we finally pulled ourselves out of bed Wednesday morning - and after a breakfast of ham steak and eggs! - we headed to the Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Lake in West Glacier. On this 5+ mile hike we enjoyed all nature has to offer. The beginning of this hike is through the cedar-hemlock forest along Avalanche Creek, which tumbles through contoured walls of red stone, formed during a period when the sea here retreated. In contact with oxygen, iron-bearing minerals in the mud formed the bright red mineral hematite that colors the rock. The years of water running over them have also made very interesting contours.

Water is a wonderful artist

This area is so abundant with water that the trees do not form deep root structures - they have very complex root structures, but all on the surface. Therefore, they fall over easily exposing these root structures in fascinating 'art pieces'.

Looks like this tree just completed the Komen 3-Day Walk

The ultimate goal of this hike is Avalanche Lake, which is glacier-fed with beautiful falls in the background.

Hugs at Avalanche Lake

Thursday was a travel day, which was a good thing after our long hike on Wednesday. We said good bye to our campground in West Glacier - and our $1 million+ neighbors in the Prevost Bus - and headed to Waterton, Canada (the Canadian portion of Glacier National Park).

Our Million Dollar neighbors. That's Magic in the background

On our way we traveled through East Glacier (Lodge was interesting, but kept moving), across the Continental Divide for about the third or fourth time and through the Blackfoot Indian reservation. [A little personal story - traveling through the Blackfoot Indian reservation made me think of my Grandpa Rich. When my Aunt and I were much younger and ran around in Phoenix barefoot all the time - Grandpa would always tell us "we were members of the Blackfoot tribe"! For years I thought he just made up that name since the bottoms of our feet were always black!]

Roosevelt Memorial at the Continental Divide

Thursday afternoon we pulled into our new campground, where we had our pick of spots - an advantage of traveling 'off season'. Gary wandered around until he came up with a nice spot on our own private pond -

Our "room" with a view

After getting set up, we headed into Waterton to hit the 'information center' for maps and ideas about activities in this area. We were a little late as they just closed (reduced hours - a hazard of traveling 'off season' - so had to settle for 'investigating' the Prince of Wales Hotel and a drink (no more vodka in stock as this is there last week end open - another hazard of traveling 'off season'!). The Prince of Wales Hotel opened in 1927, is a National Historic Site and like most of the Lodges in the Park (both US and Canadian) it was built for the Great Northern Railway to attract people to use the railway by coming to the Park as a destination on the train. The hotel is perched on a bluff with fabulous views of Waterton Lake and the surrounding mountains.

Prince of Wales Hotel

Waterton Lake

Friday - boy, I hope we have more frequent internet from here on, because remembering all this activity for this many days if VERY taxing!

OK - Friday. We hit the road fairly early to head back into the US and the East side of Glacier Park - to the Many Glacier area. After finding our way to the Many Glacier Hotel (another built by the RR) and the boat dock, we were on our way on another boat trip. After our experience on Lake McDonald, we were a little dubious - BUT, this trip was fantastic! The guides were very informative and the scenery was to die for. We first crossed Swiftcurrent Lake - and viewed the Hotel from the Lake.

Many Glacier Hotel from the lake

When we arrived at the opposite side of the Lake we hiked a short .25 mile over a small hill to reach Lake Josephine, where we boarded another boat to take us to the other side of this lake. Then we hiked about 2 miles into Lake Grinnell - another glacier fed lake with beautiful falls.

The falls above Grinnell Lake

After a leisure walk part way around the lake and a snack - we headed back to the boats. When we arrived at the first dock at Lake Josephine we had about an hour until the boat arrived - so, we decided to just walk back to the Hotel, which was about 2 miles. Our goal was to 'Beat the Boat' - and we did. Our reward for winning when we reached the Hotel was a wonderful cheese fondue, martini and non-alcohol beer - with a view of course!!

Our just rewards

It was time to leave the Many Glacier area and the US, again, and head back up to Waterton, Canada (had to get to the border crossing before it closed at 6PM or we had a much longer trip back to the Bus). After our long day of hiking and boating, we decided to have dinner in the Townsite of Waterton - the cutest little town - instead of cooking back at the Bus. So, we found the restaurant at the Bayshore Inn and had a delightful dinner on the Waterton Lake - and met Brian from Whistler, who was going to look into any housing for the Olympics he might be able to find!!

We headed back to the Bus at just the right time of night for all the animals to be coming out. Deer are in abundance around Waterton!! They come right up to the car to check you out!

Oh no!! Not another tourist with a camera

Young buck on the banks of Waterton Lake

WOW - we are finally to Saturday (yesterday)! This was another golf day - at the Waterton Lakes Golf Course. Pretty funky course! It is described as a links style course - I would say 'interesting' - Gary says "nicely maintained public course". The true value of the course is the views - location, location, location!

A great view from the Waterton Golf Course

Blind shots required elevated platforms to see if the green was clear

We definitely followed a bear (or two) around the course - we know this because of his "trail" on the course - but, never did see her/him/them. This is probably a good thing - BUT, we sure want to see a bear!! This course was good to me, as I think I finally found my drive again. Anyway, after lots of fun here, we went back to our favorite spot in Waterton Townsite - the Bayshore Inn - and watched a bit of the Notre Dame game and Tiger 'birdie' his way through the third round of the Cog Hill FedEx tournament while we ate a late lunch.

It was time for another drive - out to Cameron Lake. It was that time of day again - and the best part of this drive was the parade of the mountain goats!! I will let the pictures tell the story -

Mountain Goat family road trip

Mom rounding up the kids (blaaaaaah, blaaaaah)

There are two things I have learned this past week - 1) in Montana - no mater the size of the road - the speed limit is 70! And, 2) - The Canadians are much more efficient at the border crossing than we are!

Well - this brings us to a lazy Sunday morning. We are just catching up, enjoying our pond and getting ready for breakfast! Miss you all - and hope you are enjoying our trip as much as we are! Tomorrow we head to Banff, and hope to have better internet/cell coverage so these postings can be more frequent. Mainly because I can't remember all this 'stuff' for this long!

HOPE to talk to you all again soon - Elizabeth & Gary from the Magic Bus!

Labor Day is Effortless!! (No Labor Involved)

Right off the bat I must tell you (this is Elizabeth here), that driving the bus on the equivalent of the Alpine Slide (for those who have been to Park City - you know what I mean - and for those who have not done this, it is the equivalent of flying down the mountain at Park City Mountain Resort on a small metal sled in an aluminum 'trough') is a real experience. BUT, I did just that as we left Park City on Saturday morning on our way to Butte, MT!! There was road construction between Park City and Ogden - narrowing the highway to one side of the freeway for both directions and setting up cement barriers to separate the lanes and negotiate the mountain curves!! It was a real trip negotiating 'the Beast' through this first thing in the morning - but, I did it and lived to talk about it with NO effects to 'the Beast'. So - off to a good start.

Other than the above, the drive to Butte was uneventful - as was Butte! Oh - we did have a refrigerator malfunction. But, when all else fails hit the restart and all is well. We did play a wonderful Nicholas course just outside of Butte - Old Works - on Sunday before heading up to Glacier National Park. It is on an old mining site and incorporates many details of the old mine into the course making it very interesting. This made up for the 'unattractiveness' of Butte.

Due to the 5 hour round of golf, we got a later than expected start on the drive to West Glacier. But, the drive was sooooooooo beautiful that the time did not matter. We took all side roads (some very small two laners) that the Butte chamber or commerce suggested (maybe one other good thing about Butte???) - and it was a stunningly beautiful drive!!

We did arrive at our campsite for the next four nights in time to get set up before dark - BBQ steak for dinner and enjoy the evening. All was GOOD!!

This morning we 'took it easy'. Got up when we got up and headed into the Glacier National Park. Gary was so happy as he got to make use of his Sr. National Park Pass (which he paid an annual fee of $10 for!!) to get us into the park. First stop was Agpar Village at the 'foot' of Lake McDonald (longest lake in the park - see how well we have read the material and listened to the Park Rangers??). We found a cafe and decided we needed breakfast - then walked down to the lake for pictures (didn't think Gary was here without the cameras did you?). The drive continued to Lake McDonald Lodge where we had lunch waiting for our boat cruise of the lake. The cruise was beautiful, although cold - but held our attention!

After the cruise, the real part of the drive in the park began - Going to the Sun Road. What an experience!! The road is much like 'the road to Hana' in Hawaii for those of you who have been there. Narrow and winding - and straight down a cliff if you go off the side! But the scenery is stunning. We had a wonderful benefit of the weather - everything from rain, sleet, hail, snow, cold, clouds, sun and whatever else you could think of in a three hour period - it provided some incredible lighting and effects. Especially as we viewed the 'orphaned remnants' of the glaciers and the associated waterfalls across the valley. BEAUTIFUL! (The only thing is that I was driving again so Gary could take the pictures.)

After this beautiful day - we returned 'home' to the Magic Bus. Gary prepared the chicken on our BBQ outside - we enjoyed in our wonderful 'dining area' - then I kicked back and relaxed while Gary had an expresso (OH YES - that machine came with us!!) All the comforts of home in Park City - and no labor involved.

BUT, we miss you all in Park City and around the country. We just hope you enjoy our travels -