Farewell To Canada

As our 10th day on the road passes into evening, we say farewell to beautiful Canada. We enjoyed our stay emensely. we are in awe of the beauty of the Banff, Kootenat, Jasper area and really like the neighborhood that our new friends in Calgary enjoy. A big thanks again to Pauline, Dennis, Dylan, Robert, and Joanne. When you are 3000 miles away from home, a hot cooked meal and friendly faces sure makes all the difference in the world! We have now crossed the border and are back in the United States. Crossing back in was no big deal. We were asked the same questions as before. He saw where were are from and asked where we worked. We talked a bit about that, he smiled, and waved us on in. We have racked up 4000 miles and are headed south to Yellowstone. Excited to see what is in store for us ahead. Side note: our global data package with Verizon was ok, but we had to watch it closely. There was no voice package at all. So if I didn't respond to emails or phone calls right away it's because of that. Things should improve now that we are back in the states as long as we have a connection.

Canadian Hospitality

This entire trip, we have been blessed to meet all kinds of wonderful people and today was no exception.

We made new friends in Calgary, AB who happen to be our daughter's boyfriend's aunt and uncle and their two sons - Pauline, Dennis, Dylan, and Robert. They were kind enough to invite us into their beautiful home.

During our stay in Canada we have come to realize how nice the Canadian people are and tonight we enjoyed a wonderful, delicious dinner in true Canadian style, filled with family recipes and fun.

Pauline chose to go with a stampede theme meal which is based on their annual rodeo festival called "The Stampede", so we had scrumptious homemade ribs using her sister Joanne's recipe, baked beans, slaw, and mushroom soup. So yummy!! For dessert we had homemade apple pie using her mom's  homemade crust recipe and the apples from in their backyard. The local IPA was really good as well.

They live in a great neighborhood near a Provincial Park which we walked through after dinner. We saw deer and heard coyote. As we were leaving we saw the biggest jack rabbit we have ever seen before. Russ thinks it was the Easter Bunny. Haha

Cubby had a blast and was really welcomed into their home for which we are grateful.

Their sons are cool kids. It will be fun to stay in touch with them as we have a lot in common.

I have included pictures from our fun evening. So grateful for their wonderful hospitality. A big hug and thanks to Joanne (Reid's mom --- Kelly's bf ) for setting this up!!!