Day 72 - 74 (7/14 - 7/16): Driving Eastward Across Canada

We were so close to Calgary when we were in Banff, but did not drive in that direction since we had to pick up Luke in Seattle.  In fact most people fly in and out of Calgary to visit Banff.  We still decided to check it out though because hey, it's not really that far from Glacier...and we are soooo close - ha!  ha! 

We had one full day to explore the city, and it is the last day of Calgary Stampede.  Since we already went to Houston's rodeo last year with cousin's Andrew & Lydia, we decided to skip it, but we still drove by to see what it was like (FYI, it seemed just like the Houston Rodeo 😂).

We parked the van earlier in the day near the First Street Food Hall, our target for lunch later on, and walked for miles around downtown.  Since it was Sunday and the last day of the Stampede, the streets started filling up pretty quickly.  We walked to the Prince's Island, which is an amazing public park with a beautiful riverfront walk & bike way, and visited the Peace Bridge.  Then off to Chinatown, before landing back at the Food Hall for lunch.  At the end of our day in the city we came across a fantastic Farmer's Market where we bought fish & fresh veggies for dinner (too bad we forgot to photograph our dinner!)...Here are some highlights!

The next day we drove out to Dinosaur Provincial Park, which is in the "Canadian Badlands".  It is definitely in the middle of nowhere, but we thought it well worth the stop!  Not that we are complete dinosaur geeks, but the discoveries in this area are amazing, and the scenery is too!

Driving to Medicine Hat, we had great expectations, but we found a Main Street under construction, so we quickly walked through, and spent a quick night there before driving to Moose Jaw, SK.  This was a cute town which we learned has connections with Chicago during the prohibition through Al Capone.  We did not have time for a "Tunnels Tour" but we had lunch at a dog friendly place on River Street, Rosies :)

On to Regina, which is the capital of Saskatchewan.  Here we visited the capital, and the beautiful adjacent garden which really honors it's ties with the Queen as witnessed in the statue and numerous plaques commemorating her frequent visits to Canada.

You may have noticed that we are not taking as many photos at camping spots.  About a month before we left, I realized that our last leg home may be hot as we are traveling in the middle of July, so I made "back-up" arrangements, mostly using my Marriott points just in case.  As we all have experienced, it has become pretty darn hot, so those back-up plans have come in handy.  The nice thing about traveling with the van though, is that since we have a fridge, we can still eat lunch and store a lot to be able to make meals in hotels and airbnb's that have kitchens!

We feel very fortunate to have been able to travel through four provinces in Canada on this trip, and all have been as varied and beautiful as our own states.  Tomorrow we will be crossing back into the US for the final time.  I'll leave you with our parting visions of this part of Canada, the beautiful fields of Canola we saw EVERYWHERE!

GOOD NIGHT!

Miles driven: 368 (From Glacier to Calgary), 20 (Around Calgary), 228 (Calgary to Medicine hat), 300 Medicine Hat to Regina