A Bit More of Jasper

One of the few animals we saw in Jasper...a mountain goat on the Icefields Parkway controlling traffic. 

 What started out as a blah color picture came alive when I turned it into a black and white one. The location is right outside of Jasper townsite. 

 

We drove the Icefields Parkway on a cloudy day which washed out the colors....  

I changed to black and white and the mood changed dramatically. Ansel Adams knew what he was doing when he photographed in black and white. I know a thimbleful about photography, but I did learn that  

A little piece of unknown history. During World War I, Canada imprisoned thousands of people who were considered enemy aliens. One of the Internment Camps was at Castle Mountain, not far from Banff. The monument honors the memory of the people who lived at the camp (and others throughout Canada). Please read the official explanation too. It talks of a 1913 Depression, which I had never heard of before.

People visit the Monument and leave small tokens of remembrance.

There are small villages along the Icefields Parkway and the Bow Valley Parkway (both lovely drives)...some of the villages have very old facilities, including this working gasoline pump. I haven't seen this type of pump in years!

A fancy sign on the Bow Valley Parkway...A good catch. 

We are almost home...being on the road has been too much fun!

 

Dillon, Montana

Dillon Montana is an old silver and gold mining town. The first ore was discovered in the 1860S...the last in the 1920s. During it's heyday, Dillon was "the" place to llive...and the folks who mined gold and silver in the nearby creeks and streams, built wonderful homes that still survive. Here are a few of them.

 

 

This brick Victorian is the best of the lot! What a beautiful way to say "I struck it rich!" And even today, 100+ years later, the new owners are showing off their pride and joy.    

In case you need a closer look at the gable end...here it is. Isn't she a pretty home?

There are others.  

Sitting on a corner, with a for sale sign no less, is this Victorian masterpiece. 

Tall, and proud, this Tri-color charmer welcomes you into the "good life" of 1900s Dillon. 

Look at the detail on the front entry.    

The gingerbread doesn't stop...the basement, the railing, the shingles, the door, the sunburst in the front porch gable, all show off the skills of the day and what it took to make a great home.

This little jewel is small in comparison to the other two, but look at the turret, the gables, and the wonderful porch. Definitely a pretty "little" Victorian. Maybe the original owner did not find the biggest vein of gold or silver, but he found something to crow about.    

Not as "splashy" as the others, this white home has a "Widow's Walk" on the second floor balcony. If your look carefully, you can see the rounded glass. That was super special at the turn of the last century. I wonder if anyone knows how to make rounded glass anymore?

Look at the beautiful side window on this tall Victorian. Can you imagine sitting in the niche reading a good book? Or, enjoying a quiet corner to look at the world. 

This home has been converted into a modern photography business. I wonder what it looked like when it was new. The stone turret is grand, and I did not see another in town. A little bit of the original gingerbread is still showing, but I'm guessing it was much grander "in the day."

The public library is still standing from the original days. I'm guessing it's an old Carnegie Library made of local stone. What a wonderful place to find the perfect book and then go back home, to read it on your porch? 

And I'll end with a snapshot of "downtown" Dillon. A brick building with a corner turret and a copper dome. When this   was made, it probably did not have electricity. Back when it was built, the street was not paved, and the horse was the common mode of transportation. If you go into soft focus, can you see the place to "park" your horse? Do you see the water trough? It's all there (at least in my imagination). Dillon is a cute town that has not embraced modernity. Thank goodness there are still a few of these towns left!

 

   

 

   

 

Number 19

Needless to say, I brought my crocheting with me. After a hard day of playing or site seeing, I pull out my yarns and hook and start working away. It's relaxing and fun all at the same time. 

My latest blanket is made up of orange, raspberry, lemon and lime so I've been calling it Sherbert. It's good enough to eat! It's a bright and cheerful blanket that I hope a youngster will like it too. 

Canadian Money

For the last 3 weeks we've been spending Canadian currency. I always enjoy looking at "foreign" currency as it highlights what is important to a country. The current design is called "The Frontier Series" and it depicts people and scenes that focus on Canada's historical achievements and innovations.

Canadian currency is probably very difficult to counterfeit. It's not made out of paper, but a type of polymer that is just about impossible to tear or rip. There's a "clear section" about a 1/2 inch wide on the right side of the bill that has a hologram in it; then there's a maple leaf, that's also clear in the upper left corner of the bill. On the front of the bill is a picture of a famous person.  

On the back of the bill is a scene from somewhere in the country. Each denomination is a different color-- gold, red, green, lavender and blue. It's very easy to see how much money you have looking at the color of the bill. This currency design was put into place slowly staring in 2014. There are no one dollar and two dollar bills, instead coins are used called the "Loonie" (because it has a picture of a loon on it) and the "Toonie" (because it looks like 2 coins in one). You will not find a Canadian penny any more. They have been phased out during the last 2 years. When you purchase items, the cost is rounded up or down.  For instance we bought 3 items that totaled $10.77 but we were charged only $10.75. The current exchange rate is US$1.00 = Can$1.30.

Flowers

It's important to take time and look at the flowers...even if they are dandelions...enjoy a few more

 

Thank you Mother Nature!

More Jasper

Reflections on Lake Edith

Mountain reflection in the river along the YellowHead Highway

Don't mess with the RCMP

Dandy-Bug

Engine 6015 at Jasper Townsite

Hanging Baskets are everywhere!

 

Maligne Lake

 

In Jasper National Park, there's Lake Maligne...pronounced Ma-Leen...that is just one more pretty place among a dozen pretty places in the park. 

Nestled in the mountains, is a huge lake where you can canoe or fish...or take a boat ride. You can also sit on the terrace of the restaurant and look at the mountains grow. It does not matter, all of it is good.

Since we were here last, the Boat House has been repainted. If you remember old movies, this is where Nelson Eddy sang "I'll be Loving You" to Jeannette McDonald. 

The light gray mountains behind the Lake

It's a long drive to the Lake, but definitely worth it!

 

 

Icefields Parkway

The drive from Banff to Jasper is one of the prettiest in North America. It's about 150 miles long where you are surrounded by high mountains, glacial rivers, waterfalls, a few glaciers and clear blue skies. It's wonderful.

Bow Lake

Pretty Flowers 

Columbia Icefields 

Grandeur 

 

Yet Another One

I finished another blanket and gave it away to my friend. While it's my favorite zigzag pattern, it's a bit different too. 

She liked it a lot! 

Beautiful Banff

The Canadian Rockies are spectacular! Banff, a National Park and a town, is nestled into those Rockies, and it's beyond spectacular. The town is dominated by Mt. Rundle

A massive piece of rock that juts into the sky.         

The other side of the mountain is wonderful too with a curvy layer of sedimentary rock wiggling thru it. The mountain is gigantic.        

It's hard not to take a picture of Mt. Rundle as it dominates the skyline.

Banff is in a hole, much like Jackson is, as there are mountains all around the area and each is soars into space          

ParCanada has provided red viewing chairs for folks to enjoy the scene. Does it get any better?

From Sulphur Mountain you can view the town site and the beautiful Banff Springs Hotel, as well as the rest of the valley        

In addition to mountains there are lakes and rivers and waterfalls.        

Lake Minnewanka         

Bow Falls

   

And hidden in the underbrush is a tiny harebell.

 

Jason Bourne

Today was rainy, so it was a good day to see Jason Bourne, the movie. In order to get ready for the latest addition to the saga, we saw the 3 previous movies earlier in the week. The first movie was made when Matt Damon, the star, was 29...a young callow kid with a case of amnesia. The fourth movie has Matt Damon 14 years older. He's no longer young, callow, nor an kid; and the amnesia is finally gone. As in all the movies, he's still a stone killer.  I'm not sure if the movie was good or not. The story line was very shallow. We get to follow Jason from Athens to Berlin to London to Vegas as he runs away from a bullet. All the movies have some fantastic chase scenes, and this one was no different ... But it seems as if the whole movie was a giant chase scene. At one point, I was laughing as the chase was getting too absurd as more "stuff" was getting destroyed but our man continued! The movie is a good diversion. It's not great cinema, but it's not horrible cinema either.  Since we have the series on DVD, I'm sure we will buy this one when it comes out. That's not a ringing endorsement of Jason Bourne, it's just something to add to the set as they are all good diversions on a rainy day.

Meet Rocky

We seem to attract Teddy Bears...and here's our newest member of the clan. His name is Rocky, and he is an engineer on the Rocky Montaineer train that travels from Vancouver to Banff. Our friends, whom we met in Banff, were on that train for a week. From what they said, it was "some trip." Right now Rocky is learning about life "on the road" as he will be camping for a few more days. Then when he gets back to Wyoming he has a bunch of brother and sister teddy bears to meet. 

Second Baby with Blanket

On the way to Tahiti I made several baby blankets for babies-to-be....well another was born and here she is

May I introduce you to Clara! BTW she's got her grandpa tied around her little finger in case you were wondering!