July 28-Aug 2, 2008 -- From Alcan Highway to Home

At Dawson Creek, we were at the same latitude as Sitka, Alaska; so knew we had plenty of miles to go.

Leaving Dawson, we entered the Alberta Providence of Canada.  We have now been in 3 of the Canadian Providences on this trip (British Columbia, Alberta, and Yukon).  The road from Dawson Creek to Hinton is advertised as the "scenic route to the Alaskan Highway."  We were able to bypass Calgary and Edmonton.  The roads were good; straight-aways, climbing hills and down to riverbeds.  We understood the road was used largely by lumber trucks, but there weren't any present that day.

Leaving Hinton we traveled through 3 of Canada's beautiful national parks -- Jasper, Banff and Kootenay.  Didn't think we would see much more scenery that could compare with Alaska, but the day was beautiful.  We had lunch at Lake Louise.  Didn't see as much wildlife as we thought we would.  We did see elk, coyote, deer and a black bear.

As we were leaving Radium Hot Springs after spending the night, the big horn sheep came out to tell us good-bye.

From here we headed south to Montana.  We had accumulated 6,000 miles on the motorcycle and were getting the taste of home.  From the US border to home were the warmest days we experiences on the trip.  Being so close, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go through Glacier National Park.  Again, the uniqueness of the park made it enjoyable to see.

And, staying with our historical curiosity, we stopped at the site of Custer's Last Stand.  As with other individuals we met along the way, the guide was a retiree they had brought back just for the day.  Although the weather was extremely warm, his storytelling kept everyone alert and interested.

We are so thankful that we have had the opportunity to take this trip through Mother Nature's country.  The areas and wildlife have been amazing.  Ed says the trip has been like driving into the mountains and never coming out of them.  The history of the areas has so much to it that we had never known before.  This trip was a long time in planning, and we are happy that the dream has come true.  Hope you have enjoyed the stories we have shared, and as always you know that I will have more pictures to share.  (The Burton library now has a 7-hour movie on DVD of this trip.)