I just drove part of the Alaska Highway, the Cassiar Highway, part of the Yellowhead Highway and the Ice Fields Highway. We realized we have driven over 2,000 miles since we left Skagway, AK.
It seemed like every other kilometer we saw Caution signs for Moose. We have now shortened that term and refer to them as "Moo". Caribou we now call "Boo". Then, last but not least, Caution signs for Bear. I was going to call them "Arr" but when you are driving down the road yelling for "Boo" or "Moo" that is one thing. If you start calling out "Arr", I was afraid a logger or miner with a wooden leg and eye patch might walk out into the road. I am not sure how many points I would get for hitting one of them? Plus, a moose rack or caribou rack would look more impressive on the top of the car than a one legged, one eyed miner, I think.
Anyway, the only wild animal that we saw( besides a marmot and a squirrel) was in Jasper, Alberta in a store. Yep, there was a sparrow in the store...and no Caution sign for it either!
It flew off into another part of the store. Less than two minutes later we walked out of the store. What did we see in the front window...?
Yep, it was our buddy, the sparrow, that did not make it out alive. Maybe that is why we did not see any "Mo" or "Bo". We didn't want them ending up with their feet up like the sparrow, in front of our car.
My honest conclusion is that by each and every one of those thousand-plus Caution signs we saw, there were no Crosswalks. There were no marked areas for any of those animals to safely cross through the traffic. How were they to know where to walk across the busy (most of the time it was just us) highways of Canada? Every town has them for pedestrians...why not nature's pedestrians?
Well, with that experience behind us, we headed to Banff and Canmore. We were almost in the clouds most of the day. The peaks were hidden and the glaciers were barley visible.
When we did arrive in our Canmore hotel, we were told that we were upgraded to the Pullman Suite.
This is a two room suite with sliding french doors, fireplace, hot tub and TWO sofas. Gwen has been without a sofa for over five months. She was almost as excited about the sofa as she was the hot tub.
Then this morning as she was enjoying her sofa again I headed out to capture the mountains... still in the clouds.
It was worth it. This area between Jasper and Canmore is one amazing stretch of God's country.
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