Clark Griswold: The Case of the Uninvited Guest

So Clark said “when would be a good time to tell you we have a mouse in the trailer?”  NEVER!!  On last year’s deer hunting trip with grandsons Dylan and Connor a furry friend got in.  Once that “guest” was evicted Clark rolled under the trailer and supposedly sealed every crack and crevice!  Hence the commercial “Clark we need you” comes to mind!!

In Lake Louise will picked up a guest or two obviously wanting to across the border without a passport!  So we stopped in the Lake Louise grocery store and got some traps but just prior to Glacier National Park we pickup up these items (pictured below) for extra measure.

 We set traps and hoped to get the intruder/s while we dined outside at our new location.  No luck so now it was time for bed and we knew they would surface.  I created a line of defense on the floor in the hallway leading to the bed with Chipotle Chili Pepper figuring it would take one sniff and head back.  Meanwhile, we heard a noise at one of the traps.  Griswold got up with his flashlight and found the culprit had entered the sticky trap but only its tail was stuck.  He said he needed something to spray on it so I produced deodorant, Cutter’s Mosquito Spray and hairspray from the bathroom.  He sprayed it with the powdered deodorant at which time it loosed itself from the trap and began to scurry.  Clark tried to swat it with a flip flop and missed---great!!! Now how was I supposed to go to sleep!   Meanwhile, I had the broom to the floor in case it headed my direction.  Bailey seemed uninterested in the whole scene.  We lay awake or a long, long time listening and strategizing on what to do—put a bucket over it if it approached again, spray with the fire extinguisher perhaps!!!  Anyway it finally went for the trap and peanut butter and met its demise! 

We set more traps and headed out in the morning.  Returned at 7:30 pm and found another in one of the traps – hope that is all.   Still, we know there is a way into the trailer and we hope we won’t pick up anyone else until we figure that out. Clark thinks it could be they came in when the slider is out. 

Just thought I’d share some of the realities of camping.  This is why you put your perishable food in plastic boxes with lids.  I am somewhat used to mice running around because we had them at school quite often.  Hate them!!

Bucket List and Banff

 We started this day at the Lake Louise Ski resort riding the chairlift to the top.  The views are spectacular.  The mountains seems to go on and on in this part of Canada.  I always thought Yosemite was beautiful, and it is, but it cannot compare to the awesome sights here.  Waterfalls, lakes and rivers abound.

Next up was a scenic drive to Banff – approx. 30 miles from Lake Louise.  On my bucket list was lunch at the Fairmont Banff Springs.  After years of seeing it in magazines I was finally there having lunch at the Lookout Restaurant and standing in front of this historic building!  We then went into the quaint town of Banff a much larger version of Jasper but still very much like a Swiss village.  On the way home Clark’s day was complete because we saw some big horn sheep on the side of the road.  

I would love to come back to the Fairmont someday as a guest for about a week!

Downtown Banff looks like Swiss village

back of Lake Louise Ski Lodge

View from top after gondola ride

The Castle - Fairmont Banff Springs---so spectacular!

me out front if you can see me :)

We had lunch here at The Lookout Restaurant

view from our table looks out at Lake Louise

Columbia Ice Fields and Athabasca Glacier

Ice Walk

Columbia Icefields are located between Jasper and Lake Louise.  Parks Canada runs the area as it is part of the National Park system.  The large transporters cost $1 million dollars.  A company that does oil drilling makes them.  There are 23 of them and Canada owns 22 located here and the US owns one located in Antarctica.  We took the ride up to the Athabasca Glacier.  You can walk up but much more fun to ride.  The transporter drives the gravel road up to the start of the glacier where then they go through water to rinse the debris from the wheels before they get on the ice.  Colder up there of course even thought it was a sunny day.  Park Canada has also built the ice walk platform where you have a great view of multiple glaciers. This area is the "Triple Divide" adjacent to the Continental Divide.  It's triple because one side the water flows north to the Arctic Ocean; one flows to the Columbia and south to California; and one flows south the the Gulf of Mexico via Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

My grandchildren would say "don't fall down Nonni" since I am known to fall --clumsy!

Standing on the glacier

View of the upper side of Athabasca Glacier

Ice Walk overlook

Crevice below with Athabasca River flowing thru

Lake Louise

Lake Louise is really indescribable and photos don't do it justice.  The scenery is spectacular.  We did the 3 mile hike uphill to the Agnes Lake teahouse.  At the top we were at 6,650 and at the bottom 5,000.  It was quite the walk up by worth it.  I recommend bringing your own snacks and drink because the teahouse was full inside and out -- it's not very big.  We were curious as to how they got supplied up there but soon we saw how -- helicopter. The hotel is beautiful but not as grand outside as the Fairmont at Banff.

campsite at Lake Louise along the river

Beautiful Lake Louise morning we arrived

Agnes Lake Teahouse

Teahouse supplies arriving as they drop via helicopter

Fairmont Lake Louise

lunch at Lake Louise

Glacier view from trail to teahouse

Lake Maligne, Jasper, Alberta

Lake Maligne (“maleen”) is the largest glacial fed lake in the Canadian Rockies. Our lake cruise went as far as Spirit Island.  The Canadian government is trying to restore relationships with the original native tribes who first inhabited these lands so this small island had some tribal ceremonies in recent years to help that come about. There are no motorized boats on this lake except the tour boats run by Canadian Parks but you can rent canoes or kayaks or bring your own.  Originally there were no fish in the lake but varieties of trout have been added.  The bluish color comes from the glacial sediment and is clearer than the rivers.  It freezes 3 feet solid in winter.  The surrounding mountains hold glaciers – the rock is dolomite.  It was very smoky the day we went out on the lake due to forest fires in British Columbia so our view was not as good as it could have been.  The photo you see came from the Internet so you can see what it would have looked like without the smoke.  If you look straight back you’ll seem some white—that is a glacier.  There are several others in these mountains but this photo does not show them.

Beetle Kill

The pine mountain beetle has struck in CA, OR (we lost two trees in our yard) and here in Canada it it very widespread.  This small bug (size of a grain of rice) can plow through many pine trees and up here it has killed hundreds of thousands of lodge pole and other pines.  The Parks CA will just let nature take its course and eventually a forest fire will burn them down.

Jasper, Alberta

Jasper, Alberta reminds me of a Swiss village.  Bordered by the majestic Canadian Rockies, the town buildings have Swiss designs.  There are lots of shops and quaint outdoor café’s.  The Canadian National Railway runs through here and there are many RV’ers.  We are camped about 10 minutes out of town at Wabasso Campground along the Athabasca River.  This river originates from the Columbia Glacier. We were curious about the gray-green color of the river so we asked at the Visitor Center why it is that color.  The water coming out of the glacier is full of rock sediment that breaks up as it flows creating the color and cloudiness. The scenic Athabasca Falls is located upstream about 30 km (19 mi) from Jasper’s downtown.

Our camp was along the Athabasca River.  Water flows from the Glacier hence the gray-green color

Town of Jasper is like a Swiss village

Our campsite along the river

Dinner at cafe...dog friendly for Bailey

Clark went on the evening wildlife tour and saw and elk

luggage cards for TransCanadian rail....looks like they are using the 1800s version