Calgary, Alberta (Day 3)

It's late. It's really late. We only put in 50 more kilometers today than yesterday, but somehow it ended up taking us 50% longer to travel that distance. As you might have already concluded, we had a few setbacks today,  but let's start at the beginning and, more importantly, with some pictures.

From Sitka to Prince Rupert on the M/V Matanuska

M/V Matanuska (at 2am)

Kids in the cabin, snuggling up before crashing.

3-berth cabin.

Seren using her camera.

At the on-board play area.

Petersburg

Some guy fishing in Petersburg.

Another fisherman.

Zonked.

Rainbow!

Waiting to go down to the car deck.

Yes, but where does it end?

At the playground in Wrangell.

"Do I look like a movie star?"

Narrow channel.

At last!

Beautiful British Columbia

Mudflats.

The Canadian Rockies, Alberta

Glaciers in the Ice Fields.

Mountain goat!

Gravel slides left behind from glaciers that have long since melted.

Off-road trolley?

More glaciers.

It's true, we've encountered some pretty breathtaking views along the way, but as mentioned before, we've had our share of setbacks. Porter is toilet-training while we are on the road and he is doing a super job. The only trouble is that he still has a sensitive stomach from all those allergies and we've had to deal with not one but two cases of spontaneous diarrhea. We've made several wrong turns, resulting in an hour or so of back-tracking (total), and there are frequent pit stops with two little ones in tow. Over all, though, it's been a pleasant drive. We've managed boredom and frustration with remarkable ease and the kids are enjoying all of the scenery and wildlife along the way.

Speaking of wildlife, just today (yesterday?) we saw several black bears, some white-tail deer, moose, a coyote, caribou, mountain goats, and a rabbit. It's almost always too fast to get a picture, but Seren really enjoys seeing the animals that she is learning about in her books.

That's all for tonight. It's after 3am here and we need to get out on the road early in the morning. We're hoping to reach Regina tomorrow night, but we'll have to see how the day goes.

Whale Park Adventures!

It was a beautiful day on Friday, so the four of us took Nika out to the Whale Park to picnic, take in the scenery, and do some creature-watching.

The gazebo where we ate is one of four at the park. The concrete whales are popular for climbing children.

A small squirrel came to watch us eat from a safe distance.

After lunch, it was down the steps to the shore.

There are a lot of steps to get down there.

Climbing on the rocks.

A tide pool with starfish of every color, lots of pretty green anemones, and seaweed. All the black in the foreground is a bed of mussels.

Starfish pile!

Seren touching a starfish.

The view across the bay.

Anemone and seaweed in a mussel bed.

We discovered that Nika's not a half-bad climber, but she was sure tired when we went home.

Soon it was time to climb back up the steps and head back to the car.

Porter wanted to ride the whale one last time before getting strapped into the car.