Back inland

Morning troops. Well, the librarians are decidedly normal in Montana. Maybe Canada has particularly strict 'equal opportunities' employment guidelines? "(Act 3, Subsection 9: "All Canadian librarians must have at least 2 very obvious deformities, see subsection 10 for the definition of 'deformity'...") Nothing like a little political correctness eh?!
Since Vancouver we've gone east to Glacier National Park via the Okanagan Valley. The valley is famed for it's warm climate and excellent wines. We naturally spent a long afternoon wine tasting just to make sure that their claims were in fact legitimate. I think we found one that was decent (though Em would argue two), although when we proudly took our bottle back to the campsite it wasn't quite as decent! (I think it was because, try as you might, wine just doesn't taste good from plastic cups!) I soon discovered that I've officially become a lightweight through lack of booze this trip- two cups of wine was more than enough to upset my balance! The weather has since got colder and we enjoyed 18 degrees in the daytime which dropped to below freezing at night.
After spending another night in an idillic campsite in Montana we got talking to a chap in his truck. Our conversation went something as follows:

Hick: "So d'ya see any moose?"
Us: "Not yet- it's very beautiful here though isn't it?"
Hick: "Yeeep. This here is Gaaawd's country. I always said if Gawd had a diallin' code it'd be 406, Montana- yep siree."
Us: "...that's nice!"

This was coming from a chap with a battered baseball hat, a Bible on the dashboard, a large rifle by his side and an unusually quiet wife next to him. We were understandably cordial. After that we headed to Glacier National Park where we spent a few days chillin' with Oliver (another German hostelkeeper!) at the North Fork Hostel and Squarepeg Ranch in Polebridge. It reminded me a lot of the TV show 'Northern Exposure' given that there are only 10 year-round inhabitants of Polebridge! Described as being 'ultra-rustic' in our Bible we did some proper 'ranch style' living 'sans electricite' in Polebridge. However, our book didn't mention that there was in fact an outside woodfired hot-tub there. We spent a very pleasant evening under the most incredibly clear night sky watching shooting stars whilst soaking in the tub. Awesome stuff. (NB- I counted at least 3 more shooting stars than Em..!) Poor Em was mostly ill with a cold for our Glacier trip and we limited ourselves to very short walks and the odd bike ride. I certainly wasn't complaining after our marathon efforts in Jasper! Glacier was a very picturesque place, the scenery of which differed greatly to that of Jasper and Banff before it. We should have some photos for you soon!
So, lastly, we've driven east to Butte (no jokes please) in Montana where we're due to descend upon Yellowstone tomorrow, home of the 'Old Faithful' geyser!

Coast to Coast Completed!

At 4.46pm on the 5th October I took this rather hurried shot out of the car window- our first view of the western seaboard of Northern America!

We made it.


Vital stats include:

• 4,838 miles so far;
• 31 days;
• 2 Intrepid drivers;
• 1 Chevrolet Impala in desperate need of an oil change;
• 7 Nights spent in said vehicle;
• 3 Nights in various seedy motels;
• 10 Nights with friends and rellies- thanks guys!
• 9 Nights in 'hostels';
• 2 Nights in our wonderful tent;
• 8 (A12) Sunsets- travelling west has its advantages;
• Hoards of deer and elk;
• 5 Long Horned Sheep (horns worth $120,000 intact!)
• One bear (though Em didn't see it- unlucky!)
• And no moose, though we did try!

A belated report from Banff

Harro everybody, we are currently sitting in an internet cafe in Vancouver with half the screen covered in Japanese- not sure how to change the settings! Anyway, since our last report we've actually done quite a lot. Our journey from Calgary took us to Banff, home of Canadian skiing and all things mountainous. After equipping ourselves with warm sleeping bags (Em's goes down to -12 degrees so she can never seriously complain about being cold again... ever) we made our way to, wait for it, a 'Youth Hostel'. For the unitiated, these places offer cheap accommodation in 'dormitories' where you get to share your hopes, fears and body odour with several Dutch, Scousers and the obligatory Japanese photographer. I love communal living- no really. Enough of the rant.
We've been incredibly fortunate with our timing- 20 degrees and bright sunshine coupled with autumnal colours has been quite spectacular. We managed to do some serious trekking miles in our new boots and get some incredible pictures. Obviously this is bear country, so every 2 minutes we've had to call out "Hey bear" (which gets a little tiring on a 6 hour hike!) And Gran, rest assured we have also equipped ourselves with 'bear spray'- an ingenious device for repelling even the grizzliest of bears (albeit at close range).
Having spent 3 nights sharing tales of "ooh I went to Thailand too" with several co-bunkees we set off in search of the 'Icefields Parkway' en route to Jasper. This is dubbed as being the "most spectacular journey in the world", and to be fair- it's not far off. From the comfort of your own 3.9 litre V6 Chevrolet Impala (or similar) you can witness countless glaciers, inspiring peaks and the deepest of canyons. Truly amazing stuff. One of the highlights was being able to drive up to the foot of one of the largest glaciers in Canada, the Athabasca Glacier, which is as deep as the Empire State Building is tall. So far, so good.