Today we went for a family canoe trip along a very picturesque section of the Deschutes River south of Dillon Falls. Amazing weather and colors.
Adding a couple photos taken by a work colleague we ran into at the put-in.
Tonight Hunter, Noah and I did an intro to welding class at the DIY cave. A new place in Bend that just opened in May. We got to try oxy-acetylene cutting, AC/DC arc welding as well as MIG welding. Lots of fun and great to try things that allow you to use your hands. We will be back for sure.
We just returned from our second annual boys fall camping trip. Last year we canoe camped on Sparks Lake. This year Hunter wanted to do a backpacking trip so I selected Benson Lake as a good starter - a 1.5 mile hike into the lake with wilderness camping. Mileage-wise not a lot, but with packs on it was plenty to get a taste and enjoy the experience. We left home after the boys soccer games on Saturday afternoon. The drive was about 50 minutes from Bend past sisters on hwy 242. We had spectacular weather and it didn't even get very cold at night. The water was so clean and clear we drank right out of the lake. The boys loved it.
Hunter and Noah have their first soccer game today. Go Challengers! Go Bears!!
Today the Donaldson kids started back at school. Always bitter sweet but so proud of them. They will go and do great things!
4th, 2nd, 1st and Preschool
Yesterday, was our last day on our trip and we spent the day at the Heritage Museum in Calgary. The mesuem consisted of Alberta's history from the natives to the railway to the coming of the automobile. The kids loved it and got to ride some old fashion carnival ride at the end. We had a wonderful holiday in Alberta Canada and feel so fortunate to have seen such beautiful mountains and scenery.
The weather cleared today for our raft ride on the Athabasca River and the rest of the day, although lingering clouds created some great scenery shots on the way back from Jasper to the Glacier View Inn at Sunwapta pass where we are staying.
Today we drove into the town of Jasper for the day. The weather has been unseasonably cold here. We did not plan for this so we stopped off to buy some hats and gloves for our rafting trip. The weather wasn't looking great but the sun broke through which made for a nice afternoon. After our float down the river we met up with Ralph and Fran to have lunch and enjoy the quaint town of Jasper.
Yesterday we traveled from Lake Louise to the Columbia Ice Fields in Jasper National Park. The first picture is taken at Peyto Lake along the ice fields parkway which is in Banff National Park. When we arrived at the ice fields in Jasper National Park we took a bus tour up onto the Athabaca Glacier. It was our first family trip to an ice glacier. We are staying at the Glacier Inn which looks onto the ice fields. This is a unique area because it is considered the only triple divide in North America where you have water flowing from a single source into three different oceans.
