Waterton Lakes

If you ever get the chance to travel up north, you must, must, must visit Waterton Lakes, Alberta!  Waterton is one of our most favorite places that we have ever been.  If we could figure out a way to get there that wouldn’t take two days, we would spend a lot more time in the area.

Waterton is the Canada side of Glacier National Park, so it’s located above Montana.  It is home to the historic Prince of Wales Hotel (in the upper right hand of the photo).  This hotel is stunning inside.  It’s nice to visit, but we would prefer to stay down in the village or townsite as some folks call it. 

This time we stayed right in the middle of the townsite, in a “chateau”. Fancy schmancy.  Actually we didn’t know what to expect and we both agreed that we got pretty lucky on this one.  The complex was basically a dead-end street of these buildings (each one a different color).  There were six to eight separate rooms in each one.  Our room was on the bottom right.  Those are our green lawn chairs, where we spent some quality time people watching.

 

The thing about the townsite is that it’s pretty much four blocks north to south and four blocks east to west. Our “chateau” was right in the middle.  We wanted dinner, we walked across the street.  We wanted to do some shopping, we walked across the street.  We wanted to enjoy a beer, we walked across the street.  We wanted a fancy coffee in the morning, we walked across the street.  We wanted to see a movie, we walked across the street.  We wanted an ice cream, we walked across the street.  Unfortunately the ice cream shoppe was already closed for the season.

One of the things I was most looking forward to was dinner at the Lampost Restaurant.  I believe that this is the only five-star dining establishment that I have ever eaten at.  The food was so good!!!  Last time I ordered the cedar plank salmon.  You could keep the cedar plank as a souvenir.  I am guessing that not many of the cliental asked to keep it, but I surely did!  We hauled that stinky cedar plank all the way back from Canada.

On this leg of the trip we would be celebrating a milestone.  The tenth anniversary of our first date.  Wow, ten years.  We were so looking forward to another fine dinner at the Lampost.  Imagine my surprise as we pulled into town to find this:

It may not look like anything to you, and that’s because there isn’t anything there!  The Lampost burned down two years ago!  What!!!  All that is left is a large, overgrown hole in the ground where the only five-star restaurant I could say I ate at used to be.  Thank goodness I still have the cedar plank to prove it.  It was time to come up with a back-up plan.

The first morning we were in Waterton Scott got up early to take pictures.  I had made it clear the night before that I had no intention of getting up early.  I was taking the day off.  My plan was to sleep in, drink a fancy coffee, and do some shopping. 

Early morning here is very quiet.

Not many people are out and about.  But you are likely to spot one of these guys.  Another thing that Waterton is famous for.

This little guy was enjoying a morning of playing around in the meadow.

That was until mama came along and made sure that her cubs weren’t up to too much mischief.  I think she was also keeping an eye on everyone who were keeping on eye on her babies.

The second full day we were in Waterton was our first date anniversary.  We decided that, in honor of ten years together, we would go on a ten mile hike.  Why not, right?

We rode the International across Middle Waterton Lake.  You have two options on this boat ride.  1. You can buy a round-trip ticket and ride across and back, or 2. You can buy a one-way ticket and ride across and hike back.  It sounds like a good idea, until the boat pulls away from the dock and your only option becomes hiking the 9 miles back.

One unique tidbit about this boat ride is that Middle Waterton Lake is half in Canada and half in the United States.  If you are riding both ways, no worries; but if you are hiking back, it’s considered technically crossing the border and you have to go through customs in the United States once the boat drops you off.

Even though we have been to Canada before, both Scott and I got our first official stamp in our Passports.  The customs agent would not allow Scott to take his picture while he was stamping them.

After making it through customs, we were on our way.

Sometimes the trail was easy to define.

Sometimes it was overgrown and questionable.

Making sure that Scott followed the rules of not taking anything from the National Park with him, we stopped a few times to take care of rock issues.

About halfway through the hike, we crossed back into Canada.  These markers on either side of the lake line up to define the international boundary line.

We stopped a couple of times along the lake to enjoy a snack and the scenery.

These people were also enjoying the lake, canoeing topless!

By the afternoon the hazy smoke from a nearby fire had rolled into town.

Towards the end, I was starting to believe that the trail would never end.  I was beginning to think we may never make it back.

We did eventually make it back, but not before we shared an international moment.  Each of us is standing in a different country.  You can see the international boundary line cut through the trees across the lake.

Our time in Waterton did not disappoint.  We both agree that this will not be our last time visiting this place.  But, after three days, we headed home. 

The drive we had planned to do over the last three days of our vacation, we decided to do in two very long days in order to get back a day early.  Our plan was to not get home until Sunday, September 11th, but due to some things that came up, we busted butt to get home on Saturday the 10th.

I have a couple of more postings about our vacation, so check back soon for those.  Thank you for joining us on this journey.  We are definitely ready to get back to the journey of everyday life for a while.

Labour Day

No, that’s not a typo, we are celebrating our Labor Day in Canada, which also celebrates this day, only they call it Labour Day.

But first things first.  We left Medora this morning, stopping at the Painted Canyon for one more look at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  It was more beautiful this morning when the sun was rising, then we had previously seen it.  It was so quiet standing at the overlook that, I swear, if you listened long enough you could hear the bison way off in the distance tearing off the grass he was eating.

We had one last stop in North Dakota, the Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. 

This fort is located on the Missouri River.  In it’s heyday, over 100 people would be employed inside the fort.  Both the white and Indian trappers would come here once a year to sell their hides.

The white people and the Indians worked together, but the Indians were not allowed to live within the protected walls of the fort.  They lived in their teepees on the other side of the fort from the river.

There were very few dangers in this area.  And the dangers that were present were clearly advertised.

Even though the Fort is located in North Dakota, we had to drive across the state line of Montana for about 20 feet.  For a moment there, we weren’t sure where we were.

We did know that our final destination for the day was Canada.  Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to be exact.

Tonight we will be spending the evening at the Wakamow Bed and Breakfast.  So far we are impressed.

After going downtown to get a bite to eat for dinner, we wished we would have budgeted an extra day here.  The town looks fun.  Unfortunately, we have to head out in the morning.  Tomorrow is another six hour drive, but then we get three days of quiet and relaxation!

One Man’s Vision

Many people say that Theodore Roosevelt is the father of the National Park System that exists today.  His dream of conserving the natural beauty of the land, while using it responsibly, is why we have designated protected sites.  It seems only fitting that a National Park is named for him.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is located in western North Dakota.  This land is also considered the badlands of North Dakota.  Roosevelt came here as a young man and fell in love with the beauty of it.  He returned to his home back east, where the following winter both his wife and mother died on the same day.  He came back to Medora and lived for a few years running a cattle ranch.  It is written that while he was here, he found himself again.

As soon as we entered the park we were able to see the actual cabin that Roosevelt lived in while he was here.  It’s a modest place, but one that had all the amenities for the day, i.e. a bed, a table, and a cook stove.

This land is really beautiful.  The colors of the grass and rocks change with every minute that passes.  There are also a lot of animals that call this park home.  In fact, there are seven designated spots of the park that are referred to as “Prairie Dog City”.  You can pretty much guess that there are hundreds of prairie dogs that live in these cities.

We thought we would spice it up and take a photo not looking directly at the camera.  Pretty artsy don’t you think.

There are also elk, bison, and wild horses that live here.  We only saw the bison.  These two were enjoying a snack together.

This herd was enjoying making the tourists wait while they casually strolled down the park road.

The scenic driving loop of the park takes about an hour and a half to drive around.  That is if you don’t stop at every pull off.  It was a nice drive, but in hind sight we should have gone out earlier in the morning for the chance to see more critters.

Back in Medora, we took advantage of the local campground laundry facilities to wash a week’s worth of dirty clothes.  We were getting dangerously close to having to flip our underwear inside-out.

Medora is a fun town.  Made up mostly of tourists.  One person told us that there are actually about 60 year-round residents.  Many still get around the old-fashioned way.

We took advantage of the mild late-summer afternoon to walk around the town and catch some of the sites.  There was a gunfight in the center of town.  The story goes that some of the old ranchers were not happy when the new ranchers came in and started putting up fences.  These two “old-timers” made it a point to cut down any fences they came across, thus leading to a shoot-out at the local saloon.

We had a couple of nice, low-key days here in Medora.  Our next stop is across the Canadian border.  Scott says we can’t use our cell phones once we cross the border.  I’m guessing that means that this will be the most “vacation” part of our vacation since we won’t be checking emails or text messages.  Wow, that sounds kinda nice.

The Best Way To Tell A Story Is To Sing About It

We thought that going on vacation almost a month early this year would lend to warmer weather.  But, as we are learning, the Dakotas are having unseasonably cold weather this year.

When we headed out from Keystone, South Dakota, the temperature gauge read 50 degrees.  Brrrrr!



Driving north we passed through the famous town of Sturgis.  Our thinking that we could just pull off the Interstate and drive down main street was quickly squashed.  Labor Day Weekend is the Sturgis Mustang Rally.  There were over 800 Mustangs registered as of Saturday morning.



Continuing north, we stopped at the geographic center of the nation (or so we thought).  This spot is marked on all of our maps, but the location is not consistent.  In Belle Fourche, South Dakota they have a large visitor center and a beautiful 25 foot wide platform showing the geographic center.



Then you go inside the visitor center and they lady is so kind to tell you that the actual geographic center is about 20 miles north of Belle Fourche.  Since that was on our way, we decided that we really should stop at the actual location.



After driving 7.8 miles down a gravel road, with a speed limit of 55 mph, you come up on an big old barn on the left hand side of the road.  The real marker is in the farmer’s field to the right of the barn. These are the actual directions as written on the brochure.

 

Don’t worry, he doesn’t mind people stopping, you just have to work your way through the barb wire fence and hope the cows aren’t in the way.



After reading the brochure about how the scientists decide on the center of the nation, we learned that it could be anywhere around here within ten miles of any direction.  Oh well.

Our next stop was to get gas.  Scott took this photo of me washing the window to prove that I do help when we stop.  He kept laughing while he was taking the picture, but I’m not sure why?



You know what people say about North and South Dakota; that there are miles of nothing.  Listen to them.  There are miles of nothing but straight road.  To make the best of our travel time, I decided to do something constructive.



It’s not everyday that you can paint your toenails while cruising down the highway at 75 mph.
It seems that sunflowers are a main crop in North Dakota.  There are fields and fields of these.  They are really beautiful.



We are staying the next couple of nights in Medora, North Dakota.  This is the home of Teddy Roosevelt National Park.  It’s a cool town.  Not too touristy, but there are lots of things to do.  We had pre-purchased tickets for the highlight of the town.



Now, you might ask yourself what the heck is a Pitchfork Steak Fondue.  I know we were wondering.  Are you familiar with a regular fondue?  You know, the kind where you have melted cheese or chocolate and you put something on a stick and dip it in the cheese or chocolate and then eat it.  You can also do this with a bowl of hot oil and you dip pieces of meat in it to cook the meat real fast.  That’s what this is kinda like.

They take actual pitchforks and load them down with steaks.



Then they dip the pitchforks into huge vats of super hot oil.



Tada, you have pitchfork fondue.  Dinner included baked beans, coleslaw, a baked potato, and garlic bread.  Dessert was mini donuts, cooked in the oil, with sugar on them.

Following dinner, we had tickets for the Medora Musical.  This musical has been in production for 42 years.  It changes every year so that people will keep coming back.

I won’t do a very good job of describing this musical.  It’s put on in an outdoor theatre located in the burning hills of North Dakota.  The scenery is amazing!  Not only are there actors on stage, they are placed all around the theatre on knolls and walkways.



It’s dark by the time the musical starts.  The night was so clear that you could see almost all the stars.  It was also near freezing.  Everyone in the audience had on stocking caps and winter parkas.  Lucky for us we had a pretty good sized blanket in the car so we stayed warm.

This year’s musical tells the story about what people do in North Dakota, both for fun,



and for work.



The musical includes some popular country songs, along with original songs.  The actors come from all over the United States.  The musical runs through the summer.  The last production this year is on September 10th.  Auditions for next year’s production begin on September 12th in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana.  They take this pretty serious around here.



The final number of the show is a patriotic number.  What you can’t see in this picture is the lone rider on a white horse on the bluff behind the stage.  He is lit up by a single spotlight as he rides down the bluff to the music of America the Beautiful.  It’s just enough to give anyone goose bumps.



If you ever pass this way, I highly recommend this.  It’s definitely a big deal around here.  We met people at dinner who came from all over just to see this.  Many of them had been here before.  I know we would come back again.