Grain Elevators and Trains

Today we took a trip to the north of Edmonton, to a little suburb and went to the St. Albert Grain Elevator park and the Alberta Railway Museum. When we were in Montana Mason kept saying the round metal grain elevators were rocket ships. I kept trying to explain, but it never really worked out so well. So when I saw tours of a grain elevator being offered we jumped up and went. Of course, everything around closes next weekend, so its not like we have much time anyway. We sure learned alot, and we even had some fun. The Grain Elevator Park was having a festival so they had several extra things for the kids.

Corn Maze and Spray Park

Today we went out to the Edmonton Corn Maze, as pictured here from the sky. 15 acres of corn crops, 3 miles of trails, and 85 decision points. We completed the whole maze in just about an hour. They had some pedal carts and a few animals to see as well. We had started the world's largest maze at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii but it was rainy and muddy so we didn't get to finish it. The boys were quite disappointed so I thought this would be fun. The kids start back to school on September 2nd, so I thought we could get in a little more fun before school.

After that we headed out to the local spray park. I've never really thought it was quite warm enough, but today the weather is fairly warm so we gave it a try. We were not properly dressed so the older boys wouldn't participate, but Mason had fun. Even though he doesn't like to have water sprayed down on him.

Buffalo Jump

On Sunday we made the trip home. The drive took 8 hours. We took the scenic way home and then stopped at Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump on the way home. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy and rainy, so most of the scenic views were just views of the clouds. The mountains looked as if they were very tall. We were driving along Glacier National Park, but since we have already seen the largest glacier we didn't bother stopping.

Head smashed in Buffalo Jump is a place where natives lured buffalo and then caused a stampede making the buffalo jump off a cliff. Several tribes would be involved and they would kill an entire herd of buffalo, saving up enough food for the entire winter. There is evidence of human activity in this area for 11,000 years and this buffalo site was used for 6000 years.

And you may think the name came from the obvious, but the legend has it that a young brave wanted to watch the buffalo. He stood under a ledge and watched the buffalo pile up from the fall. However, there were more buffalo than usual and he became trapped between the buffalo and the cliff. When he was found his skull had been crushed. So now you know something you didn't before.

The Dinosaur Trail

Along I-2, and a few other roads, crossing Montana are several dinosaur stops. There have been many findings along this area. We were near two of the stops and decided to make the trip on Saturday. Turns out the ones we were near were not that big. But we had fun taking a look anyway. Some of the other stops are much bigger, but they were too far away.

And we had some great food while in Montana. Who knew Montana would have Mexican food? We at at two Mexican restaurants while we were there. Both were good. We also went to a steak place where Frank got a buffalo steak. It was very yummy. And Montana has no sales tax, so shopping turned out even better than expected.

Great Falls, Montana

We went shopping Friday morning and then headed out to see the sights. It got pretty rainy so some of the falls were seen on Saturday.

Great Falls got its name from the water falls in the Missouri River. When Lewis and Clark took their expedition to find a water passage from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean they were the first anglo people to veiw the falls. We saw several of the falls while we were there, and went to the Lewis and Clark Interpetive Center. We have been to St. Louis and have seen several of the things they have there on Lewis and Clark, so this was just further down the line. In fact, this was pretty much the end of the line. The Missouri river begins near this area.

Montana

Well, It took us 8 hours to get to Montana, but we had some pool time before dinner. It was a little cool that day, and the pool room was hot and humid, so the camera was a little fogged up for these pics.

Back in America

Well, we are in Montana.  Headed down for a few days to do some shopping and see the sights of Great Falls, Montana.  The sites are waterfalls and dams.  Hope to see some dinosaur museums tomorrow, and then back to Canada.  I will update with pics then.

House in Hawaii

These are the pictures of the house we stayed in in Hawaii. Posted by special request, taken from the website VRBO. We enjoyed the house, but wish it would have had central AC, but the AC in the bedroom worked pretty well, even on the whole house.

Panoramic Images

Here are some pics I made into panoramic pics

Days 7 and 8

Our last two days in paradise. We had a lot of fun and are now home and very tired. The high in Canada today was 63 degrees which is a welcome change from the 90+ temps in Hawaii with tons of humidity. But we had a great time. Maybe our favorite vacation ever.

Day 6

Day 5

Day 3

Here is day 3.