Adirondack Balloon Festival. 

Adirondack Balloon Festival, Glens Falls, NY

After leaving Buffalo, NY, we travelled through the Finger Lakes area of New York State. They have tons of wineries throughout this area. We had received information on wineries to visit from our Buffalo cousins. We drove to Watkins Glen and stayed at a state park there. From there we drove to the Corning Glass museum one morning and in the afternoon we hiked through the gorge at the state park. We also visited 7 or 8 wineries.

We then drove to Glens Falls on Wednesday and arrived at Bob's sister's home that evening. We have been staying here in Glens Falls. After arriving here we found out that we hit it just right for attending the Adirondack Balloon Festival. This morning we got up at 5:00a.m. and drove out to the airport where they launched 90 or so balloons. It was lots of fun and really enjoyed seeing the different shaped and colored balloons. We're headed to Maine on Monday. Watch for info on this in our next blog.

Us at the Adirondack balloon festival. 

Adirondack Hotair Balloon Festival. 

Kissing Bees at the Adirondack Hotair Balloon Festival. 

Buffalo and Niagara Falls

We've had a busy 4 days here in Buffalo. On Saturday we took a car tour with Uncle Norm and Aunt Mary Ellen and Connie's cousin, Barb. We drove around downtown Buffalo and then went to the casino out at Niagara Falls. That evening we went to dinner and Uncle Howard and Aunt Bea's home. Also there were Norm and Mary Ellen, Barb, Howard and Bea's kids (Connie's cousins) - Gary, Jim, and Mary, plus Connie's Uncle Russell and Aunt Rosemary.

On Sunday Connie's cousins, Ron and Joanne, plus Joanne's son, Danny went for the day to Niagara Falls. We all had a superb time - the weather was perfect. We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist - the boat that takes you to the base of the Horseshoe falls. We also drove over to the Canadian side to view the falls. On the Canadian side you get a really good view of the American falls, plus they have beautiful gardens.

After the falls trouring we went to Connie's cousin, Ken's home for dinner. We had turkey dinner in celebration of a second cousin's birthday. All in all, we had a really wonderful time in Buffalo.

A big thank you to all of our Buffalo relations who welcomed us with such open arms. We truly had a great time. You are the best!!

Horseshoe falls with Maid of the Mist boat. We took a ride on this. They give you blue ponchos to put on to help stay dry. 

Niagara Falls (American Falls). 

Connie with her cousin, Joanne, Joanne's son, Danny, and cousin Ron. Near the rapids at Niagara Falls. 

Gardens on the Canadian side at Niagara Falls. 

Niagara Falls (American Falls). 

Here we are at Niagara Falls. (American falls in the background). We're on the Maid of the Mist, the boat that takes tourists close to the falls. 

Sunrise from our campground on the shores of Lake Michigan. 

Uncle Norm wth the 'kids' at his 70th birthday party. 

Outside at Uncle Norm's 70th birthday party in Buffalo, N.Y. 

Connie (Mariners shirt) with 9 of her Buffalo area cousins. Included are Ken, Bobby, Mark, Billy, Dianne, Nancy, Karen, Barb, and David. 

East through Minnesota, Wis,& Michigan to Buffalo

We headed east from Edmonton through Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, etc to International Falls, Minnesota. We spent the night in a campground near there on a beautiful lake. There were lots of deer in the campground, plus we spotted two otter in the lake. Then we drove south to Duluth, through northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan. Fall colors were starting to come in - especially in Wisconsin. We spent a night at a campground right on Lake Michigan. It's a long drive from Edmonton to Buffalo, but we arrived in Buffalo safe and sound on Thursday, September 15th.

We were going to stay at Connie's uncle's driveway, but the driveway wasn't wide enough to put out the slides, so we went to Connie's cousin's church (where he is the pastor) and parked in their parking lot.

We had a lovely dinner with Connie's aunt and uncle and two cousins on Thursday. We heard lots of very funny family stories. (Watch out - they are gathering these stories for the Bagley family calendar!!) On Friday evening we again went to Norm and Mary Ellen's house where there was a large party with lots of family members present. In all, there were 3 of the brothers - Norm, Howard, and Russell, along with various children and grandchildren. We had 10 first cousins present.

We're planning a visit to Niagara Falls on Sunday. Check the next blog for pictures about the rest of our stay in Buffalo.

Jasper Park. 

Angel Glacier near Mt. Edith Cavell in Jasper Park. 

Mt. Edith Cavell in Jasper National Park. 

Picture taken while driving heading east towards Jasper. 

Rearguard Falls near Mt. Robson provinsial park west of Jasper. 

Jasper and Edmonton

After leaving Prince George, we spent one night in in Mt. Robson provincial park. The next day we were going to drive to Edmonton, but it was so beautiful out we decided to spend a night at Jasper. We drove only 20 miles and put the fifth wheel into the huge Whistler campground at Jasper. We then drove up to the Angel Glacier near Mount Edith Cavell. It was a really great day of fall weather hiking with bright blue skies and temperatures in the upper 60's. We did a hike up to the Edith Cavell meadows and beyond up to the ridge. That evening in Jasper we were kept awake off and on all night by the Elk buggeling(sp??). They sure can be noisy.

The next day we drove to Edmonton(Wednesday, September 7th) and put into an RV park. We had some nice conversations with our kids that evening. Connie's daughter, Michelle has finished an accounting class and is now looking for employment where she can use this new training. Bob talked to both his granddaughter, Amanda, and to his grandson, Daniel. It turns out that Daniel might get assigned to Ft. Lewis next March. We're still waiting to hear for sure about this.

On Thursday, September 8th we ventured out to the largest mall - the West Edmonton Mall with about 1 zillion stores (not really!!). We walked around, had lunch, and then went to Walmart to buy what we needed. I don't think we're much in the way of shoppers. Today, Friday, we went grocery shopping and are just dinking around the fifth wheel with Bob fixing a couple of things and Connie doing some cooking. We're headed east, but still haven't picked our route yet. We're thinking of going through Buffalo, then east through Glens Falls, N.Y, and then to Maine. We would then make our way back through New Hampshire and Vermont.

Our rigs after driving the Cassier Highway. Mud, mud, and more mud. 

Grizzly near Hyder at Fish Creek. 

Black bear - Hyder, Alaska 

The Cassiar Highway

We left Whitehorse, Yukon on Tuesday, August 30th. (Connie's granddaughter's 16th birthday - we gave her a call to wish her happy birthday.) We drove south towards Watson Lake for most of the day until we exited onto the Cassiar Highway where we travelled about 50 miles to stop at Boya Lake Provincial Park. We had a great spot right on the lake. We met a nice couple from Washington there and enjoyed their fire with them. We then drove to Kaniskan Lake provincial park where we stayed next to the couple from Washington again - Carl and Nadia. We then drove to Stewart, B.C. and stayed two nights at the municipal park there. On the way along the Cassiar we saw one black bear and one bull moose. On the side road to Stewart/Hyder, we saw a black bear. And, it was very very wet when we got there.


The next day we drove to Hyder and on to Fish Creek. Just as we got there a big grizzly crossed the road. Our timing was superb. He walked along the stream eating fish and we walked along the boardwalk the whole way watching him. We then drove up the dirt road another 20 miles to Salmon Glacier. The sun came out and we had a great time viewing the glaciers and mountains up this valley. On the way back down, we spotted two bears out near the river. We went out to dinner with the couple we met from Washington and after dinner drove back to Fish Creek where we saw two black bears going down the creek eating their dinner.

We've now driven to Prince George which is where we started this whole trip. We saw a baby moose along the road today. Never did see it's mom. We're headed to Jasper and then to Edmonton. More on the trip in the next blog.

Glacier near Hyder, Alaska. 

Glacier near Hyder, Alaska. We visited the Salmon Glacier, but this one was farther up the Valley.