Flora, But No Fauna

We slept in until almost 8:00am this morning but quickly got on the road by 9:30. It was a crisp, cool morning so we put our liners on and headed out.

We jumped on the Yellowhead Highway which is part of the Trans-Canada Highway system. This runs along the North Thompson River which was flowing hard.

Also running along the Yellowhead Highway was the Trans-Mountain Expansion Pipeline project. We were made to slow about every few miles for construction zones and although the construction was not on the highway, it was enough to deter the wildlife. Again we saw nothing but the scenery was absolutely beautiful.

We stopped at Mount Robson for a coffee break. While Cathy was ordering the espressos, Tom went in search of ice cream. We sat outside in pleasant lawn area and listened to conversations in many different languages at surrounding tables while viewing the majestic mountain. Tom strategically chose rum raisin ice cream so he wouldn’t have to share with Cathy. Ewe.

We made our way north on Highway 16 which took us into Alberta and into Jasper. Jasper is located in the Athabasca Valley in the Canadian Rockies. It’s a tourist town with a busy railway.

After cleaning up we walked into town and found a nice spot for a glass of wine and an appetizer. Once again, there was a potpourri of languages around us. Our waitress had an accent that we were trying to identify. She was from Argentina.

We walked around some more and had dinner at a pizzeria that looked out toward the Rockies and the railroad.

It was a very nice day with good weather and beautiful scenery. Tomorrow we’ll go to Banff National Park. We’re hoping to find some side roads that may give us less traffic and more opportunities to view wildlife.

Again, not many barns here. If you look hard enough, you can see one in this picture.