Trains and Grizzly Bears, A Canadian Roadtrip - Better Late Than Never

In a couple of days we will hit the road for Canada where we have booked the Grand Circle Route on the Rocky Mountaineer.  The Rocky Mountaineer is a privately owned train company that runs luxury train trips through Western Canada, but more on this in a minute.

We had booked this same trip last year, but like every other trip we planned in 2018, we had to cancel it because of health issues.  First it was my Valley Fever and then Val's knee replacement so here we are, I am fully recovered and Val is a full year from her new knee so we are trying it again, and this time we are good to go.

Our trip on the Rocky Mountaineer will take us from Vancouver to Banff National Park.  After a few days in Banff we will travel by bus to Lake Louise and then Jasper National Park.  After a couple days in Jasper, we will catch the train for the trip back to Vancouver.  The whole trip will take 12 days, but only five will be spent on the train.

When we return to Vancouver, we will drive and take the ferry over to Vancouver Island where we have rented a house for five days on the East Coast of the island.  Val found a tour that will take us back to the mainland and into tribal land where we will (hopefully) be able to view grizzly bears feeding on salmon that are starting their annual run up the river to spawn.

From there we will travel to the West Coast of Vancouver Island for a few days before starting our trip home.  The trip home got more interesting this week as we found that our friends Cathy and Heather would be up at there vacation home near the small town of McCall, Idaho so we will spend a few days with them before we make the long drive south.

We were very disappointed to miss out on this trip last year and are very happy that we have a second chance to do it this year.  We haven't done a road trip in a few years so we are also looking forward to that.  We can't wait to get started.

As is my custom now, I won't be publishing any of the blog until we get home so by the time you are reading this, we will be back.  That's not to say the blog won't be written live as I do write my thoughts down every day, but I save the photo selection and editing until we are home.

Time to finish our packing and hit the road, we are ready to go!