quote:

Originally posted by mid life traveller:
Colleen Anne
My mom is on the Rocky Mountaineer this week. I will let you know what she thinks of it.

MLT

Is your Mum travelling in "Redleaf" or "Goldleaf" class.?

quote:

Originally posted by Colleen Anne2:
Yvon,

THANK YOU so much for that wonderful description of the sights......my answer is YES to everything.......

I guess it is for budget reason but coming in the Rockies in June is just a bit too early for all the animal babies. You should be there after June 15th at least. They all came down from the mountains for better grass and away from their predators except for some grumpy old males.

Also, you should be aware that you may encounter some frost early in June in the mountains. So if you planned to do a hiking trails for example, doing it early in the morning, you will need proper clothing.

In the mountains, remember that you can live the 4 seasons the same day, even in summer. Or wait 10 minutes and it will be sunny. One year, we had 4 inches of snow on the Columbia Icefield through Lac Louise. Some tourists had made a big snowman at the crossroads at Lac Louise. But the snowman was melted 24 hours later.

Doing the Okanagan Valley (Kelowna) too early in june, means that you will miss the BC Cherries (British Columbia Cherries) season if you like them. They are so well known. We missed them here in the eastern part of the country. Sorry for you BrendaC with your Niagara cherries.

Take note that Canada Day is celebrated on July 1st, all over the country. So you can participate with us to the festivities, have a piece of our Canada's Birthday Cake and the fireworks at the end of the day in almost every city.

Later in July, you may miss The greatest outdoor show on world (The Calgary Stampede) only more than an hour drive from Banff.
About your friend from Edmonton, one option might be for her to meet you in Jasper. Of course, driving from Edmonton to Jasper is a good 4 to 5 hours if my memory is good (correct me Albertans). If she is a 100% country woman, she will probably be able to camp in one of the camping sites and pick you up for a country dinner. If she is not, she can meet you downtown in the early afternoon and come back after dinner in Edmonton. Remember that in June or July, at this latitude, the sunset is at near 10h00 PM at least.

She can also meet you at Miette Hot Springs (a good hour drive from Jasper) for chatting in hot water.

There are plenty of companies in either Jasper, Banff or Lac Louise like AAT King which they offer optional tours if TT or Insight cannot organize them and you can book them when there for your free time. The Information Desk in these parks are very helpful.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Yvon,

quote:

Posted 12 September 2006 12:07

quote:
Originally posted by mid life traveller:
Colleen Anne
My mom is on the Rocky Mountaineer this week. I will let you know what she thinks of it.



MLT

Is your Mum travelling in "Redleaf" or "Goldleaf" class.?

Goldleaf. Her friend and her decided they deserved it.

Thanks Yvon and MLT,
I appreciate your help very much.

Yvon,

By the way - I suffered a fractured spine a few years ago so my hiking and trekking days are over. I won't need any hiking gear for the mountains as I hope to see them all in relative comfort.

As you say, I may miss out on the cherries, but MLT has promised me lots of Vancouver strawberries to make up for it.

I'm thinking of June rather than later as I am going to spend the first 2 weeks in western USA (LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon etc) and the weather will be too hot if I leave it any later. What I am trying to do is find a time that is 'coolish' in western USA and 'warmish' in western Canada - hence the June decision. Would you agree with this??

quote:

Originally posted by Colleen Anne2:
Yvon,

By the way - I suffered a fractured spine a few years ago so my hiking and trekking days are over. I won't need any hiking gear for the mountains as I hope to see them all in relative comfort.

As you say, I may miss out on the cherries, but MLT has promised me lots of Vancouver strawberries to make up for it.

I'm thinking of June rather than later as I am going to spend the first 2 weeks in western USA (LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon etc) and the weather will be too hot if I leave it any later. What I am trying to do is find a time that is 'coolish' in western USA and 'warmish' in western Canada - hence the June decision. Would you agree with this??

Under these circumstances, of course I agree with you.

Like us for Australia, we had to make difficult choices and lived with them.

Colleen Anne
Please be aware that we can have warm spells in June or cool spells. Mind you here in Vancouver anything over 24 C is considered hot. Aussies are not allowed to laugh at what we consider hot.

Colleen Anne

It does tend to rain an awful lot in Vancouver in May....June.....July.....August etc

Sorry MLT

Missie, yes it tends to rain an awful lot in Vancouver and that is why I don't want to live there. Sorry you were unlucky with the weather but it doesn't really rain much in summer, when I was there 3 weeks ago and there hadn't been any rain for ages, the grass was brown and when I left 2weeks ago still no rain.

Colleen Anne, as I have mentioned we get most of our rain in June but Alberta is a very dry province and hopefully you will be lucky with the weather.

Also Yvon is right, I think it takes 4-5 hours to drive between Edmonton and Jasper, if you come to Calgary, it takes only 3 hours to drive to Edmonton. Jasper is more beautiful though.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marie56,

quote:

Originally posted by Marie56:
Missie, yes it tends to rain an awful lot in Vancouver and that is why I don't want to live there. Sorry you were unlucky with the weather but it doesn't really rain much in summer, when I was there 3 weeks ago and there hadn't been any rain for ages, the grass was brown and when I left 2weeks ago still no rain.

Marie....I think Vancouver is a beautiful city, I am just adding to my standing joke with MLT.

If I lived in Canada I would have a holiday house in Victoria.

If you have any spare rain in Vancouver, please send it to Melbourne - we need it desperately.
We are only in the second week of Spring and they have already put us on water restrictions.

quote:

Originally posted by Colleen Anne2:
If you have any spare rain in Vancouver, please send it to Melbourne - we need it desperately.
We are only in the second week of Spring and they have already put us on water restrictions.

Colleen.....I noticed as I was flying into Melbourne that your countryside looks a lot greener than ours, so could we please have the rain first, I just hate the thought of taking water from the Murray.

No we don't have any spare rain in Vancouver. It is finally raining a little bit here. Our city is parched and our reservors are getting low. We can't afford to share yet. Sorry.

quote:

Originally posted by mid life traveller:
No we don't have any spare rain in Vancouver. It is finally raining a little bit here. Our city is parched and our reservors are getting low. We can't afford to share yet. Sorry.

Well!!!!!! how mean