Around the World 2008 – Part 2
We set out on 11 September for Denver Colorado. We arrived and it was dark and the rain was coming down in stair rods. We had a map to find our hotel but we could not even see the road signs. 
Fortunately, we had borrowed a sat nav which saved us and subsequently proved a fantastic help when we were touring. But back to Denver – We had gone to Denver to attend a reunion of Gerry’s RCDS course from 1998. It was great to catch up after so long. Our hosts Randy and Julia Roberts had arranged a superb weekend with trips to the Garden of the Gods. the USAF Academy at Colorado Springs and a brilliant BBQ at the Roberts home.
After the weekend 6 of us drove to New Mexico for 3 days in Santa Fe. The weather was good and we enjoyed some pleasant exploring around the oldest inhabited Pueblo as well as the town and its restaurants.
The group then separated and Annie and Gerry drove to Albuquerque for a flight to Washington DC.
We stayed in a nice hotel on the outskirts of Washington and had a great time exploring the sights on an open top bus with stops at several of the standard tourist attractions. 
The Vietnam and Korean War Memorials were really quite moving. Having walked quite a distance on hard city streets and around Arlington Cemetery, we did not feel inclined nor did we have the time to visit any museums (perhaps next time).
We do not like being in big cities and were both quite glad when we set out to drive to the Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive. After enjoying the great views for a couple of hours we decided to descend to the valley and visit the Luray Caverns. 
I had never heard of them until planning the trip but, wow, what an experience. We walked for a mile underground with amazing stalactites and stalagmites and underground lakes that were perfectly still and clear giving perfect reflections. The most surprising find was an organ which used stalactites rather than pipes to make the sound. It had taken many months to find the right stalactites to give the range of notes required – the sound was rather good.
We continued our exploration of Virginia and headed for Williamsburg and a delightful couple of days exploring the history of the early settlers and visiting many old colonial buildings and museums. The museums at Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg are a must for any visitor.
All too soon we had to return to Washington and the next phase of our trip.
We flew from Washington to Bangor in Maine arriving quite late in the evening and had a one hour drive to Castine and the home of our Friends Gene and George Bland. We had a lovely week with them and spent time exploring Maine just as the autumn foliage was coming towards its best
. We were probably a week to early to see the best colours but we could not complain !!!! We also had a night away when the two of us drove to Greenville and Moosehead Lake. The following day we drove up to a small town called Jackman where we were astounded by the views as we looked down over multi-coloured forests. We had a lovely dinner in a Hotel in Castine and Gerry just had to try the Maine Lobster speciality.
All too soon we had to take our leave of our excellent hosts Gene and George and head for Canada.
Our first stop in Canada was Toronto and two wonderful days meandering around the city and visiting Niagara Falls and wineries. The falls were quite magnificent and the water flow quite amazing but for us both they did not match the Iguaçu Falls in South America. 
Our next stop was Calgary and a pleasant afternoon exploring the town including a trip up the observation tower. The views were made all the better by very good visibility.
The next morning we were able to relax as our travel arrangements were taken over by the Rocky Mountaineer tour. 
We set off by coach for Banff and enjoyed breathtaking scenery as we passed through the foothills to the Rockies. The golden yellow of the shivering Aspen were a great contrast with the thousands and thousands of fir trees. In Banff we took the cable car and climbed for a further kilometer across a ridge to reach a very old weather observatory perched at the summit of a mountain some 2700M above sea level. 
The views of Banff and the valley were glorious.
It will become apparent to readers that I am already running out of superlatives for the scenery and we had not even got a day into our trip!
The next morning, Gerry was very excited as we stopped on Mount Hector to view the spiral railway tunnels. Here the railway lines had to descend almost 300 metres in just over 6 kilometres. The solution was two spiral-shaped tunnels, 
with tracks that crossed over themselves in a figure-8 pattern doubling the distance and halving the gradient. Brilliant engineering and probably the only place in the world where you can see the front of a long train crossing over the rear and also see the middle of the train as it emerges from the different sections of the tunnel.
Onwards to the Emerald Lake and then to Lake Louise and an afternoon to stroll (in persistent drizzle) along the side of the lake towards the 6 glaciers that provide the water that gives Lake Louise its spectacular colour. The view from our room over the lake towards the glaciers was fantastic even although the clouds prevented a good view of the glaciers. The Chateau was a very large and impressive hotel almost like a mini town perhaps not surprising considering that the nearest town was 4 km away and probably smaller than the hotel!
The next morning saw us drive through more beautiful mountains passing many lakes. It was getting steadily colder as we climbed in altitude and was very cold by the time we got to the Athabasca Glacier. We took a bus ride (not an ordinary bus as you can see) to the glacier where we stood in horizontal snow marveling at the sights. Thanks to the wind chill, it was -10C but an experience not to be missed.
Onwards to Jasper to join the Rocky Mountaineer train.
As it was close to the end of the season, the train was not crowded and we enjoyed almost sole use of a parlour car returning to our proper seats for meals and snacks of which there were far more than we needed! The journey to Quesnel was long but the changing scenery made it a day to remember. We spent the night in a hotel before rejoining the train to head for Whistler. It was another long day but once again the views were staggering. One could not fail to be amazed and perhaps a little shocked at the piles of tree trunks ready to be processed in the timber mills. Apparently they now plant 2 for every 1 cut down.
We reached Whistler in the dark but managed a short walk as we hunted for a restaurant. We had the next morning free to enjoy Whistler which is very beautiful and modern and take a 5 mile walk to the ‘hidden’ lake. After lunch we boarded the Whistler Mountaineer for a 3.5 hour ride down the mountains to Vancouver. Quite a spectacular trip as we spent much of it with the mountain side rising straight up on one side and a step drop on the other!
We had two days in Vancouver and spent one crossing by Ferry to Victoria to meet friends Bob and Kate Iredale who took us to the beautiful Butchart Gardens and down town Victoria before taking us back to the Ferry. 
The next day was spent doing the hop on hop off bus around Vancouver and walking a couple of miles through Stanley Park
before going to the top of the Observation Tower and enjoying looking down on the streets we had just been walking on.
Click for more photos.
All too soon we had to leave Vancouver and head for Palm Springs and Ocotillo Lodge.
Within a couple of days we were back into the routine and had caught up with many friends some of whom live in Palm Springs permanently and others who just come for the Winter.
We also had the opportunity to see our grand daughter Sienna for the first time. She is a poppet.
Jo, Alexander, Oliver and Sienna came to stay for a week with Todd staying for the first weekend.
As usual, the boys spent many hours in the pool with granny and grandpa. Gerry also took the boys for a day out to the Top of the Tram. They walked quite a way and had a picnic lunch and a special trip to Yoghurt Land on the way home. The boys weren’t fazed by the cable car or the fact that it swayed quite a lot as it went over the pylons.
During our 5 weeks in Palm Springs we visited San Diego several times helping Jo and Todd move to their new home, visiting Sea World and going to Oliver’s 3rd birthday party.
Click for more photos.
And so we come to the end of our 2008 adventure which saw us visit India, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. We had a great time.
