First, just a couple of things about the blog. As you notice we have started a separate mini blog for this portion of the trip. But since you are reading this you must have found it ok! Secondly, we have realized that it is sometimes difficult to find the time, internet connection etc. to do a proper blog update with pictures and everything. Therefore, we've decided that the posts from this part of the trip might have a little less photos and be shorter, but as we want to keep the blog going, we think that just a paragraph about the place we are currently in would be better than nothing at all... Sometimes you'll just see the name of the town as an 'empty' post but it will allow you to follow our trip on the map on top of the page.

Ok, that's enough for 'admin stuff'. Back to the fun stuff!

Well, we are now in Medicine Hat, Alberta and unfortunately there isn't anything that exciting to write about it. We came in late last night and after trying to find 'downtown' for half an hour we ended up at the first motel we had seen when we entered the city.

It is quite a change in scenery from the eastern part of British Columbia. After leaving Vancouver and driving east we picked a slightly different route than the way we had come back through when driving from Golden. This time we went more south through Manning Park and stopped in Grand Forks, Nelson and then drove through Cranbrook to Kimberley. From Kimberley we passed through Fernie and then entered Alberta.

We had been told that Nelson was going to be a great place so we spent a night there. It is a beautiful spot with mountains, the Kootney lake and a quite little town. However, to find a breakfast restaurant that would serve bacon and eggs was a bit of a challenge. There are tons of places that serve vegetarian and vegan food but for an Englishman, that just won't do! We eventually found a really nice place on the way out of town so Robert's day was saved by a heaping serving of bacon!

Ferry ride across Kootney lake

On the B.C. side, the landscape in the Kootneys is spectacular with the Rockies and the Kootney mountains. However, almost as soon as we entered Alberta everything flattened out. Like, REALLY flattened out. More like a pancake!!! Miles and miles of farmlands! Cows and horses everywhere!

Approaching Lethbridge which is the first major city on the Alberta side it was evident that the city has a past history in the coal mining industry. Hills from the by product of mining greets you when you drive in and some kind of huge bridge that looks like a transportation system for coal can be seen in the distance.

We decided not to stop in Lethbridge and therefore drove another two hours to Medicine Hat. Today we will drive through the rest of southern Alberta and into Saskatchewan. Probably another few hours of flat lands. Robert is still driving and keeps singing to stay awake. Victoria is awake because Robert sings.....

Oh, to end this post, we just want to share a few pictures from the last part of the Arctic trip. Robert finally got his goat (not the way he had hoped for) and Victoria got a kiss from a camel....

Robert got the goat! ...at a petting zoo.....

A Canadian camel....

Victoria and the goat