Alberta, Canada

June 23, 2022 6 Comments

We left the Fairmont Hot Springs RV Resort at 8:45 on June 21, 2022. Acey has 86,407.1 miles, Thor has 104,126. More awesome scenery as we headed to Canmore, Alberta

We stopped again near where we had lunch yesterday to view the Stations of the Cross. Not being raised catholic, we had heard of the Stations of the Cross but never had visited them. This collection is quite unique, and we took the time to see and ponder the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, our living savior who suffered and died for our sins and rose from the dead.

This sign describes well what we would see, and who made the figures on display.

At each Station, a sign describes the display – the words from the signs are quoted in captions under each photo.

1ST STATION – JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH – Consider Jesus scourged and crowned with thorns, being unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the cross. [Here Pilate is symbolically washing his hands of his own guilt in doing so.]
2ND STATION JESUS ACCEPTS HIS CROSS – A heavy cross is laid upon the bruised shoulders of Jesus. He receives it with meekness for by the Holy Cross He will redeem the world.
3RD STATION – JESUS FALLS FOR THE FIRST TIME – Laboring under the weight of the cross, Jesus slowly sets forth to Calvary. His strength fails Him; He falls to the ground under the cross
4TH STATION – JESUS MEETS HIS AFFLICTED MOTHER – Consider the meeting of the Son and the Mother, which took place on this journey. A sword of anguish pierced His Mother’s heart.
5TH STATION – SIMON OF CYRENE HELPS – As the strength of Jesus fails, He is unable to proceed; the executioners command Simon of Cyrene to help carry the cross.
6TH STATION – VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS – The holy woman Veronica seeing Jesus with His face bathed in sweat and blood presented Him with her veil. He wiped His face and left the imprint of His adorable countenance. [No sure we have read that in the gospel accounts]
7TH STATION – JESUS FALLS A SECOND TIME – The pain pf His wounds and the loss of His blood increasing at every step, His strength fails and Jesus falls to the ground a second time.
8TH STATION – JESUS SPEAKS TO THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM – Women went with compassion at the pitiful sight of Jesus walking along. He said to them, “Weep not so much for me, but rather for your children.”
9TH STATION – JESUS FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIME – Jesus falls for the third time. His weakness was extreme. They tried to hasten His steps when He hardly had strength to move.
10TH STATION – JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS – Recall how Jesus arrived at the place of His Crucifixion. The soldiers tore His clothes from His bleeding body.
11TH STATION – JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS – Jesus lies down upon His Cross and extends His arms to offer up the sacrifice of His Life for our salvation. The soldiers nail Him, hands and feet.
12TH STATION – JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS – Recall how Jesus agonized for three hours, dying upon the Cross. Then overcome, His body sagged, and He breathed His last.
13TH STATION – JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS – Recall how two of His disciples, joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus’ body down from His cross and they laid Him in the arms of His stricken Mother.
14TH STATION – JESUS IS LAID IN THE SEPULCHER – The Body of her dearly beloved Son is laid in the tomb. The Lifeless Body remains until the hour of its glorious Resurrection.

They did mention, but did not depict, the telling of Jesus’ resurrection – a pivotal point of the Christian faith – death could not hold Him and he rose on the third day and lives to intercede for us. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14 “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.”

There was another sheep on the hill as we visited the Stations. and it didn’t seem to mind us hanging out there.

We headed down the road – more of the spectacular Canadian Rockies!

At 11am, we were welcomed to Alberta!

We passed under 2 land bridges – a way for the wildlife to safely cross over the Trans-Canada highway

As we neared our destination, we noticed there was a bike path along the highway!

We arrived at Wapiti Campground in Canmore, Alberta at noon. We only have 30amp electric hookup here – no water or sewer. We will be here two nights, so we should be OK! The Banff Legacy Trail was accessible right from the campground, so after lunch, we went for a ride.

A beautiful, paved trial – more “mountain biking” 🙂

It started to drizzle, so we headed back – we rode 8.5 miles. When we got back to the campground, a group of us wanted to visit a local craft brewery, so off we went to Grizzly Paw Brewing!

Main Street in Canmore

Afterwards, there was a campfire gathering.

Wednesday we were off to Lake Louise at 8am – more beautiful scenery!

It drizzled a bit and we saw a rainbow!

Our first stop in Banff National Park was Johnston Canyon – a hike to the Upper Falls!

Lots of waterfalls along the way! This is the “lower” falls.

There was a “cave” to go in to get a wet view the lower falls!

So many waterfalls along the way!

We made it to the Upper Falls!

spectacular!

The trail was a paved and some of it was cantilevered along the canyon wall!

See our Facebook pages for videos of the waterfalls!! Next stop – Lake Louise!

We had lunch at the Chateau!

Some history of this historic tourist destination:

The sign is a bit weathered but has nice phots and info

This bird flew in for a photo op…

Next stop at Yoho National Park was Emerald Lake – a pretty shade of green!

Fred and Dixie

Next stop – the Natural Bridge on the Kicking Horse River!

Our last stop in Yoho was at the confluence of the Yoho River and the Kicking Horse River.

It started to drizzle and then rain as we came to the viewpoint here, and trees blocked the view, but you can sort of make out the difference in the color of the water where these 2 rivers meet up!

We headed back to the campground after a full day of hiking, lunch and sightseeing!

On a rainy Thursday morning, June 23rd, we headed off to Jasper at 8:50 after a quick stop at the nearby rest area to use the dump station. Acey’s mileage is 86,527.3, Thor’s 104,238 and we have put 2,060.3 miles on our bicycles.

The rain stopped and it was a beautiful day!

As we passed under this land bridge, we spotted a black bear — that little black speck on the left side, almost out of the photo!

It appeared to be snowing high up in the mountains

We drove past Blue Lake

The weather began to change – more rain!

Soon the rain turned to SNOW!!

After a while, we were out of the snow, and it was clear again – and we saw ELK!

We passed by another glacial lake.

We stopped for diesel in Jasper and arrived at the Hinton/Jasper KOA in Hinton about 3pm – and more rain! More Adventures in Alberta await!

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6 thoughts on “Alberta, Canada”

  1. Wow it does look fabulous there. Did you have any problems with parking when you went to Johnston Canyon or Lake Louise? Any tips. We’Re going to be in there in August.

    Reply

    1. No problem at Johnston Canyon – we parked in the lower lot that is “free”. Lake Louise had TONS of visitors and we took a city bus up to the Chateau – of course we had the Jeep and left Acey at the RV Park.

      Reply

  3. The stations of the cross were very graphic; and what spectacular scenery you are traveling through! Lovely!

    Reply

  4. WOW….just WOW!! So much beautiful scenery….what awesome memories you guys have. Continue safe travels. Bill and Charlene

    Reply

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