oh canada!

we are finally back in the us... with mixed emotions. we left glacier friday morning and drove north to banff national park in the canadian rockies. we camped at lake louise for 4 nights. the whole place was gorgeous, but lake louise left me speechless. to say this is one of the most beautiful places i have ever been doesnt seem to adequately convey how i truly felt. i felt as if i had a connection to this place. it was very crowded and tourist-y. the campsites there, however, were amazing. the campground at lake louise has something like 600 sites, and it was one of the best campgrounds i have ever camped. we had a secluded site with huge pine trees surrounding us. the best part? a camping kitchen! it was a separate outbuilding with huge tables, concrete counter space and a 3 burner wood burning stove. i was in heaven (excpet for the asian invasion! ask anyone (adult) that was present... they can explain!). the kids seemed to really like canada. this was their first trip out of the country, and when we stopped at the grocery store on they way to calgary, grayson promptly exclaimed upon seeing labels in french and english, "i love canada!". they also loved getting candy they have never seen before, and the canadian money was a huge hit! one of our highlights in banff was seeing a grizzly bear. we had seen a black bear and a brown bear in glacier, but had been patiently waiting for a grizzly... we took a ride on the ski lifts, and berk was a bit nervous about riding the chair lift, preferring the enclosed gondola. we made a deal that we would ride up enclosed, but back down open air. they loved the open air trip so much that they faked sleep so they could ride again! the kind guy working said if we would "queue back up" on the down low we could ride again. and there was our grizzly! on the way back down we went right over top of him. we were all quite excited. we also met kevin, a 20 year old german who was backpacking across canada. he was a great diverson for us all and provided excellent entertainment for us for an evening. the kids were enthralled, needless to say, and we adults found him to be quite refreshing - as well as making us painfully aware that we are all now too old for that kind of adventure...
then today, (happy birthday, mom!) we drove 12 hours to bozeman montana. matt was glad to be back in the us, the crowds were a bit much for his preference. and after spending 2 of the last 4 nights with temps below freezing, we are all happy to be sleeping in a hard sided structure tonight! tomorrow we head to yellowstone to spend the day, then we will camp the next two nights in jackson hole. i will update as soon as i am able! we miss you all! for some reason i am unable to upload anymore pictures... i will try again when possible!!