12 Oakdale

One of the stops to pick up riders on our way from Banff to Jasper was the Chateau Lake Louse. I was there 50 years ago when we traveled home from our Alaska trip. (The slides are in the garage.) The Victoria Glacier has retreated since then, however the view is still spectacular.  Along the way, we saw 4 black bears, including a mom with  cub. Memories of going to the Smokey Mountains and bear jams, where everyone would stop their cars and get out to gawk at bears. Even feed them. The rangers have put the kibosh on the latter, but we still all stop and look. We also saw 2 moose, but far away on the other side of a wide marshy area. The Rocky Mountaineer’s info said lunch would be a box lunch, but in fact it was a delightful buffet at the ice field’s headquarters. Halfway through the line I discovered all the dishes were labeled by cards in the overhead covers. Before that, assumptions were made. Peg ended up with egg salad which she thought was mustard potato salad. I took my...

New Hampshire does like their moose. Moose statues, moose paintings, moose on t-shirts, moose postcards. Just no real moose to be seen. We decided to remedy this by an official moose hunt after dinner. First up was trying to find dinner in northern New Hampshire on a Sunday early in June. So many little restaurants closed permanently, perhaps due to Covid restrictions, perhaps just normal attrition. Others take that evening off. Finally, just when Alex said McDonalds and a Subway were not too far away, and I had made whiny noises, we passed Gorham House of Pizza. Open and with cars in the parking lot. Continuing our commitment of eating fairly well, I ordered a small spinach and feta calzone for me and a small Buffalo chicken wing one for Grant. When I asked about the size, the young woman behind the counter said it was like a slice of pizza folded over. Or at least that’s what I though she said. Each actually was a small pizza folded over. Delicious, and fortunately cut into pieces, ...