Great Smoky Mountains and Roads

The Great Smoky Mountains are living up to there name today - it rained heavily overnight and the mist is down very low. I was going to take the scenic drive to Chatanooga via the Great Smokys but it's not worth it today. It has been very warm the last few days - 84 yesterday with 60% humidity. There are flood warnings out for several places down south in Alabama including Birmingham. I may have to change a few of my plans like visiting Montgomery as a result.

The roads have been surprisingly busy down south, more so than up north. And if you think we have roadworks at home, you have not seen them American style - they go on for 20-40 kms in some cases. Not that the roadworks aren't needed. In my opinion, the roads here on the highways are worse than the poorest country roads I've driven on. As for the local roads, I tend to hope the car (a blue Ford Focus) will come out on the other side of the potholes.

Rock and Roll Hall of fame

I did tear myself away to journey down to Cleveland and the rock Hall of Fame. This is housed in an extraordinary building by the architect Pei who I think designed the Guggenheim at Bilbao in Spain. There was a huge amount of 50s and 60s memorabilia, a special Doors exhibition and a celebration of the Beatles Help! movie. For me, i really enjoyed the U2 exhibits - Larry's first U2 t-shirt that he screeen printed in art class at school in 1978 was teeny. The Bowie area included his costume from the Ashes to Ashes video which is an extraordinary costume. And of course there was a Queen section with Freddie's waistcoats, jumpsuits and one of Brian May's outfits. A very enjoyable three and a half hours. Now on my way down to Kentucky and Tennessee.

Niagara Falls

Checked into the Sheraon at Niagara falls and my room faced both the American Falls and the Canadian Falls. They have the best restaurant view in the world fromthe Fallsview Restaurant where I mostly ate apart from Saturday night at the Hard Rock Cafe (couldn't resist). The Falls are stunning, inspiring and magnificent. I went on the Maid of the Mist, the Journey behind the Falls, the Spanish Aerocar and visisted the beautiful Butterfly Conservatory attached to the Botanical Gardens. I had brilliant weather of around 73F each day. It was so hard to tear myself away from the lovely Sheraton and the wonderful falls yesterday.

Keepsake Quilting

I went to Lake Winnesaukapee to visit Keepsake Quilting, the largest quilting shop in the US. I was totally overwhelmed on my first visit (the day I arrived at Lake Winne, of course) - there was just so many bolts of fabric, so many patterns and every time I turned around, there was more. I went back on each of the next two days too and found things I hadn't seen on my first visit. They have a large range of Civil War fabrics and wonderful patterns. I ended up spending a lot of money but as the ladies in the shop said - you're only here once. The shop is staffed by bery friendly ladies and is filled with women (and their husbands who are extremely patient I have to say) who like me were gobsmacked. I spoke with people from all over the place including one lady who was 81 and her daughter who had travelled 6 hours to visit. And the shop is only a two hour drive from Boston....yes I am planning a possible diversion when I get to Boston. I am hooked.

Lake Louise

Been off the airwaves for a while so a bit to catch up on. Lake Louise was almost totally frozen and we had the warm temp of 7 degrees. The Lake is so beautiful - we did a lovely walk to the end of the Lake and had a special dinner with another Aussie we met on the Rocky Mountaineer, Genevieve from Brisbane. Unfortunately our room appeared to have a fautly thermostat and was about 80 degrees the whole time we were there. They even put a humidifier in the room to try and cool us off but really they should have moved us. The Chateau is very elegant and one afternoon I wrote postcards while listening to a women dressed in a beautiful Georgian outfit playing the harp. It was an experience.

Gene Simmons Family Jewels

Hi everyone
I just had to do a post about this show. I came upon it on our second night in Vancouver and have been attempting to watch it ever since. Gene Simmons is of course the tongue from Kiss. His show is spellbinding as I have never seen anyone with such a narcisitic ego as this man. He has a bunny with whom he has been living with for 22 years and two children. His 17 year old son is just gorgeous in the Jim Morrison mould (the show is worth watching just for him). He has severe issues with his 13 year old daughter having a boyfriend (aren't men all the same). I am hoping this show is available on pay tv back home as I am officially hooked (and my cousin does not get it at all!). His office is decorated with Kiss memorabilia. He is a workaholic with a Kiss credit card (yes I'm serious) and I find it absolutely hysterical. More about his show later.

Jasper wildlife

Hello everyone from Jasper in Alberta
We are staying at a quaint lodge with a very nice room - 2 king size double beds. We are a little walk from the main shopping area which is not very large.
We arrived on the train last night having passed by a frozen Moose Lake which looked amazing. We also saw a lot of Mount Robson (only the top of the mountain was obscured by clouds). Has been raining this morning with a few bursts of sunshine. We had wildlife spotting on the train yesterday - I saw four bears (black), 3 moose and 1 deer. There are a number of elk in the main drag of Jasper. We saw eagles and ospreys from the train on Thursday.
We have discovered that most of the activities and tours aren't running in Jasper yet. Tomorrow we are doing one tour which is running.
We keep meeting up with another Aussie who we had dinner with on Thursday night in Kamloops. We are meeting her again for dinner at the Lake Louise Chateau next week. We have been told Lake Louise is still frozen and are hoping to walk around the lake. And we hear that it was raining 30 days straight in Banff - we are hoping the weather clears a little for a trip up the Gondola.
Bought my first patchwork today - 1 local design incorporating log cabins and pine trees (seen lots of these!) and another kit which was designed by the quilt shop owners friend which features three bears in a tree with a snowed capped mountain behind them - very cute. I also purchased yarn and knitting needles to knit myself a scarf which I am needing. We are having a top of 11 degrees today in Jasper - it was three overnight.

Vancouver

Hello everyone from Vancouver
We went up to Whistler on the train yesterday - a very enjoyable trip along the Howe Sound and then a canyon with deep gorges and huge amounts of water flowing downstream. Didn't see any salmon! Whistler is very commercialised and I much prefer Chalet land in Pertisau, Austria. It does have a stunning location ans is the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. There's a lot of building going on.
Last day in Vancouver today - going to Robson Street and the magnificant Stanley Park.
We have had terrific weather given it's spring. It has only rained twice really and both times, we were fine - either having dinner or on a bus. There are floods on the other side of the country, so we are lucky.
We are off on the Rocky Mountaineer tomorrow.

Nanaimo

Hi everyone from Nanaimo
First things first - the flight was okay but unfortunately our plane from SF to Vancouver was delayed and we finally left 5 hours late arriving at Vancouver at 11.30 - got a taxi to the hotel and fell into bed after 12.30am. Vancouver has gone a bit downhill since 1999 - enjoyed Grouse Mountain where we got snowed on! Enjoyed Victoria thoroughly - we stayed an extra night forgetting about Tofino which would have taken a day to get there on the bus. The Buchart Gardens were stunning - I think there were more tulips than in Holland. I almost think it was better in spring than fall. Victoria by night was very pretty. The Executive House Hotel in Victoria was lovely but there was building happening next door which was noisy in the morning. I went to a castle and the London wax works yesterday. We arrived in Nanaimo today and are staying near the waterfront. It is a quiet and peaceful place. We are going to have a look at the old city district tomorrow. Then it's back to Vancouver to catch our trains to Whistler and then the Rockies.