Back on the "Friends & Family Trail"

Ted. Judy and I had made the most of our month back in Athens, Georgia but now it was time to hit the road again. This would be our second two month road trip in 2026, but now we would focus on Western North America. As with our recent journey, our route was shaped by our friends and family. We knew it meant driving a lot of miles but these people are important to us and it had been too long since we had seen some of them. 

On Wednesday, August 26, we flew to Denver, Colorado, rented a truck (cheaper than a car!) and drove to the nearby home of my sister, Kathy and her husband. We had lots of good food and conversation and Steve (a Yankees fan) even put my Atlanta Braves baseball games  on his TV so I could watch my team sweep the LA Dodgers! 

At the end of our short but sweet visit, we exchanged hugs and headed out on the road, bound for our next destination. Missoula, Montana. 

This is one of our favorite towns in the US. It’s a perfect size, with lots of things to do, especially hiking, as it sits at the junction of five valleys. 

We were able to stay with our good buddy, John which was important to us. When we first met John, he was married to a wonderful woman named Susan. Sadly, she passed away two years ago so on this visit we tried our best to lift his spirits. 

At the Nat'l Museum of Forest Service History

Leaving Missoula, we drove north, across the Canadian border to Lethbridge, Alberta where we stayed in the home of a great couple named Eller and Tess. 

We had met them two years ago on a Transatlantic cruise during which Eller and I and some other nice folks played pickleball every day. One evening, we were able to have dinner with Eller and Tess and their group of travel companions. It was a memorable night and Eller said, “If you’re ever in Alberta, please look us up.” Well, you know how that usually ends… 

Back on the courts!

From Lethbridge we continued our wanderings of Alberta with a visit to Dinosaur Provincial Park in the “badlands” region of the province. We took a fascinating hike through outcroppings that were full of Cretaceous fossils. Bones of over 60 species of dinosaurs were literally emerging from the soft rock formations all around us. The most famous variety is called a Centrosaurus which is the size of a rhinoceros but looks like a one horned triceratops. 

An emerging Centrosaurus horn

Not a souvenir - a sample from our guide!

After our walk through the badlands, we drove on to Calgary for a stay with Judy’s good friend, Patty. 

The two ladies first met in 2018 at a church in Santiago, Chile. Patty's husband, David works in the mining industry and was temporarily assigned to an operation in Chile. During our six weeks in Santiago, Judy and Patty became very close. We visited them once four years ago but the two friends still chat weekly over the internet. 

When we arrived, they hugged like sisters and the party immediately got underway!

Together again!

There was one more person we wanted to visit before leaving Calgary. We first met Mavis, a sweet Jamaican woman, at our church in Georgia more than 20 years ago. Mavis is now 101 years old and still retains that spunk that we so admired on first meeting her. We see her from time to time when we are in Georgia and she always keeps up with our travels. Four years ago, upon hearing that we were headed to Calgary, she asked us to call on her niece, Connie. We immediately hit it off back then and promised to come see her again when we returned. Connie, is now into her 90's but still stays extremely active and we had a fun visit with her.

Judy and me with the always lovely Connie

After a final day catching up with Patty, it was time to head west on the Trans-Canada Highway as more adventures awaited in British Columbia.

The glorious Canadian Rockies