We enjoyed Whitehorse in the Yukon. At the archives, we found that Larry's mom (Mayo) family is related to the man for whom they named the town of Mayo, Yukon. They also have Mayo River and Mayo Lake. We didn't visit the town but got his history and he is from the Mayos in Brownsville, Maine, just as is Larry's family. Albert Mayo (of Yukon) moved with his family to Beloit, WI. After the Civil War, he moved to the Yukon eventually marrying a native woman. They raised 11 children in that area. If you saw a picture of him, you'd think it was Grandpa Mayo.
Then we went on to Dawson Creek to visit cousin Doug & Evie Bonk. It was rainy weather, but we had a warm welcome there. We visited Doug in his apartment and Evie in the nursing home connected by inside corridors.
That was one of the few days of rain we have had. However, this part of Canada has been inundated for the past few weeks and flooding is common.
The floods forced us to change our direction when leaving Dawson Creek. Instead of heading southwest to Prince George, we headed southeast to Hinton. We came out of the rain and entered the Rocky Mountains.
We just about circled Banff and Jasper parks.
We went across the top from Hinton thru Jasper to catch the highway south on the other side of the mountains. Then we paralleled the mountains all the way to Kamloops. Our reason was to visit another cousin in Logan Lake. Grace and Jon have a darling girl, Kaitlyn. We saw the trucks that Jon drives in the copper mines. They are more than huge!
Then we headed east toward Lake Louise. All this way we were awed by the huge mountains and lovely scenery. Lake Louise didn't disappoint us either. The sun was peeking out all along the Icefields Parkway. It still ranks as my favorite drive. The mountain views are so wonderful I don't have enough adjectives to do them justice.
We ended that wonderful day in Red Deer with a Norwegian cousin of Marlys'. Betty Wulff and husband, Stan, were wonderful hosts. Betty has helped develop the international heritage of their town. Stan helped plan and build the Laft Hus at the Historical Park which is of Norwegian design. Daily in the summer, weekly in the winter, people gather at the Hus to teach and learn painting, hardanger (sewing), cooking and other activities. We were really impressed with the Norwegian heritage shown there.
Since leaving Red Deer, we visited three more families. The Fisher's in Innisfail (Wilson relatives), the Kuhle's in Calgary (friend, Madre's son), and Gordon & Mary Wilson in Calgary (Wilson relatives).
Now we really are on the way home. But there is still much to see and miles to go.
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