Here I am, at the sight of our last posting.  Pearl’s cafe.  Noel entrusted me with the post for the past two days, the 4th and 5th and has taken Henna down the block for some ice cream…buying me some time.  This out door cafe comes with beautiful mountain views and so so thai food.  I must get on with it though….they’ll be back soon.

The past two days have been our slow down.  We have kept our tent in one spot and have enjoyed doing things with minimal driving.  As noel’s last post explained, we have met the nicest folks ever and are lucky to call them our neighbors.  We have shared many stories and glasses of ginger wine.  We spent yesterday hiking to a breath taking view of the waterton area and canoeing on a lake.  This canoe trip, as Noel joked was successful….mainly for two reasons.  1. we did not tip over and 2. we did not divorce.  This lake was not the biggest lake ever, but being between two mountains it tends to get a harsh wind across it.  Mine and Noel’s experiences together on water  are varied and hysterical, so I always am a little nervous heading out.  We were pushed off from land just as a strong gust of wind settled on the lake…….it took us to the dock as we manically paddled to exit through a very narrow outlet.  Our exit was met by giggling from a young group sitting on the deck.  We did make it, finally, out into the lake.  As we argued about our paddling strokes, and Henna yelled from the middle, we were given the best views ever.  The farthest end of the lake still had snow and ice on it, and every now and then we paddled past mini ice bergs.  Our goal was to not settle on top of the ice and need rescueing.  In the middle of the lake we entered into Montana, USA and there we had our July 4th celebration together.  The rest of our day included a bear on the side of the road, good coversation and a never ending sun.

Today we hiked up to Bertha Lake.  This hike was 8 miles round trip and lasted 5 hours ….but man it was amazing.  Noel and I have done this hike two times before, but with Henna it was so much more remarkabtle.  We take our time on hikes to notice every detail of our surroundings.  This hike took us from the town through a meadow and up countless switch backs through a. partial snow covered trail to Bertha Lake.  Henna was so much fun to watch playing in the snow, thankful that she put forth the effort to get to this site.  It feels good slowing down, taking in every step along the trail, talking about nothing in particular.  The hike down from a trail is always the hardest.  Henna was begging for it to be done and at one point stopped and said she’d go no further.  But we made it, and we are so glad that we did it.  We’ve decided to stay here another night and enjoy the beautiful blue skies for a bit longer.  We are liking the slow down. 

Corey called dibs on describing our 4^th of July day, so I will instead write about our neighbors.  Camping is a much more individualized and less certain proposition than hotels.  Weather and/or neighbors can shape ones experience in a campground much easier than it would in a more solid dwelling.  In 13 years of car camping, I can only think of only a few truly annoying or even possibly dangerous neighbors.  And even among those few negative experiences, over time I have grown to appreciate the stories generated from those encounters.  My neighbors here, at the Waterton Town Campsite, make for a wonderful neighborhood (rather than the tidy refugee camp it might look like from above).  Our closest friends here are Earl, Jackie, and their son Jeffrey who is not quite two.  Jeffrey has a thing for older woman and has spent a fair share of his time chasing (or being chased) by Henna.  They also have a couple of games they have made up together that mostly consist of throwing grass in the air.  Earl introduced himself and his family to me as we were setting up camp.  Earl is a large man with tattoos over much of his body including his head which is shaved bald.  I found his coolest tattoo to be the feet inked on one arm.  His wife has the same feet tattooed on the alternate arm.  As a retired Canadian Army soldier, Earl had many stories that he doled out only if he thought the listener was interested.  Jackie, although less gregarious than Earl, also proved friendly and was equally easy to strike a conversation with.  Over the several days we camped next to them we became friends and they generously shared their ginger wine and rum (both tasted well) and gave us a small Canadian flag, a Deet bracelet, several glow sticks and other little toys to Henna, and great conversations.  Conversations discussed included taxes, the military, border crossings, health coverage, immunizations, parenting styles, Druidism, Judaism, Canada vs. the States, labor laws (one reason Canada’s labor force seems young to me is that in some provinces children can work as young as 12), tenting, and kayaking.  I sincerely hope that they take a road trip to Chicago some time where they can stay duty free at our house.

Other neighbors included friends from near Calgary who came together in a converted 1958 passenger bus as well as more traditional trailers.  Henna made friends with one of their daughters (Hanna) and they introduced themselves to us as well.  I should say that some places beg introductions and others breed solitude.  The comfy confines and lack of fire rings at Waterton seemed to push people together in what was, thankfully, a friendly manner.  Below and around us also lived hundreds of Columbian ground squirrels whose frequent hole digging, near constant squawking, and opportunistic food thieving left their mark.