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JohnBoy’s Travel Blog

Photos and stories of my journey across the US and Canada

I am back in Durham after my big 2025 road trip and have now resumed posts.  I apologize for being so far behind but I have reviewed and prepared pictures taken through August 31 for posting and will post a few things at a time so as not to overwhelm people.  I will continue to review and prepare photos taken in September and will have them ready when I exhaust the list I have already.

Thank you for your patience!

I will eventually (probably the summer of 2026) be creating a number of pdf files which list all my previous posts, enabling visitors to find specific posts from earlier trips (over 1,300 and counting).  I know how to do it, I just need the time.  Lord knows I had plenty of that at home in the weeks leading up to my departure, but it was consumed with other projects, prepping and packing.  I will let everyone know when they are completed and will email them to anyone interested. 

If you use the calendar grid to the right, go back to May, 2025.  Then click on May 13th.  There you will find a post I made which contains 100 links to some older posts from 2018 (San Diego)/2019 (Eastern Canada) to give you an idea what I’m talking about.  You may also use the calendar grid on the right side of this page to go to any other month the blog existed.  I started the blog in the Spring of 2016.  I traveled and took photos for two years prior to that but have only posted a select few, and some of my early posts only included 1 photo (I was a blog newbie) and I need to post more from the tens of thousands of photos I’ve taken.

FOR THOSE OF YOU NEW TO THE BLOG:

Welcome to my travel blog, where I post photos of my trips throughout the United States and Canada.  For details on my intent for this project please click on “About” in the upper right hand corner.  If you have comments or requests please feel free to contact me by clicking on “Contact” in the upper right hand corner.

If you are new to the blog please note that you are seeing the most recent posts first.  As you scroll down you are going back in time.  You may read statements which may not make much sense right at the moment because they may refer to a discussion earlier in the blog.  If you want to find posts for a specific place (e.g. Grand Canyon) enter it in the search box.  You may also use the calendar grid to use the “way-back” function to time travel back to a particular day’s posts.

Enjoy, and PLEASE feel free to share the blog address with others.  Also feel free to copy and save any photos I’ve taken.  You should be able to right-click on them and save them to your device (but if you sell them and make a gazillion dollars, please slip me a zillion or two. We’ll just keep that between us).  The photos are best viewed on a computer or tablet, not a phone.  The larger the screen the better.

Regina, Saskatchewan

August 21, 2025

After my stay in Moose Jaw I would drive about 50 miles east to Regina (pronounced rej-EYE-na), the capital of the province and it’s second largest city. But first, the view from my bedroom window when I woke up before sunrise:

Kind of hard to see in a photograph but the crescent moon is in the bottom center and above and to the right are two planets (I don’t recall which ones).

I drove over to Regina and the first thing I saw when I arrived in town was Mosaic Stadium, home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team.

Next I drove downtown to, where else, the Visitor Centre. Frankly I was surprised that about all they had there was a map of the city.

I drove back to the stadium to get a closer look. Outside were three flags.

On the right, the British Flag, on the left the Canadian flag and in the center the Saskatchewan provincial flag.

Next to the stadium was Confederation Park, a small, grassy fenced in area with several benches and tables. There was also a display of indigenous art:

Next to the park and the stadium was the convention center, and in the parking lot a group called Cirque Italia (Water Circus) was setting up a large performance tent:

It was a nice day so I drove back downtown and walked to several city parks. In one of them I saw an enormous jackrabbit (technically a hare).

I could tell he was big (he reminded me of my cat, Bigfoot, who weighed 16 pounds). Well, jackrabbits don’t get THAT big but his back legs were long and when he got moving he could really make tracks. I saw another one in another part of town.

The next day I had to do laundry. The Airbnb I was staying in had a combination washer/dryer – something I had never seen before. I don’t know what the attraction was, other than taking up less space, but it took FOREVER.

I had done some research overnight and decided to go to two government buildings – The Legislative Building and Government House.

That is the Legislative Building, looking back from the gardens in front of it. And this is the view from the front of the building looking towards downtown.

And the statue of the horse and rider you can see in both photos is Queen Elizabeth II, riding her favorite horse – Burmese.

In another part of town I found Government House.

It is the official residence of the Lieutenant (pronounced Left-tenant in Canada) Governor of Saskatchewan, who is the Crown’s representative.

The weather was going downhill and I had a driving day the next day so I went back to my Airbnb to get my clean clothes out to the car and rest up a bit.

My day in Moose Jaw

August 20, 2025

It took all day to get here and I arrived just before nightfall so I spent the next day exploring Moose Jaw. As I often do, I started at the Visitor Centre.

Above is a version of the Snowbirds jet. The Snowbirds are Canada’s precision flying team (like the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels in the US). They are based at CFB Moose Jaw, a large military base a few miles south of town. Moose Jaw has a reputation for clear weather in the summer so it is a perfect training ground for pilots to practice their skills.

And that is Mac the Moose, here for obvious reasons.

When I went inside I was greeted by a more lively mascot of sorts. Say hello to Cheese the cat.

Get it? Mac and Cheese?

This was one of the displays in the Visitor Centre.

It promotes a tour of real tunnels underneath the city. There are two theories for the existence of these tunnels. One is that they housed Chinese-Canadians who were forced to live underground. There is no real proof of that but is there is documentation for Chinese business owners having lived here many years ago.

The second theory is more widely embraced. Chicago mob boss Al Capone is alleged to have used the tunnels for hiding alcohol, prostitutes and promoting gambling here during Prohibition. Again, no documented proof of that but it has kind of taken on a life of its own. Many of my Airbnb hosts thus far have mentioned it if I told them that I was planning to come here.

Other displays featured the importance of the railroad (two different national rail lines pass through here), agriculture in the community, and promoted various sports teams, notably the Moose Jaw Warriors hockey team.

And of course, the Snowbirds.

Note that the Snowbirds logo is featured on the hockey player’s uniform above, as is part of their logo as well.

Moose Jaw is a nice town of a little more than 33,000 people and it seems to have held that level for at least 10 years. It is the 4th largest city in Saskatchewan. People who live here are called Moose Javians. Seriously. Betcha didn’t know that! (Don’t feel bad, I didn’t either).

As I stated earlier, it has embraced the urban legend of Al Capone having a connection to the town, and calls itself “Canada’s Most Notorious City”.

I went to the Temple Gardens Arena in town as it was listed as the location of the Moose Jaw Curling Centre. The day I was there, however, it appeared to be set up for hockey.

Moose Jaw did host the 2025 World Men’s Curling Championship, as well as the 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championship, in this multi-use arena.

As I was driving back to my Airbnb (one of the nicest one’s I have stayed in) I drove through this coulee a short distance from the house.

A coulee is a French-Canadian term for a valley or depression. After my hostess explained that I realized I have driven through lots of them. Those photos are looking left and right from the lowest point on the, otherwise level, road.

Calgary, AB to Moose Jaw, SK

August 19, 2025

Today would be a driving day. I would be traveling from NW of Calgary, near the western edge of southern Alberta province (though it is relatively narrow at the south end), to Moose Jaw, in south-central Saskatchewan province, which is much wider. Google Maps said it would take about 6 3/4 hours without stops, and would be all 4-lane highway. I don’t call it the dreaded interstate because I am in Canada. If anything it would be interprovince, but the highways up here have treated me very well so I have no reason to attach the “dreaded” moniker to them.

This going to sound crazy but I have wanted to go to Moose Jaw since 1977, when the movie Slapshot came out. It was about a fictional minor league hockey team with a bunch of misfit players, and included, what some might call above average hockey rough play which really drew attention to the team. It included the three Hanson brothers and another player whose name I don’t recall. At some point in the movie the fact that the brothers were from Moose Jaw and the other from Saskatoon (or vice versa) was mentioned. Ever since then I have wanted to go to those two places.

This was the view out my bedroom window during the night near Calgary- the moon and two planets.

When my Airbnb hosts in Golden and Canmore learned of my plan to go to Saskatchewan they told me – be prepared for prairie and farmland. Once you get out of the Rockies it will be flat as can be. No worries – the same is true in the US.

Not a mountain in sight.

I stopped for lunch in Medicine Hat, AB, which was about halfway to my destination. The first thing I saw before I got off the highway was the World’s Largest Teepee.

Well, maybe not authentic but it makes a good photo op. There was some indigenous artwork on display.

I stopped at the nearby Visitor Centre for maps and brochures and had a nice conversation with one of the workers there. He convinced me that there was enough here to see that I would add it to my itinerary later in the trip. Because of the possible air quality issues I had downsized my original plan which had included a stop in Medicine Hat.

I had learned of a small racetrack and r/c aircraft flying field north of town and set out to check them out quickly before I got back on the road. Before I got there I saw a sign indicating that neighboring Redcliff, Alberta is the Greenhouse Capital of the Prairies.

I found both the racetrack and the r/c flying field right next to each other but both were closed on the day I was there.

Spectators Welcome so long as there is someone here! I won’t even post a photo of the race track since I couldn’t get very close. For those of you that don’t know me, car racing is one of my interests, and I used to fly r/c helicopters for a few years and always stop in if I see a flying field somewhere.

I also learned that Medicine Hat is nicknamed “Gas City” because of an abundance of natural gas underground, and I passed a few businesses which process it for transportation by rail.

As soon as I crossed into Saskatchewan I started to see evidence that it was, in fact, largely farmland.

Huge silos and grain elevators. And to give you an idea how big this one is, here is a photo with vehicles parked next to it (way down in the lower left hand corner).

Further up the road, another one:

Before I got to Moose Jaw I came to a large lake and noticed a raised observation platform:

The signage indicated that Reed Lake is a seasonal stopover for migratory birds. It is the second largest saline inland water body in Canada.

When I finally arrived in Moose Jaw I discovered that one can even get poutine at McDonald’s in Canada.

Poutine is basically french fries covered with cheese curds and brown gravy. I tried it a few years ago when I was in Quebec (where it originated) but it is not something I should really be eating…

I arrived at my Airbnb in Moose Jaw in the early evening. It was located several miles out in the country south of town, and I was treated to a magnificent sunset and, looking in another direction, storm clouds. It had been a beautiful day but storms were moving into the area. They basically went around us but because of the flat terrain I could see storms far away from where I was.

My second day in and around Calgary

August 18, 2025

The next day I drove south around the west side of town to visit the small town of Okotoks, which is about 45 minutes south of downtown Calgary. I wanted to see the “Big Rock”.

It’s actually 2 big rocks and many smaller ones. The proper name of this site is Okotoks Erratic and these rocks, many of which have drawings or carvings, have deep cultural and ceremonial significance to the local indigenous peoples. It sits a short distance off the road with a gravel path leading to it and around it. There is also a perimeter fence around it which is not to be crossed.

As I was driving back north I stopped in town for coffee and saw this deer casually eating grass right next to the street, seemingly without a care in the world.

When I got back to Calgary I, again, went around the west side to stop at a place I had seen on the way to Okotoks. Several facilities at the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics which were held in Calgary (remember Eddie the Eagle and the Jamaican bobsled team?).

The biggest building at the site is called Winsport, and is a multipurpose sports and training facility for Canada’s Olympic athletes. They also maintain many of the facilities constructed for the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Behind it is the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame.

Also nearby was a building for the gymnastics team. And yes, they do have the original Jamaican bobsled (in Canada they call it a bobsleigh) used in the 1993 movie “Cool Runnings”.

The things that drew my attention from the highway were the three Olympic ski jumps.

After I finished taking photos at Winsport I drove back downtown. I went to a place called Devonian Gardens, which is a large atrium high atop one of the buildings. The plants alone didn’t really do much for me but I was intrigued by a display of wooden masks by artist Tom Ward.

And as I was walking around downtown I figured I’d better get a shot of the Calgary Tower, shaped to resemble the torch for the Olympic games.

It has kind of been dwarfed by many taller buildings downtown but as I was driving past Calgary later in my trip I noticed that looking towards town from the southeast is does stand out pretty well (though I was on a multi-lane highway and couldn’t stop to take a picture).

My last stop downtown was the Wonderland Sculpture.

I wanted to go inside it and try taking a photo looking out but as you can see there was someone working there and had it cordoned off so I was unable to do so.

Downtown Calgary

August 17, 2025

I left my car parked where it was near the Calgary Chinese Heritage Centre and walked to Prince’s Island Park, a long city park which straddles the Bow River as it passes through town. Lots of open spaces and people engaged in various activities.

This also gave me a pretty good view of some of the modern buildings in Calgary.

I also walked to the Peace Bridge, which spans the Bow River.

Below is a shot looking in the south end of the bridge. There are slightly raised lanes on either side for pedestrians and a 2-way lane in the center for bicyclists.

I sent photos of the bridge to some friends while I was there. They are both architects and immediately recognized this as a design by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

Calgary Chinese Culture Centre

August 17, 2025

This wasn’t on my original list of things to see but was highly recommended by the folks at the Visitor Centre. I found it fascinating.

Those tall ivory pieces had some intricate detail:

There was also a mahogany furniture display, again, with some amazing detail:

There was an entire living room set, which must have (literally) weighed a ton.

They had a replica of a 2nd Century earthquake measuring device, called Toads and Dragons:

It is enormous, and each of the dragons has a ball in its mouth. If an earthquake occurs devices inside will release the ball which falls into the toad’s mouth.

There was also a display of Chinese clothing, which is generally very colorful and elaborate.

As I left, this was the view looking up into the dome which I showed at the beginning of this post:

Calgary, Alberta

August 17, 2025

Today I would be driving east, away from the Canadian Rockies, to Calgary. Rather than take the Trans Canada Highway I decided to take a smaller road which roughly parallels it.

One of my first stops was at a lake where there was a river rafting launch point. I arrived there as the rafters were arriving for their orientation but I was on the east side of a lake, and not the river itself. Looking behind me it was still partly to mostly cloudy but ahead of me were bright blue skies which were welcome after the past two rainy days.

The group wasn’t quite ready to go so I proceeded to drive further east. I came to this rodeo facility not far from the lake. This was the first indoor rodeo venue I have seen, but I know there are many others which sometimes host large, professional competitions.

Further up the road I came to another, larger lake although the signage there indicated it was a reservoir called Ghost Lake.

When I got to the first town on this route I turned off the highway to find a car wash and passed by this Mexican restaurant.

Their motto: Fiesta, Siesta, Tequila, Repeat. Sounds good to me but they weren’t open yet.

One of the reasons I traveled on this road was to make sure I knew where my Airbnb for the next two nights was located. It had a very rural address and I wasn’t sure my GPS would be able to find it. I ended up trying the “Get Directions” function on the Airbnb app and it took me right to it.

I was now northwest of the city so after getting gas I decided it was time to brave going downtown. It was after morning rush hour and the roads were pretty much clear of traffic so I got there with no problem. My first stop was the library, which is in a very modern building.

As I walked up the steps to the main entrance there were some oversized games set up for kids, and others, to play.

I went to the library because that is where the Visitor Centre is located. This was looking up inside the building:

I got some maps and spoke with the two people working there who suggested some specific things to see in the city. Outside the building were several large art pieces which resembled the “bobbing head” science teaching tool.

They did move with the wind but were restricted from coming too far down.

I drove to a modern art museum they had suggested. It was kind of a mix of museum and office building, but it covered three floors and had some interesting things to see.

This is a closeup of how the third piece was constructed:

Lake Minnewanka

August 16, 2025

After leaving Banff I crossed Hwy 1 and drove up to Lake Minnewanka, a popular cold-water, glacial fed lake. At 4,900 feet, it’s surface is about 300 feet higher than the town of Banff.

There was a detour and traffic was moving slowly so I stopped at a smaller lake along the way.

After speaking with some folks at this smaller lake I went further up the road to the big lake.

The lake is much bigger than these photos depict. It curves out of sight after passing between the mountains shown below.

At the far left end was a long dock and several boats which take people out onto the lake.

And I spotted two kayakers setting out on their own.

Back to Banff – Post 2 of 2

August 16, 2025

This is part of the downtown shopping area in Banff:

I drove to a viewpoint called “Surprise Corner,” located along the Bow River across from the big Fairmont hotel. I parked in a small parking area and carefully walked down a rocky, muddy path to where I thought I could see the hotel. Well, the viewing opportunities from that low vantage point were not good at all.

Disappointed, I carefully walked back UP the rocky, muddy path to where I had parked my car, only to find a spiffy new viewing deck across the road!

It was above the hill to my left as I drove up to the parking lot for the old trail.

Surprise!!

THAT is the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel.

Next I drove out Tunnel Mountain Road. I showed you a photo of Tunnel Mountain in the previous post. Tunnel Mountain Road goes around it, not through it. It would take me away from town and to several viewpoints and trails.

The first stop I came to provides a great view of Mount Rundle.

Hard to see from this distance, but there are three distinct “layers” of different kinds of rock, formed over millions of years.

Here are the famous Canadian National Park “red chairs” which are strategically placed through Parks for residents and tourists alike to sit and take some time to soak in and enjoy what there are seeing.

Further up Tunnel Mountain Road I found another viewpoint and trail which would lead me to some “hoodoos,” or natural stone pillars. They are at the bottom of the 3rd photo below, and I could only see the two of them. Sorry, Banff, but after seeing whole National and State Parks with hoodoos in the western US, I can’t say that I was terribly impressed.

It did make a nice photo, though, with them in the foreground, the Bow River in the center and the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel in the distance.

It was still raining and more tour buses and RV’s were starting to arrive in town so I thought I would try my luck across the Trans Canada Highway and up over a mountain to visit Lake Minnewanka.

Back to Banff – Post 1 of 2

August 16, 2025

Yesterday it rained a good bit and I stayed put in Canmore. Before leaving Durham I had booked all of my Airbnb’s through and including Canmore. I now needed to make a decision about going further east, away from the Canadian Rockies.

The largest wildfire in Canada in 2025 was in Manitoba province, which I was not planning to visit. I did, however, want to go further into Alberta province, and then continue east into Saskatchewan. They, too, were battling wildfires, mainly in the northern parts of their provinces. I was monitoring both the wildfires themselves and what the air quality in and between the towns I wanted to stay in was doing. I decided that with one exception, I would go ahead and book stays in several towns that I originally planned to visit. I cut down on the number of nights and went ahead and made reservations. I did not go to northern Saskatchewan (Prince Albert National Park) because the ongoing fire near there was still burning and the air quality was not good. The air quality in the other towns had improved from unhealthy to acceptable, though some smoke would catch up with me later in my trip.

Having done that, today I drove back up to Banff. The rain was still in the area but it was not a washout. Light rain continued off and on all day but I tried to get out and see more of Banff. I drove up high above town to where the Banff Upper Hot Springs are, as well as the Banff Gondola. I could not drive all the way to the Hot Springs because I didn’t have a reservation there. The Gondola was not yet open, and given the cloud cover I wasn’t optimistic that I would see anything from it anyway. As I started driving back down into town I saw a lone cow moose walking along the road. She turned to walk up into the woods but I was able to take some pictures of her.

I continued on down the hill and parked at the Cascade of Time Garden. It is behind a big building which I believe is used for Park Administration.

That is the view from the front of the building looking across the bridge over the Bow River and down Banff Avenue, the “main street” of Banff. The mountain in the distance is Tunnel Mountain.

This is yet another marmot. I spotted it as I walked around to the front of the building. I stood very still after he ducked down into a hole near the sidewalk and after a short wait he reappeared.

I figured I’d leave him alone and walked down to the very front of the property to take a photo of the building.

About this time I saw a large tour bus pull in and start unloading passengers. I walked back up to where I had seen the marmot and he was still there, roaming amongst the flowers.

I went back to my car and drove to the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel. I had to park on the street behind the hotel and managed to find a way up a set of stairs on the side of it. I couldn’t get a good shot of the hotel itself as I was too close to it, and I would have needed a key card to open any of the entrance doors.

I knew I would be able to take a good picture of the front from one of my next stops so I walked back to my car and drove downtown.