The rains keep coming. Last night's weather was probably the worst we have encountered to date. Thunderstorms and heavy rains in the Banff/Canmore area left streets flooded and some of the creeks running very high. The rain continued as we drove to Calgary where the local forecast calls for improvement. Fortunately, the drive from Canmore was short and we didn't encounter any problems. We did not take pictures because of the conditions.

Despite the poor visibility, we could tell that we have moved from the mountains into the foothills bordering the the prairie. While Calgary has some hills on it western edge, it is relatively flat. Our campground, in the western suburbs of Calgary, is on a hill overlooking the Bow River valley. Just to remind us that there are still hills here, we have the 1988 Winter Olympic Park just to the east of us with the ski jump tower dominating the skyline.

For all intents and purposes, the adventure has ended with our departure from the Banff area. On Friday we will make a 2,400 mile (3,850 Km) dash for New York, driving long distances each day. We will probably not take any more pictures unless something unusual is encountered.

We planned this trip to be the "adventure of a a lifetime," and it was. As in any experience of this type, there are low points and high points. The low points were few and will be forgotten over time. We have covered over 9,000 miles (14,400 Km) to this point and experienced places that we had only previously seen in pictures or TV documentaries. Time and distance limited what we could do and see. As we travelled we learned of other places, particularly in Alaska and coastal British Columbia, that we would like to visit in the future.
This is the view to the north out our trailer door in the Calgary West Campground. You can see the flat terrain of the prairie unfolding before you. The Bow River, runs along the tree line in the center of the picture.
The 90 meter (295 ft) ski jump from the 1988 Olympics dominates the sky line to the east of the campground.