Day 72-77 Cochrane, Calgary, and the drive back to Seattle

The final stop on our road trip would take us up to Cochrane and Calgary Alberta. What should have been a 7 hour drive up to Cochrane from Helena took closer to 10 as the heat and the hills forced the camper to stop a few times to prevent over heating. We arrived in Cochrane in the evening and shortly after getting settled in Kerri, Darryl, and Stephanie arrived on their final night of a long road trip. We caught up until the early hours of the morning and then spent the majoriy of the next day visiting with them.

The second morning in Cochrane was a fun one for Scott as he was able to get in a round of golf with Jason, DJ, and one of Jason's buddies. Diane and Tori went for a run around the neighbourhood. Later that day we went for a walk along the Bow River as well as spending some time helping setup things around Diane and DJ's new place. A new garage door opener was installed, some electronics setup, and the front door keypad reprogrammed.

On our third day in Cochrane Tori and I decided to head up to Moraine Lake and go for a hike. Unfortunately DJ and Diane couldn't join as they were waiting for the technician to connect their tv and internet. A fun day was had driving through Banff national park and hiking up to Eiffel Lake. Unfortunately as we returned from Eiffel Lake smoke billowed into the valley and our views of the mountains and glaciers surrounding Moraine Lake were not very clear.

The following day (the 75th of our road trip) we headed into Calgary. Our first stop was a visit to Mandy's clinic. The facility she works in is very nice, and is covered from floor to ceiling with an amazing amount of memoriabilia from hundreds of athletes that have passed through the clinic doors. Following that we headed over to Jay and Haleigh's where we were warmly greeted to a fine evening of bbq and beverages.

We the 76th day of our adventure driving around Calgary. Stops included a hair cut for Scott in Inglewood and a beer at Wild Rose Brewery. The evening was a fun way to spend the final night of our trip. Haleigh and Jay's condo was full with DJ, Diane, Mandy, Chelsea, Pete and their baby over for dinner. Lots of food and laughs were had as well as plans of when to meet again.

The final day is here. We woke up early and left shortly after breakfast. The drive was long and often smoky as fires burned throughout the interior of BC. Sometime around 8pm we arrived back in Mill Creek, tired, exhausted, but somewhat happy to be back "home".