Canadian Rockies: Minter Gardens

On the map, driving from Washington to Banff, Alberta, looks like a piece of cake.  But our first day involved an estimated 400 miles of driving, and that was just to Kelowna, B.C.

Our main stop was one of our favorite B.C. places: Minter Gardens.  The weather was unusually warm and sunny, and there were still lots of flowers.  And since flora is my favoritest thing to photograph, click here:  Minter Gardens slideshow
{Let me know if the slideshow doesn't work}

That eccentric building in the last two photos is a new feature...not sure what it's supposed to be.  I call it the 'home of the mad scientist'.  ;)

As we continued on to Kelowna, the landscape changed, ever so gradually.  I'd seen two types of forest-mountains so far--Mt Rainier and Yellowstone--and this was something different yet.  The trees stand very close and dry.  Some of them suffer from some kind of bug or disease, and all that's left is a grey husk.  The mountains make ours look like miniatures; and the green, dusky undergrowth crawls right up to the stream's edge, by which the road seems to be always running, in a very winding kind of way.

I muchly enjoyed this scenic route, myself.  :)

Coming soon, Day 2--ghost town, cedars, and Aspenglow...