Calgary, Glacier, Helena, Yellowstone, Buffalo....*breath*....

Holy smokes, we've been covering the map.

Calgary: Awesome. We stayed with the coolest people EVER via Couchsurfing...they greeted us with a bottle of wine & a backyard fire, and it continued with Stampede parades, excessive Frisbee, the discovery of a few new delicious shit beers, scrumptious fruit trays, Tim Horton's, and far too many vodka shots from a fashionable Latvian. Jillian, Allison & Danny, you all rock and we'll see you in AZ.

The Stampede itself was crazy (apparently we shared our presence there with Duke & Duchess William and Kate), and no one was gauged. Fun fact: a very high percentage of bull riders now wear helmets.

All-in-all, very cool city, really awesome people, and far less mosquitoes. Cheers to you, Calgary.

Glacier: From Calgary, we hit Glacier National Park for one night. Although the supposedly "most beautiful stretch of road in the world" (Going-to-the-Sun Road) was closed a few miles in, the rest of the park was still breathtaking. We got a surprise guitar serenade from an adorable park ranger, had a herd of deer walk through our campsite, and almost took a bear cub home.

Helena & Yellowstone: Much like Bisbee, but bigger and not as dirty...also: excessive amounts of ice cream. We stayed with a really sweet couple through Couchsurfing that gave us lots of help planning out Yellowstone. Unfortunately, the northwestern corner of Wyoming was experiencing a minor hurricane today, so instead of camping there we are currently drying in Buffalo, Wyoming. The park was, however, totally awesome, and tomorrow we're headed to Devil's Tower & Mt. Rushmore. For your viewing pleasure:

4th of July, Edmonton Style

Awesome. Even though they wouldn't let me wear a bikini.

Also, my sister Erin has secretly been modeling for Canadian magazines:

That is all, more to come from the mosquito & Monty Python-sized rabbit-infested city of Edmonton.

(Continuation):

All in all, Edmonton was very similar to Tucson (but perhaps set in Iowa), with one major artsy/eclectic bar & shop-filled street (Edmonton's Whyte Avenue vs. Tucson's 4th), a relatively small downtown, and lots of surrounding neighborhoods with bungalow-style houses, all surrounded by green rolling plains and farms. We found a very cool dive bar and discovered the best shit beer EVER ('Shit beer' [noun]: any beer you do not mind drinking in bulk over the course of an evening due to its lighter texture and flavor, ease of going down, and lack of anything truly amazing. Ex. Budweiser is my favorite shit beer), Alexander Keith's Amber...if anyone can find it in the States, do it, and share with us!

The mosquitoes were like nothing either of us have ever seen....we are both about 7 pounds lighter from the blood loss. Also, the rabbits were the size of small dogs, and could probably feed a family of four for a few days. As for the rest of the wildlife, magpies are everywhere, and Elk Island National Park just outside of city limits is bursting over with wild buffalo...? We had a lot of fun, but with the humidity and the eminent malaria (Dale actually got a mosquito bite on her eyeball), we are happy to now be in Calgary as we speak :) It is post-Stampede, and we will have stories in a few days. Picture time:

...eh?

Canada rocks.

Vancouver is where it all began. The first night, we pulled up to the lovely Patricia Budget Inn on Hastings and Main. Aside from the seemingly never-ending mob of charming northeast side residents lining the sidewalks & smoking and/or shooting up most of anything they could get their hands on, there was also a woman eating one of the two shrubberies decorating the front entrance. Luckily, the room was very clean (although the bed was most likely original to the 1914 establishment...and the toilet was in the shower...) and we made it out alive.
The next two nights we spent Couchsurfing with 4 lovely ladies on the more southeast part of town in their very cool basement apartment. They were warm & welcoming, and we may be seeing Maude and Julie from Quebec when we make it over there in September!
Vancouver is by far the most multicultural city either of us have ever been in...when you stop at a traffic light, there will not be more than 2 pedestrians of the same race waiting to cross. Its bizarre. Also, its surprisingly small...with a population of around 2 million, we spent a day walking from one border of the town to the other & back. Its a crazy little place, not at all what we expected, and it was gorgeous.
On Canada Day (July 1st), we headed to Kamloops just to crash before we made it the next day into the Canadian Rockies and Banff. Turns out it was pretty much the awesomest place we've been so far...we walked into the Noble Pig to have a beer and the staff decided to show us what Canada Day was all about. Two days later, we're still hungover.
Moving on (with difficulty) from Kamloops, the Rockies were absolutely stunning. Banff and the drive to it are sprinkled with turquoise lakes, glaciers, and snow-caped peaks, sparkling till the sun goes down around 9:30 pm. Definitely want to spend some more time in that area in the future.
And here we are in Edmonton, awaiting the 4th of July (Alberta-style) and Dale's bungee jump in the West Edmonton Mall (look up Burt the Conqueror in Edmonton...you'll get the idea). Here's some pictures, with more to come: