[plazul]

"In the Blue Canadian Rockies, Spring is silent through the trees. And the Golden Poppies are blooming, by the banks of Lake Louise." Love that song.

Soon I'll be traveling up to Calgary Alberta via Glacier National Park in Montana, through northern Idaho, and up through Banff and the spectacular Canadian Rockies.

I drove up last year after Labor Day with a friend and we had the highways almost to ourselves. It's a little too early for the fall colors but the leaves are definitely turning. I'm looking forward to looking out at the lush mountain valleys and enjoying the stillness and the sweet air in the high country. The wide open spaces and many picturesque cattle ranches in big sky Montana also give you a sense of frontier freedom.

I could make it to Calgary in a day and a half with rest over the flat plains in Canada but that's no fun.

Calgary is a young city with a prosperous oil and gas economy. Did you know Alberta has larger oil reserves than Saudi Arabia? Calgary is not the prettiest place in Canada but it has much to offer and it's close to the mountains which is great if you like to ski. It's a university town and a great place for immigrants and if you visit you'll see many diverse ethnic groups including Indians, asians, siehks (sp?), and hispanics.

Canada has fewer people than the state of California and I think it's finally being discovered by the rest of the world. It's a progressive country with a lot of vision and I just wish the United States would follow its example.