The Bow River is Calgary's main waterway. It flows from the mountains and is quite a torrent when the snow melts. I last recall it from over 30 years ago in high summer. As you can see, this picture was taken whilst I was still being driven through the snow on the plains, though getting close to Canmore.
For my Westerly trip over the Rocky Mountains I went by Greyhound bus, departing from Calgary before 8 in the morning. It was snowing moderately, and that kept up until I entered the mountains proper at Canmore. 
This is the vehicle to which I entrusted my life for about 14 hours for my passage across the mountains. The drivers were great and the ride was pretty smooth. The threat of some of the most difficult driving conditions you could imagine did not prevent me being delivered to my destination within a minute of the scheduled time.
The trains of the Canadian Pacific are rather impressive affairs. Here is one of their work horse diesels, waiting for its load at Banf.
For most of its length (at least through the mountains) Highway One shares its route with the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Here are part of the marshalling yards just outside of Banf.
Highway One above Golden. Just past the top of the incline (top centre of picture) I saw some bighorn sheep when I traversed the mountains towards the East three weeks earlier.
Highway 1 covers some amazing country, requires some impressive engineering. Here a bridge carries it over a deep ravine as the road descends into / climbs out of the Yoho Valley.
This is Highway 1, the 'Transcanadian'. It extends over 6000 miles from one end of the country to the other. This picture was taken outside of Lake Louise. Shortly after this point it narrows to one lane each way as it transits the high mountains (avalanche country) around Rogers Pass (Alt 1400 metres approx).
Lest you think that Calgary is all about cute artworks in sensitively designed suburbs, I trust that this picture will remind you that it is a prosperous city of over a million people. That makes it the second largest city in Canada - only smaller than Toronto. In saying this, I recognise that 'Greater' Edmonton and Vancouver, etc are more populous, but they are actually connurbations of distinct and separate satelite suburbs. Unlike Calgary, which is one unified sprawl connected by busy and well made road networks such as this.
I'm not quite sure what these guys are meant to represent, but they greeted visitors to one of the homes I walked past in Hidden Valley. They stood about a foot high and appear to be made from odds and ends.
Eventually my cousin took me home, after a snapshot tour of downtown (without my camera, ironically). True to form, I went for a walk through the local neighborhood.
After managing to catch the bus from Red Deer I was met by a(nother) cousin. He took me out to lunch at a place recommended him by his uni student kids. This was the first Canadian hot dog I've had and I must admit I was a bit concerned when I saw the volume of stuff they were adding to my 'Yogi Dog'.
One of these sets of footprints is mine, taken at the bottom of the steps that led up the promintory. Can you guess which set it is?
After I'd been wandering around the back of central Red Deer I came across the Rotary recreation park. It had a walk which led up the hill. The challenge for me was whether I could get up and back in time to catch the bus which was shortly to depart. Typical of me to find the interesting walk at the last minute. Needless to say, risk taker that I am, I climbed the trail.
From Innisfail I got a lift into Red Deer, from where I eventually caught the bus to Calgary. I had a number of hours to kill in the morning between being dropped off and the bus departing. After drinking my limit of coffee, I braved a walk in the falling snow. I always was a risk taker...
This is a picture of some of my cousin's artwork. It is composed of a large number of pieces of wood, each individually selected and worked and then put together jigsaw fashion to create the finished picture. The colours and grains and rounding of the pieces together lead to a quite strong 3rd dimension impression. The craft has a name which I can't remember.
Being spring, the 'pussy willows' are out in force. For a while I wondered what the words referred to, now I understand it is the flowers of whatever tree type it is that puts them out. They vary quite a lot between species, these red branched bushes of about 3 metres height produce these particularly nice looking ones.
This view is over the South Cooking Lake. Apparently the area under reeds was once beneath its waters. I noticed evidence of old wharfing structures 'high' up from the present water line, so would tend to believe it.
After leaving Camrose we headed back to Edmonton via Camp Van Es, a Moravian campsite. These days it's generally for youth, but in past days families and young adults also had some very memorable occasions there. Like many of these things, those who attended all seem to source many of their happiest moments in and around the camp.
This is where my parents first met. Apparently there wasn't a lot obviously between them unless one had eyes to see or ears to hear. It is the Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute. Apparently there's nothing quite like it in Australia. Here in Canada it is still going strong.
This house is fairly typical of homes in the area where I had lunch. A streetscape of buildings like this is quite attractive.
Retreating from the withering gaze of my avian friend, I enjoyed a good lunch. So did these guys, in one of the bird feeders outside. I am told they are 'finches', though they appear a bit different from what we call 'finches' at home.
We got to the town of Camrose and soon had caught up with the lady we had come to see in her second floor apartment (3rd floor in Canadienese). She was a non smoker so I went out onto her balcony for a smoke prior to a late lunch.
We pulled off the road so as to admire the thousands of birds as they wheeled above and did what geese do. I managed to catch a few of them in flight. I'm not sure if we are viewing a mixed group of Canada and Snow Geese, or if the dark one's are just another colouration of the snow geese.
The day before yesterday went out to Camrose for an afternoon. As we approached a distant bend in the highway I could see a huge flock of birds wheeling in the distance. As the kilometres crawled by, they defined themselves into what I was told were snow geese. There were literally thousands of them.
This view is into the woodlands that border the town of Innisfail. This is one row of houses from where my cousin leaves in (sub)urban comfort. These woods are used by deer to lie up in, and the occasional moose (or so I have been told), especially when the weather is bad. On the evening I visited there was a mix of light snow and rain falling, so I did not venture into them. 
This was probably my last view of rural Canada not from the interior of a vehicle. I love the countryside I've seen so far, no where near as flat as the term 'prairie' would suggest. Also the fact that, at least where I've been, remnant native scrub has been left intact in patches and copses throughout the land, not entirely determined by gullies and slews but also by a sense of aesthetics and wildlife habitat responsibilities.
After a most delicious pizza at Innisfail's 'Mountain View Pizza Parlour' I went for a brief walk through the snow for the sheer pleasure of it. I soon found myself at the edge of town.
I caught a bus to Red Deer, and then a lift to Innisfail to spend the night with my cousin and his wife. They live in typical rural/suburbia, about half hour from nearest major centre at Red Deer. This is their backyard.
This was the view from the fourth floor at Dawn yesterday, the day I left Edmonton on final extended leg of my travels. The school busses and garbage trucks were out and about and the traffic hadn't yet built up to its usual intensity.