The rain was such a gift because it scrubbed the wildfire smoke out of the sky for a day and a half, just long enough to give Mom and Dad the Rockies experience I so wanted them to have! Lake Louise the first evening, in the rain. You can barely make out Victoria...

The day I drove up to Calgary was crystal clear. And the next day, smoke from wildfires in British Columbia completely descended. The day after that, my sister Deb and nephew Will flew in. I felt incredibly lucky that we got as much visibility as we did, and that Deb...