My family and I will be traveling to Western Canada in July to visit and sightsee. We are flying in to Seattle, then beginning our vacation by driving to Vancouver. After a couple of days in Vancouver we are traveling on Highway 1 through Kamloops to Lake Louise. After visiting the Icefield Parkway through Jasper and back, we will visit Calgary for the Stampede. After leaving Calgary we are thinking of going back to Highway 93 and head south toward the U.S.A. to head back toward Seattle to fly out. My question is: What is there to do on Highway 93 south from Radium Jct. to U.S. border and how about lodging? We like B&B's but will settle for motel. Also if this is not a scenic route, what other route would be better to head us back to Seattle from the Calgary area? We will be in Calgary the last part of our trip to see city and the Stampede and fair. Thank you for any info. There are 3 of us in our party. We have a 14 year old daughter. Also any suggestions for things to see on our trip that we have laid out? One last question: can we buy calling cards to call U.S. as our cell phones would be expensive to use outside of U.S.

You can buy calling cards to the US in Canada. Very reasonable.
I have not done much of 93; but have some suggestions.
1. Storm Mountain Lodge, cabins, good food, near good hiking.
2. Judy in Calgary posts regularly on this board and she is a great resource. She may be able to suggest lodging in Calgary during Stampede. If you can't arrange it, there is a luxury home called Creek House in Canmore, which you can use as a base or you might want to consider Mt. Engadine Lodge, a bit more remote, but gorgeous location.
3. If you decide to stay in the Lake Louise area look into the Post Hotel and Lake Moraine Cabins.
Enjoy your trip. It is fabulous country.

I can't comment on the drive from the BC border through Montana, Idaho and Washington, but can offer two scenic routes back through BC. It will depend, of course, on how much time you have and want to spend on the drive back. I would give each two days at the very minimum, preferably more.

The first would be to head south on 93 to Cranbrook, and then follow 3 all the way to Hope.

A second would be to return to Revelstoke on the Trans-Canada, and then head south on 23 to Nakusp and follow 6 to Vernon. There are a couple of ferries on the way which break the routine. From Vernon, you can then head through the Okanagan Valley to Penticton and then pick up 3A and 3 to Hope. Or, if you are pressed for time, take the connector from Kelowna back to the Coquihalla.

My preference would be the Okanagan route.

There are several pretty tourist towns - Fairmont, Invermere, Kimberley - along highway 93 south of Radium Hot Springs so accommodation should be no problem, and you'll have a choice of hotels, motels, B&Bs etc.
Fairmont is similar to Radium in that it has hot springs, and there are also some very popular golf courses there.
Kimberley is a ski destination in winter.

Here are some websites that may be useful for information on things to do along that route:

http://www.bc.worldweb.com/
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/
http://www.travel-british-columbia.c...avel_guide.htm

The drive on highway 93 is "pretty".

Happy trails!!

Okeechobee, if you like staying in a B&B, I recommend Lions Park B&B in Calgary.

http://www.lionsparkbb.com/

It's in a relatively close-in residential neighbourhood in the northwest part of the city.

Stampede Park is just to the southeast of the downtown core. From an intuitive point of view, the B&B would not appear to provide convenient access to Stampede Park. However, the B&B is a very easy walk to Lions Park Station, which provides an excellent train connection to Stampede Park.

The B&B also is within easy reach of restaurants in all price ranges, including my favourite Italian restaurant, La Luna Rosa. (The menu ranges from moderately priced to expensive. If one chooses wisely, one can have a delicious meal for a moderate price.)

If time permits, a day's excursion to see the dinosaur skeletons at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller would be very worthwhile.

Calgary gets very booked up during Stampede. You cannot make reservations too soon.

If you don't want to stay at Lions Park B&B, or if you find that it's already booked, please feel free to ask again, and I'll come back with more suggestions. (It would help if you would mention your preferred price range.)