The Canada trip

Remember our plans to go on a bus tour that would take us up into Canada?  It sounded so carefree:  our rooms would be booked for us, most of the meals taken care of.  Cliff could actually look out the window and enjoy the scenery, rather than having to do all the driving.  
Yes, it was pricey, but Cliff has a rather large tractor fund and he was willing to foot the bill.  
However, we would have to fly to  Calgary to start the bus tour.  Cliff hates to fly.  And yet, the thought of driving so far didn't appeal to him either.  
His older brother has been doing a lot of traveling with his wife lately, and Cliff started wondering if they would be interested in driving to Canada with us:  that way there would be three drivers taking turns at the wheel and sharing gasoline expenses.  
So we've talked to them, and it looks as though we will make the trip in that manner, using the bus tour destinations (loosely) as a guide.  However, we will be seeking our own lodging, which worries me somewhat.  I wonder if it's possible to find a motel in the Canadian Rockies section of Canada during peak tourist season. I know we could book lodging ahead of time, but that keeps you tied to a schedule, and who wants to be on a time clock when they are on vacation?  
I'm fairly certain I have at least one Canadian reader, and I would love to have some input either in the comment section or in email.  
We would probably rent a good-sized vehicle for the trip; Cliff's brother says that's the ideal solution; if you have car trouble, you simply get a different car.  
We will have to get passports.  I don't know about the monetary exchange rate, but we can find out about all that.  For my part, I would have just gone to Glacier National Park and stayed in the good old U.S.A., but Cliff is really keen on seeing Canada.  
If we were staying in this country, I could get free maps of the region we visit.  I cannot find any website that offers me a free road map of Alberta, Canada.  
I am looking forward to taking the trip with Cliff's brother and his wife.  At our ages, it will be good to have that kind of bonding experience.  We used to spend lots of time together when Cliff and I were newlyweds.  In fact, his brother's wife was one of the witnesses whose name is on our marriage licence.    
Help me out here, you folks with Canadian travel experience!

A Bus Tour

Cliff and I have been doing a little vacation dreaming today.  We have been planning to see Glacier National Park this summer, by hook or by crook.  Boy, that's a long drive.  I don't drive, which leaves it up to Cliff.  Of course I read aloud to him, so I do help to pass the time in that way.  

Today I asked him what he thought about a bus tour.  That way he'd be able to gawk along with me at all the beauty of the mountains.  He seemed mildly interested, so I did some online research.  Caravan Tours has what appears to cover an area we would enjoy visiting.  It's mostly in Canada, so we'd have to get a passport.  
For the two of us, it would cost about $2,400.  That includes hotels and most meals.  
But we would be responsible for getting ourselves to Calgary.  That's another $1,000.  Oh, we have the funds.  I'm thinking about selling my hot tub, which would help the cause immensely.  We don't use it as often as we used to, and I want to see Glacier National Park.  We'd be selling it for a third of what we paid, but we've had a lot of fun with it.      
Anyway.  For a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, it's doable, with or without the hot tub in the deal.  
Cliff is concerned about switching planes on the way.  I assured him that on my many flights to chat room reunions across the country, I never came close to missing a plane.  That's because I am willing to approach anybody who appears to be employed at the airport to inquire how to get to my plane.  One time I was escorted by a janitor to my proper waiting spot at the far end of some gigantic airport.  True story.    
My main concern is figuring out the proper timing so that our flight reaches Calgary at the right time for us to connect with the tour group at the hotel.   
I don't know if we'll end up doing this or not, but it's fun thinking about it.  A person needs something nice to dream about on these cold winter evenings.