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Journal
Friday, Saturday
Left
on time from Minneapolis. (Thanks, Kathy for the lift.) We traveled with Roger
Stanfield and Jim Richards. Our seat mate was a lady from Atlanta who was a
corporate events planner, on her way to Banff for a convention.
Convention proceeded as planned; nice
people, nice time. Very busy. Very tired.
Sunday, October 2, 2005
Calgary
is only 1,000,000 people (compared to 3 where we are) so we were out of town in
a flash.
We got a free ride to the airport to pick up our Hertz Ford Explorer
complete with GPS (they call is "Never Lost"), and headed off to
Banff, about an hour and a half away. Sunny, dry roads, splendor everywhere.
First, an hour of that drive through big round hay bales with huge prairie
fields. The mountains were visible in the distance.
Brunch was enjoyed at the famous Banff
Springs Hotel, sort of "chateau" style outside but definitely Old
English style inside. We were given a scenic window table overlooking the
mountains to the east. Food was very expensive, good, but not the most gourmet
we have ever had. People were very personable there, as well as at our 50's
diner for supper. They say that they are worried that the upcoming Vancouver
Olympics might take away tourism, so I guess that is why they "like"
us. (Oh almost forgot, our seat mate from Friday's airplane recognized us at the
brunch site and greeted us. What a small world!
We walked the scenic main street, bought
souvenirs, enjoyed the nippy, near-freezing but calm weather. Lots of tourists
from British Isles, South America, Asia, USA, but it does not feel crowded.
Today we are staying in a hundred year old
but restored hotel right on Main street of Banff; and saved ourselves a lot of
money by not housing ourselves at the previously mentioned hotel which had a few
rooms for $399.00. (They can be much higher.)
Not much French this side of Canada
contrary to the past Eastern trips. Everybody says "eh?", tho. :)
Big day planned tomorrow. Will check out
weather & roads right before embarking on the highway to Jasper. But first,
a few more sites to see here in
Will write more tomorrow night (if we have
an Internet connection).
Love,
Mom & Dad
Monday, October 3, 2005
We
woke up in Banff to a peaceful and nippy morning. In the mountains, they got
snow but in our valley, only frost.
Since we had purchased muffins to bring to
our room, we stayed in and had hotel coffee to get us started. Sent off our
postcards as we checked out. Then we headed up what is debatably the most scenic
stretch of highway on the North American Continent.
We could have stopped at Lake Louise, but
opted to leave that for the trip back to Calgary, so as to make Jasper in good
time; and to have time on the Icefields, past halfway to Jasper. It was 100
kilometers to the Icefields and 6o kilometers to Jasper. The road was a two-lane
paved, dry the whole way, despite warning that it was only fair driving in the
mountains (must have been early morning or something.). Traffic was enough to
know one was not stranded, but not at all heavy. Usually we had only one or two
vehicles in sight. But at any stop there were usually a couple of hundred
tourists (maybe more).
The Icefields are billed as important as
seeing the Eiffel Tower and the Pyramids. It is the only glacier that can be
traversed with 50 passenger buses. One tire is worth $4,000. The size is 64x48.
And they had six, we think.
We are back from dinner and are fading fast, so I do not think this
account is making much sense. All in all we feel we have paced ourselves fairly
well, though.
We will include a photo taken by our
driver while on the icefields; and one of the great many splendiferous vistas,
each out doing the one before it.
We will write a bit more for our web site
later, but this is enough for now.
LOVE,
"R&T"
Tuesday, October 4, 2005
Here we are, at Lake Louise. Beautiful as always, and you will just have to see
our web site after we get home, which will have a ton on pretty pictures from
each day this week! Such splendor cannot be described; and we hope each of you
will see it for yourselves someday. (Cam & Kathy have.) You have never seen
mountains like this! Sometimes every quarter mile revealed a new vista. And
coming back on the same road from Jasper was not a problem since everything
looked different from the “back side”. At times we both remarked that the
scenery seemed unreal, ethereal, majestic, fortress-like, etc. We now understand
the song, “purple-mountain majesty”... really there are no words to describe
it.
When we left Jasper this morning, it was sort of overcast so we left after spending a half hour at the train depot.
We spent an hour at Lake Louise Chateau Hotel, having a snack, and looking around. We ran into friends from Washington; and just basically had a nice time seeing the natural beauty outdoors and the nearly hundred year old very expensive hotel, as well as the brand new part which is made to look almost like the old, but even better. This is one of a long string of hotels across Canada built to accommodate the rail passengers early in the last century.
Weather had been fairly constant in the high thirty's, alternating sun and clouds, calm winds and just a little snow. Good roads all the way. But many areas are going to close for the winter in the next few days to no later than 6 weeks... ' “up hill” from here, that is. Right here they plan to stay open.
We have met folks from all over Canada, Germany, Japan (bus loads of them!), & several US states. Mostly this time of year we have encountered folks our age and young couples with babies, and the occasional honeymooner couple.
Well, it is soon time to have our supper; then figure out what to do on the way back to Calgary tomorrow. We plan on staying at a hotel right at the airport.
Thinking
about each of you and hoping you are well. And hoping you will think of us when
you visit this area!
LOVE,
“R&T”
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
Lots
of frost on the old punkin this morning. Temp must be about -5 degrees Celsius.
That is in the high 20's. Bright sun, few clouds and no wind, though.
This is the last full day of vacation.
Today we drove back to Calgary. The plan was to stay at Delta Hotel at the
Calgary airport. However it was full, so we ended up at another hotel nearby.
We turned in the car and got a shuttle to
the hotel, only 10 minutes from the airport. Gas is sold by the liter-and it is
1.09 per liter, which would be around 4.28 per gallon; so I guess we Minnesotans
should quit our belly-achin'! I think we spent almost $150.00 (Canadian) in gas.
The good thing is that Canadian money is in our favor. I think $1.14 means $1.00
US money. Not a good as when we were in Toronto or Montreal, but it all helps.
Along the way today we saw the last of the
grand and glorious snow covered mountains; then almost suddenly we were on the
wide and definitely vast open prairie land, with huge hay bales sitting in the
fields. Ranches must be very large because we did not see many farmhouses. We
saw a few beef cattle, and a little bit of dairy, and a few horses.
Today's roads were freeways; with evidence
of beginning stages to widen it. Calgary is having a population boom and
building new houses is in full swing. The old-timers do not like it, and we
heard all about that last weekend! No big city life for the old guys. They do
not like the hustle and bustle in this town, known as a "cow town." It
currently has one million people and growing.
Well, first we went back up to the
yesterday's Chateau at Lake Louise. It was only a few miles from our less
expensive (not cheap!) hotel, called the "Lake Louise Inn". Being so
very beautiful, and having time to do so, we went again to see what changes in
sunlight and shadows would for the view. Then we visited the railroad station,
now a restaurant, in Lake Louise Village. Quite a nice "museum-like"
preservation, complete with original logs and leaded windows (quite a
combination); then we drove into Calgary and visited the Olympic Training
Facility where we had lunch. This is on the eastern edge of Calgary and is the
site of the 1988 Winter Olympics... beautiful facility.
Pictures tonight are Theresa, again at
Lake Louise; and Roger at Banff Hot Springs, taking in a fall view with
mountains in the distance.
We should be home by late afternoon; just
in time to get quick groceries and get Roger's feet up before rehearsal. With
fall District contest only 2 weeks away we can't miss. So far our plane is on
time, and it originates here, so we should be home on time.
Supper is over and we are hitting the hay
early.
LOVE,
"R&T"
Thursday, October 6, 2005
As you probably know, we got home on schedule after a
good, and uneventful, flight. It was overcast the whole way, leaving no real
opportunity for photos from the air on this trip, but that's OK.
The Calgary airport is small, compared to
what we are used to in the TwinCities. Upon take-off, we did see the city and
surrounding area from the air. It stretches across a wide area: first, city
sky-scrapers, then miles of low-lying buildings and homes, which seem to
"melt" into the praires; which, in turn, stretch to the mountains,
visible in the distance, only an hour and a half away. Quite the place, and we
highly recommend the experience to all. In the south of Alberta, north of
Montana, It is only a 1,000 air miles away, making it as close, say, as Denver,
or I guess, Washington, DC. So, put it on your short list of
"must-sees".
Kathy's timing for curb service, to pick us up, was perfect. We now are up to getting caught up with a ton of tasks around home.
Trips are good; and home is too!
LOVE,
"R&T"
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