Those of you who are my friends on Facebook have already heard a lot about my latest trip; to Canada and western USA. I will try to tell you all about it, without boring those who have seen the pics already. My daughter and I left Raleigh on sunny, very warm day, and flew to Minneapolis (where it was monsooning, and the rain was sideways.) After a short layover, we boarded a plane for Calgary, Alberta, where we landed about 11 pm. It was rainy there too, but only slightly.
After spending the night in a really nice Residence Inn, we drove to Banff, a distance of about 127.6 kilometers or nearly 80 miles. The scenery is spectacular (as long as it is not rainy and cloudy, as it was for us.) The Canadian Rockies get notably higher the further north or east you go from Calgary, at least, that is what we saw. The landscape is beautiful, no matter where you look, and waterfalls and streams are plentiful and well marked for tourists. We saw 3 black bears on this part of the journey, and when I say 'black', you must understand that it is the blackest anything you've ever seen, especially in the sun!
One thing I must say about Canada is that there are absolutely NO potholes in their roads and no litter on the roadsides. Oh how I wish that were true in the USA. The people were friendly and helpful and we enjoyed every aspect of the trip.
Banff is quaint and has good shops and places to eat, plus places to rent boats, canoes and kayaks. You can do rapids or slow floats down the rivers or lakes. The famed Hotel Fairmont in Banff has to be seen to be believed...and we had a lovely luncheon there. They have a number of gift shops ranging from moderately priced goods to items in the range of thousands (jewelry and furs), but it is fun to window shop and dream!
After seeing all the sights in Banff, we drove to Jasper, and bit northwest from Banff and just as quaint. The scenery there is gorgeous too, and on the way, you can visit the famous Lake Louise (of aqua waters) , and another Fairmont Hotel, which is not as large as that in Banff, but good to see. The temperatures in these areas ranged fro 33* to mid-sixties while we were there, but it did snow a bit at Lake Louise. There was a bride there, having photos made in her strapless gown, and I feared for her body temp, but apparently, it didn't bother her greatly, as she was there for over an hour and appeared to be none the worse for it. Warmed by love, no doubt.
To be continued....
2 comments:
I have enjoyed your photos. Back in the PK days (pre-kids), we took a ten day trip to Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. It was in early November and my wife was a travel agent so we got great deals and stayed in nice hotels (and even better because the Canadian dollar was weak then). It was a great trip.
Interesting reading an American's account of Banff and Jasper. If you think it's quaint now try 70 years ago when I FIRST VISITED. aLL THE SHOPS WERE CLOSED FOR THE WINTER. It was quiet. Many times I was on top of those mountains looking down.
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