August 20 - 22 The morning dawns pretty gray and cloudy, but we take a long walk, cross a beautiful stream with cascading waterfalls and feel pretty good about just staying put for a few days. The sun comes out and for the first time…we cook breakfast outside. Bacon, eggs and hash browns cooked on the grill, gazing at the Canadian Rockies is a definite keeper in the memory bank. It sprinkles most of the day, but it’s a great time to catch up on housekeeping. I tackle the inside, Rick washes the outside and we take turns running to the on-site laundromat.
We find out our roving internet does not work in Canada because we have failed to get the international plan. They tell us we must sign up for two years. Sorry, it will take us at least another week to answer your e-mails! Our cell phones do work, but we seem to be on some roaming network. Sure we can look forward to a huge cell phone bill.
The next day dawns beautifully and the hotel shuttle takes us to play the Mountainside Course. Very well maintained and utterly gorgeous. Not particularly difficult, but our excuse for lackluster scores is it’s too hard to concentrate with the jaw-dropping views! We go to dinner at the hotel and while the menu looks enticing, the chef is very heavy-handed with seasonings and chooses very odd accompaniments that don’t blend with the entrees very well. Spend the remainder of the evening watching the sunset over the mountains. A faint rainbow appears. This is good stuff!
We’ve been trying to “take the waters” and vow to do it in the morning before we head off to Banff. Wake up ready to go….it’s 33 degrees. Decide to skip it. Head out towards Banff.
The sky is brilliant …then we have our first encounter with Canadian petrol…about $4.50 a gallon for regular…we have a 100 gallon tank…do the math! We have also found out that since our exchange rate is now so similar…about 95 cents, the Canadians have decided to round up to equal American dollars…add 5% to all purchases!
We’re on the road to Banff and stop at a Visitor’s Center to get an idea of what kind of roads we’ll encounter through the mountains. We find out you must go through Banff National Park..which sounds great…and you must buy a park pass for everyday you are in any national park. Every possible destination is within the confines of either the massive Banff or Jasper Parks. Add $17.83 a day. At Yellowstone we bought a year’s pass, good for any of our parks for $80.
The drive through the park to Banff is totally unbelievable. Priceless, as they say. While quite harrowing, the splendor outweighs the fears of cascading over a cliff. We find a pull-off overlooking a gorge with a fast running stream. Make a sandwich. Watching that scenery, nothing has ever tasted so good.
We were supposed to stay at the Fairmont. But given our multiple Tor “spa” days, we were no longer able to get reservations. I am totally bummed . For the first time we stay in a national park facility…no private parks seem to exist here. It’s very primitive. They supply electricity and that’s it. We’re pretty self-sufficient so we can last for days with the water and propane gas we carry. While the facilities are a bit lacking, the views make up for it…we have cocktails staring at the Rockies.
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