Banff: Part One

As big fans of national parks, we've always wanted to see one of the glaciers in the northwest US/southwest part of Canada. Now that Cressey is more tolerable of the car and has a passport, we decided to make a run for Canada's Banff National Park the first week of August! Lesson learned- we (I) should not have told Cressey about our upcoming trip so soon in the summer. We (I) even had to make a paper chain to try to explain how long before we left for "the mountains." (Didn't work)

Also, for the record, I wrote an epistle of all my travel notes, so please let me know if you'd like more specific details.

DAY ONE

We flew out of Memphis at 6 am and arrived in Calgary around 10:30 am (they are on Mountain Time, one hour behind Central). We found a Wendy's STAT and then drove an hour and a half drive into the mountains to Banff.  You would have thought Cressey would have passed out on this drive, but she was kept awake by HG constantly squealing, "Cressey, look at that mountain!!" We made it to the Fairmont around 2 pm but had to wait until check in time at 4 pm. We spent a lot of time in the lounge drinking and eating (and the little people rolling around on the floor in exasperation), but at least we had a beautiful view to keep us focused! After we finally put our stuff down, we went on a search for food. We walked into dinner at the Vermillion Room at the Fairmont with no reservations and found great service and food with an amazing view of the mountains. Couldn't have asked for a better end to a long day!

DAY TWO

After gawking at the sunrise and shaking off the sleepies, we walked down to Bow Falls via the steps out back of the hotel (90+?) that also take you to Waldhaus Restaurant. We all had so much fun exploring the falls and the rocky beach at the bottom. This was the beginning of Cressey's "tired wittle legs" that we constantly heard about the rest of the trip though. Mid morning, we took the shuttle from the Fairmont to the Sulphur Mountain gondola. Cress couldn't have loved the gondola more ("I brave!") while her sister was about to lose her mind in such a small, hot space. We had lunch in the Northern Lights cafe, a casual cafeteria style restaurant with floor to ceiling windows, and explored the various levels of lookouts at the top of the mountain. Then we took the shuttle back to the hotel where HG and I had a one-hour horseback ride from the hotel. I loved getting to experience what HG does on a horse each week, and we had the thrill of crossing TWO rivers on our tour. Afterward, we hobbled to dinner at Wildhaus on property at the Fairmont which was delicious and beautiful. Chocolate fondue for dessert was the icing on the cake!

Important to note that while HG and I were on the horseback ride, the leader told us about the Boss, a massive grizzly bear that lives near Banff, is the first one out of hibernation each spring, has been hit by a train twice and survived, etc. Cressey heard us recounting the story, and to this day, she still talks about "Boss Bear," even when I wear a tv I bought there that has a bear shape on it! 

Ready to go at 4:30 am!

The Canadian trans continental highway goes through the park, so they've made these natural bridges so that animals can cross the highway without danger of being hit by a car.

 

We've arrived at the Fairmont!

Okayyyy, we are starting to fall apart (although not asleep)

Finally, we have a room and made it to dinner! Yet we are still unraveling with no sleep yet...

Daddy got kicked out of the bed

This is where the girls had their breakfast

Trekking down to Bow Falls beneath the hotel

Bow Falls

Looking back up at the Fairmont

Sulphur Mountain Gondola

Northern Lights cafe

While HG and mama rode horses...

Lots of pool time this trip with their heated indoor and outdoor pools

Waldhaus Restaurant

Going back up those stairs with a full belly of food, wine, and chocolate took a little longer than the jaunt down