Day 6. Calgary to Banff

Quote of the Day: "They spell pharmacy with a PH here!"

Exploring the Village

Out and About in Banff

Cascade Gardens

View from the Gardens overlooking Banff's Main Street

Shopping

Springs Hotel

Bow Falls

The River that Runs though Banff

 Springs Hotel

         Unlike our other early bird mornings, we were able to sleep in longer than usual with only an hour drive ahead of us to Banff. The sufficient rest prepared us for a beautiful scenic drive and a breathtaking town. As we entered Banff we questioned our hotel reservation and even the hotel’s existence! The GPS wasn’t registering its location and no one seemed to be able to find it on the map. In the end, we were able to estimate the location and spot it from the street. The hotel, located right on the main street of Banff, was the perfect distance from the restaurants (a McDonald’s for us again), local parks, and the elegant Fairmont Springs Hotel.

The beautiful Bow Falls River was located near the Springs hotel. The serene surroundings contrasted with the raging waters.  As we left the hotel, we also giggled at/noticed the security guards in kilts-interesting uniform choice... The men reminded me of the Swiss guards that protect the Vatican in Rome.  As the day continued, our lack of rest began to kick in. It was time for our siesta, but the coffee in my system and Katherine’s endless energy lead us out into the city and onto more adventures. While Haley and Christina napped, Katherine and I went on a search for dinner. After reading many menus, we walked through a plaza where an organization was raising funds for saving the bison on the northern plains of Alberta. Ironically, the young girls behind the tables sold us unlimited bison pizza and bison potato slices for five dollars-we were eating the bison we were trying to save! As Katherine and I watched the live entertainment and enjoyed the unlimited food, we learned more about the journey that lay ahead of us to Kamloops, BC from the locals. We continued our adventure through the city and ended up back in the room where Christina and Haley were just waking up from their naps.

Banff reminded me so much of Yosemite. The mountain tops were covered in snow and the valley was quaint and full of tourists. However, the weather in Banff was unique-probably similar to the sporadic weather changes we will experience in Portland or Seattle. The unique accents in Banff made comprehension difficult, yet fun (we tried to decipher the Canadians from the foreigners). Katherine and I concluded that our accents were uninteresting so we walked around mimicking various accents – French, English, and even Swiss. There was a lot of Canadian pride as well. I admired the lengths to which Canadians went to display their patriotism- replacing "America" with "Canada" in every song!! The anti-Americanism was frankly disappointing. I felt my strong American pride especially when the Banff live bands sang “Californfication” and “American Pie." The night ended up being especially fun for Christina and Katherine!

Best:

• Secenery of Banff and the national park (The Rocky Mountains were amazing)
• Cascade Gardens
• Spring Hotel/ Banff Village
• Dinner and new people
• Safe hotel
• Hoodoo

Worst:

• Weather changes
• Too many tourists