In Banff National Park, a land filled with glaciers, lakes, rivers and streams, I never saw a single water fountain. Not. A. Single. One.
Moral of this story: take your own bottled water people.
We did, and we were glad.
With all the hiking and raw-meat cooking we were doing in Banff, I wanted the chance to be 100% elegant. High tea at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel fit this bill.
Jasper National Park sits just north of Banff National Park in Canada. Admission to one buys you admission to the other.
Kenny picked out another hike for us in the southern tip of Jasper National Park. He was very eager to see and touch a glacier, and this hike offered the chance to see one.
After our first day of hiking Big Beehive by Lake Louise, I realized that hikes in Canada are not like walks in Texas, so I was better prepared that the view would be worth the pain in my lungs and my thighs. (Forget stairmaster…take a trip to Canada!)
The view on this hike was ABSOLUTELY worth any discomfort along the way. We ended high above the tree line in the tundra along a ridge looking down into a canyon a thousand feet below us. Off to our left was the huge Saskatchewan Glacier melting down to form a lake and a river running through the canyon. The mountains straight ahead were rocky and steep.
If you can swing it, stay at the four-star Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge. We LOVED this hotel!
My friend and former colleague Colleen grew up in upstate New York. With her close proximity to Canada there she knows a bit about Canadian culture. She once mentioned to me that if I ever have the chance I should try maple walnut ice cream, which apparently, is a Northern favorite.
After the hike to Big Beehive, I thought a treat sounded great. The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a beautiful hotel positioned on the bank of Lake Louise. A candy store in the hotel was selling ice cream. They served maple walnut.
YUM! The ice cream reminded me a bit of butter pecan, a Southern staple. However, the maple flavor made me feel like I was eating a pancake for dessert.
Great recommendation Colleen!
Lake Louise is probably the number one image that comes to mind in Banff National Park.
“That’s gotta be fake.”
Kenny hears that sentence a lot. I say it every time I see a movie set in a gorgeous location. Because it’s such a common saying at our house, I laughed long and hard when my old junior high friend sent me an email.
“I think Banff is fake.”
That’s what he said. Someplace this beautiful can’t be real, right?
Rocky mountains, aquamarine lakes, ice-cold streams and golden fall leaves – nah…definitely photoshop.
My friends, take my word for it. It’s 100% real.
Welcome to Canada!
“You know, we should go to the capitol sometime,” I commented to Kenny as we drove downtown on our Friday family outing last week. Kenny picked our adventure of the day and was keeping the destination a secret until we arrived.
“Yeah, we should do that,” he agreed.
Little did I know, we were headed to the Texas State Capitol.
Have I mentioned that I love Fridays? Kenny has the day off and we spend time together as a family.
Two Fridays ago we visited the Austin Renaissance Market on the corner of 23rd and Guadalupe.
Last week in Colorado, Titus and I accompanied my sister’s family to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Kenny is convinced he doesn’t love zoos. I think it’s because he’s only ever gone to zoos with summer day camps. In college we worked as counselors at a summer day camp in Washington D.C. One of our field trips was to the national zoo and we spent the day herding our groups of 15 elementary kids through the exhibits. Believe me, the animals were the last thing on our minds as we constantly mentally counted the kids in our group to make sure we stayed together. Looking back on that I think, “Wow! That was a big responsibility for 18 year olds.”
That said, I thought the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was fantastic. I had to keep track of one kid – Titus. Since he was in a stroller I was pushing, I knew exactly where he was. I discovered that zoos actually have animals! Not just elementary school kids.
I liked the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo because the visitors can interact with the animals.
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