Enjoying Calgary

Catching up on the blog:

Monday October 5th
Guillermo and I checked out of the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at after having a wonderful breakfast there.  We were delighted that the owner gave us a Park Pass when she heard we were going to Banff that day because that saves us a hefty entrance fee!  We promised to bring it back to her on Wednesday.
We met up with everyone at Fernando's place and packed up our cars and took off for Banff.

Here is everyone in Banff.

Pretty mountain by Banff

Once outside of Banff, Fernando got on the Bow Valley Parkway, where we hoped to see some animals, but we didn't see anything.  We stopped and had lunch at a nice little picnic area called Mosquito Creek.  The picnic tables and benches were covered with snow, so even though we wiped the snow off, everything was still wet.  We found a nice big flat dry rock, put a sheet over it and that's where we spread out our picnic supplies. It was cold while we ate, but the sun was warm and the sound of the nearby creek was lovely. Two ravens kept an eye on us while we ate, and waited patiently for us to leave in the hopes there'd be some little tidbit left to munch on.

We stopped to admire the beautiful views

As we drove further on, we stopped at the Crowfoot Glacier and our next stop was Peyto Lake.  We did the slippery, icy hike to view Peyto Lake surrounded by beautiful weather, snow on the trees and lots of snow on the ground.  All of us did a little bit of sliding every now and then, but it was to be expected, with all the ice on those trails, and some of those trails had quite an incline to them!

Starting out on the trail to the lake

From Peyto Lake, we drove to the Columbia Ice Fields, parked the cars and then hiked up a steep trail to the edge of the glacier.  That was so amazing to see and it was really awesome to be standing at the point where the glacier is retreating.

On the way back to Lake Louise, we drove slowly, hoping to see some animals.  We stopped once at a place where we thought we had seen some moose, but they were gone.  But, while stopped there, Eva's father spotted some mountain goats WAY high up on the mountain, so at least we saw those.  We drove on to where we would be spending the night - at the Baker Creek Chalets.  We got our little chalet, unpacked a few things and then drove into Lake Louise to have dinner at the Deer Creek Lodge.  We had excellent food there, and good wine!

Tuesday October 6th
In the morning, some got up at dawn to go look for animals.  When they got back, it was disappointing to hear that they didn't see one thing.  Guillermo and I decided to take a walk out to the railroad tracks, where people in town had been saying they've been seeing bears.  Eva's parents decided to join us.  So, we walked out there, along the river, through the forest, back along the river, crossed the tracks again, and walked along the river and through the forest on the other side, but we didn't see one animal.  We were so disappointed, but it was nice to walk in the forest and by the river. It was a beautiful morning.

After breakfast, we packed up and drove to Lake Louise.  The weather was cloudy, so it really wasn't a good day to see the lake, well, at least not as pretty as it could have been had there been sun.  The lake is pretty no matter what the weather is like.  After Lake Louise, we drove to Banff, had a nice lunch, and then did a little shopping.

Back in Calgary, Guillermo and I checked into our new place, which is a nice little condo.  Same price as a hotel, so we are really liking it here.

 Eva and Fernando had a soccer game to play, so Guillermo and I went to Safeway, bought items for our dinner tonight and took it all to their condo and cooked it.  When they got home, we all had a nice spaghetti and meatball dinner!!!