The Beauty of Banff Was Delivered Loud and Clear

 

SIT arrived at our camping spot in the provincial park at Banff. We didn’t make reservations much in advance so we were just going to be there for three nights. You know what that means? We had to plan and move!

The View From our Trailer

We scoped out the sites we wanted to take in and established a plan of attack. It’s a good thing Tory worked on an incident management team as her skills of “planning an attack” came in handy. Not really, just thought we would throw that in!

A park in town is next to the river

 

The Main Street View from the Bridge

We toured the town via our feet and enjoyed wandering aimlessly. For Steve it wasn’t aimlessly as he had a mission to find a place to eat lunch!  We found an Italian restaurant and decided it smelled really, really good so we landed there. It was as good as it smelled!

We concluded that we should visit the Banff upper hot springs. Now these hot springs are within Banff National Park which have been nicely developed. They just need a bigger pool as it was a busy little spot. We selected this as one of our must things to do since I had one of my graceful moments a few days before and decided to trip and fall almost landing on my face. Luckily my chest and shoulder stepped up to take the blow. Izzy was with me and believe it or not she didn’t laugh although I figured she would!  The hot springs did feel nice!

In our wanderings around the next day we decided to go visit the Cascade Gardens. The gardens are located at the Parks Canada Administrative Building. Imagine having to go to work every day here and see this out your office. Not bad!

      

 

 

It also was a location selected by this bridal couple to have their wedding. We took a few pictures while the professional photographer to pictures as well. Truly a beautiful setting for a wedding.

 

The other thing we stumbled across, well not literally, was a bike ride taking place. It was an 80K and started at 0700. We stopped and chatted with one gentleman that had completed the race already. It looked like they had a pretty large turnout based on all the bikes we saw parked.

They Rode the Distance

As you work your way into town from the gardens you cross the Bow River. Now if you have been a faithful reader and read the post where we went to the icelfields, you would have discovered that Bow Lake and Bow River are formed from the Bow Glacier. If you haven’t been a faithful reader and just jumped to this post because you thought the pictures of Banff would be cool, you’re forgiven!

The Bow River

 

We enjoyed the afternoon sitting on a balcony eating lunch and having a beer. The view from one-story up was pretty cool, plus the people watching from above was fun too. We discovered another way to see the town during our foot tour. No it wasn’t to get the red wagon and hitch Izzy up to it but you’re close. How about via horse and buggy? 

 

A Toast to Banff

 

The trip to Banff was complete with a nice heavy rain and pretty loud and close thunderstorm. Good thing we had made it back to our current spot in the park before it hit!

Rocky Mountain High

August 19-21

Our adventure took us out of Vancouver, driving toward the Rockies so we could see Lake Louise and Banff. Along the way we stopped at Revelstoke BC.

As we were passing through Revelstoke we needed to stop for a break. Steve pulled off the highway at a KOA since we knew we could turn around when the time came to get back on the road.  He went into the office and came out and said there is a beautiful golf course, so let’s stay a night or two. So, Revelstoke became our home for two days.

We played golf both days, drove around and went to the Revelstoke Dam, and found a place where Izzy could swim. All in all a nice place to stop and play!

 

We continued our journey to the Rockies. 

The Scene Along the Drive

The Rockies I Presume!

 

We landed in a campground near Field Alberta. We were just spending one night there as we wanted to stay closer to Lake Louise.

Field Alberta

 

We were able to get a spot near Lake Louise for a couple of days. This gave us a chance to see the lake as well as take the icefields parkway.

Lake Louise was breathtaking and just as beautiful as I remembered when I was there 10 years earlier for a brief time.

Izzy was bummed she couldn't go swimming

Lake Louise

We wandered around a bit and then went and looked at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Hotel. What a wonderful building, setting, and ambiance!

A Splash of Color at the Fairmont

 

The next day we took the Icefields Parkway which travels through an area that has 100 glaciers. The Bow River and Lake are just a beautiful shade of turquoise blue and of course Izzy had to say she’d been there! Izzy never wastes time when we stop and let her out if there is water nearby. Funny when there isn’t water near she isn’t quite as excited!

Bow Lake

Getting Ready

Izzy Heaven

The drive makes you get a crick in your neck since you’re looking all over at the glaciers, and the mountains.

 

We arrived at the Columbia Icefield and watched the folks walk out on the ice as well as the tour ice trucks take folks farther up.

Snow, Ice, and Morraines

Columbia Icefield

 

They boast that this drive was voted “The World’s Most Spectacular Mountain Drive.” As far as we can tell we can see why it got the vote!

The view from above

 

As we headed back we spotted a bit more than just mountain and glacier. Apparently a fire decided to make a bit of a splash!

 

The next day we headed to Banff!

I Want to Ride My Bicycle, Bicycle, Bicycle, I Want to Ride My Bike!

 

Cruising along the highways of Canada can be challenging when you’re not used to kilometers, but add towing a house behind you makes it even more exciting! That’s why we decided to find a place for a few days not quite in Vancouver. We landed in a city next to Vancouver called Burnaby.

Now, not really wanting to drive Big Red in downtown Vancouver, we settled on taking the train with our bikes in tow. That means Izzy gets to stay and sleep, watch TV, and chew on treats while Steve and I get our exercise while playing tourist. Little did we know we would encounter a strange group of people on our first day in the city.

We took the waterfront stop on the train, peddled our bikes to the convention center area which is where cruise ships land. No silly, I know what you’re thinking that I was referring to the people from the cruise ship as a strange group of people! Well they might be but that’s not what I meant!

We actually stumbled upon an Anime Convention. Now for all of you folks that are like me you said what is an Anime Convention. Anime is translated in Japanese from animation so the convention is where a person dresses up as a character. It could be from a comic book, movie, or television series. We saw a ton of characters, most of which we were clueless in recognizing!

Can You Guess Who They Are?

We wandered around a bit and then decided to see what Flyover Canada was all about. When we were seated in our chairs you began a twenty minute airplane ride across Canada. We were told about the history of the railroad being built through the Rockies, not a simple task I might add, and the beauty of the country. It was a great simulation complete with smells of nature, moisture and wind.

The Biker

 

From there we rode our bikes along the waterfront and to Stanley Park. At Stanley Park we wandered through the Totem Pole display, watched a bit of cricket, and the boats in the water.  The ride along the water was quite wonderful and allowed you to not worry about driving and parking the truck whenever you wanted to stop and read something or just sit and people watch.

Totems in Stanley Park

The view along the waterfront ride

Biking Fools

 

When we left the park we headed to Chinatown for some authentic Chinese food. They were setting up for their Friday night street market when we got there. We decided to lock our bikes and wander around the area a bit before dinner.

Chinatown in Vancouver

The Entrance to Chinatown

A Zen Garden in the Middle of the City

 

After dinner we headed to Gastown. No it’s not what you’re thinking! The town is full of shops, art galleries, restaurants, and a steam clock. Now you can probably figure out why it’s called Gastown!

 

The clock going off

Trying to take his gun

The Skinny Building in the middle of the street

 

Gastown

 

When we decided we had enough for the day, plus Izzy would be getting pretty hungry by now, we got back on our bikes and rode to a train station to head back.  We were pretty tired at the end of the day, but it was fun!

The next day we did it again, but this time got off the train earlier so we could ride the rest of the waterfront since we only rode about half of it the day before.  Vancouver is known for its artwork and diversity. This group of statues gives you the whimsical side of the city!

Statues That Will Make You Smile

Steve hanging out

Tory's New Friend

 

Now you have probably figured out what Steve really enjoys seeing. No it’s not just me, but boats. As we rode our bikes we saw plenty of boats in their slips. Too bad we don’t own one of them!

This Boat Gives you the water tour

Boats, Boats, City, City

 

Plenty of Sail Boats to pick from!

 

We rode to Granville Island as our last spot on our biking tour. This place is where the artist goes and gets supplies, displays their art, and even sells their artwork. A pretty cool area of the city.

Getting ready to head out

 

We headed back a bit earlier this day so Izzy wasn’t quite as famished when we got back! It’s a good thing we weren’t going to ride our bikes the next day as my knee was talking to me pretty loudly with every step!  In the end we did 30 miles and for me that was the most I had ridden since long before my new knee.

We enjoyed our time touring the city but in the end glad we didn’t have to drive in it! Now we head to the Rockies!

 

Leaving the Island “Fishing” Paradise

 

Our time on Vancouver Island was coming to an end as we had our freezer full of fish, the golfing accomplished, and touring under our belts. We said our good-byes to the folks at the Seven Hills Golf Club, including Izzy’s buddy Harley. Steve connected with Jim one more time to say adios, eh and of course scratch Scooter behind his ears.

We pulled out August 12^th and headed down the road. We stopped at Qualicum Beach for a couple of nights as Pete and Gail said this was a place to see, especially the sand sculpting competition. We said why not!

Parksville is next to Qualicum Beach and was the host of the 31^st annual Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition. SIT ventured to the park to take in the sculptures. Little did we know they would be life-size or larger, and reminded me of the McCall Winter Carnival Ice Sculptures.  Well you get what I am trying to say.

We wandered around and were simply amazed at all of the sculptures, but mostly of the detail that went into each one.  They establish a theme each year for the competition and this year it is fairy tales.

The Theme for the Competition

 

You have the opportunity to vote for the people’s choice which was actually pretty darn tough.  It was truly hard to narrow it down to just one that you liked the best as so many of them were wonderful.

 

A True Sand Castle

 

This Will Make You Smile

 

A Magic Wall

The competition starts July 13 with them having to complete their sculpture by July 14^th. They are judged then and are on display through August 17^th. They are allowed to spray them with a solution to help with preventing erosion but they are not allowed to touch them up at all once completed.  We hit the park at the tail end of the competition but you didn’t really know it to look at the sculptures.

Made With Great Detail

 

The park is a great place to bring kids to cool off on a warm summer day. They have inner-woven water features with playground equipment. Pretty fun and it was all I could do to hold back both Izzy and Steve! They also have a beautiful bouquet of flowers!

Steve and Izzy bummed that they can't go play in the water

 

We managed to play a round of golf at the end of our sculpting adventure. The next day (August 14)we headed for the ferry and spent that night in Delta BC. From there our sites were set on Vancouver!