Charlton's Cedar Court Motel Banff

... on our way to Sulpher Mountain. We took the gondola to the top of the mountain, which was a new experience much enjoyed by some family members. Later we relaxed in the Sulpher Hot Springs, visited the Banff Springs Hotel and the rock gardens. The day finished with supper and some shopping and driving back to Calgary.

... side of the road, and then eating plants - very cute. The only other animals we got to see were deer, elk, squirrels, someone saw a coyote and that's about it!
Right now I'm in Calgary. I just arrived today from Banff after a week. Banff is a beautiful town surrounded by mountains. Legally it is limited to 8000 residents and there is an application process if you want to become one! I spent my time there with some of the people from the Moose tour. Three Aussie chicks ...

Yes, even on the other side of the world I had to watch the State of Origin. Lucky for me there are blues supporters in Canada! Although unlucky for me the Blues didn't win :(

Anywho we drove to a pub in Banff, the only one close by that ...

... to be an almost guaranteed trip for seeing big horn sheep, but we didn't. We then took the alternative road from Banff to Lake Louise which is also supposed to be a great wildlife viewing trip. Almost everyone on the road was clearly looking for wildlife, crawling along at 30kph and stopping the moment anyone else did in case they had seen something. All we saw were two groups of three white tail deer through sparse forest. The babies had white spots on their light tan coats ...

On Day 2, we drove south towards Athabasca Falls, then headed up a rocky, unpaved road to hike the Geraldine Lakes trail. We made it past the first lake and midway towards the second, finally turning around at a massive rockpile. Afterwards we went into Jasper for a dinner of Japanese food. Details in the photos!

... entries and beautiful photos. [/shameless plug] Anyway, my mom had been an empty nester for a few weeks when I came back. Then I left, and a few weeks later my younger sister Kim arrived home from Vancouver. At the end of August she moved to Toronto to do her Master's program here. So now my mom is finally getting a taste of freedom! Anyway, here are the beginning of the road trip photos. We left early in the morning, got to ...

Dean: Travelled from Edmonton to Jasper, which is one of the Canadian National Parks in the Canadian Rockies. Got the Greyhound here, which was meant to leave at 13:00 but left us all standing in a queue until gone 14:00 - no explanation, no apology - really **** service from Greyhound Canada. Anyway, Jasper is really great. We really like it. The first night (Tuesday) was spent in the hostel, but once again ...

... oh well. We spent our time seeing all the cool exhibits that they had around and going into the bookstores. We got to see an archaeology exhibit and some beautiful cultural exhibits from around the world. We both got some books and sat down and read for about 3 hours. Anyway, so we got into FROZEN Edmonton at about 11 pm and to my dads at about 12:30am. We drove home yesterday and now we are here. And now I am ready to go on another trip as soon as I can take a solid ****... Sara

Well I am almost packed. I went out and got a waterproof disposable camera, tons of film, a new camera case, rechargable batteries and some mp3 headphones. Dont worry - nothing is worth too much. I am only taking 4 bikinis...the absolute minimum!!! We are going to mec before we leave so Jesse can get some sandals. I have to keep telling myself that I cant spend too much money here- I would rather spend it over there. Only 2 more days ...