Mount Royal Banff

... and onto the Bow Falls at one end of the town and on up to another amazing hotel called the Fairmount for afternoon tea. The shopping was interrupted by a visit to a photographer’s shop which caught our eye – the whole family were invited to dress up as old time cowboys and girls and to be photographed in a variety of poses in a western saloon style set all captured on sepia film to produce a realistic Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid style scene – yeehahhh!

The ...

We left nice and early again for one of the most gorgeous drives in the world - Jasper to Banff. Mountains just surrounded us the entire way - very beautiful. We stopped at Athabasca falls first up then continued picking up a sandwich for our picnic. Next we stopped at the Columbia Icefields and went on a Ice Explorer onto the Athabasca Glacier. Stupid me forgot it might get a little cold on a glacier so only had on 3/4 pants ...

... to the first lookout to enjoy the amazing views, a valley stretched below and snow capped mountains were visible in all directions, and luckily we were still experiencing wonderful weather, even though the temp was now around 14c. After stopping for some lunch at the Gondola's top station, we walked onto the next peak to view the town of Banff below. We saw more squirrels scampering through the rocks, and stopping to pose for photos ...

... to see. Lake Louise was not as busy as we had expected which made it easy for us to grab a good seat inside Chateau Lake Louise for lunch. Right outside our window we could see the competitors creating ice sculptures with chainsaws and small tools. I don't know how they do it. Working in -22 degree temperatures with ice no less. We saw several dogs walking around with winter coats on and boots, I can see why.

... agnes, which werer both frozen. Lots of ice, very slippery. I fell a couple of times, and wear my bruises proudly!! And a scratch on my forehead from one of the many trees we had to climb under, over and around!!Magnificent views from the top of the mountain, we are pretty high up. Lots of white fluffy snow, and lots of animal ...

... were determined to walk me to the bus station and see me off. It was so nice having them there; especially considering the bus was running late. I was sad to be leaving; Banff has been an absolutely amazing place and experience for me. So many fabulous memories! I was very surprised that it was not as difficult and upsetting as I expected. Perhaps this had something to do with having so many new and exciting things that lay ahead of me....???....

... a girl who asked "Didn't we meet in Japan?" and it turned out to be Janet, who accompanied us to the karaoke in Tokyo! So I go to the karaoke with someone in Japan, then bump into them again six months later at the karaoke...in Canada! What a small world. Anyway, I got up on stage completely sober and knocked out My Generation, and then palled up with a boisterous young English lad and did quite a few more throughout the ...

Max and I thought it would be a bit of fun to go on a hike since the weather has been unbelievably good, predicting something like +15 degrees! Max found some hikes from the visitor centre and we headed off sometime in the afternoon for a walk along the bow river taking the hoodoos trail. We were told it would take around the 2hr mark, but maybe a bit slushy and slippery in some areas due to melting snow and icy patches. Hmmm, dont know if we are just REALLY slow ...

... working with Jen and Steph (sist**s), who are bright and bubbly, so we had a pretty good night even though it was busy and 2 of the hotel's wat** heat**s broke down!! The Gen**al Manag** bought us pizza for dinn** and bought us each a cocktail aft** work, which was v**y nice of him. A guest that Jen, Steph and I all had a bit of a soft spot for bought us a shot too to bring in the new year. I legged it aft** that and caught up with Glen (a masseuse from ...

... ok with meeting so many people and convincing myself that it was alright that I would never see them again, it IS really good to see friends again after so long. I really have done nothing since two weekends ago, but I've got today off, tomorrow except for 6 hours of work, work Saturday, and then Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I am running away from Banff. Or rather driving. I finally just put my foot down and arranged three days off work to rent a car and see ...