Royal Canadian Lodge Banff

... br>where we will be nice and warm and within walking<br>distance of all that Banff has to offer as a town.<br>31/10 -<br>Halloween night no better night to see a really scary movie -<br>Paranormal Activity was the choice of the evening.<br ...

... 3km away&#8230;each way and uphill on the way back. Ms. Pratt was not a fan when we got to the course and it was closed for a tournament&#8230;we couldn&#8217;t even get a beer. Gulp. A quiet walk back was completed with a well earned stop at the local pub for a beer. 3 minutes into sitting down the power in the whole building went out. Certainly not our morning. All was good though after some much needed shopping and a few strong drinks at Earls. <br><br>We&#8217;re back to the room now to ...

Today we left Paul and Darlene's place (very sadly because we had enjoyed being with them so much) and drove though Rocky Mountain House (this was an old fur traders area as well as later a fort) to Saskatchewan River Crossing then down to Banff. We wanted to go through the Rockies again to show them to Stephen as he had only seen them from the plane flying into Calgary before that.

... 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 ...

... and a Sightseeing Gondola in the summer. Hiking: One of the most beautiful hiking treks in the world. If you are interested in hiking or climbing you've got lots of access to all sorts of trails in this area. More Information: For stunning photos of Lake Louise, go to http://www.wildernessprints.com/library /banff/ For info on tours: www.banfftravel.com For much more info: http://www.discoverlakelouise.com/

... the entire way, as the trails are very steep and filled with tree roots. We also shared the path with hikers, so it was a tight squeeze. First, we rode up to Little Beehive, which is a mountain to the right of Lake Louise. We had to switchback up the last kilometre or so, and the drop-off beside the trail was a little frightening, when you're already sitting up really high on a horse! At the top, we gave the horses a rest and I ...

... After unhooking we took the dogs for a walk just outside the park across the creek in the forest. The dogs loved it as we let them lose in a field. Since the weather was turning in our favor, we decided to drive to the famous mountain town of Banff to ride our bikes. The bad news was that Banff the town was also in the National Park so we had to pay an entrance fee of almost $20 to get in. Unlike our National Parks in which you pay one fee for a week, in Canada ...

... braking all the time, I got really sore legs. So it took a bit longer than half an hour, but it was fun and Stephen was good, always giving me tips and things like that. Anyway, eventually we made it to the bus, and took off our boots (gosh that hurt!) and went to our hotel in Sunshine Village. We had four to a room, I was sharing with Sam, Nadine and Lexi. We had about 45 minutes for a shower, and then we had to meet at the bus again to go ...

... town and got the bus to the bottom of Sulphur Mountain. I'm so glad we decided to do this because the next day was grey and raining. Once we got there, to our surprise there were no queues (this is a really popular attraction). So before we knew it we were in a gondola heading up the mountain. Until that very moment I hadn't given the height of the mountain much thought, or the fact that I don't like heights. All of this along with the knowing there was no way out of this thing ...