Category: Travelog: Our Personal Travels

Our final day in Lake Louise, we awoke very early to take in the sunrise over the lake and mountains from our large picture window.  This place is so beautiful that it brings tears to your eyes.  This truly must be what heaven looks like, only we hope it is a bit warmer. :-)If you’re ever looking for a place to get away from it all to think, relax or meditate Lake Louise is the perfect destination.  We ordered in-room dining for breakfast and enjoyed our picture perfect view as we ate.  Just before our coach arrived we took one last look at our beautiful surroundings, signed deeply and, with watery eyes, said good-bye to Lake Louise.

The coach ride to Calgary was only a few hours and we watched the terrain change from mountains to rolling farm land.   The air changed dramatically as we encountered more traffic and the sprawling metropolis of Calgary–home to the Winter 1988 Olympic Games.  As we approached the downtown area we passed an amusement park (people were out riding on roller coasters and such in THIS weather!) and the Olympic Bobsled and Ski Jump structures.  The structures looked abandoned and we wondered whether they are still utilized for training purposes.

Arriving at our hotel, the Fairmont Pallister, we sensed a very different energy in the hotel staff (namely, the person who checked us in from the President’s queue of all places and the person who staffed the concierge desk–very surprising to us) and people around Calgary.  It wasn’t a bad energy but the friendliness we became accustomed to during the previous nine days of our journey was absent.   Nonetheless, after checking in we decided to venture out to see a bit of the city during the few hours that we had available to us here.

We traveled along the sky-walk system in downtown (Calgary plus 15) to the Calgary Tower.  There we took an elevator to the observation tower (approx 626 feet tall) where we stepped immediately onto a glass floor and looked directly down to the street below us.  If you are afraid of heights this would not be a good exercise for you.  We observed several other people trying to summon up the courage to step out into “space”.  We walked around the observation tower and after completing the circle we decided to walk down the stairs to the revolving restaurant below.  To our disappointment the restaurant was under renovation until September 2008.  (Isn’t this September 2008?)

We left the tower and went for a walk-about downtown.  Our initial perception of the City’s energy was validated–Calgary is not very diverse and the residents seem to be barely cordial.  The downtown area seems to roll up its sidewalks during the weekend and the area seems to be populated by homeless people during this time.  Nonetheless we embraced this new experience and wandered into a restaurant called Flames Central/Wild Fire Grill.  The facility is a renovated performing arts center turned sports bar & entertainment venue.  There is a movie screen sized television on the stage and that is surrounded by nearly 32 smaller screens that show other sport features.  We watched the San Diego Chargers game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  (Disappointing game for our fellow Charger fans!)

The drink and food specials were good but the service was painfully slow despite there being only a handful of guests and several servers.  The service was also questionable as we were given dirty glasses with our drinks.  We probably would not recommend this venue but for its convenient downtown location and the fact that it is only a handful of places downtown that are open on Sunday.

Following the painful loss of the Chargers we returned to our hotel room and decided to order room service.  Our flight is very early and, thus, we will call it an early night.  We wouldn’t necessarily recommend the hotel’s pizza but the staff member that provided our room service and the housekeeping staff member that provided our turn-down service were both very pleasant–they are representative of what we’ve come to expect from the Fairmont family.

Despite the little ‘bump” in Calgary we consider our trip to be very successful.  Calgary, in fact, is the best place we could have finished our adventure because it has helped acclimate us for our return to our urban life in Washington, DC.  We’ve had an absolutely wonderful time in British Columbia and Alberta and we’re looking forward to returning to BC for the 2010 Olympics, if not sooner.  Calgary is a very affluent city but it seems to be used as a gateway for travel throughout other parts of Canada.  Nonetheless we’d love to experience a different side of Calgary and may consider returning for the 2009 Calgary Stampede–the largest rodeo in North America.   Until then, we will continue to re-live our wonderful Canadian memories.

Thank you for Travel’n On with us!  Our next adventure…Knotts Island for the winefest! 🙂

Last night we checked into a great resort—the Douglas Fir Resort & Chalets.  The resort is set in a wooded area above the town in a remote area and we were given a very nice two-level, loft chalet.  The room has a real fireplace, a full-sized kitchen, an extraordinary view of the surrounding snow-capped mountains and lots of small wildlife.  Bliss!!!  Plus, our kitchen was stocked with breakfast food (bacon, eggs, bread), milk, cereal and coffee.   Across the street are a Hostel and another resort—both facilities have restaurants.  Of course, one offers more finer dining than the other so we ate at the resort.

We woke up early (again—ugh) to an overcast and cold morning but eagerly awaited our transportation into town where we were to board a sightseeing bus.   The Brewster Discover Banff Sightseeing Tour took us to many natural attractions including the wind-shaped hoodoos which tower majestically over the valley, the classic viewpoints of Surprise Corner along Tunnel Mountain Drive, the Bow Valley Falls and the valley from the base of Sulfur Mountain.  We were also treated to a cave excursion to view a hot sulfur spring and then we traveled to the base of the Banff Gondola where we traveled up the mountains and through clouds aboard a gondola.

During the ride up the mountain we met a new friend, Nigel Allom, a lovely fellow traveler from Australia who is taking one year out of his life to travel.  (Incidentally, Nigel will be appearing on our show a few times over the next few months as he discovers North American.  Also, it is noteworthy to share that this is the second time Nigel has spent a year traveling.)  The views from the top were spectacular.  Although the heavy cloud coverage near the base of the gondola prevented us from seeing the village below, the peak to peak views of the surrounding mountains and the clear skies provided an amazing view.  It was like heaven!

After the tour we headed back to town to grab some “pub grub” in town before we took a scheduled boat tour of Lake Minnewanka.  Lake Minnewanka lies in the heart of the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park, just a short drive from the town site.  Our tour consisted of a very interesting 1.5 hour interpretive tour of the Lake and surrounding area.

Following the lake tour we took a taxi to the Banff Upper Hot Springs—something that we’ve been anticipating since before our trip.  Our taxi driver was a very well-dressed man (John) who originated from Manhattan (he carries a dual citizenship).  John shared that we were the second “celebrities” that he’s had the pleasure of meeting within the last week–the first being Marisa Tomei.  We initially thought that we’d spend ½ hour in the thermal pool but we ended up soaking up the healing sulfur-filled water for nearly two hours.  The outdoor pool treated us to a view of the Banff Gondola and surrounding snow-capped mountain tops.  It was such a relaxing place and the smell of the sulfur (which smells like rotten eggs in its purest form) did not overshadow the clean mountain air. The only reason we left when we did was because we were hungry.

We took the public bus ($2/pp) back to our resort (the public transportation system is very affordable and convenient.  We will share many of our travel tips to this region at the end of our journey).  We decided to eat at the Hostel’s restaurant across the street and we were pleasantly surprised at the huge portions and quality of our very affordable meals.  The hostel had a bar and offered free internet to its guests.

Tomorrow we finally get to sleep in!  We will be traveling to the lovely area of Lake Louise where we’ll stay for two days.

As we started the day a bit on the sleepy side, our taxi transported us to the Rocky Mountaineer Station on the outskirts of downtown Vancouver.  Over 500 passengers were gathered in anticipation of a long journey from the coastal British Columbia rain-forest through the Canadian Rockies into the desert (yes, there is a desert in Canada!) on the way to our overnight stop in Kamloops.

We started the morning with a champagne toast with the friendly and attentative Rocky Mountaineer crew-members, providing the ultimate in service on board the bi-level Gold Leaf Rocky Mountaineer car.  The service is a throwback to a golden age of railroading, with tablecloth meal service with all the food and drink one could imagine.  The views from the observation level of the car, with windows that turned into skylights as they reached toward the ceiling of the car, were astounding.

About forty miles into the trip, we passed through the town of Hope, the Chainsaw Carving Capital of the World, where we learned that Sylvester Stallone put the town on the map with the shooting of “Rambo, First Blood.”

Tonya celebrated her birthday on board the train, as the crew presented her a birthday card and railroading book.  And that celebration continued as we made our way to Kamloops, British Columbia.  Kamloops is the third largest city in British Columbia, and as the train pulled into town, we were greeted by Royal Canadian Mounted horses.The highlight of our evening in Kamloops was the Great Canadian Lumberjack Show, where we shared our table with a wonderful couple from Australia.  The crowd at the show was from all over the world.  Before the Lumberjack Show, acoustic folk singer Margit Bull of Whiskey Tango led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday” to Tonya.

The Lumberjack Show starts with a brief film on the history of logging in Western Canada, and then the competition between a father and son in real life for best lumberjack got underway.  Throughout the stump chopping, log sawing, and axe throwing competitions, the competitors peppered the audience with a bunch of double entendres that would make Will Ferrell proud.  Will, there’s a film idea here based on the macho lumberjack culture.

The crosscut saw competition paired the two lumberjacks onstage with two ladies from the audience. The show concludes with a best two-out-of-three grand log rolling contest.  All in all, this was a memorable night in Kamloops.