Day 8 – Canmore
Canada Day!
We’re somewhat embarrassed to admit that neither of us
realized that Canada Day came right in the middle of our cross country trip…we
couldn’t have picked a better day to take our “day off.” Both Canmore and Banff were alive with
Canadian patriotism, with Canadian flags flying everywhere. Alex was really impressed and remarked
how much the Canadians really seemed to like their country! Both Canmore and Banff had closed off
portions of their streets for the parades and festivals that were taking place,
so we had to choose our itinerary carefully to make sure we weren’t trying to
navigate through areas that were closed.
Our first destination was the Banff – Sulfur Mountain
Gondola, a track that runs almost a mile long that ascends 2,300 ft in
altitude. Daisy was very nervous
about getting in the gondola car, and couldn’t dig her head deeper into our
legs. After we made it to the top,
we started to follow the very long boardwalk (guessing a mile or so) that
brought guests to the Cosmic Ray station atop Sulfur Mountain. It was quite an interesting trip, since
Daisy made quite a few of the visitors very uneasy as we walked by. Ironically, when we made it to the top,
those creatures you thought would be the most uneasy, the Golden Mantled Ground
Squirrel, they could care less.
They had obviously become quite accustomed to people and felt no fear
coming up to take a snack out of their hands, that the sight of a dog had no
impact on their behavior. Daisy
was at attention the whole time, begging for just a moment or two to be let off
the leash so she could fetch herself a little squirrel snack. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t get
the chance.
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| Ash and Alex at the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff. |
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| The view from the top of Sulphur Mountain. |
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| The little guy that tortured Daisy... |
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| Mommy and Ash on the Gondola. |
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| Brave little squirrel has a stare down with D dog... |
After taking the Gondola back down, we headed over to the
downtown Banff area to do some shopping at the local souvenir stores. Weaving through the maze of people
drained our energy, so after about an hour or two, we headed back to our hotel
in Canmore to take a little break before the evening festivities.
About two months before our trip, Aimee discovered a unique
little dinner play about ½ mile from where we were staying called “O Canada,
Eh.” The show came highly rated on TripAdvisor, and was supposed to be a
humorous take on Canadian life while also celebrating some music from Canadian
artists (Bryan Adams, Steppenwolf, Barenaked Ladies, etc.). The kids loved every minute of the
show, which made it worth it for us.
After the show, we headed back to the hotel to get the kids
ready for another day on the road.
While we were getting ready for bed, we could hear fireworks in the
distance, so we stepped outside to enjoy them for a few minutes…not for long
though, as we were very exhausted, and knew it was not long before we returned
to the daily routine of getting in the car early for another 300 miles of
driving.
Wildlife sightings:
Golden Mounted Ground Squirrel – too many to count
Chipmunks – lots, but less than the squirrels
Day 9 – Canmore to Kelowna
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