Banff

The scenery in Canada was beautiful. On one of our hikes we tried to come up with as many adjectives as possible that would adequately describe the grandeur and beauty of the landscapes. Magnificent, gorgeous, breathtaking, exquisite, superb, impressive, resplendent, to name a few. We got a little silly with it, but all of those adjectives could be used when talking about the views we saw. After going to the beaches of Kauai last summer, we decided to head to the mountains this year and it did not disappoint.

The little squirrel. I will say my one disappointment of the trip was not seeing a bear! We were in bear country and there were warnings everywhere about watching out for bears on the road and on the trails. They even have slow speed zones because they don't want cars going too fast and crashing into bears. Alas, we saw none. Maybe next time.

 Check out the glacier at the top of this mountain. While we enjoyed Banff in gorgeous weather, for 9 months out of the year it is winter and very cold. Because we were so far north, the sunset at 10 pm. Imagine how early it sets in winter!

 One of my favorite activities of the trip was the Plain of Six Glaciers hike we did off of Lake Louise. We hiked up 3 miles to a tea house for lunch. The tea house was built in the 1920's by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. There is no electricity, and all the cooking is done with propane. Everything is homemade--the bread was amazing. The supplies are carted up on horseback and once a year they have a helicopter bring in raw materials for baking. The employees live there 5 days a week (think mountain hippie's) and hike up to work. There are a few tea houses like this in the area. In addition to the pretty landscapes on the hike, having this at the top was like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. It made it that much more exciting!

 Waterfalls from the snow melt and the view on our way down.

 This mailbox was inside the fancy schmancy Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. We did not stay there, but it was fun to look around. Our accomodations were equally nice (a several hundred dollars cheaper!) and the trip was the perfect mix of outdoor exploring and comforts of home sleeping. We enjoyed the hot tubs looking at the mountains and the heated bathroom floors--genius!

 After all of our hiking, we indulged at dinner. I ate the best burger of my life, seriously. I'm still thinking about that burger. And the wood-fired pizza and homemade fudge from Banff sweet shop were also delicious.

 Our last day in Banff we hiked Johnston Falls and then drove back to Calgary to stay near the airport the night before our morning flight. In Calgary we had dinner and took a walk through a neighborhood that reminded me a lot of our neighborhood in Connecticut. Lots of green trees and lawns, a mix of craftsman and Victorian style homes. Kids playing in the front yard and cute coffee shops and markets on the corner. It got me all nostalgic. Then I remembered the 9 months of winter they live through in Calgary and decided it's not worth it.

We had a great trip and a sweet reunion with our girls. On one of our drives we planned out our potential travel plans for the next few years... we're thinking of getting brave and taking the kids international. Are we crazy? A girl can dream...