Canada 2019 – Part 5

July 8, 2019

We had planned to spend Monday seeing Calgary, return to our hotel, and drive all the way to Banff and back on Tuesday, but Linda Salmon said it was a long trip to make all in one day. She invited us to stay with David and her on Monday night so we could get a head start on Tuesday morning. Since they live on the north end of Calgary, this was a HUGE help. The drive from Lethbridge, where our hotel was located, to Calgary is over two hours. From Calgary to Banff is another hour and a half.

It didn’t take too much thinking to figure out our best bet was to accept her offer.

We ate breakfast at the hotel and re-packed for the night. Then we took our time driving to Calgary. On the way, we were, once again, impressed by the vivid yellow of the fields. We thought they looked like mustard, but we were later told they were rapeseed. We had seen the same crop growing in France on our trips to that country.

Fields of Gold – Alberta, Canada

We had said we’d take Linda and David to lunch, but David was doing some work when we got there. (Yes, it was a weekday…) So, Linda made us lunch. She had baked some homemade chia bread. She proposed grilled cheese sandwiches. How could she have known this is my comfort food? And made with homemade bread, this was truly a treat! (I used to bake all my own bread—and made my own mayonnaise, jam, yogurt, and other things—but I gave it up along the way. I must confess, Linda’s was better than mine.

After lunch when David finished his work, he offered to take us on a guided tour of Calgary.

At first glance, I loved the city. It is large enough to have all the amenities I would want in a city, but it is new enough to have been well-planned with terrific architecture. It seems very accessible. It isn’t overwhelming or intimidating.

Calgary

David had a couple of errands to run, so we were afforded a glimpse of what it might feel like to live there. Fabulous architecture and lovely neighborhoods.

We got out several times to take in the views. We saw the stadium area and Indian camp where the Stampede was being held. Linda had invited us to attend with them the next day since seniors would be free. However, I don’t do well sitting in the sun, and Larry had promised a friend we’d go to Banff and take some photos. So, we thanked them for the offer, but decided to go on to Banff the next day.

We said since we hadn’t taken them to lunch, we’d take them to dinner. They made several suggestions, and we ended up at Il Chianti Restaurant, a family-owed Italian place. Wow! Great food, service, atmosphere. Larry ordered linguine with clams, and I had a fabulous orange chicken dish. Of course, we had to try their desserts, and they were as good as our entrees. We felt this was an excellent choice, and we thoroughly enjoyed the company and our meal.

Back at their house, I showed David how to access Ancestry and how to update their branch on my tree. I realized I still needed lots of names and information. I also discovered the Canadian records are not as thorough as the American ones. Since David has lots of the information on the Canadian branch, he was the logical one to fill in the blanks.

July 8, 2019


We wanted to get an early start and tried to be quiet, but Linda and David were up when we got ready to leave. We thanked them once again for their hospitality and for the fun we’d had with them.

Then we were off to the north.

Banff is a charming little town in the middle of a National Park. It reminded me of Breckenridge, Colorado when we lived in Denver many years ago. We entered the park and went directly to the town. We walked around. (The actual town is only about three blocks one direction and about four the other.)

Since we had left without eating breakfast, we looked for somewhere to eat. We could have gone to one of the big hotels but settled for a little creperie.

Then on to shopping. We each got a t-shirt. Since we were flying, we didn’t buy much else, but we found some keychains we could use for Christmas ornaments. Each year, we have given our nieces and nephews and Kim ornaments from wherever we have traveled during the year. We now have another generation of great-nieces and nephews, so the tradition continues.

We drove farther into the mountains, and Larry took more photos.

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel Banff National Park

We had already decided to skip the additional trip to Lake Louise since we had a long drive to get back to the hotel.

Once again, the lack of internet connection proved a challenge. Fortunately, we could follow the signs toward Calgary. Once there, we had enough internet connection to use Google Maps to set our route.

We had discovered that once a destination was mapped, it would hold until we got to the end, even if we lost connection in between.

Unfortunately, we missed a turn and ended up on a dirt road in the middle of a huge field. And we lost our connection. The only thing we could figure out to do was retrace our steps and take the turn we were supposed to have taken in the first place.

Fortunately, the road led to a highway whose number we recognized, and we turned south. Eventually, we saw the signs for Lethbridge. We turned off, but then realized we were on the wrong end of town and had no idea where to go from there.

We remembered all the Tim Horton restaurants had wi-fi, so when we spotted one, we stopped for a cold drink. I was able to use Google Maps to map the route back to our hotel.

We are very unaccustomed to being without an internet connection, and this happened at the worst possible time. However, we were able to get back, and it only took a bit longer than planned.

We stopped for dinner and then returned to the hotel to repack for our early morning departure the next day.

To be continued…