Jagged bits, flat bits and old friends.

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Friday morning we were very sad to leave Clearwater, a real gem and a bargain at £35 a night. Onwards to Jasper National Park and a wander round the town for lunch. it was pretty busy with tourists, including at least 3 million Chinese/Japanese disgorged from the Rocky Mountaineer train. when we'd had enough of gift shops we moved south to the Icefields Parkway and used the National Parks ticket Sue Derrick gave us, thanks Sue, saved a wedge there. Seriously spectacular and rugged mountains on either side as we drove down to Sunwapta Falls Resort and our Friday and Saturday stopover. Lucky to get in as they had us booked for 26/9/16 rather than 26/8/16!! Its a motel about 35 miles down and as such it has a captive audience in the shop, bar and restaurant. The restaurant had good food but the management were trying to make it more upmarket than the motel accommodation deserved. Excellent local Big Rock Beer at $8.95 a pint! Liz reminded me that was London prices.

Saturday was a lazy day for a change and at lunchtime we hiked down through the woods to the Sunwapta Falls (upper and lower) which were loud and dramatic. According to a plaque a 19 yr old lad died there in an "accident" in 1993. We speculated as to how he managed that. (Answers on a postcard.) No bears to be seen despite the plethora of recent sighting pins on the map in reception and the regular warning signs. Whilst looking for Yogi, Nurse Liz gave me a lesson on woodland mushrooms and the dire consequences of misrecognition (is that a word?) or misidentification? Whichever.

Sunday morning and a drive down the Parkway to The Athabasca Glacier and Sky Walk. We took the combined trip on the Explorer onto the Glacier and the walk on glass observation floor 900ft above the valley below. And yes Sue, it did snow on the Glacier, much to the excitement of the tourist hordes. We amused ourselves watching the antics of those "walking" on ice in inappropriate footwear! Q: why do Asian tourists insist on taking multiple phone/ipad photos of their women posing with the Churchill V for victory sign? Whats that all about? When do they ever look at these pictures? Are they fastidious in editing? Why would you want photos of the inside of the tour bus and backs of passengers heads? Thankfully they didn't distract us from the scenery. Liz braved the glass floored walkway but it was only worth a 10 minute visit really. As we're not 5 yrs old we didn't lie face down on the glass or repeatedly jump up and down on the spot; instead preferring to look for an opportunity to photo bomb another Churchill moment.

Back on the road we called in at the isolated Saskatchewan Crossing rest stop. I checked out the petrol price at the attended pump. No big sign advertising prices and I'm not surprised! They wanted $1.59 a litre!!!!!! (Usual price so far was $1.09 and later in Calgary $0.95!) They attendant didn't appear phased when I "trucked on" without buying.

A must see for me was the azure blue Lake Peyto. A stiff hike up the path to the observation area and a bit of a scrum with the usual suspects to get a good photo before it clouded over and the lake turned from blue to grey. Still well worth the visit though. Fueled at Lake Louise but not wanting another tussle we moved on down the Bow Valley Highway which runs parallel to the main Trans Canadian Highway and a much quieter road, very little traffic used it which was great. No, you guessed it no, bears or the much sign posted wolves. A quick tour around Banff and on to Canmore for the night and an excellent East Indian (local terminology - not to be confused with the aboriginal Indians) Lamb Sag and Chicken Jalfrezi curry.

After an excellent hotel deal which included a hot buffet and self cooked waffles by Liz, we determined we'd test the 4 wheel drive capabilities of the Durango and opted for the Kananaskis Trail. This is a gem, a 40 mile corrugated gravel road with spectacular views. With closed windows and AC turned up we kept out the dust thrown up by other adventurers like us, some driving small saloon cars - must have been fun.

So, after a picnic lunch we carried on towards Highway1. Note to self: never put the camera away. As we passed the Tim Hortons Childrens Adventure Camp a black bear appeared on the hillside and proceeded down towards the road. Pulling in and fumbling for the camera amid a stream of curses (me, not Liz of course) we watched as he stopped, changed his mind and headed back into the bushes. Never mind it was a sighting at last.

A blast down the 1 saw us enter the urban sprawl that is Calgary. The land is so flat you can see the city skyscrapers from about 50 miles out. First stop was the HD dealership for some retail therapy and a serious assault on the credit card. The assistant was momentarily bemused when I asked to see the baby clothes collection! our stop for the last 3 nights was with Tony Thomas 2431, a very old friend and colleague from Avon St Traffic and his long suffering wife Lori. Great to catch up with them and their 2 daughters over Lori's tasty Lasagna.

On Tuesday we drove out to the Royal Tyrell Museum, undoubtedly (in a Jeremy Clarkson voice now) "the biggest and best Dinosaur museum in the world." Set in a canyon depression 80 miles out in the prairie it was an excellent place to visit. At one time on the way back we drove 63km without the slightest deviation. All at a maximum permitted 100Kph of course. HaHa, yeah right! Back home for a BBQ on the patio to the sound of a local thunderstorm.

Wednesday we did the Calgary Heritage Park, an excellent interpretive tour of Calgary's past including motor museum, steam train, stern wheel river boat and old funfair rides, well worth a day to do if you get there. We ate out with T & L at a local restaurant before our last night. A bit more sightseeing downtown and a ride on the Luge at the Olympic Park saw out Thursday before saying our goodbyes and depositing the very dirty, dusty and insect battered Durango at the airport. Flight on time, no drama, back home to Brizzzle. Great holiday. Thanks for reading.

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