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Published: September 27th 2011
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We arrived very late into Calgary. A cab took us to our hotel in down town area. Very tired we were glad to see our room to have a shower and into bed. Next day first up we had to obtain some Canadian dollars, we did had none. Easy fixed, a bank was close by and the ATM pushed out the wanted dollars. We rang the car company where we arranged to have a car to do the scenic route from Calgary to Vancouver. We suppose to pick up the car at 3 P.M. but this was changed to midday, they even would pick us up. Good thing, we now have all the luggage with us. The boot or trunk what they call it here, was big enough to take care of it. Soon the papers were signed and of we were to Banff. At least that is what we thought. Wrong, boy we missed our Tom Tom. We had one from the company and not entirely the car companies fault, roads were blocked, it sent us from one end to the other. We had to reprogram the unit to find the right way. Now we drove on the free way
to Banff. It had cost us an hour and were getting hungry. A stop was made at Humpty's, a sort of roadhouse. A bowl of soup and a hamburger made us feel a lot better. The road was excellent and we could see the Rockies in the distance. We even turned on the radio. The park entrance was not that far away, and as in Australia an entrance fee was required. For two nights we stayed in Banff we had to pay 32 dollars. Now it was just another 50 kilometres and we had arrived. Here we had another problem. The room that was given was not even up to backpackers standard. We refused to sleep there. It was a very busy time in Banff, also due to the very nice weather, there were no vacancies. They up graded us but we had to go out of town to a resort for the one night. Next day we would be back at the proper place and better room. Blue skies awaited us the following day, a perfect day to drive to Lake Louise. The gods were with us. We picked it right. Very busy at the lake and as in
Europe parking was here a problem as well. You have to be lucky sometimes, a park was found. Now we had time to have a look at this famous place. It is amazing. The blue colour of the lake with the back ground of the glacier and the autumn colours of silver birches, the perfect combination. The hotel in the back is very imposing. It has lots of flower beds, all sorts of colours making it so majestic. We managed to get inside the hotel and glanced at the menu card, that was all we could afford, just a glance. We had our lunch in the car. It was also time to return for rows of cars were making their way out of the resort. The weather had changed as well, rain drops were falling down, time to go back to Banff. We were lucky to pick the right time to visit. Very satisfied for this beautiful day we arrived back in time for dinner. We have to move on. We had to drive 300 kilometres to Jasper, the next place on the scenic road. The rain from yesterday afternoon and during the night had changed the top of the
Rockies. All coloured white was a new picture. The combination of the pine trees with the yellow autumn leaves from the silver birch and the white of the snow was utterly amazing. You had to stop all the time to make pictures so you could keep it for ever. Not as busy as yesterday we had time to do this. At the Mistaya Canyon we had to walk down a not so easy path to be able to get the right photos. It was bitterly cold, we only had a vest and a jacket, not the right gear to do this. At a big glacier, called the Brewster the wind was so cold, only one of us went out to take the pictures. What a change with a day ago. Not to worry. Another stop was made at the ice station. There we had a warm bowl of soup that made us feel a lot better. About 4 p.m. we arrived in Jasper. There we met up with the scenic train that also just arrived there. We went to the hotel where we rearranged the suitcases in the boot of the car to get the Kenworth jackets out. We were
oh so thankful, they were with us. We had a room with a coffee maker. Before dwindling into Jasper, a nice hot coffee was very nice. We made a few pictures in Jasper and looked at the shops, that was all the time we had left. Bye for now Liz & Allan
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