Today we decided on a gondola ride and we all took in the rich views of the mountains and Banff. The town of Banff is literally surrounded on all sides by mountains and the town seems insignificant from a couple thousand feet above. We chanced upon some big horn sheep feeding near the observation post and saw the first weather station located near Banff. For forty years, Norman Hanson faithfully checked weather instruments even though the trip took 9 hours from the town! The weather was overcast most of the time and it was cold. Everyone was thankful for the hot chocolate and hot coffee except for dad whose nice cup of caramel mochacino was accidentally spilled. Dad was a little grumpy after that.

Later we had our chance to test out the sulphur water we saw yesterday when we hit the Banff Upper Hot Springs. The water is a cool 40 degrees Celsius (104 degree Fahrenheit). Laura loved the shallow part and Kyle believes the spring is the finest part of the trip so far. It is hard to disagree with her when you have one of several mountains as a scenic backdrop and the kids are literally fish in the water. I have never seen them happier and more content. Maybe there is something to that therapeutic effect of the waters.

We ended the day with a visit to the Fairmont Hotel at Banff, a beautiful turn of the century hotel that the Canadian Pacific Railway used to pamper visiting railway tourists. The grounds were full of fresh flowers and the place was immaculate. We also took a quick hike down to the river’s edge and saw a wonderful waterfall. The kids loved feeling the water and it resulted in several muddy shoes and a couple of wet pant legs. After the days various adventures, everyone slept well that night!

A Mountainside Resort Town - Banff, Alberta

When we arrived the night before, it was primarily overcast, but some sun poked out before the end of the day and I could capture the photo of the mountains near our hotel. Again, I don’t think the photos will reveal the true size and scope of these natural giants, but they are truly magnificent. The hotel is a great find as it has attached an aquatic park complete with hot tub and two water slides that Julia, Michael, and even Laura felt comfortable swirling around. Mom and dad had their share of fun as well. This day we set out for a couple of local spots and a quick 10 minute drive took us to first hot springs discovered in the area in the late 1800s. Julia and Michael quickly gave us their first impressions of the sulphur hot springs: “they stink!” Kyle and I were even overwhelmed by the distinctive stink bomb odor, but they were reported at the time to have great therapeutic effect. The main pool even had water slides at one point, but the pool is no longer in use as a small snail that lives in the water is close to extinction due to human overuse. We even saw the original cave where the water source flows from and it was a very neat walk into a warm underground pool of water. Instead of heading off to the next destination we toured the lower marsh and saw several fish that live in the lukewarm waters near the bottom of the valley. We were hoping to see some other large wildlife, but somehow they have managed to elude us.

The rest of our day was filled with a local museum visit and a chance to learn about the history of the region and have some fun. Our kids quickly got on board and busily checked out the interactive displays. Afterwards, we took it easy for the afternoon and visited the pool area with a good couple of hours of splashing around. We finished the day with a good dinner in town.

Bummm, bummm, buh, bumm, bumm, bumm-bumm (sung to the Olympic Theme song)

Calgary was the site of the 1988 winter Olympics. We spent the day visiting the main location of the luge, bobsled, ski jump, snowboard half pipe, and freestyle skiing just outside of Calgary. The highlight of the day was watching Noel take a zip line from the 90m ski jump tower. I could not believe the view from the top. Noel said the ride was incredible and he had little time to be scared as the entire trip last just under 9 seconds! This ski jump tower is no longer in use because the landing area is too small to support the current style of ski jumping.

The ski jump event at the 1988 Olympics was popular to watch due to Michael Edwards, otherwise known as the “Eddie the Eagle.” Eddie the Eagle was a beginning ski jumper from Great Britain. He had only participated in the sport for two years prior to the Olympic games and he became a mascot of sorts for the games since he represented the dreams of athletes throughout the world. Today the Olympics have an Eddie the Eagle rule that prevents athletes from competing in the games unless they have placed in the top half of an international event. The kids loved seeing dad repeat Eddie the Eagle's feat. And they even stood on the podium and got into the western spirit.




We also spent time at the Olympic Park playing mini-golf on a course that Noel described a completely uphill and visiting the Olympic museum. After departing the park we drove west for about an hour for our stay in Banff National Park. Again, the scenery was spectacular even though a rainstorm was passing through the area. Noel tried to take video of the mountains as we came closer to Banff, but due to the weather it was fairly impossible to see them until we were much closer. A valiant and funny effort by Noel that took close to 10 minutes of video time with little to see…

A Journey into the Past

With a large bump on her head, Julia and the rest of the family headed out to Heritage Park, a place similar to Plimouth Plantation but at the turn of the nineteenth century on the Alberta frontier. The weather was overcast and it did begin to rain when we finally arrived at the parking lot. A quick side note: our breakfasts have been a mishmash of whatever we could find at the local grocery store and this morning was no exception. The prices are expensive in Canada and even if we had an advantageous exchange rate we are paying 25% more for food than we thought. Anyways, the breakfast at the local store began with a smorgasbord of doughnuts and a nice chat with a lady waiting with her groceries. With sugar running through their blood, the kids were more than happy to make conversation with her and she thought they were a delight; I was simply pleased to have a distraction while I enjoyed my morning coffee.

Arriving at the park, we immediately headed for the traditional steam engine train with three cars attached. A beautiful train and the “Heritage” of the park was readily on display as we took a circular tour of the surroundings. Of course, the kids saw the rides section of the park and they immediately wanted to head for them, but we were able to head them off and began our tour at a couple of teepees and what we thought was a fort. The fort turned out to be an outpost for the Hudson Bay Company. Each of these outposts had a store for trappers and the local natives to trade beaver pelts for manufactured goods from the home countries. A wool blanket from the Hudson Bay Company has 4 black stripes on the side to represent an exchange for 4 beaver pelts. This was the early version of the bar code and this bartering system remained in place for close to two hundred years.

We continued through the park visiting the old schoolhouse, the outpost for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the general store, and the hospital. The kids tried rock candy, but didn’t seem too impressed. After visiting the historical part of the park we moved on to the antique midway. Julia and Michael were both thrill seekers and asked to ride the “Whip,” the “Caterpillar,” and the “Swinging Vines” several times. All of these rides existed around the turn of the century and the Caterpillar was manufactured by the Spillman Engineering Co. located in N. Tonawanda, NY. The reason it is called the Caterpillar is due to the large green canvas roof that covers the riders once it begins moving full speed. Needless to say the ride was very popular with couples and the company could not produce enough rides to meet demand. The day proved to be both fun and educational.

Dinosaurs, Oh My!

Today we set out from the city limits of Calgary and spent close to two hours traveling to Drumheller, site of the Royal Tyrell Museum. The trip over was a stark contrast to the city as the landscape was filled with amber waves of grain, huge rolls of hay, silos, and farmland for as far as the eye could see. A truly remarkable sight and one that I am sure our photo does not completely capture. All of the children were great and kept occupied by counting cows and the number of hay bales.


On the way into the town of Drumheller, we encountered one of the classic tourist traps of the region: the world's largest dinosuar, a tryannosaurus rex. It really is just a large staircase surrounded by a fiberglass dinosaur. I would like to say it was truly inspiring to be looking at the outside world through the mouth of this giant creature, but alas no. The kids enjoyed the whole ten minute experience, but I could find a more worthwhile way to spend ten Canadian dollars.


With Michael and Laura taking shorts naps on the way to the museum, the children arrived ready to go. Outside were accurate replicas of several dinosaurs including the Albertasuarus. The entire region used to have the temperature of the Carolinas and a wide variety of plant species that still exist are housed at the museum. I thought it difficult to imagine this province filled with dinosaurs and warm temperatures, but the greenhouse helped to place me and the family there. While I would like to say the kids were fascinated by all of the dinosaur fossils, and we did a get a few photo opportunities, the highlight was a room filled with soft balls and air tubes that shot the balls in all directions. We also took a tour of the badlands surrounding the facility and tried to look for fossils with our guide, but to little avail. Alberta has the toughest fossil laws in the world and you are prohibited from exporting fossils or taking any from the province. You can pick them up and look at them, but you cannot dig them up even if you see the fossil sticking up from the ground. The guide did show us an exisitng fossil that clearly showed the tail and claws of an albertasaurus. Very neat. No trip would be complete without a visit to the giftshop and Michael took home a Pterosaur, what I think used to be called a pterodactyl.

A good day for a trip and the weather was stunning with blue skies and 70 degree temperatures. The trip back to Calgary was filled with beautiful plains views and then a dinner with our host Terry at a local hotspot, Earl's. Our best meal of the trip and we then celebrated Laura's 2nd birthday with ice cream. The only unfortunate incident of the day occurred when dad was playing tag with the children and Julia bounced off dad and bumped her head on the cement walkway. She has a tough head though and with a little ice and TLC she was off to bed.

A Visit to the Calgary Zoo

A day at the zoo in another city and it was wonderful. The Zoo is huge and we began the day looking at the local species that we might see in the National Park System in Banff and Jasper. We first saw elk, Bison - daddy's favorite animal, Bighorn Sheep, porcupines named Pins and Needles, a black bear that was rescued from the wild due to its friendly nature with the tourists.

According to the kids, the playground and ice cream were the highlights. Mom did see some interesting stuff when viewing the hippos swimming in their absolutely beautiful habitiat. When we get a chance to post video, you can check out what Kyle saw on that fun day. A quick nap for Laura in one of the rented wagons, and the other two wanted to have a ride as well so mom and dad were soon relegated to "horse" duty.

Leaving home and a day of flying...

An early morning start (4 AM) on very little sleep for mom and dad, but the kids were in good spirits and you would never have known they only slept for less than 8 hours - of course a picture from the flight is worth a thousand words. A quick drive to Kyle's aunt's house south of Boston and a jaunt by driver to Boston's Logan airport and we were on our way. Beyond keeping everyone together and not losing anyone in Toronto's cavernous airport, we were all excited to be on our way.
When we arrived in Calgary, the car rental agency did not quite have our car ready and rather than spend two weeks in a Ford Taurus we were upgraded for free to a Mitsubishi Outlander. Not bad for being in a country for less than half a day. We would have quickly made our way to our cousin's house, but the kids needed food. We were all set to try a pub, but a good old American restaurant, Chili's, was available for us to eat at and seemed more accessible for parents lacking direction to the local eateries.
With full bellies and some tired parents, we finally made our way to our cousin's house located in a beautiful section of the city. The kids quickly discovered the beauty and noise that feet make on wooden floors and were happily slapping away for the next hour as we settled into our new environment. After some quick directions from our host, we headed out to a local park where mom and dad were happy to lay on a hill and watch all three of them take off and expend energy before bedtime. Kyle and I thought it would be nice to be able to tap into their adrenaline, but no such luck and by 9:30 at night we were exhausted and we all happily fell asleep.