Canmore and Banff, Canada

(Pics to come)
We flew up to Calgary, and saw the snow from above. Wow!  Then we took a Greyhound bus to Canmore in the evening (not wow).  Arriving at night and trundling our cases around the corner to our apartment, we thought the place looked a bit like toytown, lots of neat and new looking buildings and shops.  It was only in the morning that we saw that the entire town is surrounded by snow covered mountains – The Rockies!   Gorgeous…and cold.  We got out our beanies (or toukes) out and walked about the place. There was lovely river, Policeman’s Creek running through the town.  There was a little bit of snow around in patches and the river was icy at the edges.

We covered a bit about Banff and Canmore in our post about our anniversary.  We loved it here, so pretty and the people were friendly. We did had a laugh when people talked about the weather being “balmy” (!)  when it was about 5 degrees C and sunny.

The mounted police headquarters in the town had been preserved and they had a little open day of the tiny building. Sasha enjoyed decorating a Christmas Cookie and got a beanie mounted police horse (bringing the grand total of fluffy toys to 12!)  Enough already…!, even she agrees.

Our accommodation in Canmore was just brilliant. Lois loved the gym with it’s mountain views, which gave a reward of a glimpse of the mountains after each sit-up.  Sasha loved having her own room with a TV & DVD, where she watched 4 horse DVDs.  Ed loved the one touch gas log fire, the well equipped kitchen and the high speed wifi.

Before leaving Canmore, we took a trip out to a riding ranch where Lois and Sasha took a trail ride and Ed took lots of pics of the scenery and horses. We had an amazing time and even caught sight of bear paw prints in the snow (no bears though…) We rode Western style which was fun, although we both had sore legs by the end of it.  We all saw a lone wolf prowling around in the distance just before leaving.

Before we knew it, it was time to say farewell to Canada.  We flew Westjet back to Vancouver, then onward to Tokyo, via Seattle.  Westjet were a nice surprise on this trip. They do everything with a sense of humour and seem to genuinely enjoy their work. The company seems to be onto a good thing, by employing people with a sense of fun and service.  Refreshing.