The Beauty and Majesty of the Canadian Rockies

The Boss and I returned from our Tulip Time river cruise in the Netherlands and Belgium in early April, then spent the next couple of months at home in Wilmington.  But the time at home never lasts too long, and in June we set out for our long-anticipated trip to the Canadian Rockies.  A total of 42 travelers were in our group, for our Rocky Mountaineer train and coach tour that started in Vancouver, Canada.

As usual, we rarely go on any tour or cruise without adding a couple of days or more either before or after the main attraction.  This was no exception, as Esther and I flew to Victoria, Canada and spent two nights there, before joining the rest of the group in Vancouver.

We had never been to Victoria, which is actually the capital of British Columbia, not Vancouver as I would have guessed.  Victoria is located at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, and is the southernmost major city in western Canada.  The city is about 60 miles from Vancouver on the mainland, and 60 miles from Seattle.  Due to a flight delay, our plane didn't arrive until almost 1:00 AM, but the rental car agent was waiting for us, and we drove downtown to check in at the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour.

The next morning we hopped on the Hop On Hop Off Bus to get our initial look at the city.  It was a bit cloudy when we first got on, but then true to form, Dream Vacations weather took over.  The bus went through downtown, out past the cruise ship terminal, then along the coast past Victoria Golf Club, and back to downtown by way of Oak Bay Village and past the Craigdarroch Castle.  After we hopped off, we walked through Chinatown and to the harbour, then jumped on a harbour boat tour out to Fisherman's Wharf.

The Christ Church Cathedral, as viewed from the bus.

The Church of Our Lord is 150 years old, and is a
designated National Historic Site of Canada.

The Netherlands Centennial Carillon was given by the Dutch community of British
Columbia in thanks for Canada's role in the liberation of the Netherlands n World
War II.  Queen Juliana of the Netherlands unveiled its cornerstone in 1967,
Canada's centennial year.  The Royal British Columbia Museum and the
IMAX National Geographic Theater are in the background.

The British Columbia Parliament Buildings, with a statue of Queen Victoria in front.

One of the walkways into Beacon Hill Park, the city's main urban green space.  

We were surprised to see this deer along side the road near the park.

Fan Tan Alley is the narrowest street in Canada, 35 inches wide at its narrowest point. 
This is one of those tourist attractions that doesn't live up to the hype.

With the gorgeous weather, we picked a nice outdoor cafe near the harbour for lunch

After lunch, we took the harbour tour on a small boat, which took us past
the beautiful Marriott Delta Hotel on the water.

The harbor is very busy with seaplane traffic, and we watched
dozens of planes take off and land on the water.

The tour went out to Frenchman's Wharf, which is a collection of floating houses
with some shops and food kiosks mixed in.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel, and drove our rental car to Butchart Gardens, a must-see if you are in Victoria.  The gardens are designated a National Historic Site of Canada, and receive over a million visitors a year.  We spent a few hours walking through the gardens and took the short boat tour of the surrounding waters.

We spent the morning at Butchart Gardens, the former home of Robert Butchart,
who made his fortune in selling Portland cement. 

The Sunken Garden, located in the former limestone quarry for the cement plant.
The kiln stack from the plant can be seen at top right.

The Ross Fountain is located at the far end of the Sunken Garden. 
The fountain water rises as high as 70 feet.

One of the totem poles in the Gardens.

The Rose Garden has an amazing variety of colors.

The entrance to the Japanese Gardens, which are more about well-trimmed bushes
and a variety of trees than flowers.  At the end of the trail, we came to Butchart Inlet
and decided to do the boat tour.

Surprisingly, we were the only two passengers on the 12-person electric boat,
so we got a private tour.  The guide was excellent, a retired golf pro
who was quite funny. 

Among the wildlife we saw on the boat ride was this grey heron.....

...and the appropriately named fried egg jellyfish.

We saw some unique birdhouses made for purple martins.  Some looked like RVs,
but I liked the yellow submarine, and I think this bird did too.

The boat tour was very serene, with beautiful scenery and, of course, Dream Vacations weather.

On the way back we passed this floating house complete with
propane tanks, stove, cooler and solar panel.

After the boat tour, we walked past the Star Pond and.....

......the Italian Garden.......

.....before ending in a humongous gift shop.   Had to get our magnet.

We drove up the coast a couple of miles, and lunch on a little Cajun restaurant over the water, and made it to the airport in time to catch our short flight to Vancouver.  We landed in the domestic terminal, which turned out to be a good thing because we didn't have to go through customs or wait in a long taxi line.  Many of our group that flew into Vancouver from the States said it took forever to get out of the airport.

In Vancouver we stayed at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre, a nice hotel with two separate towers.  Unfortunately, the hotel and Rocky Mountaineer made a number of mistakes when members of our group were checking in, and Esther spent way too much time sorting all of that out with the front desk.  We took Esther's mom and John to dinner on the waterfront at Cardero's, which was quite good.

The Boss and I with her mother Kathy and John outside Cardero's.

Everyone in the group got a voucher for the Vancouver Lookout, so the next day a number of us walked down to the Harbour Centre to go up to the Lookout.  The Harbour Centre is the tallest commercial building in the city, and the Lookout is a flying-saucer shaped observation deck at the top.  Naturally, we had Dream Vacations weather, so the views were great.  Many of us then walked down to the Gastown area for lunch.  Others spent the day going over to North Vancouver to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge, but the Boss and I had done that at the end of our Alaska Cruise-Tour a few years ago.

Downtown Vancouver with Stanley Park and North Vancouver in the background.

Ironically, the Celebrity Eclipse was docked at the cruise ship terminal.  Esther and I,
and a number of others in our group, had been on the Eclipse three times in the past
three years - for a Baltics cruise in 2017, a trans-Atlantic to Dublin and then to
Iceland in 2018, and to South America earlier in 2019.

The next morning our group of 42 met in the Sheraton lobby at 6:30 AM to be transported to the train station to board the Rocky Mountaineer.  We did have to wait an hour or more before boarding, but eventually we were "all aboard" and our journey began. Our group was all seated together on the upper level of a two-level car, along with other passengers not in our group.  Shortly after departure, our on-board guides provided a welcome orientation, and then breakfast was served in two shifts, roughly half the car at a time.

Esther hands out boarding passes to the group.  One note about group travel on Rocky Mountaineer -
they do not provide a tour manager.  Esther was tasked with managing all the hotel keys, 
luggage instructions, meal information, etc.  

The train holds a lot of people.  Our car only held about 70 people.

The traditional playing of the bagpipes as we boarded.

They did take very good care of Ann from our group, who had some mobility issues.

A little advertising prior to boarding.

The on-board guides/attendants passed out snacks and beverages, and provided commentary about the
areas we passed through and the history of the train.

Breakfast in the lower level dining car, complete with white tablecloths. 
The food was quite good.

There were only two comfort rooms, and there was often a line.

The first couple of hours were not particularly scenic as we made our way out of Vancouver and into the Fraser Valley, which is an agricultural area.  The train followed the Fraser River, the longest in British Columbia, and home to B.C.'s largest salmon run.  Not the right time of year for us to see salmon.

Transporting timber down the river.

The further we went, the less development we saw, and mountains began to come into view.

Our two-level train car was higher than the ones in front of us, so you could get pictures
from the front of the car.  Here, we pass a freight train going in the opposite direction. 
I was surprised how busy the tracks seemed to be all during our trip.

Pat and Deke appeared to enjoy the first day of train travel.

It was a social group (did I mention that alcoholic beverages were complimentary?),
and as you can see by Kenny's sunglasses, we had a Dream Vacations weather day.

One of the first day highlights - Hell's Gate, the narrowest part of the Fraser River
and the most popular and renowned tourist attraction.  You can see the
AirTram cable cars at top right if you look closely.

Further east, we passed the Cisco Crossing, where the Canadian Pacific and
Canadian Northern train lines cross the Fraser River.  The original bridge
 in this location was the first cantilever-type railway bridge
constructed in North America.

After lunch, perhaps an adult beverage or two, and all the beautiful scenery,
Dave and Jeannie are worn out!

We pass through Rainbow Canyon, named for the different colors resulting
from various minerals in the rocks. 

We are now following the Thompson River, with some dramatic landscape -
but the Rocky Mountains are still 300 miles away.

We saw a lot of these rock sheds in avalanche-prone areas.

We were told these guys are always here to greet the Rocky Mountaineer train as
it arrives in Kamloops, our stopping point at the end of day 1 on the train.

Because our group had "Gold Leaf" service, all our luggage was taken to our rooms at the our nearby Delta Hotel by Marriott.  Kamloops is a pretty good-sized city of over 90,000, but as we didn't arrive until after 8:00 PM, most of the group looked for a nearby pub or restaurant, or ate at the hotel, and went to bed. It was a long day on the train.

The next day started early, too, with the coach picking us up before 6:30 AM.  Fortunately, we didn't have to get up for breakfast as they served us on the train.   Day two on the train was pretty similar, except that later in the day we began to approach the Canadian Rocky Mountains.  Overall, the scenery was more dramatic than the first day.  It's hard to pick out just a few images, but I'll try.

We passed a lot of lakes and rivers on Day 2.

I managed to get a shot of one of the first bald eagles we saw along the way.  

The train had an outdoor viewing platform between cars, where I spent a lot of time

 getting fresh air and trying to get pictures not taken through the car windows. 

This is looking behind us, as our car was the front-most two-level car on the train.

The mountains started getting higher as we traveled further east.

I believe this is the Kicking Horse River, which flowed very rapidly.

Another example of the snow sheds built over the tracks to keep the tracks clear.

The Rockies aren't too far now.

We passed the Columbia River, which flows all the way to the Pacific Ocean in Oregon,
over 1,250 miles.

Here we enter the first of the Spiral Tunnels. These tunnels cross over themselves inside

 the mountain in order to lessen the grade the train has to climb.  The lower tunnel 

is in Mount Ogden, and the upper tunnel is in Cathedral Mountain.  

An amazing feat of engineering!

One of a number of beautiful and serene lakes we saw on our trip,
this lake is about one mile above sea level..

Our guides and cabin attendants say goodbye and wish us safe and pleasant travels.

Our train ride ended at the Lake Louise station, where we were met by our Rocky Mountaineer coach.  Our driver and guide was Matthew Rogers, who would stay with us the rest of the trip.  Our first destination was the Emerald Lake Lodge, located in the Yoho National Park. 

This is the incredible sight that greeted us as we got off the bus at Emerald Lake.
The late afternoon sunlight highlighted the natural beauty of the lake and its surroundings.

Each couple had their own cabin, complete with a balcony and a fireplace.
No TV, and only spotty wi-fi at the lodge.

The accommodations at Emerald Lake weren't luxurious, but we were in a National Park, and the rustic nature of the rooms and the property were a perfect fit for where we were.  Esther had arranged to have a private dinner for the entire group at the lodge that evening.   The service and dining area were not great but the food was good.   And there was a bar, although getting served required a fair amount of patience.  Still, the natural beauty of the lake was not something you can see every day.

The following day, we were picked up by Matthew at 9:30 AM for a full-day tour.  We headed north to the Columbia Icefield Center to see the Athabasca Glacier.  Matthew told us to keep our eyes open for wildlife all the time and assured us we were likely to see a number of animals.  All along the way he provided great commentary on the different lakes and mountains and history of the area, and he had a great sense of humor.

As we headed north toward the glacier, the weather was drizzly and overcast, and the Boss and I wondered if our luck had run out.

Despite the less than stellar weather, the scenery was still magnificent.

We spotted our first black bear along the side of the road.

As we arrived at the Columbia Icefield, things didn't look good weather-wise.

By the time we boarded our Ice Explorer for the ride to the glacier, the fog had burned off and the rain stopped.

This is our driver, who assured us she really did have a driver's license.

We pass another vehicle on the steep incline down to the glacier.

This shows how far the glacier has receded in the last 20 years - it used to extend beyond the right edge
of this picture.

Esther and her mother Kathy with the glacier coming through the valley behind them.

Chris and Anne show their patriotism.

The clear conditions provided a good shot of a smaller glacier coming over the mountain.  

We had some free time for lunch and souvenir shopping at the Ice Centre, then headed back towards Banff.  But Matthew included several stops along the way.  The first was the Glacier Skywalk, located within Jasper National Park.  Again, we drove through some misty rain and snow flurries after leaving the Ice Centre, but as we arrived at the Skywalk, the rain stopped and the sun came out.

The Skywalk is a cantilevered walkway that extends out over the Sunwapta Valley, 

1,000 feet above the river running through the valley below.  Not everyone 

in the group felt comfortable going out on the 400-meter glass walkway 

and looking straight down.

The sun came out to allow some awesome views of the valley and surrounding mountain range.

Some of the best views were straight down below the Skywalk, at the rushing creek and numerous waterfalls.

Our bus driver and guide extraordinaire, Matthew.

On our way back down the Icefield Parkway towards Emerald Lake, we made a couple of photo stops, including one at Bow Summit, the highest point along the Parkway, and the overlook for Peyto Lake.

This is the type of landscape we drove through all day - very majestic and imposing in many places....

… with the natural beauty of waterfalls flowing down sheer rock faces,......

…...and pristine mountain lakes.  

The Ladies of Compass Pointe.

Peyto Lake, probably the most gorgeous lake we saw on the whole trip.  A photo doesn't give you the same experience as standing there and smelling the trees in the crisp cold air, and surrounded for the most part by silence.  Awesome!

Another glacier between the mountain peaks, with a lake below.

I don't remember all the lake names, but this one was pretty enough for a photo stop by the coach.

Before getting back to Emerald Lake, we caught sight on another black bear off the side of the road.

This day ended with another group dinner and a few drinks at the lodge at Emerald Lake.  Matthew told us he would pick us up at 1:00 PM the following day for our transfer to Banff, our next hotel location.

Everyone had breakfast and spent a leisurely morning at Emerald Lake before boarding the coach again at 1:00 PM.  We were headed for Banff, but Matthew had some interesting destinations for us along the way.  The first was Takakkaw Falls, also in Yoho National Park.

Matthew showed off his professional driving skills on the way to the Falls.  For these narrow switchbacks 

up the mountain, he actually backed our huge motorcoach up this hill, so that he could pull forwardto go up
 the next hill (to the left of this picture)!  Not enough room to negotiate these tight turns with a big coach.

More wildlife along the way - this female elk (no antlers) apparently has been known to be aggressive, so 

they put a tracking collar on her.  She didn't bother us, but we stayed in the coach.

Matthew's sharp eye spotted this marmot on a rock, which then climbed down and posed for pictures for us.

We had to cross a bridge and do a short hike through the woods to get a closer look at Takakkaw Falls.

Takkakaw Falls is the 2nd tallest waterfall in Canada at 1,224 feet, more than 

7 times the height of Niagara Falls.  Again, the photo is not nearly as impressive

as being there and hearing the roar of the falls.

These were the first "Red Chairs" that we saw, but not the last.

Parks Canada decided to plop down two red Adirondack chairs to capture some of the most stunning view in the Canadian National Parks.  Visitors are encouraged to seek out the Red Chairs and share their experience via social media.

Our next stop was Lake Louise.  Lake Louise is world famous for its turquoise lakes, the Victoria Glacier, soaring mountain backdrop, and the palatial Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

This is the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise - an iconic hotel of the Rockies.
Staying here would have boosted the cost of our trip significantly!

Lake Louise with its serene turquoise waters.

The mountains and glacier provide magnificent surroundings to the lake.

From Lake Louise, it was on to Banff and the Rimrock Resort Hotel, which would be our base of operations for the next three nights.  Although not as extravagant as the Chateau Lake Louise, it was a beautiful hotel, and had a convenient shuttle into the town of Banff every 20 minutes.

The view from our hotel room.

Esther and I ate in the hotel restaurant that night, and found another part of our group there as well.

The view from the restaurant wasn't too shabby either.

The hotel had a nice breakfast buffet that was included in our package, and we saw most of our group in there before we were picked up by Matthew at 9:30 AM for our "Banff and Wildlife" half day tour.  Stops included Bow Falls, Lake Minnewanka, the Norquay Green Spot, and the Banff Sunshine Village.  And we saw a lot of wildlife!

Not long after boarding the coach, we spotted several deer on the golf course near the Banff Springs Hotel.

These are the Bow River Falls.  The weather was substandard for Dream Vacations as

we started out on this day, but I have better pictures of this tomorrow.

Matthew told us a grizzly bear made these claw marks on the pay phone stand - and we believed him.  

Another set of Red Chairs in the picnic area of Lake Minnewanka, a glacial lake that is dammed for hydroelectric power.

I was excited when I first spotted this bear, thinking it was a grizzly because of the color,
but Matthew told us it was actually a brown black bear, not a grizzly.

Less than 10 minutes later, we came upon a black black bear.  My zoom lens allowed a pretty good close up on his face.

These Red Chairs are located at the Norquay Green Spot, an open area along the Norquay Mountain Road with incredible views of Banff and the surrounding mountain.

It cleared up enough to get a great view of Banff and the Bow River and Lake.  If you look closely, you can see the Banff Springs Hotel in the upper left hand corner.

At the Norquay Green Spot, we saw another marmot (1st of two photos) and this ground squirrel.
Cuter than the ones we have at home.

Also passed a couple of mule deer on the way back down the mountain.

On the way to see Banff Sunshine Village, one of the most popular ski resorts in the area, we passed

Goat's Eye Mountain, which gets its name from the hole through the rock near the top.

This, unfortunately, was the only grizzly bear we saw on our tour.

Final  wildlife shot of the day was my favorite.  I had to blow this up quite a bit, even after using the highest zoom, but incredibly got this bald eagle with its beak open just before take-off.  We actually saw a lot of eagles, but it was hard to photograph them.

Matthew dropped us off back at the hotel around lunchtime.  The following day was a free day for the group in Banff, so Matthew had the rest of the day and the next day off to go home for a while.  He would be back on our last day to pick us up and drive us to Calgary.

We took the shuttle into town and had lunch at the Park Distillery Restaurant. Unfortunately, we missed their gin, vodka and whiskey tasting.  After lunch, we walked all around Banff, which is a charming town, and what you would expect of a mountain resort area.  The mountains surrounding the town provide awesome scenery.  The Boss and I did a little souvenir shopping, then took the shuttle back to the Rimrock for some needed rest time.  We did go back into town for dinner, with Harry and RandI, at a great restaurant called Saltlik, which was recommended by Matthew.

No tours were scheduled for the next day so everyone was on their own.  About a dozen of us decided to do the Float Trip down the Bow River with Rocky Mountain Raft Tours, which turned out to be a lot of fun.

You gotta love the free advertising!

This is a sunny picture of Bow Falls, which is across from where we launched the rafts.

Today's transportation - each raft carried six of us and an entertaining guide.

Perfect weather (thanks, Dream Vacations!) for a raft trip.

The river was pretty calm - this is about as rough as the rapids got.  We never got wet.

We had a great view of the iconic Banff Springs Hotel.

This view of Cascade Mountain was just some of the wonderful scenery for our trip down river.

This is Buffalo Mountain, named for obvious reasons.

These are the Hoodoos, rock formations created due to erosion by water and wind.  They don't erode
from the top down because their tips are made of harder rock that doesn't erode as easily.

At the end of our hour-long raft trip, we were shuttled back into Banff, where we had lunch and did some more walking and shopping.  Eventually, Pat and Deke and the Boss and I found an outdoor rooftop bar to take advantage of the great weather.  We also finally got Esther some poutine.  Poutine consists of French fries and cheese curds topped with brown gravy, and is very popular in Canada.

It doesn't get much better than this - cocktails and poutine with mountains in the background!
People typically either love or hate poutine.  We kinda liked it.

Before heading back to the hotel, we paid the 2 euros to go into the Banff Park Museum, mainly because it's next to a shuttle stop, and the shuttle wasn't due for another 15 minutes.

The Banff Park Museum.

There was a lot of wildlife in the museum, all of the stuffed variety.

After taking the shuttle back to the Rimrock Hotel, we decided to walk up the street to take a look at the Banff Upper Hot Springs.  The springs were discovered in 1883, flowing out of Sulphur Mountain and are the last hot springs in Banff open to the public.

This is not what we expected.  However, it is the highest hot spring in Canada at an elevation of 5,200 feet.

For dinner, Chris and Anne went into Banff with us to Wild Bill's Legendary Saloon.  Matthew had told us some stories about Wild Bill Peyto during our coach rides.  He was a legendary mountain guide and early game warden in the Canadian Rockies. The food was not as legendary.  Back at the Rimrock, we met our fellow card players for a spirited game of Wizard in the lounge.

Me, Pat, Harry, Sharon and the Boss.  Wizard is a fun game, and wine makes it more fun.  Randi must be taking this photo!

After breakfast in the hotel the next morning, we were picked up by Matthew for our last touring day and transfer to Calgary.   We only had to drive a few minutes up the road from the Rimrock Hotel to our first stop, the Banff Gondola.  The Gondola takes you to the top of Sulphur Mountain, for a 360 degree view of six scenic mountain ranges.

The gondolas seat 4 people and take you up to almost 7,500 feet above sea level.  The gondola station at the top has a museum, restaurant, videos and gift shop in addition to the observation decks.

Another example of what a fantastic guide Matthew was - he made sure Anne
got on the gondola in the wheelchair, and took her around the observation deck,
then personally accompanied her back down to the coach.

Stunning view of the Bow Valley from the observation deck.  The Bow River is where we took our raft trip the day before, with the golf course on the right.

A great shot of the Banff Springs Hotel, a beautiful structure, with Bow Falls at the top of the picture.

The town of Banff along the Bow River.

A true "small world" moment - Roberta runs into Dave, one of our neighbors from Compass Pointe
in North Carolina, who wasn't with our group!

Some of the group made the extra hike on the Banff Skywalk to Sanson's Peak, which has a
meteorological station. 

Although clouds rolled in in some directions, Dream Vacations had one more weather surprise for the group!

Bob and Leah help the Boss advertise a little at the Red Chairs on the observation deck.

Esther, Sharon and Chris examine apparel in the gift shop.

One last look at Cascade Mountain as we depart the Town of Banff and head to Calgary.

Before reaching Calgary, we had one more tour scheduled, a helicopter ride above the mountains.  The heliport was near Canmore, a town about 50 miles west of Calgary and on the edge of the Banff National Park.  Matthew drove us into town for lunch and some free time before our helicopter rides.

Saw one more deer on the way to Canmore.

Canmore was a sleepy town until the 1988 Winter Olympics, when it hosted the Nordic events.  Now, it is a popular recreational tourist destination.

The weather didn't look good for helicopter tours, and Matthew kept checking with the tour company
to make sure we were still on.  These are the Three Sisters Peaks above Canmore.

The heliport was located next to the Stoney Nakoda Resort Casino, where we would be picked up by shuttles to take us to the helicopters in groups.  It should no longer surprise anyone that the sun came out just about the time we got to the casino, and our helicopter rides went off without a hitch.

Chris felt very small while waiting for the helicopter shuttle. (Does Lily Tomlin come to mind?)

The helicopters took three to four passengers at a time.  Even though the clouds look threatening behind us, it was sunny where we took off.

It turned out to be a great day to fly!

The Canadian Rockies from the air.

Where there are mountains, there are valleys, usually with rivers and lakes.

More water, and you can see a rock quarry to the right of the road next to the lake at the top.

As an engineer, I love a good dam, especially when it is used for hydroelectric power.

On the last hour to Calgary, the group finally talked Matthew into singing for us.  He had told us he had performed in nine countries before becoming a guide, but until now wouldn't sing. He sang the Canadian national anthem for us and was quite good.  It was a fitting choice as we neared the end of our Canadian journey.

We arrived in Calgary late in the afternoon and checked into the Delta Calgary Downtown, a very nice Marriott hotel.  Everyone said goodbye to Matthew and handed over generous tips, since he did an amazing job for us.  Included with our overall package was complimentary admission to the Calgary Tower, so a bunch of us made the short walk to the Tower from the hotel.

The Calgary skyline, with the Calgary Tower (round red top) on the right.

The Boss and I got a great room.

Interesting art work in a park on our walk to the Tower.

This is The Bow, formerly the tallest but now the second tallest building in Calgary
at 775 feet.

Wonderland,  by Jaume Plensa, a Spanish artist and sculptor, is a 12-meter geometrical mesh head that visitors can walk around and even go inside of.  It has become a Calgary landmark, located in the south plaza of The Bow.

A view of downtown Calgary from the top of the Calgary Tower, with The Bow in the middle -
 our hotel is the much shorter brown building behind and to the right.

The Saddledome seen from the Tower.  The Saddledome was built in 1983 to host ice hockey
and figure skating in the 1988 Winter Olympics.  Now, the Calgary Flames hockey team plays there
and it host events during the Calgary Stampede.

A look back to the west at the Canadian Rockies that we left earlier that day.

We left the Tower and made our way to Stephen Avenue, a major pedestrian mall. 
We ate at Milestones, the restaurant on the right side of the street.  

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, and the die-hard Wizard players gathered one last time in our room for wine and cards.  Since the group had lots of different flights to different places the next day, everyone made their own way to the airport.

Esther and I thought this was a great trip.  We did hear that it wasn't everyone's favorite; some thought the time on the train was too long, some thought the accommodations weren't the best, and some felt there was too much coach time.  However, we loved the train, and it was only two days; the Rimrock was a beautiful hotel, as was the Delta in Calgary.  The Emerald Lake Lodge was rustic, without fine amenities, but it was part of the experience of being in the national park.   And the coach time for the most part was lively and fun, and Matthew was so good at providing interesting commentary on the history, culture and geography of the area.   The Canadian Rockies are majestic and beautiful, and we are delighted we were able to cross this off our never-shortening bucket list.

The Calgary Tower at night, from our hotel room.

I would love it if you would leave comments below.  Without any feedback, all the effort that goes into this would seem pointless.  Thanks for reading!!