July 12: Banff, a little bit of Switzerland

July 12, 2013:  Banff, a little bit of Switzerland

Me-OW!  Why did you leave me-ow?  You all left me-ow.  I can't get through the crack in the window!  You left me-ow!  I am all alone in the truck!  ME-OW!  It has been hours, days, weeks!  I am all alone!  ME-OW!  ME-OW!  Oh, there is mom... ME-OW!  I must let her know she left me-OW!  Ok, they're all back.  Act cool...

We were the only visitors in the RV park last night.  We went for a walk, heading out to the back streets.  Like a tractor beam was pulling him, Spouse found an ice cream shop.  So Crew and I proceeded walking without him.   We did meet up with him, then headed back to the RV park.  The owner has fruit trees growing here and there.  I tried Saskatoon berries.  They are like blueberries.  When the Dengue Fever purveyors started swarming, we went into Hannah.

 It is 10:00 PM and still light.  We are going to need blackout curtains!  And Crew will continue to strike out when it comes to seeing a starry night!

 In the morning, after our walk, we readied Hannah for departure.  Heading north, we cross the Kootenay River several times.  We see the usual scenic meadows, mountains, trees and streams.  Then we enter the National Parks starting with Kootenay.  Rather than continually describing the same thing, suffice it to say the scenery is breathtaking.  At one point, we pulled into a rest stop only to find that there is no turnaround for RVs.  Fortunately, we noticed it before we got too far and were able to back up and turn around.  A deer here, a deer there... oh ho hum!  The weather is quite cool, in the 60's.

When we got to the RV park in Banff, all the spots with full hookups were taken.  So we went to the 'no hook up' area.  They did not have spots with firepits anymore.  What did we care... we left our wood at the border, so we took the spot they gave us.  It is in a very woodsy part of the campground and is really quite nice.  Spouse rigged it so his inverter could run some basic electronics (like the computer!).

Then, into the town of Banff we headed.  But wait... what is that?  That sign indicates wood?  Could it be?  Is that free firewood?  You betcha!  Spouse is in his glory once again as we loaded the truck with free firewood.  But... we don't have a firepit... oh well!

We walked around the town, stopping for Thai food for lunch.  Oh how I have missed my veggies.  Not that I am not having some, but I am not having what I love to have so this was a treat.  We walked past the shops and up to the Banff Springs Hotel.  We have stayed here a couple of times during our winter ski trips, but have never seen it in the summer.  It is beautiful, and reeks of money.  We decided to try and book us a tee time at the golf course.  KA-CHING!  Better go back and get the truck and ride to the golf course. 

 Spouse should really be on a leash.  We lose him all the time.  And since he can't hear, we can call out for him and he will never know it!   Since we are in Canada, our phones are inactive so we can't call him.  Anyhow, once we captured him, we headed to the golf course.  We booked a 4:50 twilight time for tomorrow at, gulp, $160 per person.  For those of you that are not golfers, twilight time means you may not necessarily finish the round.  But since it is still light at 10pm, I suspect we will finish with plenty of light to spare.  And since we save $65 per person doing this, we are good with it.  Believe it or not, Spouse did not flinch booking this tee time.  Who is this guy? And for you mathmeticians, yes that means a normal round of golf at this time of year is $225! Oh, and the clubhouse has beautiful showers... much nicer than those at the campground... hmmm...  For $160, they should cut and style my hair and give me a pedicure too!