September 13-15, 2006 (Days 112-114)

Wednesday:
Today we got up early at 6 a.m. (it was still very dark) to leave for Banff. It wasn’t raining when we left, but it soon began. The skies looked very heavy and gray. We drove along the Icefields Highway. The mountains were absolutely beautiful. Snow was on all of them at their tops.

We stopped at the Columbia Glacier Icefields and bought tickets to ride the snow buggy up on the Athabaskan Glacier. We couldn’t believe that we were standing on top of a glacier. The ice underneath us was over 1,000 ft. deep. That was quite an experience. As we were coming down off the glacier, it was beginning to snow. We were at over 6,800 ft.

When we reached the Banff National Park, it was 3:30 p.m. We went into town for dinner and then strolled the streets. Before going back to the campground, we drove to the Banff Springs Hotel. What a magnificent structure. The whole town looked like a Swiss village with lots of shops and restaurants.

We were in bed by 10:00 p.m.


Thursday:
We awoke to a surprise…2 ½” of wet, heavy snow on everything. Most of the trees in the campground are evergreens and all were “painted” with this first snowfall. Very pretty!

We decided to sightsee anyway, and we left with Darrell and Sharon to visit Moraine Lake and Lodge. Then we drove to Lake Louise and toured the lodge. Had hoped to eat there to celebrate Sharon’s 65th birthday, but she didn’t want to spend so much money on food. Prices on the menus were quite high.

When we returned to the campground in Banff, we found the snow had deepened and we found 5 ½ “ of the wet stuff. Again, we were amazed at the beauty. We drove into town to find WIFI so we could pick up our e-mails. There was one from Erin saying she and Marc were looking at their neighbor’s house with an intention to buy if all could be worked out. This was a nice surprise, and we hope all works out for them. The quaint little village was so pretty with the big fat flakes of snow falling and people scurrying about. Temp was at 35 degrees. When we went back to the trailer, it was really cold in there. We turned on the heaters and went to bed around 10:30 p.m.


Friday:
Today we planned to leave Banff and head toward Kalispell. When we woke up, we found it had continued to snow all night and there was an additional 3” on the ground, making a total of 8 ½” total. There was some question as to whether the roads out of town would be passable or not, since it was in the mountains and we had a couple mountain passes to go through. Dan and Darrell went into Banff and talked with the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) to find out the road conditions. They said all were passable and we shouldn’t have any problems. So, we decided we needed to stay on schedule and forge ahead! The RCMP were correct. Roads were wet and slushy, but okay to travel. The views of the mountains with all the snow covered evergreens were spectacular.
We passed through Canadian customs and US Immigration okay. When we arrived in Kalispell, it was 6 p.m. and temp in the mid-50’s. There was no snow on the ground. Snow was just visible on the surrounding mountain tops. We called Liz and Stan to say we would see them the next day, went out to get some dinner (at a Perkins) and then back to the campground (Spruce on the River Campground in Kalispell) and to bed at 10 p.m. We were all very tired. Plans were made to see Liz and Stan the next