Mark & Shari's Excellent Adventure (Days 1 & 2)

Two Jack Lake

Summary

In which our intrepid travelers leave the United States and depart for our neighbor to the north, experiencing the joys (ha!) of modern air travel and the wonders of the Canadian Rockies.

Day One

The first of many selfies on this trip.

Our two hour flight from Nashville to Toronto was relatively uneventful - and featured an empty seat beside us! Upon landing in Toronto, I had my first experience with Canadian border customs which was uniformly pleasant. (Key note: this is my first trip EVER to use a passport - my previous trips to Canada and Mexico were in the late 1970s/early 1980s when border control was less intense.)
 

The second flight was four (4!) hours long... because there is a lot of Canada between Toronto & Calgary) I know that some of you reading this blog travel internationally on a semi-regular basis... but for Shari & I, four hours in those oh-so-roomy coach seats is a very long time.

I'd planned for us to pick up our rental car (we ended up with a VW Taos, which worked well) and crash at a hotel near the airport after a long day of airline travel. The Homewood Suites near the Calgary airport was very nice - and even though our first pizza joint choice had a line out the door (Seniore’s), our second choice (Bow Tie Pizza) was great. 

I'm a big fan of candy you can't find (easily) in the U.S., so I tried a Cadbury Crunchie bar… which was like a toffee-flavored Butterfinger with less candy shattering. I’d have one again but it definitely wasn't the best candy I had during our vacation.

Day Two

We left Calgary mid-morning to drive to the town of Banff - which is in Banff National Park. (This can be confusing when I try & write about the things we see. I apologize in advance.) I can’t do justice to the drive across the plains as the Canadian Rockies loom ahead of you… it’s kind of stunning. 

Of course, that just amplifies as you actually get into the mountains. The thing that’s hard to explain about the town of Banff is how it’s surrounded by these amazing mountains that seem to change in appearance depending on the time of day. 

Cold pizza - still good!

Getting our Discovery Pass took a bit of waiting… luckily, we had the leftover pizza from the night before to have for lunch while we crept towards the entrance to the park. (The pass is good for twelve months at any Canadian national park.)

We couldn’t check into our hotel until 4 pm - so we drove through town over towards the Banff gondola . Since it was Sunday and the weather was wonderful, their lot was full - but the young woman who stopped us recommended heading down to Bow Falls and out to Lake Minniwaka. (She also suggested booking gondola tickets online and using the shuttle - she was very helpful!)

A lone larch tree next to Two Jack Lake.

Both of her suggestions were excellent - though what blew us away was Two Jack Lake (on the same road as Lake Minniwaka). Before we got out there, we also toured the Cave & Basin historical site - the sulfur hot springs that gave birth to Banff and Canada’s first national park. 

We also drove up around Tunnel Mountain which had great views as well. 

My wonderful wife at Three Bears Brewery

We ate dinner was at Three Bears Brewery in the main/downtown part of town. (The restaurant was actually less than a block from our hotel if you know which courtyards to cut through… but we wouldn’t know that until the next day.)

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While I originally wrote a Facebook travelogue "on the road" while Shari & I were vacationing in Alberta, I decided to move it over to my personal blog so I could edit/polish the writing and put all of the pictures and memories in one place.  

Sometimes our selfies are joyous… and sometimes I look like I'm contemplating life as a criminal. This is a joyous one near Bow Falls.