Well, we got our snow! It has been a beautiful, chilly weekend in Alberta, Canada. The town of Banff is much larger and more commercial than what I remember from 25 years ago, but it is still a beautiful little (tourist) town.
We pulled into our lodge, the Hidden Ridge Resort, a little after dark on Thursday evening. We arrived a bit late because we had spent longer than I had expected in the outskirts of Calgary, looking for snow chains (in case they were required at any point). After talking on the phone to numerous friendly and helpful Canadians at various auto parts and tire stores, we finally found the perfect sized chains for our truck at the Canadian Tire in Okotoks. I was thrilled that it was right on our way and the stop did not require us to drive through city traffic; we were able to go around Calgary to get to Banff. However, I got entranced in Canadian Tire and took way longer than expected. Instead of just picking up the chains we had asked them to hold at the parts desk to facilitate a quick in and out stop, I ended up finding most of the items on my lengthy and very strange shopping list for the pop-up trailer. Canadian Tire is awesome! It’s like Target for travelers!
So, after an hour and a half in the store, we enjoyed a sunset drive through farmland and into the mountains. We got a glimpse of the beautiful rocky formations in the twilight as we arrived in Banff.
Our lodge is comfortable and cozy, and offered us a great spot to settle into for four nights in order to avoid camping in the snow. We have a nice little fireplace and a loft area for the girls, where they are extremely excited to have their own beds after sharing for the past three weeks!
On Friday morning, we conducted our weekly check in with Lighthouse students. As we walked through the woods near our lodge, they got to tell us all that they had learned about Banff. Since we had just arrived the evening before, they knew more than we did about the area! We shared some of our observations regarding the differences between U.S. and Canadian customs and culture, and the Lighthouse students shared some local spots and activities that we should investigate.
In the afternoon, we took their suggestions and checked out the hot springs and the gondola. The gondola was very pricey and we weren’t ready to put on swimsuits, so we didn’t go in for either of these activities, but we did enjoy learning about them. Afterwards, we drove north to Lake Louise, which was another Lighthouse suggestion. I wasn’t sure that a visit to a lake would be worth the 45 minute drive, but I was VERY wrong! It turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
It was cold and snowy and a bit crowded, but such an amazing sight. We didn’t want to leave! It started snowing pretty heavily while we were there, so we worried that we would have some trouble getting back to Banff, but the weather eased up as we got back on the highway.
In the evening, back in our room, we enjoyed a visit to the heated pool and hot tub, a delicious pasta dinner that Jon prepared in our kitchen, and a fire in the fireplace. To our disappointment, it only snowed a bit Friday night.
On Saturday, we stayed inside, avoiding the cold and embracing the WiFi with some long-overdue work. The girls did schoolwork while I was able to take care of some work of my own. Later in the day, we went back to the pool and hot tub, which was quite busy with the weekend crowd but still felt great. It’s definitely a unique experience to sit in a hot tub with snow falling around you! We finished the evening by bundling up and heading out for a trip into town to walk around and have some dinner. It was difficult to find a place we could all agree to eat, but, just as Daisy was about to turn into a block of ice, we found Tommy’s Pub, which had something on the menu that everyone could enjoy. I, personally, felt as though the evening called for something different, so I ordered a beef stew in a bread bowl and a Canadian cider; not at all my usual dining style, but with snow falling outside and me sitting inside of a pub, it just felt right.
Snow was falling gently as we arrived back to our lodge, so we settled in for the night with another fire in the fireplace. Today, we woke up to a beautiful layer of snow on the ground! We enjoyed another home-cooked meal and did some more work while it snowed outside. In the afternoon, Jon got the snow gear out of the truck and took the kids for a winter walk where they made snowballs and looked for animal tracks. Overall, it has been a lovely and peaceful visit to Banff and I am so glad I got to live my childhood dream of visiting this beautiful spot in the snow!
Tomorrow, we are off to Dinosaur Provincial Park, which is also in Alberta. We have reservations at a campground, but it has been snowing there as well, so we’ll just have to see how we hardy we are!
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