OK, loved ones all.
Today was our last day in Banff. This hotel is amazing! A Castle on the mountain, and people taking care of us, feeding us, planning our activities, handling all the help, room maids, magicly apearing clean linens. We loved being here!
I just read that over again and it kinda sounds like a good retirement home. Maybe it won't be too bad moving in somewhere after all.
We had a full day of activities. Some of the people went home today so the few that qualified to stay one more day had some special treats. After breakfast we got on a bus and went to the ski lift at Lake Louise. It is a glacer melt lake high in the mountains and to say it is a gem does not cover how beautiful it is. From the top of the ski lift you could see this beautiful little aqua colored lake. And the next stop was to go to Lake Louise. There is a majestic hotel there also, and we were able to go canoeing on the lake for 40 minutes. Then on to lunch, catered in the hotel for about 40 or so of us. We were in a small dining room that had views out on the lawns and across the lake.
After lunch you will never guess what we did next----wait for it----Dan and I went horse back riding. For 90 minutes we were at the mercy of the horse in front, the line wranglers, and the horse under us. Horses are big, and contrary to what some people told us, they had opinions about what is going on around them. You could see it in their faces when we got there. They must have been thinking, "Oh Crap--There goes my peaceful afternoon". Also there was some--"What noisy humans we have to deal with!"
I got to ride Spot. Who was an old horse who didn't like to be crowded, didn't like going down hill, and wanted to eat and drink several times on the trail. Both which are no no's. If someone got to close behind him he would lay back his ears, start to complain, and if they didn't get back away-he would start to kick. Did I say before horses are big?
I managed to have Dan ride behind me. He seemed to have had no trouble with his horse, he can't even remember his name. Every time my horse got grumpy I would say "are you too close?" Sometimes the answer was yes. At one point the trail wrangler in the middle told Dan to keep his horse closer and I said absolutely not!
It was a gorgeous ride, and we went clear around to the other end of the lake, by the mountain with a glacier on it before we turned around. I am really glad we went. Even though there are a couple of tender places on me that may give me a little trouble tomorrow.
We saw a Grizzly bear on the side of the road leaving Lake Louise. The guide on our bus said that in all of his 15 years of living in Banff this sighting was definately one of the top three best sights. They are beautiful creatures.
We also saw 3 moose for the first time. Several people said they would rather come face to face with a bear than a moose. I guess some people had gotten out of their cars to take pictures of the moose and a part ranger came pretty quickly and had them move along.
Dinner was great. They do things so fancy when we are out. And the after dinner entertainment today was Jodee Messina. She was so much fun. She said we could make requests and people kept asking her to do these really old songs. She just laughed and did them. I am talking Patsy Cline vintage. What a good sport. After we were able to meet her and have out picture taken with her. She will be in Tacoma at the end of October. We will have to see if we can get there to hear her again.
What a fun few days, what a great time catching up with old friends, and meeting new friends. It will be hard to hit the road again and leave this place, even though I am so looking forward to seeing everyone in a few days!
We love you all and can't wait!
Dan and Nic
The Bits: August
5 years ago
