Saturday News

Hello my friends and family,

Just like yesterday, Dan got up and went to his meetings. I guess they were even more fun this morning. A group that did about 45 minutes of Frankie Valley numbers, awards, and a wonderful speaker that does nature photography. Still I missed it because I slept in. Oh Well!

At noon Dan and three friends from ING went golfing. Now, the course here is an incredibly beautiful one. No-one has said a single thing is wrong with it that I have heard. One of the interesting rules in the official golf literature here is that when you hit the ball, if you hit an Elk, you may play another ball and take no penalty. The Elk are so plentiful here that at certain times of the year it is hard to get through a whole game without hitting at least one.

I went on the scenic tour of Banff. It was on a short bus and the tour director, Hannah, was german and very funny. She has lived here for 30 years and she was originally on her way to South America, she just never moved on from here. She said that when her kids were going to school she made a deal with them. If the temperature outside was less than 20 below, she would give them a ride to school and they wouldn't have to go and wait for the bus. Only she would get up early and put her hands on the thermometer so it wouldn't ever read less than 20. It took a few years for the kids to figure out what she was doing. She didn't want to raise her kids to be wussies. There was one point last winter that with the wind chill factor the temperature reached 50 below. That is COLD. It takes less than 1 minute for skin to freeze at that temperature.

We had many photo ops today, several little walking stops, a great continuing nature lesson, and an incredible ride on a gondola to the top of a mountain. We were at a view point at Lake Minetonka and a little group of Big Horn sheep just meandered on by. Not even concerned that people and cars were so close. They wander on the road and cars just stop. At the end of the trip we had a chance to go into town for a whole hour. It was so much like the down town of Jackson Hole. Little shope and galleries, lots of junk, and a few treasures.

Dinner was a dress affair tonight and the first group that performed for us after dinner was "Little River Band" I didn't recognise them, but when they played I knew a couple of their songs. After the first group they bring in more of a dance type band and this group was so cute and perky. From England, they were "The Tzars".
Too bad the group was a pretty big dud by that time. Dan and I left after 4 or 5 songs and are getting ready for tomorrow.

We love you and miss you all.
Goodnight all,
Dan and Nic