Aug. 13 - 15

Aug. 13 - Rainy Banff
Because it rained during night and all morning, we decided to stick around Banff. Also, we slept late (chilly and rainy=late sleeping). We went downtown to our coffee shop and got online. Frustration is when your computer decides to do updates that allow you to do nothing on it and uses over half the battery doing it. The highlight of the day was catching Danna online, on FaceBook, so we got to instant chat for a bit. It is Donna and Danna’s birthday, a big one - 40. They look so youthful that they don’t have to act middle aged! LOL! They are absolute treasures, and Phil and I feel so blessed! AND they gave us grandchildren. You just can’t beat it! I cannot wait to visit them as soon quickly as we can after we get home. In a month from now, we will be spending our first full day home. Wow!
OK, back to Banff. After that, we walked down to the Balkan Restaurant, a Greek one. We had the daily special. It was a Donair and Greek salad for $7.50. That was the best bargain meal we have had in Canada! It was scrumptious. We had never had a donair. It is ground beef and lamb with spices wrapped in a pita with tomato, onions, and tzakhi (misspelled for sure)sauce. Then we came back to the camper. Now we will read a while and think about our girls. Brice is flying back from his second week working in Chicago. Next week he will stay in North Carolina (Greensboro). He loves the adventures, like going to Chicago. He went to a Cubs game week before this one and went to a White Sox game last night. Also, he had a lot of Chicago pizza. Lucky guy!
Aug. 14 - Dragon Boat Races and Cultural Performances
We had a wonderful and interesting day! We left the camper around 9:30 a.m. and went to the Brewster Transportation Depot to catch a free shuttle to Lake Minnewanka to see the dragon boat races. It was still very cloudy and then the sun started coming out in short spurts. Those were our first dragon boat races. The morning races were 250 meters and the afternoon ones were 500 meters. The races don’t last very long, but the time between was very long. It was still fun and colorful. After watching several of the afternoon races, we boarded our shuttle and headed back to the camper for lunch. There were going to be cultural performances at the town square, so we decided to see if we could find a park. As soon as we started pulling in the parking lot right behind the town square, a car backs out. A blessing, for sure! We walked around town going in the dollar store I had seen going through town one day and then to get an ice cream cone before the performances. The first group was the Chinese Dragon Dancers. It was so colorful and fun to watch. After them, a group of singers from the dinner theater play “Oh Canada, Eh” strummed up business for their two hour dinner and play (for a mere $75 a person). The elderly lady beside me who lives in Banff told me it was not at all worth the money. We were happy to hear that! After them, First People dancers put on a great performance. One thing I liked was that as they entered the performing area, the crowd was asked to stand out of respect for the First People (that we call Native Americans). They also call them Aboriginals. We enjoyed it all.
They have a swimming area roped off at Lake Minnewanka. I have not seen anyone in any of these lakes go in much over their ankles. I saw a head with the body immersed in the lake. I did a doubletake, and about that time he stood up, as did a buddy. They had been scuba diving, and had on the full gear. Go figure! I read that Lake Louise never gets above 39 degrees F. That gives you an idea of how cold these waters are!
We are talking about going to Lake Louise tomorrow, or we may decide to go to the Columbia Icefield and ride the big bus to a glacier and walk on “ancient ice.” I thought Phil had dropped that idea, but it came up again today. The day we go to Lake Louise, we will take the Bow Valley Parkway and also try to see Moraine Lake. The weather is supposed to be sunny and warmer. I have absolutely no complaints about the weather here, but the locals want it warmer. They should visit Tennessee or South Carolina for a week.
Aug. 15 - Columbia Icefields Parkway and Snowcoach Tour of the Athabasca Glacier
We decided to take the financial plunge and walk on “ancient ice as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall.” It was a spectacularly beautiful day. When we got to the Columbia Icefield Centre, we got in line to get our tickets to go to the glacier. We stood in line about 20 minutes and got tickets for the 1:45 trip. The trip started on regular tour buses. They transported us for eight minutes to the snowcoach terminal. The road to the glacier goes down a 32 percent grade. The bus driver told us to do what he does - close our eyes. Hahaha! The tires are huge and only inflated 15 pounds. The snowcoaches are made in Calgary at the Foremost company and the only other one is at a base in the Arctic. We traveled over a moraine for a bit, and then we crossed a stream. This is intentional because it cleans the bus tires before it starts driving on the glacier. It looked like soil on the sides, but he said the glacier is under there, too, about three feet under. The glacier is retreating about 10 meters a year because of global warming. At its largest, it went across the highway and covered the parking lot of the visitors’ center. I also learned that the Columbia Icefield is actually on top and goes way, way back more than a hundred square miles. It was very interesting, and we really enjoyed it. We think tomorrow we will go back to the coffee shop and get on the Internet. Then Tuesday, we will go to Lake Louise. The weather is supposed to be very nice.