Thursday, July 14, 2016

Banff

We had to get up so early to catch our flight out of Seattle to Calgary. We landed and then drove 1.5 hours in a crazy rain storm to Banff.  They had cute little cottages to enter Banff National Park so I had to take a picture while we waited in another line.

We checked into our hotel and then walked around the town. It was truly breathtaking.
We also went to Surprise Corner which has the most magical angles of the Fairmont Hotel.
We had dinner at Park Restaurant and both ordered the Bubba's Mac N' Cheese.  It was delicious!
We happened to be in Canada for Canada Day.  In our hotel room they placed a schedule of events in Banff for July 1st and we decided to go to the Pancake Breakfast in the morning.
We fueled up on pancakes & sausage and then decided to hike Tunnel Mountain.
After the hike we had a lovely lunch at Rundle Lounge Patio at the Banff Springs. It has the most beautiful view ever.
After lunch we strolled around the grounds. You could spend an afternoon walking around the hotel, it is like a castle. Gorgeous both on the interior and exterior, full of history. 
After lunch we took our trek to visit all the surrounding lakes.
First stop was Peyto Lake. 
Next stop was Lake Louise.  It is a beautiful clear blue lake, perfect for pictures. We picked the exactly right time to stop by because the Fairmount Lake Louise were handing out free cake for Canada Day.

Last stop was Moraine Lake. The water is absolutely stunning!
I lied, our last stop was a short little hike at Johnston Canyon where we found a waterfall at the end.
After conquering all the sights we came back and had dinner once again at Park. It was so nice we ate their twice. 
Can you tell how tired we are?! Well we were able to stay up to watch the fireworks at 11pm. Jeff & I were shocked at how late the sun is out in Banff. It doesn't get dark until 10:30 pm in the summer.
After fireworks we came back to our hotel room around midnight and noticed a huge puddle of water on our floor that was dripping from the ceiling. We immediately called the front desk and luckily they had another room available to move to and it just so happened to a master suite. Boy was it an upgrade. This was our new view from bed:
The next morning we went to Banff Hot Springs. It reminded me of a hotel hot tub- it was just okay.
After that we checked out of hotel, had a Mexican lunch downtown, & then stopped a delicious place where they make fudge and chocolate treats.  I bought one bear claw for the car ride back to Calgary (and I wish I bought four!)
We had to go back to Surprise Corner for one more view before leaving Banff.

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