We awoke to the sound of rain but after the near freezing temperatures last night, we were happy it wasn’t snow. We had a quick bite to eat at the hotel while we waited for rush hour to settle down. We left the hotel just before 10 and our first stop was an oil change. Luckily there was a Jiffy Lube on our way and we were able to get it done quickly and were on our way before we knew it.
For most of the drive to Banff we experienced rain, drizzle and the occasional clear patch. It was definitely not conducive to stopping and taking pictures of the mountains. We were both slightly bummed that we weren’t able to see how impressive the mountains are, rising up from the prairies. We have driven this route before so we had to settle for living vicariously through our memories.
By the time we arrived in Banff, the rain had stopped but it was still quite overcast and the mountains were shrouded in low-lying clouds. We drove around for a few minutes looking for parking and I was able to snag a great spot not too far from our intended destination. I was quite impressed with my ability to parallel park as it definitely isn’t one of my strong suits.
Lunch for today was The Bear Street Tavern, which was featured on You Gotta Eat Here. Although it was right at lunch time, we were able to be seated right away. Mum had the Turkey, Bacon & Brie sandwich with Mexican Vegetable Soup and I had a half Caesar Salad with a cup of the same soup. The Caesar was topped with smoked bison instead of bacon bits and, although I am a staunch believer in bacon bits on a Caesar, I was pleasantly surprised.
After lunch, we walked around downtown briefly and stopped in a couple souvenir shops before getting back on the road. Since the weather was still quite dreary, we opted against taking the Bow Valley Parkway and just stayed on the Trans Canada. I also had to make do with getting my pictures through the windshield as we weren’t able to stop along the highway.
We arrived in Golden just in time to check in and decided to relax in the room for a while before we headed downtown to explore. We visited a couple of souvenir shops and also took a walk across the Kicking Horse River on a pedestrian walkway. I, of course, decided that I had to put my feet in the water to see if it was as cold as Sunwapta Lake. I made my way down to the water, rolled up my jeans and walked in enough to have the water up to my ankles. The glacial silt was quite slippery, as it had been at the Athabasca Glacier, but there was much more of it here and my feet got coated in mud. I carried my shoes in my hand as I carefully walked along the gravel path back to the bridge and back across the river to the car. Luckily Mum had some kleenex and I was able to get most of the mud off my feet before getting into my somewhat clean car.
We had hoped to grab a coffee in one of the coffee shops but they were all closed by that time so we headed back to the hotel for a dinner of leftovers. Mum decided to have a bath while I called hubby. By just after 9, Mum was ready for bed and I started doing my blog.
I decided to group all of my scenery pictures together at the bottom of my blog tonight for ease of viewing. Tomorrow we are heading to Salmon Arm and will finally be back in Pacific Time. Thank you for sharing our adventure and I will talk to you tomorrow.
L
