Oh, what a WONDERFUL day!! Two surprises I will share with you as I blog...We left Canmore at 8 this morning and drove to the city of Banff on the scenic highway 1A. I'm going to miss these mountains ;-( We drove up to the Gondola terminal. Our choices were to either ride the gondola up Sulfur Mountain or shop in downtown Banff BUT it's Sunday and the shops don't open up very early. So it was the the gondola or the gift shops at the gondola terminal. I had made up my mind ahead of time that I wasn't going to do the gondola thing BUT after I got there, I decided it didn't look so bad. If I could do the tram up the St Louis Arch, I could do this (although I had grandsons along that I had to impress in St Louis). So that was surprise number ONE. I did it!!! ;-) Actually Bill and I even walked further up to the Cosmic Ray Observatory after we landed on the upper gondola terminal. ACTUALLY, I was afraid Bill would rock the gondola as we traveled up the mountain - he just likes trying things - so I was concerned a bit but the bus driver had told him to behave himself (they're getting to know him) so I thought there was a chance we'd have a smooth ride after all.
From there we headed downtown Banff to drive through the main street - what a tourist place that is. Everything perfect in every way and spendy!!!
Surprise number TWO was that the Wendinger Travel daughter pulled out her Catholic Missal and said we're going to have a Polka Mass on board as we travel to Lake Louise. Shiela had given Bill 'the book' just an hour before this and asked if he wanted to participate!!!!!!!!!! So he accepted the offer - Bill's first ecumenical service with the catholics!!!!!!!!!!!! He led the liturgy - we sang the polka songs with a tape. He read the scripture and then preached a sermon. The service concluded with prayers, the Lord Prayer, benediction and more singing. We sang along with Amazing Grace and God Bless America as extras at the end. Boy, that's an experience with the mountains on both sides singing "From the Mountains etc.". Bill received many good comments, "Why did you retire?" "You're not done!" and one guy said, "we'll make a Catholic out of you" to which Bill replied "OUCH"... There are lots of people of the catholic persuasion on this bus... So now we are looked upon a little differently, as before we were just plain Bill and Connie!!! Funny, huh?
Arriving at Lake Louise, we took a walk half way around the lake - so beautiful. We could have canoed if we'd have chosen. We had a luncheon buffet at the Chateau Lake Louise ($50. a plate so WE DID enjoy it even if we didn't exactly know what we were eating) LOL
Then we left Banff National Park and said good bye to the Canadian Rockies on our drive to Calgary. Our hosts put in the movie "Cool Running" - the story of the Jamacan Bobsled team in the 1988 Calgary Olympics - very good. Our first stop was then at the Olympic grounds in Calgary. We were to have a step on guide through down town and around Calgary but our hosts got a phone call that he had a family emergency and couldn't make it. Shiela was hoping it wasn't because the weather was so great and beautiful that he wanted to be out with his family. No one was able to step in for him so...Shiela did the tour herself and did a good job.
The Riley bus still has problems with the AC but we are bearing with it and it's really not bad. Our poor driver is trying so hard to make things work for all of us and we appreciate him.
We are in the Country Inn and Suites in Calgary tonight. Tomorrow we leave Calgary traveling through Alberta and Saskatchewan on Canadian Highway #1. Late in the afternoon we will stop at Moose Jaw, Saskachewan and get a step on guide for a tour of the 1900 gangsters. We'll stay in Regina overnight.
We are loving the trip - learning a lot and appreciating so much this beautiful country that the Lord has made... time to go to our room and rest for the evening.
Good thing Dad is retired or that ecumenical service might have spelled trouble for him!! Sounds like Banff is everything it is billed to be. It sure is meaningful singing hymns at the mountaintops - It reminded me of when we climbed a 1400 ft. mt. in Colorado with Jim Vogel and the Vallins and sang 'How Great Thou Art' when we reached the summit. Anna is really into gangsters so make sure you come back with good stories to share! After our tour of the Wabasha Caves and gangster tour last Spring Anna was ready to become a history major and give tours for a living. She thought that was really interesting.
ReplyDeleteOh, Ryan couldn't use his 4 preseason Vikings tickets on Sat. night so he passed them on to us. The girls were ecstatic because they had never been to a Vikings game before. I stayed home since I'll get to go later in the season with Gail. The Vikings scored on their first possession (touchdown catch to Bernard Barion), which also happened to be the end zone where their seats were, too. The Vikes lost 17-20 but or 1st team offense looked amazing. Adrian Peterson couldn't be stopped.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the family didn't get home until 11 and Sam was on for Acolyting at the 8 o'clock, so that made for an early morning yesterday!
Max has been staying with us on and off since Friday night because Chuck got an infection that landed him in the hospital (he had a pollup removed from his colon Thursday am). As of this morning the surgeon still isn't sure when Chuck is going to get to go home. Pray for them!