» photo albums 2009/ROCKIES / FAMILY VISIT

Finally an update! We didn’t have a chance to look for internet until today, so here are our adventures and a few pictures of the past few days!

Monday, July 13th

After breakfast at the hotel, we went grocery shopping at the Superstore and then Ton could get his motorhome at Canadream. The instructions and paperwork took over an hour, while some of us were waiting in our motorhome in the pouring rain. Around 4 we left for Banff, and luckily it cleared up a little bit along the way, although we still had some rain every now and then. The mountains were partly in the clouds, hopefully we can see more tomorrow. At the Tunnel Mountain campground we cooked and had supper together.

Tuesday, July 14th

It was still raining today, although it also cleared up from time to time. We had breakfast all together in a shelter on the campground, that was great! It has two huge picnic tables that fit 8 people each, and a wood stove in the middle. After breakfast we took the bus from the campground to the centre of Banff for some walking around, shopping and a coffee. Back at the campground we prepared a BBQ. Rain or shine (both actually, and a huge rainbow), we headed to the shelter again with everything and had a great time again!

Wednesday, July 15th

After breakfast we left our sites to visit some Banff attractions, as the weather had finally cleared up! We walked the marshland trail by the Cave and Basin site (the sulphur springs that were the origin of Banff), went up in the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain (very busy of course after the rainy days) where we had a spectacular view over Banff and the surrounding valleys and we had lunch there. From Banff we took the Bow Valley Parkway to Lake Louise, and we stopped at Johnston Canyon (Ton, Rita and the boys went to walk to the upper falls, the rest of us stayed in and near the giftshop/restaurant building). On the Parkway we saw a deer, Rita also saw a coyote. At Lake Louise Village we went shopping and settled in at the campground along the river (and the railway and the highway).

Thursday, July 16th

First of all, happy birthday to our friend Anneke (Sanders – there are so many Anneke’s)! We didn’t mail, but we did think of her!
Today we started early and first visited Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. Everybody loved the lakes and their colours! We went back to the 1 to Yoho Park to look at the spiral tunnels (no train unfortunately) where the trains make loops (through tunnels in the mountains) to overcome the steep rise or decline of mountain. We continued to Emerald Lake to enjoy more wonderful colours and scenery, Ton’s family hiked around the lake, we left a bit earlier to go back to the campground. Finally some time for relaxation at the campsite. After barbecueing all together Nico and I strolled along the river and over the campsite for a bit.

Friday, July 17th

Another early rise, to take the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. We stopped at Bow Lake, Peyto Lake (took the road up hill so dad could go see it too), had lunch at the Saskatchewan Crossing and visited the Icefield Centre by the Athabasca Glacier (I got a migraine so stayed in the motorhome to sleep). A little further Amalia saw a bear!! We stopped and turned, Ton was back in time to see him go up the hill, but by the time Nico and I got there, he was gone 🙁 A bit later we did all see some mountain goats along the road! Beautiful animals that we hadn’t seen yet! My migraine was getting a bit better after all that adrenaline 😉 We stopped at the Sunwapta Falls and skipped the rest, for we were all tired and wanted to go to the campsite (after getting groceries in Jasper). It was a fantastic scenic drive, and dad and Amalia had the time of their lives. While travelling they alway sit at the dining table, enjoying the views from there 🙂
In the evening, Amalia had a little adventure on the campground, when she got lost after visiting the washrooms. The campground is made of loops, so you’ll easily lose your sense of direction. She asked a family in perfect English for help, and they even brought her back 🙂

Saturday, July 18

Finally a slow day. We’re at our favourite laundry/internet/coffee place in Jasper, finally time for this update! We’ll have 2 more nights here, before we part with Ton’s family until they come to Regina later on (we will drive back to Regina in 3 days from there).