Our Day In Banff

Well, the last full day of the Noll/Anderson part of this trip is behind us now.   As we sit here in our lodge,  basking in the late afternoon warmth, our memories will be of another wonderful day.

We started out driving to the Banff townsite.   The top picture is taken as we walked on a bridge across the Bow River which runs right through the town.  

We enjoyed meandering the streets and looking at the shops.   Of course we were always on the lookout for a good lunch location.   Roger is

 getting quite a reputation for being able to spot the really good ones!   You can see us at the right enjoying lunch at his pick today-The Wild Bill Saloon.   We think it was the "saloon" part that hooked him.   No matter what, the food and the beer were great.   We were on the upper balcony and you can see some of the town and Sulphur Mountain in the background.   Not a bad spot for lunch.



We also took a little tour of the amazing Banff Springs Hotel.    The place is so huge, that we had to drive off on a mountain road on the other side of the Bow River to get a shot back towards the hotel in order to see it.   Roger is taking it all in as she is shaded by a huge Douglas Fir tree.

Our last stop in Banff was for some snacks.   Marsha chose a caramel apple that had been tempting her since we got to town!  The rest of us opted for ice cream cones at the Cows Ice Cream store.   Pretty darn yummy.   Then it was back on the TransCanadian Highway to Canmore.   The picture at the right is along that road.   We all agreed that we have not tired of this amazing scenery one little bit.  


Right now our agenda is blogging, napping, doing some wash, journaling, and generally hanging out.  The good news is that we still have a whole bottle of wine and half a case of Alexander Keith's, along with some cheese and crackers to finish when "cocktail hour" rolls around.   Then we will meander back into the downtown of Canmore to find a place for our final dinner together.   Tomorrow morning Roger and Marsha will head north, retracing our route all the way back to Jasper.   They will return our rental car and then board the train around 2:00.  Lucky them, the vacation is not over as they will have one more overnight on the train.   The section they will be heading through is supposed to be one of the most amazing train rides in the world.  They will arrive in Vancouver on Saturday morning, and then rent another car and head for Victoria.   The will spend three nights on the island and then return to Vancouver for their last night.   They will catch their flight on Wednesday morning which will take them back to Winnipeg where they will pick up their car and head back to Wisconsin.   Bob and Deb will lazy around the Lodges on Friday until around noon when they will catch the bus to Calgary.   Their flight home leaves for Chicago at 4:00.   Then it's on the Van Galder bus headed for Janesville and finally on to Fort from there.  

What a wonderful trip we have had!   We never know if there will be one final blog picture,  but if not, this will be our good bye.

Hugs to Everyone and see you all soon.

Roger, Marsha, Bob and Deb

Day 5- Banff National Park

 Hello Again.

Well, we finally figured out our technical problems, so we are good to go now.

Wednesday, was just a wonderful day.   We slept in a little bit, and then had breakfast in our very nice condo.   Finally headed out about 9:00 and our first stop was Lake Louise.   The picture you see above is taken at the edge of that beautiful lake.   Unbelievable.  
Then we headed just a short distance away to Moraine Lake.   It is equally as breathtaking, but not quite as popular as Lake Louise.   You can see Roger and Marsha pointing at some beautiful sight at the

edge of that lake.   Had a light lunch on the outdoor deck of the lodge there.   Special note to the Paulinis-it was quite the opposite kind of day that we had when we were there last!   Wish you could  have experienced it today!

Next we headed to Emerald Lake, another crystal clear, aqua-blue glacial lake.   It was our first beer stop of the day.   Sat on the upper balcony of the lodge there.  Pretty darn nice place for a beer!






The last stop was the amazing falls you see below.   It is called Takakkaw Falls.    It comes crashing over the top of the mountain being fed by glaciers up above that you can't see.   It falls about 300 m  and the sound and power are amazing.

We tried very hard to get the rainbow that was created by the sun and the falls, but not sure if you can see it.   Look closely.   Katie, it was pretty.   But I don't think there were any leprechauns or a pot of gold at the bottom.   Only water.

We are having a marvelous time.    Have been unwinding for the last couple hours at our lodging.   Sorry to tell you, Greg, that we are not behaving very well.   Marsha and I are on our  third Alexander Keith's, and Bob and Roger have finished off an entire bottle of red wine.   The good news is that they had some dark chocolate with it, so Roger says they are the "healthiest blokes around"!

Can't believe tomorrow is our last full day here together.   We will be doing Banff itself and taking in as much of the area as we can.    Friday will see Roger and Marsha heading back up to Jasper to catch the train and Bob and Deb will catch a flight out of Calgary back to Chicago and then on home.  

We will blog again tomorrow.

Love you all a bunch,

The Nolls and Andersons

Atop the Glacier

Hello Everyone.  

We were out of touch yesterday due to technical problems with the WIFI at the Lodges.   Got there safe and sound and the place is great-except for that.   This is a picture of us up on top of the Athabasca Glacier along the Icefields Parkway.   It was amazing.

As we blog, we are sitting at the McDonalds in Canmore after another amazing day.   Lake Louise and surrounding areas.   Hope we can blog later with more pictures and details.   Needless to say, it was more of the same astounding scenery.  

We have decided to take some burgers to go and head back to our rooms and drink beer and wine!   We might let Roger get a chocolate shake too.

Hope we can do more later,

Hugs.

The Happy Wanderers

Bullwinkle, Yogi, and Friends

 Hello from Jasper!

What a wonderful day we had!   Started out with a great wildlife  sighting.   The bull elk you can see below had quite a rack!    We continued on toward Maligne Canyon and Maligne Lake.   We had a wonderful boat ride out to Spirit Island which you can see at the left.   It is hard for us to describe the day.   It was sunny, warm, and the scenery was like none we have ever seen.  

On our way out of the canyon we met the young gentleman you see to the left.   We are still arguing as we speak about what type of sheep it is.   It has become increasingly difficult as the evening has passed and we have consumed 2 bottles of wine and beer with our dinner.

Anybody out there in better control of their faculties to help us out???

As we were leaving Maligne Lake, we took a wrong turn, and as we were turning ourselves around, Bob spied the friendly bear you see above.   Brave Roger and Deb stayed safely in the car while crazy Marsha and Bob leaped out to get up close and personal.   Yikes.

It was then on to the liquor store for wine and the grocery store for cheese and crackers.   Needless to say, the rest of the afternoon and evening was more fun than we would want to admit to all our kids.

All in all, our last day in Jasper was more than memorable.  

We leave the Gingerbread House tomorrow morning after breakfast and head for the Icefields Parkway and the Athabasca Glacier.   Our plan is to take this cool Snow Coach right out onto the glacier.   Then it is on to Canmore and Banff.   Can't wait to check in tomorrow night.

Love you all,

M, R, B and D

First Day in Jasper

 Greetings Everyone.

We had a great time on the train yesterday.   We all slept like babies being rocked in our cradles.   It was really relaxing and fun.

Arrived in Jasper at about 1:00.   Picked up our rental car and headed out for some touring.   The top picture it taken at Athabasca Falls and the others are at the top of the Jasper Tramway.   We are settled in at the Gingerbread House after supper at the Jasper Brewing Company and a drive out into the surrounding area to look for some wildlife and a good sunset.   Guess what?   The sun was behind the mountains and the only wildlife we

saw was a cocky bull elk and his harem of 4 ladies grazing on the nice green grass right in the middle of town!

Time for tea and bed.   More to follow.

B, D, R, and M.

Greetings to Everyone from the lovely Sandman Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada-heh!

We arrived safe and sound at about 6:30 tonight.   You can see Roger and Bob checking us into the hotel in the picture at the right.   Lucky for us, there is a Denny's attached right to the hotel, so we didn't need to get back in the car to find a place for supper.   Just sauntered across the parking lot!   Our trip up was most enjoyable.   It was filled with good scenery and good conversation.   The 12 hours just flew by!

Must admit, we are all glad to be settled in our rooms for the night.   The beds are going to feel mighty good as we were all up by 5 today, and we have all admitted to being just a tad excited for the trip, so we have had trouble sleeping for a few days.   Now the fun will begin.

We plan to visit Denny's again for breakfast and then head to the train station midmorning.   We will explore a bit of the downtown and then our train leaves at 11:45.   Yahoo.

We will blog again when we arrive in Jasper on Sunday.  

Having a wonderful time already.

Love and Hugs to all,

Bob, Deb, Roger and Marsha

O Canada-Here We Come Again!

On Friday, September 14th we will be leaving Fort Atkinson at 6:00 AM for our grand Canadian adventure.   We will spend that night in Winnipeg, Alberta and catch the VIA rail train at noon on Saturday-bound for Jasper, Alberta.


We have checked and rechecked the weather, packed and repacked our bags, talked and talked again about things we would like to do-and we are so thankful that now it is time to go!


We hope that you will all enjoy following along on our trip.   We will be "out of touch" for the day we are on the train, but plan to blog when we get settled in Jasper on Sunday.

Hugs to Everyone.

The Andersons and Nolls