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