Saturday, July 28th

What a day!  We started today by taking a gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain and having breakfast there.  It was a great breakfast and beautiful views, but very cold and windy!

 

Next we did a little sightseeing on the bus.  We saw Bow Falls…of course another picture stop!  A group picture was also taken.  We're glad to have a picture of the whole group.

 
After walking around the town a little, 13 of us got on the bus again to go to our big, exciting adventure….a 35 minute helicopter ride through the mountains, over the glaciers, with up close and personal views!  Yikes!  I almost chickened out, but I’m glad I didn’t! Dawn, Al, Vern, and I were in one of the three helicopters used for our group.  Dawn sat up front with the pilot so I don’t have a picture of her, but she loved it and was in her glory! Here are a few of all the pictures I took.  It was an amazing experience!

 

 

 

 

This evening was the delicious Farewell dinner at the Maple Leaf Restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. At our table is a couple from Montreal.  We enjoyed their company so much and look forward to keeping in touch with them.  I think we connected right away because her name is Maria as well and they sat near us in the bus.



And, how wonderful to be able to share these experiences with our dear friends, Dawn and Al!  We are so blessed!

Thank you all for being a part of our adventure!  We appreciate you!  We hope you will comment on this post as you’ve done in the past.  This is the last post for this vacation.  We leave tomorrow morning for the Calgary airport, then on to Chicago, then to Newark where a car will be picking us up.  If all goes as planned, we should be home by about 1:00-1:30 Monday morning.  

Friday, July 26th

Hello to all of you from Banff!  49 degrees when we we left this morning. We travelled through snow sheds which block the roads from avalanches, Columbia Mountains, National Parks and Forests, and the Canadian Rockies.  The further East we went the higher the mountains.  Here in Banff at the hotel we are 6,600 feet.  Banff is the third oldest National Park in the world.  We were so excited to see a young bear run across the street in front of our bus.  We are now on Central Time.

  

We stopped at a grocery store to get lunch and ate at a picnic table at a rest stop.  No restaurants on this road, the trans Canadian highway.

 

We made stops at the breath-taking Lake Louise and Lake Moraine.

                                             Lake Louise
  
                                      Lake Moraine

It is now 50 degrees.  Hotels here do not have air conditioning because they never need it.  However, the locals have said that last week it was hotter than it has ever been.  We’re lucky that it’s back to normal. 

(Temporary Backup) Thursday, July 25th

I’m writing this tonight from our “apartment” in the Sutton Place Hotel at Revelstoke Mountain.  We have a beautiful balcony view of the mountain, gondola, and if you look very closely, you can see someone riding a rail coaster that came down the mountain.  We have a bedroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, fireplace, bath, and laundry room!  This was not a planned stop because we were supposed to be in Jasper last night and tonight.  One of the people in our group said this was a surprise tour because no one knows where the next stop will be because of the devastation in Jasper.  Globus Tours has done a super job of being flexible and getting us to safe places.  Our thoughts and prayers have been with all involved.  

 
A lot of  time on the bus today.  We stopped at a fruit stand, grocery store, lunch at A&W, and the place where they put the last spike in the Trans Canadian highway that goes all across Canada.

When we got here, we went on a gondola ride up the mountain.  

We look forward each morning to reading your comments!  Thank you and keep them coming!  

Wednesday, July 24th

I’m still catching on to this blogging.  I just sent one that I didn’t mean to send until I added the rest of the days news.  Oh, well…

At breakfast this morning, our tour guide said he had something planned for today.  Things have been changing and we were glad to have something planned for us!  We went to the BC Wildlife Park and saw many animals who have been injured or just couldn’t make it in the wild for one reason or another.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for ice cream!  Made my day!


In back of our hotel there is a chair lift to the top of the mountain and we took it.  It sure was windy and cold at the top, but we’re glad we went.

A few pictures from around the hotel.

(Temporary Backup) Wednesday, July 24th

I forgot to mention that yesterday’s bus ride was full of hairpin turns and up and down beautiful mountains.  At times there were no guardrails!  We went to Tim Horton's for lunch in Lillioot — everyone says we can’t come to Canada without eating there. It’s a Canadian icon. 

Okay, on to today…temperatures from 52 to 67 degrees!  Right up Vern's alley!  

Tuesday, July 23rd

It’s been an interesting day!  It was 48 degrees when we left the hotel this morning at 7:15!  We went to breakfast at the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Center.  After breakfast, one of the guides was playing a drum skin and had us all dancing!  She took us through parts of the center to show and explain some of the Squamish culture and dress

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Then we had a beautiful ride and nature contrasts…lush sub-alpine forests and semi-arid terrains. 

And, now we are settled in the beautiful Sun Peaks Grand Resort!  We were only supposed to be here for 1 night, but because of the fires and evacuation of Jasper, we will be here 2 nights.  We're not sure after that, but we do know that we won’t be going to Jasper.  We understand that there were busloads of people evacuated at 1:00 this morning and they were on the road 11 hours.


It is 9:00 pm and 61 degrees!

Thank you for continuing to read our blog and please remember to add your name when you comment!  Keep those great comments coming!  We enjoy them so much!