Banff and Lake Louise - Tuesday & Wednesday

[Kalon] After breakfast in Watertown Village, we drove several  hundred miles to Calgary to pick up Karen's brother Walter and his wife Mary (both living in a retirement community).  We loaded their stuff in our car and drove to Banff (another hour+ away) and to the Hidden Ridge Resort where we are staying.  This is a nice condominium type resort and we have two rooms.  After lounging away what remained of the afternoon, we drove downtown to Banff and had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory.  Then back up the hill for a good night's sleep.

The next day Karen wanted to do some laundry, so after breakfast we waited for that to finish before driving about an hour to Lake Louise.  Karen and I have spent quite a few memorable times with our family (and Walter's) hiking and camping, and we was quite pleasant to view old haunts.  While the lake was a bit windy (even with some snow flakes), Walter and I hiked around the side of the lake for a ways and then stopped to reminisce. 

 

Looking down Lake Louise from the Chalet

 

 

Walter with the Chateau behind

 

 

As it was a bit chilly and breezy we motored down to the village for a little lunch and then returned to Banff passing by the campground where we had spent several family vacations together.  Such good memories.



 



See the tunnels ahead?  These are quite lovely animal overcrossings that allow deer, bear, etc. to move from one side of the interstate in the park to the other side.

 

Walter (Karen's brother) and his wife Mary with us in Banff.

 

And that is Lydia (Walter/Mary's daughter) on the left.  She spent some time with us in Banff and was a great help to everyone.  A lovely lady and now a grandma!

 

 

[Karen]  

 

  I was not so impressed with our accommodations in Banff. But they were adequate. Lydia must have driven several hundred miles as she waited on all of us - retrieving pills, making sure her son Steven got to the hospital where his wife was to have her  baby, then returning them both home again after the hospital said Steven's wife was not ready to have the baby and to come back the next day; then bringing desserts from home; returning to Banff to have dinner with us at a favorite restaurant and to drive her parents home again to keep us from having to backtrack to Calgary. The weather has been fairly cold rainy - which is normal for them but not for us. Kalon and I enjoyed a drive up to Lake Louise with Walter and Mary and reminisced about past years when the two families with our younger children camped in the area... JRT and the kids spent some time building structures and playing on a small patch of rock in the stream which they christened 'Julie Island' in her honor.

Kalon wished he had had more time to explore trails such as to the Paint Pots but enjoyed a walk at Lake Louise with Walter where they sat and talked together for awhile. Meanwhile Mary and I enjoyed the view of the mountains and the lake.







The view of Lake Louise from our bench



Lydia returned to stay with her parents in their accommodation and they took us to dinner at a favorite restaurant and to cook us a filling breakfast the next morning. After breakfast we said goodbye and went our separate ways - Lydia, Walter and Mary home to Calgary and Kalon and I back to Whitefish where we caught the train back to Portland after turning in our rental car. The car which we rented was a Chevy Impala which was quite comfortable for four and luggage.

Lake Louise Hotel - Walter at the far right