John Cummings
TUG Lifetime Member
This is my first installment of our 2 week trip to Alberta last month.
August 11, 2005
We flew from Ontario California to Calgary on August 11th on America West. We flew via Phoenix. The flight was uneventful and we arrived at the Calgary Airport a 2:45 pm. Going through the Canadian immigration and customs was very easy. The immigration lady was very nice and we chatted for a few minutes. Customs just waved us through. We went outside to wait for the shuttle to the rental car site. It was very cold, windy and raining. We rented our car from Dollar rental. They were very nice but did not have the car we requested. We reserved a Chrysler 300 but had to take a Chrysler Pacifica which actually was a free upgrade. The only downside was we had to wait for almost an hour for them to get the car for us.
We drove straight from Calgary to Canmore. It took awhile to get through Calgary as the highway was a city street through a rather seedy part of town until we got out aways. We arrived at the Georgetown Inn in Canmore and checked in. We stayed there for 3 nights.
I highly recommend the Georgetown Inn. It is very nice and the staff are very nice. Our unit was quite large with a separate bedroom and 2 person jacuzzi tub in the unit. We ate dinner at the restaurant in the Georgetown Inn. The dinner was OK but not outstanding and it was quite pricey which we found to be pretty well the case everywhere. The service was excellent.
August 12, 2005
We woke up to pouring rain so any plans for the morning were wiped out. We ate breakfast at the Georgetown Inn. The breakfast is included and is an extended continental breakfast. It was quite good and the service was excellent.
We went to downtown Canmore and walked around a bit. I exchanged some US money at the bank of Montreal which I discovered was a big mistake. They only gave me 1.165 exchange and charged a transaction fee to boot.
Note: Use your credit card and the ATMs as much as possible as the exchange is much better than the banks offer. Also the TD bank gives a little better exchange than the BofM and they do not charge a transaction fee.
We went into Sobeys Supermarket to get some sodas and snacks. We noticed that grocery prices are quite a bit higher than we pay here especially for some items. Much higher than the rate of exchange.
It cleared up around noon so we headed for Lake Minnewantka where we took the boat cruise. It was pretty good but again pretty pricey which all of the attractions are. I didn't really care what the price was but couldn't help but notice it. In any event, we had a nice cruise around the lake and I took many pictures of the mountains, lake and some deer at the lake shore. We then drove the loop back and then headed for Lake Louise. First, we went to Morraine Lake. It was quite nice though not as scenic as Lake Louise. It took us almost an hour to drive the short route to Morraine Lake because of the tremendous number of RV's holding up traffic. The vast majority are rentals and it appears that the folks are not familiar with driving them. Next, we went to Lake Louise. It was beautiful as always. The water was sort of a whitish color due to the runoff from all of the rain. We drove back to Canmore via the Bow Valley Parkway where we saw a lot of elk along the road. Of course I have many pictures of them.
We got back to Canmore around 6:00 pm as we had tickets to the Oh Canada Eh show. The Oh Canada Eh show is a dinner show and they have it in Niagara Falls and Canmore. We really enjoyed the show. It was a combination of regional Canadian humor and singing. The dinner was OK but the soup was terrible. I took lots of pictures of the show.
August 13, 2005
We woke up to a beautiful morning. We ate breakfast at the Inn and then took off for the Kananaskis Country with the hopes of seeing some wildlife. We took the loop on 40 and then back on the gravel road to Canmore. We felt that the Kananaskis trip was a waste of time that could have been better spent elsewhere. We did not see any wildlife at all. The scenery is nice but not outstanding and the drive back on the gravel road was a big mistake. It is not well maintained and you eat a lot of dust.
We went to Banff in the afternoon. The nice lady at the park entrance let us use our pass from the day before even though it was going to expire in an hour. It costs $8.00 per person to enter the park. Seniors 65 and over get a $1.00 discount. Apparently Canada doesn't have the equivalent of our US Golden Passport available to seniors 62 and over. For what it is worth, the Golden Passport is a very good deal. It costs $10 for a lifetime card that admits the holder and everybody with them to all US National Parks, attractions, etc. for free. In any event, if you are a large group it may pay to plan your trips into the Park as it could get costly. Oh well, enough about that stuff.
We went on the Gondola in Banff and enjoyed it. You get some good views overlooking Banff. After the Gondola, we wanted to go to the Hot Springs but there were too many people and parking was very difficult. We then drove around Banff and went to the Banff Springs Hotel to take some pictures. Afterward we we walked around downtown Banff. We really liked all of the hanging flower baskets. We ate dinner at the Magpie and Stump restaurant in downtown Banff. That was a big mistake. The food was terrible and again very expensive. They advertise authentic Tex-Mex which it definitely was not. After that we headed back to Canmore.
August 14, 2005
We checked out of the Georgetown Inn and headed for Jasper. Unfortunately the good weather only lasted a day and it started raining again. It was pouring by the time we got to Jasper.
This is the end of this part, more to follow.
August 11, 2005
We flew from Ontario California to Calgary on August 11th on America West. We flew via Phoenix. The flight was uneventful and we arrived at the Calgary Airport a 2:45 pm. Going through the Canadian immigration and customs was very easy. The immigration lady was very nice and we chatted for a few minutes. Customs just waved us through. We went outside to wait for the shuttle to the rental car site. It was very cold, windy and raining. We rented our car from Dollar rental. They were very nice but did not have the car we requested. We reserved a Chrysler 300 but had to take a Chrysler Pacifica which actually was a free upgrade. The only downside was we had to wait for almost an hour for them to get the car for us.
We drove straight from Calgary to Canmore. It took awhile to get through Calgary as the highway was a city street through a rather seedy part of town until we got out aways. We arrived at the Georgetown Inn in Canmore and checked in. We stayed there for 3 nights.
I highly recommend the Georgetown Inn. It is very nice and the staff are very nice. Our unit was quite large with a separate bedroom and 2 person jacuzzi tub in the unit. We ate dinner at the restaurant in the Georgetown Inn. The dinner was OK but not outstanding and it was quite pricey which we found to be pretty well the case everywhere. The service was excellent.
August 12, 2005
We woke up to pouring rain so any plans for the morning were wiped out. We ate breakfast at the Georgetown Inn. The breakfast is included and is an extended continental breakfast. It was quite good and the service was excellent.
We went to downtown Canmore and walked around a bit. I exchanged some US money at the bank of Montreal which I discovered was a big mistake. They only gave me 1.165 exchange and charged a transaction fee to boot.
Note: Use your credit card and the ATMs as much as possible as the exchange is much better than the banks offer. Also the TD bank gives a little better exchange than the BofM and they do not charge a transaction fee.
We went into Sobeys Supermarket to get some sodas and snacks. We noticed that grocery prices are quite a bit higher than we pay here especially for some items. Much higher than the rate of exchange.
It cleared up around noon so we headed for Lake Minnewantka where we took the boat cruise. It was pretty good but again pretty pricey which all of the attractions are. I didn't really care what the price was but couldn't help but notice it. In any event, we had a nice cruise around the lake and I took many pictures of the mountains, lake and some deer at the lake shore. We then drove the loop back and then headed for Lake Louise. First, we went to Morraine Lake. It was quite nice though not as scenic as Lake Louise. It took us almost an hour to drive the short route to Morraine Lake because of the tremendous number of RV's holding up traffic. The vast majority are rentals and it appears that the folks are not familiar with driving them. Next, we went to Lake Louise. It was beautiful as always. The water was sort of a whitish color due to the runoff from all of the rain. We drove back to Canmore via the Bow Valley Parkway where we saw a lot of elk along the road. Of course I have many pictures of them.
We got back to Canmore around 6:00 pm as we had tickets to the Oh Canada Eh show. The Oh Canada Eh show is a dinner show and they have it in Niagara Falls and Canmore. We really enjoyed the show. It was a combination of regional Canadian humor and singing. The dinner was OK but the soup was terrible. I took lots of pictures of the show.
August 13, 2005
We woke up to a beautiful morning. We ate breakfast at the Inn and then took off for the Kananaskis Country with the hopes of seeing some wildlife. We took the loop on 40 and then back on the gravel road to Canmore. We felt that the Kananaskis trip was a waste of time that could have been better spent elsewhere. We did not see any wildlife at all. The scenery is nice but not outstanding and the drive back on the gravel road was a big mistake. It is not well maintained and you eat a lot of dust.
We went to Banff in the afternoon. The nice lady at the park entrance let us use our pass from the day before even though it was going to expire in an hour. It costs $8.00 per person to enter the park. Seniors 65 and over get a $1.00 discount. Apparently Canada doesn't have the equivalent of our US Golden Passport available to seniors 62 and over. For what it is worth, the Golden Passport is a very good deal. It costs $10 for a lifetime card that admits the holder and everybody with them to all US National Parks, attractions, etc. for free. In any event, if you are a large group it may pay to plan your trips into the Park as it could get costly. Oh well, enough about that stuff.
We went on the Gondola in Banff and enjoyed it. You get some good views overlooking Banff. After the Gondola, we wanted to go to the Hot Springs but there were too many people and parking was very difficult. We then drove around Banff and went to the Banff Springs Hotel to take some pictures. Afterward we we walked around downtown Banff. We really liked all of the hanging flower baskets. We ate dinner at the Magpie and Stump restaurant in downtown Banff. That was a big mistake. The food was terrible and again very expensive. They advertise authentic Tex-Mex which it definitely was not. After that we headed back to Canmore.
August 14, 2005
We checked out of the Georgetown Inn and headed for Jasper. Unfortunately the good weather only lasted a day and it started raining again. It was pouring by the time we got to Jasper.
This is the end of this part, more to follow.
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