Sunday, June 29, 2014

We got up early and headed to the lake to see if we could catch some still water.  I don't think we could have asked for a better morning!  It was difficult picking out only a few of the pictures for the blog, but these are a good indication of the beauty of Lake Louise in the early morning light.

It was our last day in the area, so we wanted to explore the Chateau. It was hard to believe it was built in 1925.  They have done a great job of keeping the place looking nice.  

 The garden entrance was lovely.

Canada is very dog friendly. Sam has hiked all of the trails with us and he has made a lot of friends.

Nothing rustic about this Chateau!

How about the lake view from inside the Chateau?

 This shop made me think of you, Katie!  A high end knitting boutique, selling books and yarn and featuring hand knitted sweaters and such.  Unfortunately, it was 7:30 am and not open yet.

Another great advantage to getting out early in the morning is all of the wildlife you get to see.  Grizzlies look so laid back it is difficult to imagine them being aggressive.  I just know I'm not going to get out of the car for an up close and personal encounter.

We took our time packing for our move today.  If we left too early we were afraid we would have to wait to check in at the next stop.  It was in Banff, Alberta, Canada.  We stalled until we could stall no longer and then hit the road.  Banff was a really short 38.2 miles south on the Trans Canada highway 1 (68,743.8 total).

It was another beautiful drive with only a slight bit of tension as our trip took us through the heart of the city to get to the campground.  This was clearly a popular destination for the locals.  Our reservation was in the Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court (full hookups) which contained 321 sites!  Adjacent to it were Tunnel Mountain Village I with 618 sites (dry camping - mostly tents) and Tunnel Mountain Village II with 188 sites (electric only).  I do not think there was an empty site in any of the three campgrounds.  Of course, it made sense after we learned it was the "long weekend" around Canada Day (July 1st).

Our reservation, unfortunately, was for only one night.  Joani went to the office early the next morning (she was first in line) to get some additional nights. (They reserve a few sites as "first come - first served".)  She was lucky enough to get another site for three more nights - just what we were hoping to find.  You have to love it when a plan comes together!