Living the Dream in Retirement
My two week Alaskan cruise embarked from Vancouver, a city I’ve never been to. After a long day of flying across multiple time zones, I had a fabulous meal then crashed out. I wanted to show up for my first day on the Discovery Princess well rested.
And just like that we sailed away at sunset, the first of many sunsets……
Back from my latest cruise, this time New England (Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor) to Halifax. Sailing on the Enchanted Princess was special, it was the ship I took my first-ever cruise on earlier this year.
Stay tuned for more on this trip…..
After our first week spent in Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper, we settled into a condo in Canmore (via homeaway.com) for week two. Canmore is a treasure of a town. Our location was perfect, including a fabulous wine shop just a few steps from our elevator and an easy walk to shopping, restaurants and pubs in the downtown area and a panoramic view of the Three Sisters Mountains.
“Canmore is a town in Alberta, Canada, located approximately 81 kilometres (50 mi) west of the City of Calgary near the southeast boundary of Banff National Park. It is located in the Bow Valley within Alberta’s Rockies. The town shares a border with Kananaskis Country to the west and south and the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8 to the north and east. With a population of 12,288 in 2011, Canmore is the ninth-largest town in Alberta.” source Wikipedia
Situated along the Bow River and surrounded by the Three Sisters Mountain range, you are always surrounded by beauty. Canmore has a clean, fresh look to it with stylish architecture and flowers at every turn. We found the dining options to be fantastic – a foodie lovers dream (my first meal with a Confit Duck Poutine, OMG right?)
“Canmore’s economic future seemed dismal until the announcement in the early 1980s that Calgary would be hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics, and that Canmore would play host to the Nordic events. This resulted in an increase in tourism, and Canmore began to develop into the recreational tourist destination it is today.” source Wikipedia
Canmore’s scenery has also drawn the movie industry, a fact we learned while staying there. The following movies (several of our favorites) were filmed in Canmore:
Nikki, Wild Dog of the North (1961)
Naked Flame (1964)
Brother of the Wind (1973)
Death Hunt (1981)
High Country, The (1981)
Kelly (1981)
Harry Tracy, Desperado (1982)
Stone Fox (1987)
Nightbreed (1990)
Bekhudi (1992)
Last of the Dogmen (1995)
Edge, The (1997)
Wild America (1997)
I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998)
HeartBeat: Changing Places (1998)
Mystery, Alaska (1999)
John Q (2002)
Snow Dogs (2002)
RV (2006)
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The (2007)
The Right Kind of Wrong (2013)
Canmore: 72 Hours in a State of Emergency (2013 Documentary)
Interstellar (2014)
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This post brings to a close my Travels in Canada series, I hope you’ve enjoyed it. God willing, Spence and I return to this stunningly beautiful part of the world.
On our return from Jasper to Banff, we stopped off to see these spectacular falls. The power of the rushing water was awesome.
Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park is not the highest or the widest waterfall in the Canadian Rockies but it is the most powerful. The full width of the Athabasca River is funneled into a three metre gap and over the brink of the falls. Despite what the interpretive signs say, most of the rock is not limestone, it is actually gog quartzite, and ounce for ounce it’s as strong as steel.
Over the eons the waterfall has moved back and forth in it’s search for the path of least resistance, cutting and abandoning channels as it goes. One such channel has been developed with stairs and trail for easy exploration. It also gives access to viewpoints at the bottom of the main canyon and to the river bank beyond.
courtesy of trailpeak.com
The trip to Jasper, from Banff is one of the most stunning. With many turnouts for breathtaking photo opportunities, it took us hours to drive it. As a result, we opted to stay in Jasper for a couple of days to enjoy this charming town. It is a higher elevation and was a bit cooler than Banff. We enjoyed not only it’s beauty but the pubs, restaurants, shops and the people here.
“Jasper is a specialized municipality in western Alberta, Canada. It is the commercial centre of Jasper National Park, located in the Canadian Rockies in the Athabasca River valley. Jasper is approximately 362 kilometres (225 mi) west of Edmonton and 290 kilometres (180 mi) north of Banff, Alberta at the intersection of the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16) and the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93).” source Wikipedia
The Canadian Rockies are magnificent to see and the Icefields are beautiful. Due to the relatively short time we would be there, our photos of the Icefields are from the turnouts. You can pull off Highway 93 and go out onto them via a specialized vehicle. It is a popular tourist spot as we could see from numerous vehiclesparked and people waiting for the tour.
Banff is a charming town in Alberta Canada, surrounded by breath-taking mountainous vistas at every turn. The people are friendly, the town is easy to walk, filled with a variety of fun restaurants, pubs and shops plus every possible outdoor activity you could want.
For anyone who follows this blog, you know how much I adore gardening. When Spence and I heard about the lovely Cascade Gardens in Banff, we had to check it out.
Canadians love to garden and this place proved that in spectacular fashion. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Banff is a gorgeous spot to visit. Surrounded by mountains, the air is pure and the people are friendly. There are great restaurants, gardens, Banff National Park and every type of activity embracing the outdoors.
One of the recommendations we were given by locals was to drive up Tunnel Mountain to the Hoodoos, which we did.
Hoodoos are composed sedimentary rock covered by harder rock that is harder to erode. Once softer sediment erodes rock needle, or tower like natural obstacles are left. The Hoodoos are awesome to see as are the views from this elevation.
Keep watching for more on my Travels in Canada….more to come on Banff, Jasper, Canmore featuring the beauty of Alberta.
Thus far in my series “Travels in Canada”, I’ve posted photos that might beg the question “are these for real?”
The color of the water in this part of Alberta Canada, is a breathtaking mix of turquoise, teal, aqua, blue-green dependent on the depth, sun and clouds. The brilliance of these lakes is also explained by “rock flour”.
“The impressive colour comes from silt-like rock flour continually being carried into the lake by melt-water from the surrounding glaciers. The tiny and uniform particles become suspended in the water, refracting blue and green wavelengths of light.”
Suffice it to say, the pictures are for real. While standing on the shores, it defies description.
Moraine Lake is a glacially fed lake in Banff National Park, 14 kilometres outside the Village of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. It is situated in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, at an elevation of approximately 6,183 feet. source: Wikipedia
Spence and I learned of this locale by accident. We’d mentioned we were headed to Lake Louise and were told we must visit nearby Moraine Lake. This recommendation came from locals which we believe is the best source when travelling.
A bit more rugged than Lake Louise, Moraine Lake is equally lovely with trails to enjoy and photo opportunities at every turn. It is hard to imagine a place like this until you see it.
