and the story continues...

I was delighted to hear from a few of my fav readers as I honestly thought I had lost any interest in my blog. So today lets head into Canada eh?! (That's Canadian for allrighty!).
The Rocky Mountaineer is a wonderful train line that is basically only for tourists (not travelers desiring a destination) and only the western Rockies. The staff could not have been more attentive and fun to spend two days with and constantly offered us food and drink.

J man happy with his seat selection

This gives you an idea of how long our train was. We were 3 different classes of service and you basically never interacted with the other cars or classes. Our car was half full and mostly ladies from other countries. There were probably 4 more cars behind us as well. The good part was you could change seats and move around depending on the view. The disappointing part for me was in the brochure they showed passengers leaning over seats with a glass of wine laughing and having a great time. I was absolutely exhausted being the only one in my car trying to be entertaining and brochure like.

I forgot to mention before we left Vancouver I told J I was going outside to get his photo. At this point of our trip our camera broke...one of the most scenic vacations ever and I had to take photos on my iphone. Not only was it embarrassing to be looking at this amazing view and pull out my phone but it was a bit limiting what I could do fast. Anyway here are a few of the photos of the first day of our train ride. Everything looks a bit green and not sure why...enhancer?
The second night we all got off in Kamloops which is a small town along the train route. We stayed at a very old hotel from the 20s and while it had charm our room was itty bitty and not our favorite.
We walked downtown for dinner and I guess there was a contest to dress the trees...

 I guess it helps to have a sense of humor when you live in Canada and the train people thought the trees were wonderful.

I decided to try local beers all along the way...

You can only look out the window so long....

Just so you know I was on the trip too.

We were up and at it early the next morning as well and our destination was Lake Louise. I saw a photo in a travel magazine years ago and I could not imagine a lake and setting so beautiful. Our train ride included a room at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise the first night and I booked a second so we could have a day to enjoy. We hiked the first day until we met 2 couples from WA and walked back to have a beer with them. The one couple lived in Gig Harbor and I swear it was as if I was sitting across from myself. I have never experienced such a feeling of 'she is just like me'. Wish we could have become friends because she was great fun! haha

Our amazing hotel and Lake Louise

See the mountain goat and baby?!

This is exactly one yr from his ambulance ride so I told him to try and stand on a log. Kinda cheating tho isnt he?!?

Day two hiking to the Tea House with Sharonne and Barb.

Even their chipmunks are cute and fluffy!

What can I say except God was so busy here and its breathtaking everywhere you look. So happy I got the chance to see it for real and not just in a magazine.We left after this day to spend the rest of our vacation day tripping out of Calgary and Sharonne's house. Best part is the weather became stellar and we did not see rain again.
We rode the light rail to downtown Calgary for lunch and its a beautiful city.

We spent a day in Banff, rode the gondola to the top, walked thru the village and stopped in cute town of Canmore on way home to try their local brewery.Banff is equally breathtaking and I would love to return with my camper and spend a week hiking and biking all around the area.

The Sisters

Looking down on Banff Hotel and golf course

Gondola station

Picnic with an incredible view

Do not try this in a kayak

Banff Hotel

Local beer Grumpy Bear!

We visited Drumheller where they have discovered dinosaur bones over 70 million years old. The museum was fascinating and their work painstaking. Here are just a few...

Last day was to Heritage Village where they have created a little town from the past with actual buildings and antiques. They also have a car musuem.. It is a very popular destination for the town...

My personal favorite!!

Sharonne and Barb

Ride home!

We had a wonderful time and literally needed a vacation from our vacation when we got home!
We felt we really had a chance to see western Canada and experience so many different things.
It was very expensive compared to US and combine that with my overstuffed suitcase and shopping was not an issue!
This was a difficult post because there were so many wonderful photos to choose from. It felt sometimes like we were living in a postcard it was so incredibly beautiful.
Thanks for dropping by!