Woodrow. Oh Woodrow. There were days I just had to repeat to myself, "He's two, he's teething, he isn't napping, he isn't eating well, he will survive this trip." Most of the time Mason OR I would be having a difficult time with the moods of the children, and fortunately mostly not at the same time. This morning Mason and Theo set out to do laundry at the townsite before heading on to Banff. Woodrow decided that he was NOT going to be happy or cooperate while I tried to pack-up the room and load the car. I ended up just putting him in the pack n play and letting him scream while I got things ready. This of course allowed my anger and frustrations to build and turn into frustrations as to why Mason wouldn't return to help me...it really was an awesome trip, honest. Let's just say, by the time Woodrow and I showed up at the laundrymat and Mason and Theo were having breakfast...I may not have been the kindest wife.
I took a breath and walked around the townsite with Woodrow to find some breakfast (pie and a smoothie) while Theo and Mason enjoyed some more Wieners of Waterton. Mason is still having dreams about the curry ketchup. Shout out to GG-they served Nathan's hotdogs! By the time we finished breakfast all our moods had changed for the better, and we were on our way North to Banff National Park. The ride was about 4.5 hours and I think the kids got plugged into a movie pretty quick for the drive. We went in and out of flat land and mountains, and the last hour of our trip was pretty rainy.
I've heard from my parents for years about how breathtaking Banff is. It's always being written about and we discovered that it is definitely a tourist spot. The waitress at dinner that night said August is their busiest month of the year. It was definitely beautiful, but the townsite was much larger and much more crowded than I expected. I laughed because they had a GAP and even Minot doesn't have a GAP.
Back at Waterton we had decided to buy an annual Canadian National Parks pass, because it was the cheapest option with all our park travels. It was surprising how we were expected to have it and the pass hung in our car, but we never actually showed it to anyone in Banff. We did use lanes that said "park pass users" but there was no one ever checking...is that the untrusting American in me coming out?
We checked into our hotel, the Banff Inn. Our room was really great! It was a two-level room. We decided that the kids would sleep downstairs and we'd take the upstairs. I hobbled up those steps after a few of our hikes, and middle of the night bathroom trips were hard, but it worked out really well and since we were in separate spaces the kids slept late in the mornings, which worked because we were keeping them up until 10 or 11 most nights here. The hotel had complimentary breakfast, but we never made it, so I can't comment on it either way. We did order from the hotel restaurant one late night. Mason had a burger that he said was pretty good and I had pizza which was okay-just lots of meat, too much for me.
Once we got settled we decided to have dinner and check out the sites. We ended up having dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. It was good, but the best part was the bargain. We each got soup/salad, bread, our main course, and ice cream and it was half the price of the night before. When we left dinner we ended up driving to the cave and basin area which Mason checked out on the map. This place made me laugh by the end of the trip, because we ended up going there each day. It was close to the town, but by the time we got there everything was closed for the day. It was also raining much more heavily by the time we got there. We waited under a covered area for awhile while the kids played and splashed around in their rain coats, but we eventually decided to skip any hikes because it was so wet. Mason really wanted to get some good sunset pictures, so he was disappointed that this wasn't working out. We decided to drive around and so we took a drive up to the Norquay ski area which was also near the town. It was a very pretty view along the mountain, because as the rain let up, the sky was so pretty and there was a tremendous rainbow.
It was about 7:30pm at this point and I had read about a Gondola that goes to the Summit of Sulphur Mountain. I had mentioned this as an option after dinner, but Mason wasn't too thrilled about it, which made me a little pouty since I try and really find things I think will be great to do on our trips. I thought it was a great activity to take a gondola ride, since we weren't going to be hiking to the top of the mountain for pictures at that hour of the night in the dampness. We ended up driving to the Sulphur Mountain area, took a pit stop, and I batted my eyes and said, that he didn't have to go, but I really wanted to go to the top...we all ended up going. It was pretty expensive, but Mason admits now that it was worth it because the pictures he got were AMAZING!
It was about 8:00pm by the time we got on the Gondola, and the last one down the mountain was at 9pm. This actually ended up working perfectly. It was sunny and gorgeous at the top. Mason and Theo walked one way, and I clung to Woodrow as we went around another way. It was stunning and the sun was setting at just the perfect time. There was a path we could have gone down, but the kids were getting cold and the clouds were moving in, so we stayed close to the summit while Mason took some more photos and just went a little ways along the path. The Gondola ride was pretty cool, and I'm glad it was enclosed.
So, if you're in Banff-Sulphur Mountain at sunset is totally worth it! We headed back to the room and took warm showers and I think we all fell asleep pretty fast. Mason and I both did a little work on the computer, but it was a pretty good start to our Banff Adventures.
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