We left Glacier National Park by 9 am, heading north on
Route 89 and reaching the US-Canada border in less than 20 miles. No problems going through Canadian customs,
and on we went, along Alberta Route 2.
Surprise---we very shortly saw the Rockies disappearing off to the west
and our travel took us through wide open plains. Who knew?
But then, my knowledge of Canadian geography is about nil.
Approaching Calgary, the mountains (snow-covered and huge)
appeared again, far off to the west.
Driving through Calgary, a city of over a million people, was somewhat
challenging (so I was glad that Dan was driving), but in Calgary we connected
with the Trans-Canada Highway. About
sixty miles west we reached our destination: Banff National Park.
I had reserved for three nights in their “Village 2
Campground” and was surprised to find that our site was in a long rectangular
parking lot, with RV’s and trailers lined up end-to-end, as if they had
parallel-parked. Strange! We had a very small area to the inside for a
few chairs and a table, but not much.
Having arrived early in the afternoon, the three of us
headed out on foot to explore the town of Banff. (There is bus service into town from the
campground, but of course, they do not allow dogs. ) After a walk downhill of about thirty minutes
we were there, and WOW, it is tourist-y!
Lots of expensive looking hotels and restaurants, gift shops, candy
shops, coffee shops, and all packed with people. It was a challenge to walk along the
sidewalks with Ranger, with so many legs around him and so many interesting
smells (not to mention all the bits of food that people had dropped). We had a long uphill walk to return to the
campground, and it was nice to get back to the relative peace and quiet.
Upon checking into the campground, we received stern
warnings of two things: 1) keeping all food and attractants in the RV, so as
not to bring in bears, given that one had been sighted in the area recently,
and 2) absolutely no alcohol, it being a
long holiday weekend in Canada. So we
had a bit of beer in coffee mug and Nalgene bottle along with our hamburgers,
being very discrete about it!
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