Banff

My Internet (surprisingly) does not work in the Canadian parks of Banff & Jasper. So forgive me for recreating the last couple days... i hope to do my best here.

On Friday we left Cochrane Lake for Banff, which was about an hour and a half drive - not far. It was a hazy morning but it burned off quickly. We got to Banff, found some parking and spent the next 2 hours walking around the shops. The boys quickly found some cool coon-skin caps and some other trinkets. The town was definitely fun with a cool vibe and I itch at the thought of skiing there someday. It surely is a ski-bum town that turns into a hiking/ water rafting town in the summer. Great town with lots of character. Can't wait to go back someday.

We then headed north to lake Louis, where I had dream of lunching at the Fairmont. So much for that pipe dream. We arrived and fought for 15 minutes just to find parking - eventually illegally parking in the bus lot. When we walked to the lake, it was stunning but overwhelming from the large crowd. I kid you not - hundreds of people packed into the shoreline of this steller gem nestled in the national park. We spent maybe 10 minutes there and between the kids whining and the crowds we quickly decided to head out and skip the lunch. Oh well!

Onwards north to the Jasper/Banff park line, where we turned east and headed out to the Cline River to our RV Park. The David Thompson HWY RV Resort was a lot of fun. It has a world-class playground (complete with a rocket-themed slide and climbing area) and an outdoor restaurant nestled into the park. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.

Mom & Dad agreed to watch the boys in their camper this night, so Steve and I were solo (yeah) for the first and only time on the trip. After the kids were in bed, we made our way to the Rock On bar in the park and met some locals. The conversation consisted of rodeos, local bear stories, inappropriate jokes and how Canadians deal with gun laws. It was really interesting and we enjoyed talking to the owner of the campground.