We enjoyed spending time with Grandparents on our trip to Banff. We stayed in Canmore and really enjoyed the condo (although we never used the pool with highs in the uppers 60s most days - it felt too cool) and the town was less busy than Banff. We did enjoy most dinners in Banff, however, and if I went back I'd skip Old Spaghetti factory (except Grandpa Steve enjoyed it!) and go to dinner in Canmore where we could walk. The first night we did enjoy Bridgette's bar in Canmore and Red Rock pizza and the following nights enjoyed walks along Spring Creek, into town for ice cream and beaver tails, and shopping.
While in Banff, some chose to ride the Gondola (Steve, Eric, Maeve and Cecilia) and the rest of us drove to the lookouts of the Hoodoos and Surprise viewpoint and see wonderful views of the Fairmont Banff Springs. We also enjoyed food at Bluebird and Lupo.
Our tour day was a bit rainy and overcast but still got beautiful views of Lake Louise and Moraine lake. We were hoping to see more of the inside of the Fairmont Lake Louise but it was mostly blocked off except the coffee shop. The views of the outside were nice and the lake was just spectacular. Emerald lake and Moraine lake were two other stops that day and those were equally jaw-dropping and beautiful. The blues and greens look different from different angles and parts of the hikes. Another stop was the Takakkaw falls and the hike up there was beautiful and it's the second largest waterfall in Canada.
The other days we drove ourselves around and went up the Icefields parkway to Marble Canyons, Peyto Lake, and Mistaya canyon. Those hikes were enjoyable for the kids and I loved how the hike up to Peyto lake smelled like Christmas. Another beautiful lake and we went across to British Columbia from Calgary. We also tried to see more wildlife (were on the hunt for a Moose and it was berry season so some hikes were closed or wanted you to know that bears were present so we opted to not do those hikes with so few people on the trail!) by going around Kananaskis village. It was a spectacular drive and great views although we weren't lucky enough to see too much wildlife on that drive. On the last day, we went to Cascade ponds early in the morning and had the place to ourself! We loved the views of all the mountains and beautiful spots to take pictures over bridges. We then went on a boat cruise around Lake Minnewanka and I was glad I booked the Jr Explorer cruise as it was entertaining for the kids and the adults!
Here was the final wildlife count:
5 deer
3 elk
3 ground squirrels
1 rat
4 Magpie birds
1 wolverine
5 chipmunks
1 black bear
3 nutcracker birds
4 Rocky Mountain sheep and 4 baby sheep
1 eagle
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