To Jasper

Photos

September 2, 2012 - Bags out at 7am. Breakfast buffet again in Tony Roma's off the lobby. Bus departed at 8am. We had another long driving day today.

First, we visited Moraine Lake. It turns out to be a famous view. There was a Jeep commercial shot there on Devil's Thumb. Canadians call it a $20 view because it used to be the picture on the back of their $20 bill. I don't know what they have back there now! I didn't even think about checking when I had a wallet full! Mom found a hooded sweatshirt on sale here and it was just what she needed to keep warm. The girls at the gift shop cash register were collecting US quarters and only had about a half-dozen more that they needed to complete the collection. Mom had one. She told me about it and I checked my purse back at the bus and found South Dakota, so when we left they only needed 4 more. On the way back out to the main road, we passed a collared black bear in a berry feeding frenzy. He was right beside the road on the hillside almost level with the bus windows. See a short, but excited video below.

At 10am, we got off the bus in front of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Lunch time was here and it was on our own. We walked through and checked and it was very expensive. We used the restrooms and then went for a walk along Lake Louise. The girls ate Lance Nabs and protein bars again. When we got back to the hotel Clay got an $11 cold chicken sandwich. Mom and I each got a hot chocolate to go at $3.50 each. The bus left at noon.

We drove all afternoon on the Icefields Parkway through the Columbia Icefields. Fresh water melts from here and drains into 3 different oceans, the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific. It is a lot of ice and a lot of melt water. The scenery continues to vary and all of it is just spectacular. At one point, Amy pointed out some white dots again green way up the side of a mountain and Brian pulled over very briefly for photos. We were on the wrong side of the bus and by the time we got some window space, we were rolling again. Boo! We had a short photo stop at Crowfoot Glacier. We had another short stop at Peyto Lake at Bow Summit. We had another short stop for a potty break at a truck stop that I am sorry to say I did not get the name of it. Amy warned us that it was crazy expensive because there was nothing else around. I found a $50 apron that I liked and did not buy. But, Clay had been looking for some maple candy to take back to the office and it had been very expensive everywhere, but he found the most affordable bag here and bought one.

Our last stop was at Athabasca Falls to take our group photo. They had some metal risers set up and were photographing busload after busload! We were bigger than the risers, but he got us all in with Mt. Kerkeslin in the background. It was a beautiful sunny day for it! There is a short video of Athabasca Falls below. We had a show of hands for those who thought they might purchase a $20 photo. The photos were available for purchase on the day we left Jasper for Calgary.

We were offered a complimentary peach juice or orange juice on arrival at Jasper House Bungalows. We again were handed our keys as we left the bus. Our rooms were ready and our luggage arrived not too much later. Clay and I got number 44 and Mom & Judy were right next door. We all had a view of the rear of the bungalow row directly in front of us. We didn't feel too bad about it this time, since it appeared that the entire back row of bungalows was taken by Caravan people, so it wasn't just us! Once again, it seemed like a bad luck draw. The rooms were nicer than we expected for sitting out in the woods about 2.25 miles from Jasper. (They were much, much nicer than the wooden cabins we stayed at in Creel on Caravan's Copper Canyon trip!) The problem was that it was about 3pm and we had no transportation and there was nothing for us to do. Amy gave us no clue in advance so, we were all unprepared and she gave us no suggestions or tips on arrival either except to point out that there was a trail beside the road that in less than 3 miles would take you to Jasper and that the Jasper Tramway was in view across the road and possibly walkable. Eventually, the bar opened and a big group took it over, but had we been warned in advance of arrival we might have packed in some snacks and beverages for the nice outdoor spaces set up around the grounds. As it was, we just wandered the grounds, sat and watched the Athabasca River and Clay tried to walk to town and back. He reported that the trail was very rough and he couldn't make good time and he did not make it to Jasper. He went about 1/2 way to another hotel outside Jasper and turned around and came back. We had been warned that bears were out feeding on berries and that elk were to be avoided as they were in rut and we might hear them bugling. We were a little worried and a little thrilled, but it was a non-issue.



Dinner tonight was included and right at the hotel. It was at 7pm. We had placed our orders earlier on the bus. We had a choice of ground meat lasagna, 1/2 BBQ chicken or salmon and green salad followed by vanilla ice cream and coffee. Very few people heard Amy say lasagna and when she asked us for our orders, she did not repeat the choices, so it was all chicken for us. I like iceberg lettuce only as a salad, but there were a lot of unhappy people. The food was OK. We hung around outside for quite a while tonight hoping for a good sunset or some animal sightings, but we were disappointed and all went to bed early. The rooms had small refrigerators and televisions as well as coffee makers.

We slept OK, except for the scratchy sheets and Clay claimed he heard numerous elk bugles that woke him up and then kept him up. I didn't hear anything and neither did Mom, though Judy said she heard them too without having her sleep disturbed by it. Since Clay and I both broke out with rashes here, we decided that the sheets and towels must still have detergent in them and that was why they felt scratchy to us.

Photos