BANFF Canada - Day Two (Patty and Lisa) -- Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Lisa passed the test!!!!  She slept through the massive freight train of snoring and I slept through her talking in her sleep.  Although when I was younger, I'd try to get her into a conversation.  Now that I'm older I just want to sleep.  We had left the curtains up so I think we woke up somewhat early - like 7 or so.  We needed to be to the bus by 9 for the Banff Signtseeing Tour with Gondola Ride.

It was very cloudy and threatening rain, but nevertheless it was beautiful surroundings.  We got showered and downstairs for breakfast.  They ask you if you would like to sit by yourselves or with other Hunter Douglas participants.  I actually think I said by ourselves - however we were on a bit of a time crunch.  We were seated with a married couple (with Hunter Douglas).

The breakfast buffet line was similar to what you would see on a cruise ship.  It was unbelievable.  I had an egg white omelet and a small portion of oatmeal - but you could have gone crazy.  Very impressive.

We made it to our tour bus and we were seated way in the back of the bus.  What I didn't realize - although every piece of information stated it - was that this was a Banff sightseeing tour AS WELL AS Gondola Ride.  We toured Bnaff for about two hours.  Our tour guide told us many interesting facts about Banff like they have a "need to reside" rule.  You have to work in Banff to live in Banff.  You cannot come to Banff to retire.  You have to have worked in Banff for like 30 years or something.  You also could not be buried in Banff unless you had lived in Banff for like 30 years or something.  I noticed that the hotel workers and the tour guides were all young adults from many different countries.  Again it reminded me of the cruise ship employees.  We were meeting people from all over the world.

As you can see it was wet and cloudy.

At this first stop we could see our hotel.  The hotel was built in the 1800s for the influx of railroad workers.

When we had got on the bus, Lisa recognized two men that she had met on a previous Hunter Douglas trip.  She was so excited to see them.  They had started their business from scratch and were now doing over a million dollars in sales each year.  I believe they said they had 3 locations now.  Here is a picture of Lisa nad I and Lisa and her two friends.

Banff Day Two

Banff Day Two

Next stop was to tell us about "Hoo-Doo's."  I couldn't help but sing Christina Perri's song - "Who do you think you are?"

What the heck is a Hoodoo?

Hoodoo

View

Our tour guide shared a story with us on this "gloomy" day where the expected gondola ride to the top of the mountain was probably not going to show us anything but clouds.  He said it was a July day and July days are supposed to be sunny.  They were stopped for a photo opportunity and this particular day was overcast and cold.  All of a sudden it began to snow.  The tour director noticed an older woman was crying and he walked over to her to make sure she was okay.  Many people were disappointed about the weather that day and he wasn't sure what was up with this lady.  She said to him, "I am 85 years old and in all of my life, I have never seen snow.  I have always wanted to see snow and now it is snowing.  I am soooo blessed."   His "take away" was WOW - what a different perspective.  We are all in charge of our perspectives.  If we are not happy, we can change our perspective.  He said this in light of the gloomy weather day we were having and the trip on the Gondola that could very well not show us any views whatsoever.  

This blessed Lisa and I a lot and we worked on our "perspective" the entire trip.  The group was given the option to go back to the hotel or continue on to the gondola.  Some opted for the hotel.  We went on to the Gondola.  We had very little time at the top once we waited in line to go up and waited in line to come down.  But we had fun with each other.  We saw shoes trhown on pine trees on the way up.  We asked at the top about this and they said last summer some kids had done this.  At home this would have been a gang sign - but not here.  The pictures to follow are of the Gondola ride, the Starbucks at the bottom, the gondola on the way up, a "facts" sign, and the non-existent view.  At the top Lisa and I saw a man in line to come down struggling to breathe and struggling to stand.  We quickly offered our position in line (we were second in line) to this man and his companion.  The people in front of us saw what we were doing and offered him their position.  So that was neat to see the need and be able to meet the need.  I'm sure the elevation didin't help his breathing and when he got to the bottom, he would be better.

Add caption

Smile, we're going to take your photo.

Technical Data

Flags from all over at the top of the gondola.

You think?

Uhhhh, the view?

When we got back to the hotel, we asked around for some restaurant recommendatoins.  We took a cab into town and ate at a place called Earls.  We found out that we both liked Sushi.  After we ate, we strolled the streets of Banff and we even walked back to the Hotel.  Many, many steps for us!

Our walk in town / Rock * Paper * Silver (Clever)

Lisa's new sweater (from Jess)

Sushi at Earls

They ware Wash Rooms not rest rooms.

Wash room at Earls - the His had a Ken dall hanging in a case.

Clam Chowder and Salad -  delicious! at Earls

After our walk back to the hotel we honestly didn't have much time until the Welcome Dinner hosted by Hunter Douglas.  We had found out that we would be bussed to the location.  My need for control had me a little nervous about this.  What if we want to come home?, I wondered.  

At about 6 we got on a bus and were bussed to a unique location.  We were greeted by children playing their violins for us as we walked through their pathway.  It was a great location with a Western theme and a great barbeque supper.  We had met a couple Pam and Mike (actually I'm not sure if his name was Mike, but I remembered Pam because one of my best friends from college is Pam.)  They sat with us at supper.  It was a little uncomfortable as they were picnic tables with "fixed" benches, but it was really nice and really fun.  

A fire inside

The table decorations

The buffett line

The view outside

A picture of a picture (lol) so it would look like a clear day

A picture of a picture.

Parked at the Gondola - it goes up to the glaciers?

The view when we were walking home from lunch.

The view outside

We stayed up late again because it didn't get dark until 10:30 but when our heads did hit the pillows, we were out.  Not so much talking to me in her sleep tonight.