Day 2 - Badlands

We left Brandon this morning around 8:40am and arrived at our final destination at 7:30 mountain time (8:30 central). Needless to say, we are all pretty tanked. The drive from Brandon to Rockerville (south of Rapid City) is only 5 hours, but we hit Badlands National Park on the way. 

Driving on 90 West in SD is fun, partly because it's really very pretty with the rolling hills and ranches and farms, but also because there are so many billboards advertising all kinds of places to stop. Wall Drug has at least 1,000 signs, but there are also other places like 1800 Town (We were suckered into stopping but did not pay the nearly $50 to walk around what is apparently an old movie set.) There is also the Corn Palace. Will said no to that one, but I think it would have been kind of neat. The whole outside is decorated with corn in mural fashion, and it changes yearly. Plus, it's free! One stop I was sad we couldn't make was to Laura Engalls Wilder's home. I saw a few signs for it, but it was a full hour north of 90, which seemed a bit too far, even though Little House on the Prairie is a big favorite of mine. 

One stop we did make was at the Minuteman Missile Historic Site. We just went to the visitor's center, which is essentially a museum devoted to the story of when there was a vast supply of nuclear misses, hidden in underground silos across the Great Plains. You can tour one of the silos, but we didn't have time. We looked around the museum, though, and the kids were actually somewhat interested. We talked to them about duck and cover drills and how Grandpa Jeff was in a submarine during the Cold War. I told Will we should at least be able to write off our mileage from today since he can talk about this stop in class. :)

The Minuteman stop was just north of where we turned off 90 to do the scenic route through Badlands NP. The loop basically does a half circle south of 90, and you end up back at 90, at Wall. It's 37 miles, winding through the northern part of the park. The badlands are pretty cool. We visited some badlands in Canada last summer, during our unexpected stay in Calgary. But these in SD are much more vast than anything we saw in Drumheller. The rock formations just go on and on, and they really make for some amazing vistas. 

Of course, both kids love climbing all over these formations, giving Will and I much anxiety (well, mostly Will). We did one trail but the heat made Will and Eleanor turn back fairly quickly. Ethan wanted to keep going and we came upon part of the trail where you had to go up a huge ladder built in the rocks with logs of wood and rope. People were coming down very slowly, and I didn't want to wait, but he said, "Mom, I HAVE to see what is at the top of that ladder. I can't leave until I see it." So up we went. We actually walked up a steep section next to the ladder. At the top, there were more rock formations. We had to go down via the ladder, which was a bit scary, but also pretty cool. We'd watched several others (including some grandparent types) come down, so I felt confident we could do it. I probably lost a pound of sweat on that hike, though, as did Ethan, so we went back to the car and drove to the visitor's center to cool off. 

At the center, we bought the National Park Badland's patch (we have a collection going), and Ethan bought a pin for his own collection. We also watched a movie about the area. (Typical story: white man wants something, so white man takes it. The Lakota Indians used to live all over the area, traveling with bison herds. Then homesteaders came, over-hunted the bison, took Indian land with help from government treaties that somehow kept taking more and more, etc. Indians forced into reservations and have to give up the way of live they had since long before the white man came. You know, the ugly kind of history we ignore. I digress...) From the visitor's center, we kept driving, stopping several times along the way to take in the sights. Ethan was mad when we wouldn't let him get too close to the edge of things - we're mean like that - and would have probably stayed climbing all day.

Once out of the park, you hit a wall: Wall, SD, that is! See what I did there? I'm crazy tired and slap happy. Wall is home to the world famous Wall Drug, which apparently is simply famous because everyone who goes there gets one of these green Wall Drug bumper stickers. It's essentially a big indoor mall with different stalls with things like art, jewelry, books, etc. There is even a small chapel. And it's full of kitschy stuff everywhere.  It's been in the same family for generations, though, and the story of how they have stayed in business basically from offering free ice water and five cent coffee. We took a couple pictures, walked around, and headed out. We drove another 40 minutes to Rapid City, where we found a nice little family restaurant for dinner. 3 of the 4 of us got breakfast while Will, who is the only person I know who doesn't love breakfast for dinner, opted for a burger. Then we hit the Target for a few odds and ends before driving on to Rockerville to our motel. 

We are here for two nights. It's a tiny room, reminiscent of our Banff Ave hotel, but it's clean. We broke out the air mattress tonight because the beds are doubles and I got beat up a bit by Eleanor sharing a queen last night. We had to rearrange some furniture to fit it, but Ethan is sawing logs to my right as I type. It was almost 9 here, which is like 10 to us, when we turned off the light. After a whole lot of hiking around in the heat today, both kids were exhausted and easily went to sleep. And now it's my turn.

Tomorrow we will see Rushmore and explore the Black Hills, which we are essentially in right now. And if we are still bored, we can always visit one of the dozen other MUST SEE sights we've seen advertised. Caves, monument adventure parks, Reptile Gardens, and even a drive-thru wildlife park. This area reminds us a bit like Gatlinburg in the Smokies. So much extra junk around a beautiful area. I'm sure the tourist money is so helpful, but it makes me sad that people can't just enjoy the natural fun.

Yellowstone Bound - Day 1

Wautoma, WI to Brandon, SD

We had an uneventful and easy drive today from the lake house to Brandon, SD, which is just over the border from Minnesota. We left the lake at 8:36 and got to our hotel at 3:26. With a 15 minute bathroom stop and 45 minutes at lunch (we had to go to 3 different places...), we made pretty good time. We like to keep our drives to around 6 hours, knowing that stops, construction, incidentals, etc. can make them much longer. Today, though, I almost wished we would have kept going a little further. But it was nice to get out of the car. 

Plus, the kids were very excited about our hotel, which has a water slide and small kiddie water park. The "waterpark" was a bit tired looking but the water slide was fun, and the kids played for over an hour. Then we took showers, grabbed some Subway and headed to the Big Sioux Recreation Area Will had read about. We paid our six bucks, got a map of some trails and headed in. Sadly, when we got out of the car, we were immediately attacked by mosquitos. Having left our repellent at the hotel, we had to abandon our hike and leave the rec area. Instead, we found a park at an elementary school and played there for a bit. We relaxed at the hotel for a bit before reading and bed time. Tomorrow, we head to the Rapid City area for two nights. We will explore the Badlands on the way and are staying close to Rushmore and the Black Hills. 

Day 14 - Until Next Time

The fact that it was our last day hung over our heads a bit today, but we were not deterred from some good exploring time. We slept until 8 this morning, when I forced myself to get up and get going, knowing that we wouldn't have time today to stay out the full day because we had to have time to pack. Once we were all dressed and fed, we set out for Johnston Canyon. I had read about this hike and knew it was a popular one.

We found out just how popular when we got there. We were able to get parking by 10:30, which seemed like a good sign. But once we were on the trail, there were people everywhere. The trail follows the Johnston Creek the whole way on your right. The trail, which is paved, is on the left and starts off wide enough, but shortly into it, you are up against the mountain side on a platform with a gate and railing on your right. It was totally safe, but there were a ton of people, which made it annoying. Normal hiking etiquette calls for you to walk on the right. If people want to pass, they can do so on the left. This hike was so crowded with people who seem to not do a lot of hiking, and they are stopping on narrow bridges to take pictures, or holding hands across the whole trail. Definitely annoying. On this hike, which was about 3 miles round trip, there is the lower falls first, followed by the upper falls. At the lower falls, you have the option to go into a tunnel and get right up near the falls. The kids and I waited, though Will opted out. In fact, he was so turned off by the crowds, he decided to turn around at that point and not do the upper falls. He was also very sore today from his run down the mountain yesterday. Ethan wanted to keep going, though, and Eleanor wanted to stay with us, so we went ahead. 

Luckily, a lot of people turned around at the lower falls, so the upper falls trail was less crowded. It was up higher (hence, upper falls), so some good elevation gain. When we got to the upper falls, you can go down some stairs and then out on this platform to see the falls a bit a better. You have to wait in line while people take their pictures and turn back around so you can get closer. It wasn't too long of a line, though, and someone took our picture with the falls in the background. Then, we did another .3 K climb to see the falls from the very top, which was a neat view. The churning water at the bottom always looks like such a good mix of fun and terror. 

We made our way back down the trail, remembering the crowds and doing our best not to knock into people taking up too much space in the narrow parts. On our way at some point, some rescue workers were bringing a stretcher through. Will said he heard a woman scolding her husband for being late and he said he had to stop to help someone who had fallen over the railing. We didn't see any kind of commotion, so not sure where it happened. After we left and we're doing another small hike, we saw and heard a helicopter go by with a stretcher attached. It came by a few times, so now we are really curious about what had happened. It would not have been easy to go over the railing, unless you were trying to. Or you were pushed....hmmmm. Either way, hope the person is okay.

After Johnston Canyon, we drove a little ways down the road to Moose Meadows and had lunch. We started off on that trail afterwards, but it was a long one to a lake, so we just went up a ways and then came back down.  Then we tried another trail, but it was also too long to do the whole things. So we came back down after a ways and the kids played a bit at a bridge with a small creek. We continued on the little road we were on and ended up passing the Continental Divide. We got out and took some obligatory pictures, and Will had a little geography lesson with the kids. 

We knew there were some things to do right outside of downtown, so we came back to the village. We crossed over the Bow River and went up towards Sulfur Mountain to check that out as well as the hot springs near there. We opted out of the gondola at Sulfur Mountain since we just did one yesterday. You can hike all the way to the top, but it takes about 3 hours one way. The kids are great hikers, and we've put in some major mileage, but that would be a bit much. We will have to do it next time. I know if we told Ethan about it, he would have wanted to do it. He loves going high up. Instead, we went to check out the hot springs. Sadly, they were a bit disappointing. They pump all the hot spring water into what looks like a small, outdoor hotel pool. We were picturing natural rocks and such. They wanted like $25 for us to go in. The kids wanted to, of course, but having to deal with wet suits, no towels, etc. wasn't appealing to Will and I. Plus, we knew they couldn't stay in it for long since it's a hot tub. They saw it like a pool but it's not like they could jump in and do cannonballs and stuff. People were all along the sides, half in and half out. Down a ways from the hot springs pool, though, was an actual round hole filled with the hot spring water. So the kids took their shoes off there and soaked a bit. That seemed a lot better than what looks like a chlorinated pool!

After the hot springs, we drove back down by the river and stopped off at this amazing garden behind the Canadian Parks administrative building. The building itself, all large brick, was beautiful, and this garden was incredible. It was a large, tiered area with water features and all kind of different colorful flowers. There were flowers I'd never seen before in my life.  One kind we all liked was some kind of daisy. It sort of looks like a gerbera daisy, but with smaller, thinner petals, and like 30 of them. There is a white bullseye in the middle and vibrant pinks and purples on the outer petal. We toured the garden a bit and then found a spot along the Bow River, hoping to let the kids at least wade in it. As we got to the shore, though, we realized it was a mud bottom, and it was going to be way too messy to let them go in (we have to return our rental car tomorrow!). Plus, the mosquitos were all of a sudden really terrible by the water, so we got out of there pretty quickly. I had bug spray on from earlier but probably sustained 5 bites there. No fun.

Since it was after 4 at this point, we decided to go back to the hotel to have a snack and do some packing. Really, it was for the kids to have a snack/relax while I did some packing, of course. We've been living out of a suitcase for two weeks now and going from place to place we don't have to necessarily have everything in it's rightful place. But because we fly tomorrow, I have to get everything back in the suitcases and pack the backpacks for each person. I got a good amount done, but we are going to have to get up early to finish and get out the door. We hope to leave by 9 to make sure we are at the Calgary airport by 11. Our flight is at 1:40, so we should be good to go if we stick to that schedule. 

Dinner was at a Greek place, no frills, that has won best burger in town and other awards from Calgary even. The owner is an old, cranky Greek man, so naturally I loved him. Ethan and I shared a burger, and I got a Greek salad, and we all shared poutine since I'd been wanting to get it while in Canada. If you don't know, poutine is French fries with melted cheese curds and a gravy on it. It's as savory as it sounds. Good, certainly, but also terribly salty (I've been downing water all night), and not something I need to get anytime soon. But I'm glad I experienced it. After dinner, we did some souvenir shopping before retiring for the night. 

I'm sad that after tomorrow morning, I won't be waking up to see mountains out my window. But we are all ready to be home, in our own space, and not sleeping in the same room! After a near perfect first half, we certainly had a setback on this trip. But it worked itself out. Since we got to Banff, I've thought very little about what we missed out on (Ethan and Eleanor are still sad we didn't get the bunk beds in the condo), and just thought how glad I am we got here at all. We didn't missed out on 2.5 more days of exploring, and we had to take some things off the list. But now that we have been in the area, we know what we will for sure want to see next time, what we can skip, and where we might like to stay. It will be a while before we return since there are other places we will go first, but we will come back. We have to come back, if only to see a bear, which we were so sure we would see! 

Day 13 - Tired, Happy Feet

I was thinking today that I'm sad that my pictures of this place won't do it justice. Glacier, too. I can take pictures of only one small part of the place at once. Sure, I can cover many miles of mountains with my lens, but it's not enough. Taken as a whole, the scenery we have been around for most of this trip (sans Calgary...blah!) has been truly magnificent. I love when we turn a corner on a hike and are struck with a new vista, maybe of the same mountain peak, but with slightly different surroundings. I will take 20 pictures of the same area, trying to capture all the beauty I see. I just can't get enough. But, after tomorrow, I have no choice, I guess, so I've just been soaking it all in. 

Today, we visited Lake Louise. We intended to get up somewhat early and go since we knew the parking lot would be filled by 9 and it's about a 40 minute drive up the Trans-Canada Hwy. I remember looking at the clock at 6 and thinking I should think about getting up. But after a night of being ninja kicked and punched by Eleanor, I went back to sleep. The next time I looked at the clock, it was 8. Oops. We had a breakfast of muffins and yogurt in our room, got dressed, and hit the road. Our first attempt at parking at Lake Louise failed, so we were going to go back to an area to take a shuttle, but then we noticed signs for the gondola, which Will (yes, Will) wanted to do. It is on a ski mountain behind Lake Louise. Will bought tickets for us as well as a guided Bear hike at the top. Will, of course, took the closed gondola (and Eleanor joined him), while Ethan and I opted for the open ski lift. This lift went even higher than the one at Whitefish Mountain, but I think I'm getting used to them because I didn't have anxiety. We looked for bears the whole time because there were a lot of signs about this being the best place to spot them. No luck! 

At the top, we took in some views of Lake Louise  from up high, as well as the Canadian Rockies in general. The tops of the mountains are all so different, some tree lined, others rocky, some pointed, some flat, some with snow/glaciers, some bare. It was a fairly cloudy day, so the tops of some mountains were in the clouds, but it was still amazing. Our bear hike, which I thought was some kind of guarantee to see a bear, ended up simply being a short hike with some stops along the way to talk about bears. We did get to see freshly planted bear scat (our guide has to go out scouting to collect it to show) and some other neat things. And, we learned some interesting tidbits. For one, did you know that mama bears give birth during their hibernation period, around New Years? And guess how big the babies are? About a pound! That's it! Anthony the guide showed us pictures. Baby bears come out looking like hairless moles. Then the baby feeds on mom while she is in and out of consciousness during hibernation and is about 3 or 4 months old come spring. Then they can fend for themselves a bit more, though still rely on mom. Kinda neat. So mama bear kinda gets to sleep through the hardest part! 

Interestingly, the whole area of the ski lift and up at the top is surrounded by an electric fence to keep bears away. We had to go out of the area for our hike and also for a hike we did after our bear walk. There is a restaurant up there and they have a ton of tourists around, so I guess it's a precaution they take. Our guide said that in the spring, he was giving a talk inside the gates but, because there was still snow on the ground, the gates couldn't be turned on. He all of a sudden got a call on the radio that a big grizzly was coming his way. He said he wasn't nervous because he had a group of 20 people with him. So when the bear came up, Anthony started making noise but everyone else just took out their cameras. Luckily, even though he was the only one acting "big" and being loud, the bear ran back the other way. He pretty much told us to handle a bear encounter the same way the ranger in Glacier did. Make noise, try to look big, don't run, use bear spray as last resort, and if he charges lay on your belly with your hands on your head. He said in extremely rare cases, the bear will fake charge at you but mostly won't want to expend the calories it would take to fight you. They are lazy about their eating and just want to get berries they can just walk right up to and eat. They are one of few species that can smell frozen meat and will sometimes eat an animal that has died and been refrigerated under the snow. But they are not big hunters, it seems. 

Anyway, after our guided hike, we left the protected area to go further up the mountain. Holy moly was that hike steep. We were on a road for most of it, so not narrow, but we were at a pretty decent incline. We got up pretty dang far, but as it started to drizzle, we decided we better go down so as not to get caught in a storm on the mountain. We did use an obliging rock and the timer on my camera to get a family pic from so high up. Lake Louise is a tiny green blob on the background. From there, we went back down in the gondola. This time, poor Will rode alone, since both kids wanted to be in the open chair. This time, we were facing Lake Louise way below, so it was just an amazingly beautiful ride. But, again, no bear sightings. Oh well.

Back on the ground, we drove back to Lake Louise, but this time stopped off in the Lake Louise Village, a short drive down the road. We got lucky with a parking spot and planned to take the free shuttle from there since we knew the parking lot at the lake would likely be filled. We stopped for a snack at a deli, (pbj sandwiches only carry so long), where Ethan got a pineapple and Canadian bacon slice of pizza, and Eleanor and I shared a chicken mulagatawni soup. Honestly, I had no idea what that was and have only heard of it on Seinfeld. I didn't know that it had Indian curry flavors. It was delicious! And luckily Eleanor thought so too. I'm glad to know she liked it because I've got a butter chicken and chicken tikka masala recipe I'd love to use. Will's snack was a big peanut butter cookie. 

The shuttle dropped us off at Lake Louise. The Chateau Lake Louise (owned by fairmount hotels I think) is right there and a beautiful building. The lake itself looks just like the pictures I've seen, milky emerald. It was so pretty but also crowded with a billion tourists taking selfies. It was hard to get a picture without people in it. You can rent these red canoes, so there were a ton of those floating around, and the color contrast is neat. After enjoying the view for a bit, we started up on one of the two tea house trails. We had been told by a guy in Glacier not to miss it. Basically, these Swiss guys opened the tea houses for hikers back in the 20s, I think, and they are still operational. This was another steep hike, and went pretty far up the mountain. There was one place where you got a pretty good view of part of Lake Louise, but for the most part you were surrounded by trees. Toward the top, we got a look at Mirror Lake, a small but very pretty, glass-like lake, and then some falls. Then, at the base of the tea house was another lake, larger and with glacier filled mountains flanking it: Lake Agnes. The tea house itself was a log cabin. We went up to it, but the signs said they closed at 5. It was almost 5:30. People were still crowded inside, but I didn't want to be responsible for keeping the poor workers, who have to hike down, from closing up shop. Will left at this point because the last shuttle back to our car left at 6pm. If we missed the shuttle, he was going to have a pretty long walk to our car. I stayed behind with the kids, but we left shortly after. The way up had taken over an hour. Will said he was down in 22 minutes. That's how uphill it was. When we looked down at the Chateau from the top, it was crazy to think we had hiked so far up. Going down was hard on the legs, though, that's for sure. By the time we got down, we all had sore feet. Will had made it on to the shuttle, thankfully, and was able to pick us up. We had failed to get a family picture in front of the lake, but we were all too tired to walk back to the lake to get someone to do it. So we drove out of there. 

I could do this drive all day. It's not typical national park driving with winding roads. The main highway is 4 lanes with a large bank in the middle. You are just surrounded on all sides by mountains. I love it! Will and I were saying that this was definitely not what we saw last Tuesday driving through. So happy the smoke has cleared and we can take it all in.  One neat thing is that they have fences all along the highway to protect wildlife. But there are, I think, 6 bridges for the animals built along the highway. So the cars go under a tunnel and then the top is a tree and grass lined "road" for animals to cross. They also have something like 15 underpasses for animals, too, so they can get from one side to the other safely. I took a picture of the animal highways. 

Back in Banff, we parked and then went to find dinner. Tonight, we chose a place we've walked past several times that was very intriguing. It is a crepe and waffle place. They have sweet and savory options. Will got the vegetarian (with chicken, so not so vegetarian), I got bacon and maple, Ethan got Nutella, strawberry, and banana, and Eleanor got pancakes with strawberries and bananas. Success! 

Back in our tiny room, it was shower night for the kids, who are filthy, and us parents. Now, they are passed out. We broke out the camp pad for Eleanor tonight, as Will and I both wanted our bruises to heal from last night. Eleanor can be a very violent sleeper! We will, no doubt, make the most of our last day here. I will not want to leave here, of course, especially with so much left unseen, but I think we will all be happy to get back home. It's always good to get home after a long trip. 

Day 12 - Glorious Mountains

So, shortly after Will came home from the clinic last night, I asked if we were going to for sure go into Banff tomorrow, and he said, "let's find a place to stay there the next few nights. Praise! Then began the task of finding a reasonably priced lodging during the high season for three nights (over a weekend=more expensive we now know...). There were not a ton of options when you searched online, and most were well over $250, if not $400, per night. Some were even more. A condo in the same place we originally were staying were $350 a night. We were paying around $700 for 6 nights! Long story short, Will called a lot of places and struck out a ton. Finally, he booked a room via Priceline at the King Edward Hotel. But when the confirmation came in, it said for only two adults. We knew from our phone calls that most of their rooms were just one King or one queen bed, which would be quite tight. Will's plan was to try to sneak our kids in and just squeeze no matter what. We went to an outdoor store and bought a camp pad even. Now, I tend to be more of the "better to ask forgiveness than permission" kind of person, and I urged Will to tell them the truth, that Priceline hadn't asked for number of people and when we tried to cancel it said it was going to have to charge us for two nights. Then, I said, give them our sob story and hope they take pity. I really did not want to try to sneak our kids into a tiny room and get caught and then have to pay big fees. So...Will quickly realized in the tiny lobby that we wouldn't be able to hide our kids, so he told them (most of) the truth. First, they wanted us to pay for the family room, which was astronomical, but then they agreed to let us stay in the one room and offered a cot. So, I am typing on the side of the queen bed, Eleanor is asleep in the middle of the bed, and Ethan is on the other side of the bed on a cot. Currently, Will is reading on the floor at the end of the bed. This will be a fun experiment! 

Honestly, though, I could care less how/where I sleep at this point because we are actually here! And here is right smack dab in the middle of Banff. Originally, we were to stay two towns over, about a 25 minute drive from Banff. It would have been just fine, and I surely wouldn't have minded the space. But now that we only have a couple of days, being even closer is better. And since we have no room here, we will be motivated to stay away all of the day and just be here to sleep anyway. Ethan is probably the most down about this hotel (he really loved the breakfast at our last one...this one doesn't even have a breakfast), but I keep telling him we will hardly be here. It's clean, the shower is good, and we are in Banff. I'm a happy camper. And, actually, we remarked that my tent might be larger than our room. Will and I said our house will seem really huge when we get home! 

This hotel is right on Banff Avenue in downtown Banff. The city is crowded! There are people everywhere on the streets. It reminds me of Park City, UT or someplace like that (Tahoe or Vail, I guess) where it's pretty high end and full of art galleries, fancy stores, restaurants, etc. What's so amazing is that you are literally in the middle of all the mountains. You are walking down this very urban street but you look up and see mountains everywhere. So cool! 

We arrived by 2 or so and ate some sandwiches I had made that morning. Then, we packed up and headed out to explore a bit. Since we are right in the park already, there is a lot to do a very short drive away. We went looking for Lake Minnewanka.                                    but, along the way, stopped off at another, smaller lake called Lake Johnson, I believe. It was all very pretty. And we wanted to hike around the whole lake, but Will realized he had left the bear spray in our room. There were several warnings about bears in the area because of berry season, so we went a little ways in, making lots of noise, and then turned back around. 

Then we drove to find Lake Minnewanka. It has a large dock with some tour boats and small canoes and row boats you can rent. I guess this is the only lake in the park you can bring your own boat into, as well, which we find a bit odd. It is fine to see tour boats and small non-motor craft, but seeing other boats takes away from it a bit. Luckily, there weren't many out and about. Ethan really liked hiking close to the lake because it was very rocky and he likes to feel like he is really doing harder climbs. We found some rocky shoreline with a bunch of trees stacked up like a shelter and the kids spent time playing with rocks. Eleanor opened up a "rock store," from which Ethan would buy rocks for skipping. She had the most fun and asked Ethan later how he would rate her store: awesome, the worst, epic, or terrible. He rated it epic, which made her quite happy. She plans to open the store back up again tomorrow. Ethan, like his dad, is kind of amazing at skipping rocks. I have never been able to skip a rock more than twice, but Ethan, no joke, had several that skipped 10-15 times. He's a natural! 

We hung around a bit, took a lot of pictures, and then had a short drive back to town. Then came the search for a meal that didn't completely break the bank. If you're reading this, you know we do these trips with very few meals out. We stay great places, do awesome things, and save by making our own meals. So these next few days will be hard for Will! We finally settled on this Spaghetti Warehouse, and I think we chose well. The pasta dishes were between $10 and $15, and you got bread, soup or salad, and ice cream with every meal. Not bad! And, honestly, the food was pretty good. I got spaghetti in a spicy meat sauce, and it did not taste like typical, mass produced sauce. We had two wait about 40 minutes for a table, and now I know why. Good price and tasty! 

After dinner, we hit the IGA for some breakfast things and more bread so we can make sandwiches to take on our hikes tomorrow. We will go to Lake Louise tomorrow, which is about a 40 minute drive, so not bad at all. We've been told to do at least one of the two tea house hikes there. You actually hike to tea houses that opened years ago and are still operational. All supplies are hiked in. 

So, there was certainly a several day blip of unpleasantness on this trip. I am still disappointed that we won't be able to do all we wanted to originally, but I think this trip will help us know what we might want to do and see on a return trip someday. At the very least, I'm just glad we didn't spend 5 days in Calgary, wasting away. I'm grateful that the smoke has cleared (our waiter confirmed it was awful for several days), and that we were able to get back. And, Will just said his leg is slowly starting to feel better...just in time to get back into use! 

Day 11 - Kinda Low

Today was hard for me, not going to lie. Started off well enough with some extra sleep and then a good breakfast. At breakfast, though, Will told me he didn't, in fact, want to drive to Banff today. He'd read an article about air quality in the Calgary paper that morning. I was more than a bit disappointed. I read the article he had, which spoke of air quality levels comparable to Beijing. I reminded Will that we walked around Beijing for days many years ago, when the air was even worse. The article ended by saying the danger was greatest for the very young (I assume babies) and the old or anyone with major breathing problems. We do not seem to fall into these categories. I know Will is being cautious and protective for all the right reasons, but I am starting to think we might have made the wrong decision to cancel our stay. I have spoken to many locals about how we were supposed to be in Banff but cancelled. They all seem a bit perplexed by this when I mention the smoky air. 

We drove through it Monday. The smoke was visible. You could smell it. So it's not like we were delusional about that. But I'm wondering if we could have gone places where it wasn't as prominent. Today, my friend Susie (loyal blog reader extraordinaire) texted links to pictures of live web cams in the NP. The one from the Banff gondola surely had some smoky skies, but the one of Lake Louise definitely looked pretty clear. It made me very sad to see these places I've been dying to see and think that we made the wrong choice. I immediately texted the owner of our condo to see if he would consider renting to us the next three nights we have. He responded that unfortunately it had been rented right after we cancelled. This kills me! So...tons of people are clearly in the area. And someone is staying in OUR condo! I did a quick check on Expedia only to find that, of maybe 5 or 6 available places, every single one is at least $250 a night, which is just too much for us. 

So, anyway, to fill the day, we drove an hour and 45 minutes northeast to Drumheller, AB: home of the Royal Tyrell Dinosaur Museum. On the way, the kids were being very whiny and difficult. Will was losing his cool, and I was trying really hard not to cry, and not always succeeding. Finally, we put on the Hamilton soundtrack to keep the kids happy, and the drive was a bit smoother from there. The drive there, though not through the Rockies, is pretty because a lot of the farms have these crops with yellow flowers. I believe they are canola plants. The farms are pretty with rolling hills of yellow everywhere. Then, when you get to Drumheller, the landscape completely changes, and you are all of a sudden in badlands. It is very dry and not very colorful, but a neat, new view of the country. Drumheller is famous for its dinosaur museum, and the entire town has capitalized on this Dino theme. As you drive through on the way to the museum, a lot of the businesses have dinosaurs tied into their decor or signage. A bit kitschy. Oh, and while my dad will kill me when he hears, I did see a small Star Trek museum, but we didn't stop. 

The dino museum itself is fine. It's mostly just fossils behind glass and a lot of either casted or original dinosaur bone reconstructions. I was not in a great frame of mind to enjoy it, honestly, but I did my best. The best part was a section where actual people were working behind glass on real Dino bone projects. And there was even a young woman behind a desk in the open, working on reconstructing a dinosaur jaw. She'd taken it out of it's "shell" (the put them in a plaster cast to transport) and was cleaning it up with a tiny scalpel, toothbrush, etc. Eleanor and I watched her for quite a bit and asked some questions. After seeing the exhibits, Ethan and I did a short hike in the badlands adjacent to the museum. He got to do some climbing, and we took some neat pictures. Admittedly, it was the happiest I've been in 3 days. I was outside, I was hiking, and I was seeing new things outdoors. This indoor life has been killing me the past couple of days. Will and Eleanor stayed back - Will because of his leg bothering him (more on that to come) and Eleanor because she wanted to play in a play area attached to the museum. We left for Calgary around 5:30 or so, listening to a few chapters of Mary Poppins on the way. 

When we got back to the hotel, I ordered a pizza from Dominos (next door) and Will left for the health clinic. He wasn't going to go but I told him he had to. He has been complaining about it for days, it feels hot to the touch and is bothering him a lot, and I would rather know for sure if it is anything serious! Finally, I threatened to call his sister, and that seemed to do the trick. :) I texted a bit ago and he wrote back to say it's infected. He didn't say exactly what "it" is but I'm still assuming spider bite. He will have to take medication four times a day. And he said it may cause stomach upset. I told him all antibiotics say that but, knowing Will and his weak stomach, it will cause it, so I told him to get a decent probiotic to take while he's on it. It's 9:30 here, and he isn't home. I'm assuming he's waiting for the meds now or on his way home. 

Because I truly am an optimist, I have to believe that we will see some beauty tomorrow, and hopefully the next couple of days. This can never be the trip I had planned, but we can hopefully knock off some of the sights I've been so looking forward to seeing, especially Lake Louise. I think the Columbia Icefields will be too far away, as I believe they are two hours away from Banff and that was already going to be a long day when we planned to stay in the area. If I get to spend any reasonable amount of time in the Canadian Rockies, I will be a happy girl. Oh, and we still haven't seen a bear, so that would be nice, too. 

After a long, somewhat sad with some bright spots day, I go to bed a bit hopeful for a good tomorrow. 

P.S. Will just returned. The doctor said it was good he came in. Without treatment, it could have turned much worse.  

Day 10 - Still can't believe we're not in the mountains, but what are you gonna do, eh?

Since the last two posts have been so negative, I'm going to start with a lists of positives so that no one thinks I'm going to throw myself off a mountain (but wait, we're not in the mountains...oh man!). So here is a list of positives:

1. We can sleep in a bit here. This morning, we slept until 8 am, other than Ethan of course, but at least he left us alone until then. This feels nice after our early "up and at 'em" departures in Glacier.

2. Our hotel has a bitchin' free breakfast. It's big and has a lot of hot and fresh options. The kids are suckers for good hotel breakfasts, as am I. And I don't have to do the dishes after.

3. We had authentic Schwarma today, as well as other Mediterranean dishes at a place I found on Google maps voted best food under $10 in Calgary. It wasn't all under 10, but it was a good meal. Ethan and Will got samoas and tabouli, I got a lamb pita, and Eleanor got a bowl of shaved lamb because, well, she's Eleanor. And we had pistachio baklava for dessert. 

4. The kids had fun today. We found a "leisure center," which seems to be like a community center. But this one has an indoor water park complete with a large wave pool, and 4 or 5 water slides. These places are sort of my nightmare, but the kids had a blast so worth it. And it was only $27 for our whole family, which seemed crazy. Will got to go to their nice fitness center, too, while I fended for my life, and those of my kids', in the wave pool. The festivities took a dive (see what I did there?) when someone found doodie in the pool and they closed down for a bit, but we persevered. 

5. We haven't watched a lot of tv here at all, so we are kind of enjoying the break from Trump. Sure, we are seeing the headlines on social media (still a moron, blah, blah, blah), but it's good to not feel like it's all we hear and see. Will was reading a Canadian newspaper this morning and said it was so interesting to read the stories from the Canadian perspective. 

So, see, it's not all gloom and doom. Do I every few minutes think about what we're supposed to be doing instead of tooling around Calgary looking for inexpensive ways to keep our kids busy? Do I think about the beautiful, new condo we had booked, the one with a separate bedroom for Will and I, a room with bunk beds for the kids, a beautiful kitchen, and a cozy living room? Nah. Just kidding. I definitely do. But I'm no longer on the verge of tears every time I remember. 

We walked across the busy road (at an intersection of course) today and found a library in a quaint neighborhood. We spend some time in the library and then found a little outdoor fitness area with machines built into the ground. The kids enjoyed tooling around on the equipment. Then we walked to the most depressing mall I've ever seen. But, it did have a bookstore, as we needed to find books for Eleanor to read since she read the ones we brought. A couple of chapter books later, we were on our way. It was funny to finally have to pay attention to the CAD price on the back of a book. 

For lunch, Eleanor got a salad at subway in the food court, Ethan chose a croissant from Tim Horton's, and I got an Orange Julius because you never see them by us and they remind me of our childhood trips to California. Will and I ate some of the food we still have back at the hotel. Not sure what we will do with some of it. We have two packages of chicken sausage and a small bag of potatoes we planned to use in foil dinners. Maybe we just find a park with a bbq? (I just read this paragraph back and thought, who cares what we all ate for lunch? Is this what this trip has come to? I need to give details of our lunch habits to fill space? I'm leaving it because it seems to go with the theme of the week so far: sad. Plus, you already heard about our breakfast and dinner, and I am nothing if not thorough.)

It wouldn't really be a ruined vacation blog post without a little negative, though, so here goes:

1. We are not in Banff. We plan to go tomorrow, at least to Banff town and maybe on a short hike, depending on how bad the air is. Praying for a miracle.

2. Will had some kind of bite on his leg that is really bothering him. I got nervous it was a tick but have been talked off the ledge. But it's red, and hot, and irritated, so he is going to try to go to a health clinic tomorrow morning. He didn't make it there before it closed tonight. Thinking it's a spider bite. But he said it hurts enough that he doesn't think he could even do much hiking. 

3. We are not in Banff. 

4. They do not sell wine in grocery stores here. 

5. We are not in Banff. Oh, did I mention this?