Rust is an iron oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water. It also is formed when you haven’t traveled in a bit and are a bit slow on the pick-up.
The original plan for our latest Canada excursion was to leave on Thursday night, but due to a plane issue, we were shuffled onto a plane on Friday. Not a huge ordeal as we were home and hadn’t left for Los Angeles. The newly scheduled plane left at 11 am so that did require us to get up early. We left, hit no traffic, parked, and were at LAX in no time.
We made it through security and then we hit our first hiccup. Grant turns to me and goes “Do you have my passport?” Nope. I did remember to make sure he packed it, but I did not remember to tell him to check once we left the car. I went to grab food and he left to catch a bus back to the car.
***This is the only time I am allowed to bring this up. As a compromise, I will not tease him about being an old man and forgetting his passport and he is not allowed to tease me about being an old man and getting to the airport super early.***
With the flight being canceled last night, the crew was itching to go home to Calgary, Canada early. After 30 minutes, I called Grant to see what his progress was. He was on the bus back to the car still. What! LAX is a mess and evidently, the first few buses passed him. He finally got on a sister bus and had to take the long horseshoe around as our gate was Terminal 1. Right after the call— the gate agent goes on the loudspeaker stating that we are going to try and get out early due to the cancelation. Eww…that’s not good. Not even five minutes later the plane begins to board early. I feverishly text Grant to hurry! What made this especially problematic was that Terminal 1 has a strange annex that requires you to go through security, get on a bus that zips through planes lining up for take-off, and park at the annex.
Eventually, they make an announcement “Last call.” I slowly make my way over trying to draw it out as slowly as possible. I tell the agent that my friend is at security right now and will be here shortly. She was not pleased. I get on the plane and am trying to get an update from Grant. He lets me know he is on the way back and will arrive at security shortly. Phew! I tell the flight attendant the situation and she says that it should be fine. She relays the message to the gate agent again, which I am sure she was pleased to hear. Grant cuts through security, hops on the bus, and somehow makes it on the plane. Not sure how he did it, but he does! Woohoo. No solo trip for me.
The plane is fairly empty and uneventful. This was our first time on Lynx Air. Dirt-price flights to Canada, but they offered nothing. They did not even offer snacks or beverages for sale. This was the first time we experienced a “referral” to another business. Before we even boarded the plane, Lynx Air sent an email stating there is nothing on board and to buy drinks and snacks from other businesses before we get on the plane. Super strange! The flight attendants did come around with water so that was something, I guess.
The Calgary airport is very spacious, new, clean, and easy to navigate. We found Alamo easily and they gave us an upgrade for our rental car. We have learned to book the cheapest because they always have an upgrade. If they don’t— you still got the cheapest car.
And we were off! Calgary, Canmore, Banff…here we come. It was 4 pm Canada time (also known as Mountain time zone) and we were famished. As we drove into Calgary, we stumbled upon Crossroads Market. Not knowing what it was— we stopped and started snacking. Plants, food vendors, comic sellers, Alpaka hair sellers…name something and they probably had it. We grabbed a pretzel, lemonade, cookies, and some yummy Indian food. Grant wanted tea, but the shops we went to didn’t have any. When he asked for it, they would refer him to a different “tea vendor.” We wanted to save room for an actual meal, but we were already pretty full.
The main drag of Calgary was 17th Ave & The Entertainment District. A fun street with cute shops and food. We stopped at The Big Cheese Poutine and grabbed the Canadian classic. Fries, gravy, cheese curds, bacon…Grant had Mac-and-Cheese…you can’t go wrong with that assortment. The problem was that our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. After a few bites, we couldn’t take anymore.
I wanted to explore Calgary, but Grant was set on heading out immediately for Banff. Grant was right. We have been to “pretty” places before and have been a bit bored. This was my hesitation in leaving the big city, but I am glad Grant forced me to.
When you first get out of Calgary, you are quickly questioning if you are going in the right direction. It’s flat and very farm oriented. A place known for its mountains— it was concerning. However, about 45 minutes outside of Calgary the beauty starts to shine. I kept making Grant take photos, but the beauty is further in. About an hour in— we made it to the first city worth exploring, Canmore.
A ski town out of a Hallmark movie, this charming town offers everything you can want in a small town. Shops, food, sweet locals, and a small-town grocery store were a perfect introduction to this region. Any grocery store where I can get marinated feta and a muffuletta, while Grant can get chocolate and Turkish Delight is high on my list of must-return places.
If Canmore is a ski town out of a Hallmark Movie, then Banff is a ski town in a Michael Bay movie. Over the top and beautiful. We drove the rest of the way to Banff and were mesmerized by the picturesque views. The turn-off for our hotel had the most spectacular view. People got out of their cars, grabbed their camping chairs, and just started at the beauty.
We eventually checked into our basement hotel room. Having had our last three flights canceled or changed and losing out on the last three hotel rooms ($$$$)— we decided to book last minute in case of another flight-related issue. Well, we got what we got. Banff does not have cheap hotels we soon found out, and with it being “peak” Summertime season, we were lucky to get what we got.
We checked into the hotel at 8 pm, but we’re not focusing on the time. It was light out. What we hadn’t factored in was that Banff or this region, in general, had daylight more than 12 hours a day. So, we began to sightsee the surroundings including the gardens, the hot springs, the gondola, the city center, etc. It was amazing being able to see everything in prime daylight so late at night.
Around 9:30 pm, Grant’s candy had worn off and his bed was calling. Our last stop before slumber was the legendary Pizza Pizza. If you have never been here before, think Little Caesar’s with more options. Grant loved it and that’s all that matters.
The next morning, I was wide awake at 6 am. I tried going back to sleep but was too amped up to go exploring on my own. We had a full day planned and I was a smidge worried that we may not be able to fit everything in. At 7 am, I started getting ready and was hoping sleeping bestiary would wake up. He did not so I took off for Johnston Canyon.
Johnston Canyon was halfway between Banff and Lake Louise. It was a beautiful hiking trail that butt up right against a stream. You walked directly along the stream on an extremely nice, paved path with rails for the duration of the hike, and ended with a waterfall. The path was supposed to take an hour or so, but I swear I did it in 15 minutes.
I think I speed through it so fast because I was worried about not having purchased a Canada National Park Pass. When you first enter Banff you can purchase a pass, but since we weren’t doing anything besides the hotel, I didn’t think we needed it. Well— I was wrong. You were supposed to get one even to get to your hotel. My little SUV was the only one without a pass on the windshield. You could buy one online, but you had to print it and tape it to your car. Not that useful if you don’t have a printer. I chalk this logistical blunder up to being rusty. Fortunately, it wasn’t an issue.
On the way back, I was able to spot a black bear in the wild. Just doing his normal bear activities — not caring that I was there. I was tempted to go and say hi, but before I could give it another thought, another vehicle came up. Phew. Saved by a Good Samaritan.
I made my way back to the hotel and picked up Grant. We then hit the road for Lake Louise. I gave him a heads-up that parking was an issue there, but we felt confident that we could find one spot. Well…we were wrong. The parking attendants referred us to a park-and-ride. We expected to park and ride. Well, no…the park is free, but the ride is not.
We were told there were no additional rides until 4 pm and that to “ride” we also had to purchase a gondola ride. Huh? So, we went to a different attendant, and he gave us the “real” information. Yes, they did not have anything until 4 pm, but he gave us a list that had 6 other companies that could take us immediately! Thankfully he did this because otherwise we likely would have missed Lake Louise.
The shuttle was at Lake Louise Inn, which was just down the road. We selected a smidge later shuttle so Grant could chow down at the breakfast buffet. A quick and painless shuttle ride up and we were there.
As you walk towards the lake you think to yourself “What is the big fuss about” and then when you are there it hits you. It’s probably one of —if not— the most beautiful places I have ever been. It doesn’t look real. It looks like a painting. We grabbed a few photos and hiked along the lake. It’s not a surprise the parking lot was full, and people spend all day here. I was pretty proud of our pivot here because it should us, we were shaking off the rust.
While we wanted to go north to Jasper, time just wasn’t our friend. Instead, we returned to Banff to check out the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. If you are ever in this area and are like— should I go…let me save you $8 and say no. Your nose will thank you. It’s a cave that smells like sulfur and is special because of a snail that helps the thermal water…yet no one ever sees a snail. After 5 minutes, you’re like— cool let’s leave.
I did try and make lemonade out of lemons and buy a souvenir shirt, but it didn’t work out because they were out of my size. Instead of trying to sell me something else, the shopkeeper went out of her way to find me the shirt at a competing shop. Extremely nice, but strange to be helping another business.
With this being our only full day in this region, we kept going with our only breaks being for food. It was time for lunch, so we went to Melissa Miss-Steak. The pun won me over and we had heard that you had to get the beef in Canada. Pro tip: skip the beef in Canada. The beef in the US is way better.
Up next was a river raft tour. Again, cutting a three-day trip to two-ish limited what we could accomplish, but we went for it. Guided by an Australian fellow, we went down the Bow River and were told about the local mountains. The river itself was freezing as the melting glacier was its source.
At the end of the tour, we were able to see hoodoos. No idea what they are? Fear not, neither did we. Hoodoos are composed of sedimentary rock covered by a harder rock that is harder to erode. In time, once softer sediment erodes rock, needle or tower-like natural obstacles are left. They are extremely unique formations to see! These were caused by glacier erosion. After about an hour on the water— our time came to an end. We left a “rusty” red color as I didn’t wear sunscreen and Grant’s seven applications were not enough.
Famished, even though we didn’t lift a finger, we decided to grab a quick bite at a local Indian restaurant. Another valuable tip— if you like Indian food then you will be super happy. The Indian food that we had in Canada was top-notch!
By that time, it was after 9 pm and we were wiped out. A full 12 hours of going, going, going would have wiped out even our non-rusty selves. We returned to our basement room and proceeded to watch a bit of TV before we faded to sleep.
The next morning, we checked out and hit the road. On the way out, we stopped briefly to check out this random (Elk, Caribou, Moose, etc) just chomping on the side of the road. She/he or whatever pronouns they prefer to use— give no care that we were there. The locals that we spoke to in the area said it is common for animals to be that close.
We had saved the Kananaskis Nordic Spa for the end of the trip— another sign of our rust. If there is something that you want to do— do it as soon as possible as things always come up. It was a bit of a way away, tucked up in a mountain resort, and when we got there, we let the attendant know what our plan was. We planned on soaking for a few hours and then heading to the airport. After overhearing our plan, the manager came out and expressed her concern. She did not believe that we had enough time to participate in the activities and recommended we immediately leave and head to the airport. Huh? This normally would have thrown us off, but we have gotten used to Canadians referring us to other businesses or no-business in this case.
Following her recommendation, we left. We did stop again in Calgary at a restaurant called Notable. Again, the name won me over. Again, the food was ehh… but the puns were amazing. $20 for bread and olive tapenade kind of turned me sour on this place. I do think the food in Canada is not as stellar as it is in the US. However, it could be that I am more used to food in the US and my tastebuds are pre-wired.
One thing is for sure, the pace in Canada is much slower than in LA. I know there is drag-time and island-time, but there should be a new one called “Canada-Time.” Paranoid about how slow security would be at the airport we arrived— two hours early for our international flight. Most people arrive this early for domestic, but this was a lot for us. We arrive for some flights right when the plane begins to board. We returned the rental car without issue (thankfully as there was a scratch on the door because of some jerk car opening their door), we breezed through security without any issue, and we even made it through US customs without any issue. We were super early!
To kill time, we went around to the different shops. I tried buying some chocolate with rice crisps at an actual chocolate shop and was told they didn’t have anything. Even stranger was the lady who was confident that Starbucks had some and was a better fit for our chocolate needs. The Canadian business referral was a strange quirk at first, but one illustrates just how friendly Canadians truly are.
When we finally boarded the rusted can with a new paint job, we were about 45 minutes late. A quick 3-hour flight and we were back in LA. The drive home was a bit painful, but all part of traveling. This was a great trip to shake off the rust of being at home for a bit and start our summer vacations.
