Jane arrived in Calgary at around 11:30 yesterday. We rearranged the luggage on the bike and proceeded to Kirsten and David's (daughter and son-in-law of Neil and Glenda) to pick up the key to the condo in Canmore. They were getting ready to leave with their adorable son Micheal and their new daughter Annika for a trip to the UK. The trip to Canmore was uneventful, though the gusts of wind on along Hwy 1 were sometimes quite heavy. It's good at those times to be on a motorcycle of some substance like my R1200RT. We stopped for lunch at the Bear Claw in the village of Canmore before heading to the condo. Jane and I had a wonderful dinner at her friend Christie and her partner Jeff's home.
Happy Canada Day!!
We were back on the road early this morning. the temperature was quite cool, 9.5 celsius according to the thermometer on my bike. We drove to Banff where we stopped for breakfast. Once back on Hwy 1, with a new Canadian flag attached to the back of the bike, we were immediately caught in a traffic back up that we subsequently found out was due to bridge construction some 5 kilometers down the road. We were detoured onto the Bow Valley Parkway for a stretch; it was a nice diversion as I don't think we would ever have experienced such a nice piece of motorcycle-made road.
The temperature rose steadily during the day but it was never really hot. Pretty well cloudy all day wwith occasionnal sprinkles of rain. Highway 1 through the Rockies has to be one of the most beautiful routes in the country; the mountains, rivers and streams are impressive. We arrived at tunnel mountain just as a train was entering the series of tunnels that reduce the angle of climb. It is an impressive piece of engineering. We stopped for a soup, drink and a few photos at Roger's Pass.
Having put on our rain gear we made our way to Kelowna where we had dinner at a restaurant overlooking Lake Okanogan, and afterwards we went for a walk along the waterfront along with the crowd that had gathered there in anticipation of the Canada Day fireworks. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the spirit of the day, some more then other because it seems that they had been infused with other spirits. We took a cab back to the Super 8 hotel where our romm awaited us for the night.
Jane and I agreed that a trip through the rockies on canada Day was not bad at all an alternative to spending in in Ottawa around Parliament.
Bonne fête Canada!!
It was certainly a different Canada Day in Ottawa yesterday what with the Queen's presence. Cheryl and I don't recall quite so many people. It was shoulder to shoulder all along Wellington in front of the Hill. And from where we were at the corner of Wellington/Metcalfe, it was thick as far back as Sparks and Metcalfe. Must have taken us 20 minutes to make that walk when we left the Hill. Good humour prevailed thankfully and the weather cooperated. But it was not a good day for the claustrophobic. News reports suggest upwards of 350,000 on the Hill and Jacques Cartier Park. It was a bit jarring to go from an operatic rendition of 'God Save the Queen' (an amazing number of people still know the lyrics) to some rap singers as the opening act for the Queen's noon-day show.
ReplyDelete