Day 27 – Banff National Park

In July of 2017, I went to a convention in Phoenix, Arizona for users of a database system called FileMaker Pro. While in one of the classes there, I met a Canadian guy named Nathan who uses the program extensively. I picked his brain a bit, and we found out we have a similar sense of humor and a lot in common, including wives and children close in age. We kept in touch after the convention, so before we started our trip, I let him know that Banff National Park was on our route. Turns out his hometown is only about a four hour drive from there, so they made plans to come meet us.

Now, what he probably knew, that we didn’t know when we booked it, was that July 1 is “Canada Day” – which celebrates the uniting of the whole of Canada into a single “dominion” under British rule on July 1, 1867.

At this point, we had been out exploring for just shy of a month. So you might think that we’d be getting road weary, thinking about home. That was not the case, and the breathtaking beauty of Banff, even on this busy holiday in Canada, made us even happier that the vacation hadn’t yet ended.

In the morning, we met Nathan, Roxy, and their children for tea at the famous Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. With its longstanding English heritage and outstanding location, the hotel was a perfect place to relax and enjoy a proper British tea, while everyone got to know each other better. Not surprisingly, we all got along like old friends, and soon, we were done with tea and out by the impossibly blue lake.

As we walked the grounds and talked, the mountains were overtaken by a dense cloud. Anyone who has spent time in the mountains knows how quickly their mood can change. Fortunately, for all the dark mist in the distance, we scarcely had more than a sprinkle. By the time we walked back around to the hotel, the staff was handing out complimentary slices of cake for the Canada Day celebration.

I want to interrupt myself for a second to reflect on the amount of unplanned good fortune we had on this trip. 1) In New Orleans, we fell into the middle of a celebration of life at Dr. John’s Second Line, and I got to see a few old friends just by luck. 2) Without knowing, we had chosen to visit the Grand Canyon on its 100th anniversary (of being a park; I understand it’s been around a bit longer than that). 3) We selected a route that brought us close enough to Winslow, Arizona that we could leave the highway and take a picture at the famous corner from the Jackson Browne/Eagles song. 4) We got free tickets for an attraction in Vegas (the High Roller ferris wheel) because they came with the tickets we bought for another show. 5) An old friend just happened to be in Los Angeles on break when we were there. 6) Another friend took us on an unexpected tour of Pixar when we went to the Bay Area. 7) My old guitarist had a gig that I also got to sit in on near Portland. 8) And now, here we were in one of the most beautiful places in Canada, celebrating Canada Day without having known about it in advance. I’m a man of science and logic, but sometimes, I just feel like the universe leads us to where we should be, when we should be there, as long as we let go a bit and just allow it.

Now back to our regularly-scheduled blog post.

On Nathan’s prompting, we left the Fairmont and Lake Louise to visit Moraine Lake, which I knew nothing about. It’s another shockingly beautiful glacial lake, perhaps even more beautiful than Lake Louise. This was one of those places where a person takes far too many photos because no one angle or moment captured by the lens seems like it can tell the whole story. I hope the few pictures I selected below come close.

Dinnertime was approaching. The food choices are limited way up here, but we waited out the busiest times, and when a spot opened up at the steak house by our hotel, we grabbed it. The kids got their own table while Isabella, Roxy, Nathan, and I spent time at the next table over, enjoying complaining about where we live. They love Florida. And though I don’t care for cold winters, the natural beauty of this part of Canada was looking pretty good to me.  The grass is always greener, or the water always bluer…

Perhaps this is why our species can never completely shake our nomadic roots: this is why we travel.