Here We Go!: Banff

Friday, July 27, 2007

Banff

Location, Banff, AB

Cold again this morning and overcast. We are in no real hurry to leave as we are only traveling 38 miles to Banff and Tunnel Mountain RV Park. There are actually 3 RV parks here, one with no hookups, one with electricity only (that’s us), and one full hookup trailer park. As usual, when you arrive early there is no problem getting a site. The sites here are all parallel parking on both sides of what looks like a wide blacktop road. Each site has a table and an electrical pedestal, nothing else. With all the mountains surrounding us, it really is a beautiful campground.

We drove into town and stopped at the information center but they had little to offer from information we had already collected. We drove to the Cave and Basin Museum expecting more than actually was there. It was the first site in Canada’s park system. It was a swimming pool for years with caves behind it. Now it is more of a reflecting pool.

We stopped for a picnic lunch at the town recreation area along the Bow River. Later we found out that a cougar had killed a baby elk near this spot last week. Wild animals are a constant worry here in the park. Grizzly bear and black bear attacks occur fairly often. Even mountain bikers are not immune to attack.

The park service has a beautiful garden behind its headquarters. It is all slate walkways, pools, and 50,000 annual plants of all kinds. A really beautiful place.

After a walking tour of downtown which has its main street completely tore up for renovation to the tune of 23 million dollars, we drove to the Banff Springs Hotel. Tim had been here several years ago with his uncle Roger and a friend and wanted us to have a martini in the Rundle Balcony Bar. So we did, and toasted them. Clyda ordered a Blond Bombshell and I had a virgin margarita (I’m driving). After floating a loan with the CBC Bank to pay for the drinks, we drove back to the campground.