I don't know how much time I will have on the computer. Arne and I are fine. Everywhere here in the Rockies, they charge $1 for only 10 minutes of useage. I'll have to stop when I run out of time here.

May 31, San Antonio

United flights are delayed by weather. Added to that, there was a LONG line of people checking in for United with only two agents manning the desks. We were both sent for detailed checking at security. My theory is that it is an automatic process for people using a passport as I.D. So after 1 hour 15 minutes of standing in lines and being checked, we were within the gate area to await our delayed flight.

The good news for us is that our flight from Denver to Calgary is a continuation of the flight from San Antonio to Denver. Even though our departure here is delayed by an hour, we don't have to worry about missing a connection. We do, however, move back a row for the second segment. Guess we'll have to dplane for some reason. It's a relief to know we will make it to Calgary tonight. There had been only 45 minutes between flights, so our hour delay would have done us in if our flights didn't share the same number.

June 1, Calgary

We were lucky travelers yesterday. When our plane arrived in Denver, they announced that all floights had departed and that transfer passengers would be given DISCOUNT tickets for hotels and put on hold. They said there were no flights the next day either. Thank goodness our plane was continuing to our desstination.

Fortunately, the rental car desk was still open when we arrived. We got our car and were in our room at the hotel at 1:35 a.m. (2:35 Texas time) and slept until 8:00 a.m.

The continental breakfast was toast with jam, coffee and juice. It was okay, but simpier than most places offer. It fulfilled our needs. Arne ate six pieces of toast ("It's full of air like American bread.") and dropped a big dollop of marmelade on his one pair of long pants (other than a zip-off leg pair).

Today's mini-crisis dealt with banking. My credit card I use for cash withdrawals wouldn't work at the first two bank ATMs that we tried. Both said to contact my bank. I went inside at the second bank for advice. They told me to try CIBC or Royal Bank which are VISA banks. At CIBC, which was across the street, it worked. I'm uneasy about whether it is going to work in the future when I need it to in other countries.

We're in Banff. The setting is as drammatic and as beautify as we had expected from photos. Our room has a fantastic view of two lines of snowcapped peaks along the sides of the Bow River. IT's only a 15-minute walk from our lodge to athe famous Banff Springs Hotel, and downtown is just over the bridge from us. Today we explored both town and the famous hotel, and we hiked part of the Spray Loop Trail.

The Banff Springs hotel is huge and beautiful. It looks like a park hotel, and Arne says, it could easily be a European castle. It has huge alabaster light fixtures, sone walls with tall, curving staircases, huge lounges with massive arched windows facing the river and the mountains, 8 different restaurants and lots of exclusive shops, etc. We spent almost an hour wandering through the public areas enjoying the architecture, the views, the live pianist playing jazz, etc.

We are very tired tonight. We got little sleep last night, and we've walked a lot today. We ate Chinese food early and we are back in the hotel. It's 6:45, and we will go to bed soon.

Oh, yes, when I called our lodge for a reservations, they encouraged me to take room with one double bed and a shared bath on the hall. When we got here, they upgraded us to a room with two beds and with a bath. Now I'm wondering if that was planned from the beginning as a way to get me to have a better room without having to pay so much during their off season.

Wednesday, June 2, Banff

We made breakfast in our room--multigrain bagels, cream cheese, and respberry jam. Now, we are hikikng up Tunnel Mountain Trail. It's one of the steepest, and Arne is VERY slow on it; he's really out of shape these days. We've paused at a nice lookout so he can rest and I can write in the journal. It's sunny and cool.

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We finished the hike up and down in 2 hours 15 minutes (30 minutes less than the guidebook said it would take). There were great views of Banff and of the valley south of Banff. Arne huffed and puffed most of the way up, but he made it.

We're sitting on an outdoor patio now listening to a free jazz concert at the Banff Center. IT's contemporary jazz which I tend not to like. But this is more like jazzy new age with a melody to it. It's rather interesting. The band has 7 young people ranging from "normal" to rather strange looking. The base player has a slept-in hair look with extra long strands dropping down on either side of his face. The unusual instrument among the group is a banjo. I'm not sure I[ve ever seen a banjo in anything jazzy other than Dixieland jazz before. The group was composed of students, and they recognized the composer of all the pieces they had played afterwards. He's apparently a composer-in-residence at the center.
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We're now walking the Sundance Canyon Trail. When I told Arne that it would be mostly flat, his quick response was, "Thanks God for that." We've stopped to sit on a bench beside the river. All around us are snowcapped peaks. And a long kayak with two persons is slowly going by. The idyllic scene is broken by the fract that one of the kayakers is talking on her mobile phone.
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We made it to Sundance Canyon. The trail was paved and climbed very little. We saw two people in wheelchairs on it. At the end, it wasn't the canyon which pleased Arne. Instead, he was happy to find a toilet! He said he had been wondering if he would have to do NO. 2 in the bushes. Afterwards he was talking about how you could figure the depth of the toilet if you knew the speed of what was dropped.

We're both tired now. We may hike to see a waterfall this evening, but it's time to rest for a while. We still have to walk the 3.2 km back tot he car.

Thursday, June 3, Lake Louise

We're sitting beside Lake Louise with its famous hotel, Chateau Lake Louise, behind us. It's a warm, sunny day. The lake is an unbelievably beautiful bright blue. There are canoes out on it, and the view we have is toward a mountain still covered in thick layers of white, white snow. Tall green pinte trees taper up the hillsides toward the tree line which is only a little ways above us.

We drove the Bow River Parkway from Banff to here this morning. IT's a scenic back-country road. We stopped to hide at Johnston Canyon--a 5.4 km round trip hike through the canyon with wiaterfalls at two pints. It's a narrow canyon, so they have had to build catwalks out over the river along much of the route. It had beautiful scenes and exciting views. Arne enjoyed the ground squirrels which would playfully approach him along the way.

The Lake Louise area is more remote than Banff. It's really just a small touist village and a hotel. We have a room at the Canadian Alpine Villagte, one of the top 3-4 hostels in the world. Ours is a private room with a loft and two beds. We share a bath with one other room. There's a kitchen, a sauna, and other nice faciltiies included with athe price.

After checking in and before coming to Lake Louise, we drove up a twisting road to Lake Moraine. It, too, is drammatic. Most of it is still covered in ice. Both the water and the ice have a beautiful turquoise color. We hiked about 2/3 of the way down the side of the lake before resting and then returning.

Lake Moraine has a bear problem. Arne has been concerned about bears since we began our trip here, so he was very wary on our hike today. But none were seen. He keeps teasing me that my yellow jacket will attract them because it will remind them of honey.

Friday, June 4, Near Jasper

We've been traveling all day toward Jasper making all the recommended stops. We've seen waterfalls, canyons, mountain lookouts, and glaciers. We took a short side trip down Highway 11 where we saw deer and a black bear up close. Back on the Jasper road, we saw a rabbit and a ram. It's been a good day. I'll write more about it when I get a chance to be on the computer again. We head back to Calgary on Sunday, and I may not be on the computer until we are there.