Today we took a bus up to Sunshine Meadows. It is a ski resort that does alpine hikes in the summer. We got up early and hiked with the kids making it down just in time before the rain poured down.
Saturday, we visited Lake Minnewanka in Banff. The largest body of water in Banff National Park. The kids loved the stony shoreline.
Kevin and I had a date night with Ralph and Fran at a foodie favorite called The Bison. We had a wonderful evening together enjoying good food and drink.
The smoke has lifted and blue skies are headed our way. Friday, we visited the Banff Springs Hotel. It is called Canada's "Castle in the Rockies". It is picturesque as it sits in the mountains of the alpine town of Banff.
We flew into Calgary and spent the night and made our way up to Banff today. The fires from Washington have followed us here making it hard to see the mountains. Even with all the smoke you can still see the beauty of this place.
I had to travel to the east coast for a week and our first meeting was in Toronto so I came in a day early and dad came down to Toronto for the day to visit. We went to the CN Tower. Built in 76, neither of us had ever been up it. It held the record for the highest free standing structure in the world from when it was completed in 1976 until 2007. It is 553.33 M tall (1815 ft 5 inches). Inside, the highest you can get is the sky pod which is 447m (1465ft) or the equivalent of 147 stories. The video and most of the pictures of the city below are shot from the sky deck. The sky scrapers around look small.
The afternoon was spent drinking beers and having a late lunch down by the water. Overall a great day.
On the way back from a US business trip, I routed up through montreal to visit some family and friends this past weekend. I flew in Friday evening from Boston and met up with my good friend Roger. He had got us seats at the pre-season NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and the New York Knicks, so after landing at 6pm, clearing customs and changing in the car ride over, we were at the game by 7:10. We had great seats!
Saturday turned out to be sunny and clear so after getting a morning shot of coffee we headed down to old Montreal to wander around. What a great area for walking and exploring.
Alas, they had to get back to Ottawa, so that evening a number of other friends from Montreal and Ottawa got together for evening drinks and a meal at Zero8. Alex and his wife Elise, Elise (different person) and her boyfriend Daniel, my friend Dale, and Roger of course. It was amazing to see so many friends that I haven't seen in some time - thanks everyone for making the trip down. Look forward to the next time we can meet up.
A quick whirlwind trip with a (very) early morning flight back to the UK on sunday but well worth it.