Happy Rocky Mountain Day

From now on, we will celebrate March 17 as the day the Rocky Mountains blew our minds (sorry St Patrick, no hard feelings). The entire drive between Hinton and Banff was like Christmas for our eyes and spirits, and it would not surprise me to wake up and find out it was only a dream. I (Lauren) guess we have the photos to prove it, though, as well as a lasting sense of amazement of the beauty and power of Canada's natural spots.



We left our friends first thing in the morning, after sharing a birthday breakfast with Megan and cleaning the snow off the car. We drive by my first home on 122nd Street, and as hard as I squinted and imagined, there was no sparkle of recognition there. That was it for Edmonton, and then we headed back out on the Yellowhead highway, west to Jasper. The roads were fine, and we drove a bunch of kilometers without event. Colin tried some of his wildlife calls to get the mountains to show themselves, but our surroundings were pretty flat. Then, like an unexpected electric shock from a short-circuited lamp, there was a giant mountain right in front of our eyes!

For all those who have seen the Rockies with their own eyes, please bear with our beginners' reactions. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, holy crap, oh my god and oh wow. This is the most beautiful, awe inspiring, jaw dropping place, and on more then a few occasions, just plain unbelievable. Now back in 1993 I (Colin) took a trip to Kananaskis, Alberta with my scout group for the Canadian Jamboree, and during that trip we did an overnight in Banff National Park, but I guess a few extra years of living and the dawn of adulthood has given me a whole new pair of eyes to see this wonder. It is hard to compare the experience of driving/walking though a monument of time and power that made these over 2km high giants of rock, ice and tree; but I have seen the Grand Canyon and this struck me in a much different way. But on top of all that, it's part of our Canadian home.

 

 

Our first annual Rocky Mountain Day ended with some fantastic news- our great pals Samantha and Tricia are going to be joining us in Yukon in July, for the Dawson City Music Festival! It's been called the best little music festival in Canada, and their company is the only thing that could have made it better :). It also ended with a tasty meal at Banff's own Old Spaghetti Factory, chosen for tonight's dinner in an effort to help combat Lauren's little feelings of homesickness.

We took over 300 photos today, but don't have time to go through them all for posting just yet- gotta get a good night's sleep in for a day of skiing at Sunshine tomorrow! Today's photos and Lauren's Saskatoon photos will be coming along soon.

Yesterday's distance: 524km
Today's distance: 653km
Total distance: 4344km

Goodnight,
Lauren and Colin