After sitting around doing nothing but work or school all summer, today my dad, brother, dog, and I finally decided to get out of here, just for the day. And if you live in Calgary, there are only a few places that fall under “just for the day”. 70% of the time we end up in Banff, like today.
But first, we stopped in Cochrane for ice cream.
I never get tired of the farmlands, foothills, mountains, and forests* that go by our window whenever we leave the city to go anywhere exciting. Alberta is beautiful and I’m reminded of the fact every day.
We weren’t really sure what to do when we arrived in Banff, since our decision to go was made only a quarter of an hour before our actual leaving.
We checked out the gondola to Sanson’s Peak, but the day was hot and the line was long and we’d been up a couple of times before so we opted out this time. Maybe we’ll go back when tourist season is over and it’s colder out.
Instead, we went over to the Bow Falls by Banff Springs Hotel. We hiked along there for a while. Foxy enjoyed sniffing each and every person to pass us.
When we arrived back at Bow Falls after our small hike, it started raining and we were hungry so we went back to town to eat.
The mountain overlooking the main street is called Cascade Mountain. It’s beautiful, and definitely one of my favourite things about Banff. Here’s a picture of it from 1887 that was on our menus:
As much as things have changed since I was a kid, or even just since I started this blog, Cascade Mountain is a dependable constant.
After dinner we walked along the avenue, visiting our usual favourite candy stores and fudge shops as well as some souvenir shops, just for fun.
When we ran out of ideas and motivation for doing stuff, we went home.
It was a good day, and it’s comforting to know the mountains will always be there to welcome us back.
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*and prairies, and flatlands, and badlands, and rivers, and lakes, and yellow canola fields…
Precarious Writer 
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