Excitement

After getting up at 6:00 AM to have breakfast and our bags packed and outside our door by 7:00, we zipped around the corner to pick up coffee at Starbucks and be ready for our bus to Banff. The rain had continued all night and was still dripping in the morning. Good for the area which had been in a drought, medium for our sightseeing. On the other hand, it was a bus travel day rather than a walking around day, so it could have been worse.

By the time we arrived for our boat ride on Lake Minnewanka, the rain was practically stopped. When the captain turned off the boat’s engine in the middle of the lake so we could hear what it sounds like away from the noises of civilization, the rain falling on the lake was the only sound we heard. Absolutely charming.

At the gondola on Sulphur Mountain, the rain had started again. The attendants were squeegeeing the droplets off the gondola cars so we could see out. A futile gesture. We did see a couple of pairs of sneakers tossed over tree branches and wondered how someone could do that. The gondola cars are sealed with no way to open from the inside. Did adventuresome crazy people hang on the outside to be able to toss shoes? I asked an attendant, and he claimed to have no idea and wondered himself how the shoes go pt there. 

At the top, the rain turned to snow. Not huge flakes, but exciting for us Florida people. We could barely see the surrounding mountains or the town of Banff because the cloud cover was so low. Back on the ground, rain again. That fizzled out by the time we got to the Caribou Hotel in Banff, so we walked to dinner at the Canadian Brewery: chicken and rice soup and a Philly cheesesteak to share.

The next morning, the weather was beautiful. We walked over to the Tim Horton’s (Dunkin’ Donuts of the north) for breakfast before taking a bus to the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. We slogged around part of the Marsh Loop Trail until, meeting a group on horseback that made the path even muddier, we decided enough. Our Merlin app heard many species of birds around us, however they were hidden in the marsh plants or high in the conifers. We did see a beaver swimming, heard a loon calling, and watched a northern waterthrush singing up in a dead conifer. Back at the visitor center, I had an employee show us how to get to the boardwalks.

The lower one lead to a warm basin with Banff minnows and snails, both endemic to this part of the river. Sulfur springs flow down from the mountain making a unique habitats of warm mineral water. There used to be a swimming pool where people came for the healing baths, however the national park service has closed it in an attempt to return the cave and basin to their natural states. 

Peg and I climbed the steps of the upper boardwalk to see where the mineral waters came out from the mountain side. Certainly not smelling as much of sulfur as some places I’ve been. And odd that it seems to be about the only one around, except for the mineral spa in Banff. 

We took the bus back to town, then shopped at IGA for groceries and the liquor store for beer. Bussed back to the hotel. While emptying my pockets, hanging up my jackets, and putting the groceries in the mini fridge, I realized I’d lost my wristlet purse with all my money and ID. Panic set in. My passport, my driver license, my credit cards, my money all gone. I wanted to cry.

Instead I called the stores, but no one had found it. The hotel front desk suggested I call the visitor center. The visitor center employee told me I could see the buses locations in real time on their website. While she talked, I went online on my iPad. There was a bus just about to our hotel. I threw on a dress, put my shoes on without socks, and headed out. The bus was at the stop 1/2 block east. I ran there. I haven’t run since I’d had my knee replace 5 years ago. It was not a problem. The driver heard my tale of woe, radioed the driver of the bus we’d ridden, and, miraculously, he had my purse. He wouldn’t be back at the stop for about 40 minutes, but he’d bring it by. 

Grant and I sat at the bus stop and waited. I contemplated taking up running again, since it didn’t hurt my knee as I assumed it would, perhaps beginning with the Windermere Run Around the Lakes 5K. The bus appeared, and the driver handed me my purse. He wouldn’t even take a tip. I think I used up a year’s allotment of adrenaline. A glass of red wine at the hotel bar helped with my recovery.