This has been the hardest of all travelblogs for me to write. I did not know why until a number of reasons started floating around in my head for examination. One is that almost all of you all have been there. What can I say to you that you have not seen, heard and enjoyed? I will work on it.
What can I say about such beauty and such a pristine environment? First of all, it was not so pristine. We picked up a group of folks traveling and I shall not mention what country. I shan’t. After they all sat down, one of the individuals started coughing. You have never heard or experienced such coughing, unless you were listening to someone die. I thought with each episode, he would be dead within minutes. He had a napkin up to his mouth each time to collect the specimens.
The bus driver was visibly unnerved. The healthy passengers were visibly unnerved. I was sick to my stomach knowing that I was being exposed to something from an exotic country, something that my immune system has never been exposed to or hopefully will be again. Did we get sick? No. Not yet! The next day, as it was a two-day tour from Lake Louise to Jasper, the dying man stayed back in his room at the hotel. What a relief.
You are not reading this blog to find out about a coughing man, but it was part of the trip. You checked in to hear about the majestic landscape and other worldly scenes. You are reading to find out about the power of nature so dramatically displayed. You probably would enjoy the waking up to a dusting of the mountaintops with snow and you most likely would enjoy the thoughts about the antiquity of our world as it displays itself. I know these grandiose scenes were here since the beginning of the planet and I know many, many of you have been here, so I will have to write this blog in pictures. If a picture is worth a thousand words as is said, then, here you go with 10,000 words. Oh, if it were only the click of a shutter for a thousand words, how delightful, how perfectly divine, how non- taxing.
Maybe you will see something you did not see when you were here. If you were not here, maybe you will see something you want to see. Maybe you will make the trip. We loved being in these beautiful places, and we just loved being in Canada with Canadians. I loved seeing the Canadian flag waving in so many places. I thought of my mother, my grandmother, my grandfather and my aunts and uncles seeing this flag and calling her home.
Enjoy:
This is what you encounter at the top of the Gondola Ride in Banff Springs.
Awesome Lake Louise!
We met some goat friends along the way to Jasper National Park.
This is the Maligne Canyon Waterfall. We walked along for awhile in the canyon and how refreshing it was to be there.
On the road again…
Thank you to Curtis and Diane. We enjoyed our time with you in your lovely Heritage Home. Happy Birthday Diane and many, many more. We had a wonderful visit in Vancouver and especially in Richmond, BC. Your hospitality and gracious ways are endearing as well as captivating.
Guess who is coming to dinner? Yes, that is a real bear. Do not worry, I pack a long lens.
The view from the back of our train heading from Jasper National Park overnight to Vancouver, BC.
We had an astral occurrence while viewing Medicine Lake in Jasper National Park. There is a message of return and create in this photo for me. What is here for you?
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