Drumheller and Banff National Park

We recently got to cross off another item on our "Canadian Bucket List" with a trip to Banff National Park in the beautiful Canadian Rockies along the Alberta and British Columbia border.  It was a very quick 4 1/2 day trip...with about an 8 hour drive from Saskatoon. 

We left on a Wednesday evening and drove to Drumheller, AB.  That day was summer solstice and we used every ounce of sunlight!  We pulled into Drumheller around 10:00pm and the sun was still shining!  Drumheller is known for it's Badlands and is definitely the dinosaur capital of Canada.  There were dinosaur statues on every corner and the kids were definitely impressed!  There were so many dinosaurs around town that we had to ask Brogan to stop pointing them out.  It was a rough night in the hotel.  Neala had fallen asleep in the car at 8:00 and woke at 9:30...WIDE AWAKE!  Both kids jumped on the bed until probably 11:00 and neither of them wanted to go to bed.

On Thursday, we had a good breakfast at a little local diner called WHIFS before heading to the Royal Tyrell Museum which holds one the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world.  Touring the museum with a 4-year-old makes for a quick visit.  Brogan kind of ran his way through the museum.  Neala enjoyed the museum too and when daddy wasn't looking, decided to get a closer look by crawling over the short wooden ledge and ran through the fossils.  Luckily, mommy grabbed her before she could touch or break anything.  I think we managed to see everything in about two hours, but adults wanting to read all the exhibits could have easily spent the entire day.  Outside of the museum are hiking trails and overlooks into the badlands.  We did a short walk up to an overlook to enjoy the views before heading to the World's Largest Dinosaur.  Casey took the kids up into the dinosaur for a quick look (and for a small fee).  After a quick lunch stop, we were on our way to Banff!

The first display at the Royal Tyrell Museum...scared the crap out of Brogan!

This room at the museum was a spore and pollen demonstration, but it was more like dodgeball with foam balls and air guns - Brogan could have stayed in here all day but the loud air guns scared Neala

Huge fossil!

Giant Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil

Brogan meausring up to a dinosaur leg...proof that he is just shy of 4 feet tall!

Neala got a turn too!

One of many fossil displays

View of the badlands from the museum.  The sun was a shock after coming out of the dark museum!

Neala enjoying the view of the badlands

World's Largest Dinosaur - if you look closely, you can see Casey, Brogan, and Neala in the dinosaur's mouth close to his jaw

Brogan relaxing on the dinosaur's foot

 We got into Banff shortly before dinner time on Thursday.  Due to the long days and less than stellar weather forecast for the weekend, we decided to take the gondola up Sulphur Mountain and have dinner up top.  The gondola ride was a little unnerving for me (going down was actually worse than going up), but everyone else seemed to enjoy it, and the views were definitely worth it!  The first thing we saw at the top were several long horn sheep grazing.  They were a little mangy looking, but I think they were shedding their winter coat.  It was still cool to see the wildlife...especially at the top of the mountain!  At the top, there was a nice long walk to Samson Peak where a weather station operated from the 1910's to 1930's (if I remember correctly).  Brogan had a great time running ahead of us...the theme for the weekend.

Neala and Casey in the gondola

Brogan and Leann in the gondola

Mangy long horn sheep

Family photo overlooking the town of Banff (which you really can't see due to the railing)

Overlooking Banff

Another family photo overlooking Banff

The walk back to the gondola...Brogan for once is not 100 feet ahead of us

On Friday, we spent the day driving up the Icefields Parkway stopping every now and then for a quick hike.  Our first stop was Johnston Canyon.  We hiked to the lower falls (about a 1/2 mile) along the side of a cliff on catwalks.  Once at the lower falls, we went through a small cave to get a closer look at the falls and got fairly wet in the process.  Our second stop was Lake Louise...the turquoise water was so beautiful!!! I'm not sure that the pictures even do it justice!  We didn't do any hiking here because we were hungry and wanted to get back on the road to see other things.  I did learn a little something at Lake Louise...these turquoise lakes are glacially fed, and when the water runs from the glaciers along the mountains, the water erodes the rock creating rock flour.  The rock flour in the water absorbs all colors of light except the turquoise color which gives the lakes their color.  Our last stop was Peyto Lake and Bow Valley Summit.  I think Peyto Lake was even more turquoise than Lake Louise!  The hike to the Peyto Lake overlook was covered in snow in places and Brogan had a good time playing in the snow.  Him and Casey threw snowballs, and he slipped and fell on his butt a couple times.  We really wanted to go up to the Columbia Icefield, but just ran out of time.  I guess that means we will have to go back!

Brogan and Neala running down the trail at Johnston Canyon

Catwalks at Johnston Canyon

Casey and the kids on the catwalks

Lower falls at Johnston Canyon

Rainbow at the bottom of the falls

The family at Lake Louise

Unobstructed view of Lake Louise

Brogan enjoyed picking dandelions for everyone...and Neala enjoyed destroying each one of them!

VERY brief nap time in the car on the way to Peyto Lake

Peyto Lake

On Saturday, it rained all day.  So, we went out for a big breakfast at Melissa's and did a bit of souvenir shopping in Banff.  Our hotel had a hot pool (in between a hot tub and a pool...but closer to a hot tub) on the roof, so we took the kids for a quick dip before nap time.  We went back downtown for dinner at the Banff Avenue Brewing Company and dessert at COWS.

Neala trying to hang the spoon from her nose

Casey and Neala looking out the balcony at the Banff Avenue Brewing Company...Neala giving her best "stinker" face!

Sunday was our long drive home to Saskatoon.  I think Neala napped for an hour and Brogan didn't nap at all.  It was LONG!!!  Driving through Canada seems very different from driving through the States.  It is very rural!  Most towns are not right on the highway, and a lot of them don't have any "services".  We did a good job of planning on the way there, but not so much on the way home.  I'm just used to driving on the interstates and highways in the States where the longest you might have to drive to find a gas station or McDonald's is about 20 miles.  Maybe I'm just spoiled by the fast-food culture!  But the trip was well worth the experience...and I'd do it all over again!

Our next exciting trip comes in August when we travel back to Missouri.  Casey will be with us for a week while we are in Nevada, but the kids and I are staying for 2 weeks in St. Louis!  Can't wait to go home!!!