What A Day

We were up at 3:45 and in the air by 5:30. To say that the Bombardier DH3 was noisy is a major understatement. I can't imagine the level of noise and vibration of a military plane where the comfort of the passengers is not a priority. My head is still buzzing from resting it on the cabin wall. But the flight under a full moon was very smooth, no bouncing around at all. We arrived in Winnipeg right on time, sat for 30 minutes and then boarded another Bombardier aircraft, the CRJ900. Very thankful for jet engines at this point.

I left the entertainment system on the map that showed our progress and it was comical to see all the small western towns I have driven through for the past 7 years go zooming by as we flew over them at 500 mph. As the sun started to appear I could make out the vast partially snow covered prairie below.  Some of the colours and patterns in the earth as we approached Calgary were beautiful. And from about 100 km out I could see the Rockies, still sitting right there where we left them.

We arrived in Calgary just before 8:30. AJ and Jess were waiting, our bag showed up in minutes and we were off to Banff. We hadn't eaten anything so a stop at our favourite breakfast spot, Melissa's Misteak solved our hunger issues. The Huevos Rancheros was better than I remember it. On to Lake Louise for a walk on the still frozen lake. Unfortunately I only brought my long zoom lens for hockey games so my pictures were limited. We wandered around the Fairmont hotel then drove back to the town of Banff then Canmore for some browsing in the shops. I found it hard to believe the number of tourists at this time of year.

We made contact with Mike and Mel and hatched a plan to surprise the boys. We picked up a pizza for them and then went to their room to deliver it. Cullen opened the door and waved. I don't think I would describe his reaction as surprised.

Off to the arena for game 1. The rink was divided in two by a set of portable boards and the game was 5 on 5, a little crowded but the kids were doing what they should be at that age, just having fun. It was so great to watch Cullen zip around live. I asked him before we left if his stick had any goals left and he assured me it did. I caught his goal and celebration in a video.

We went back to the hotel after picking up some refreshments and ordered pizza and wings. The rooms we have are awesome, more like small apartments with a full kitchen, living room, dining room, small deck and underground parking. Plus the mountains look like they are in the backyard.

We finally went to bed at about 1:00 am Thunder Bay time. A long but very satisfying first day.

Rockies on the horizon

Prairie landscape

Campbell and his desert hat

Cullen 66

Frozen Lake Louise and glacier