Banff trip--days 1-3

We had an amazing trip to Banff, Canada in July!  We left around 7 a.m. on Saturday, and crossed the border into Canada a little before 6 p.m.  It was pretty remote for awhile on our drive in Canada, but we found a nice hotel in MooseJaw to stay overnight.  

On Sunday, we left the hotel after breakfast and arrived in Canmore around 5 p.m.  We checked out our place for the week (a Vrbo apartment-like place called Solara), unpacked, and then walked to find some supper.  We drove to get groceries and checked out the (very small) pool at our resort.  We didn't use it that night, but did use the (very large) hot tub.  The girls loved their pull-out couch bed, the TV with Netflix, and feeding the friendly bunnies outside of our porch.

On Monday, we explored Canmore before picking up my dad.  We did a little walk (Policeman's Creek), saw the Big Head statue, the Mounted Police Station, hiked the Bow River Trail. 

At 11, we picked up my dad and had a quick lunch at our place.  We had to leave at noon to get to the 3-hour Banff Trail Ride that Dave had booked for himself and Abby.  While they rode, my dad, Norah, and I drove to Johnston Canyon and hiked to the Lower Falls (easy, short, but super busy hike).  On our drive back to pick up Dave and Abby, we saw two bears and a mountain goat along the side of the road.  It was a pretty drive through Bow River Parkway.  Dave and Abby had a fun, but hot, ride--Dave said shorter would have been fine!

After picking them up, we went to the main street of Banff and checked out some shops (Big Bear Trading Co. was a favorite).  We tried Beavertails for a snack.

In the evening, we went back to our place and had supper, then showed my dad the places we had been in Canmore earlier in the day.  We ended the day with ice cream at a cute little place called Old School bus Ice Cream (literally run out of an old yellow school bus).