Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Rain Curse is Broken! Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun! COMPLETE

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I was way behind but I'm all caught up again. So much has happened I wouldn't know where to start comments. So for now I'll say it was a great read and more beautiful pictures!

Don't worry, the way things are going this semester I will be lucky to get one Disney and one BC update out a week. Won't be hard to catch up at that rate!

 

[shan23877]

What's up with the 'almost normal' poses? I so enjoy your brothers' antics! Your mom must have loved trying to get serious pictures taken of those two!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

What's up with the 'almost normal' poses? I so enjoy your brothers' antics! Your mom must have loved trying to get serious pictures taken of those two!

She does get frustrated sometimes. She likes to say that they will only pose "normally" for Dad.

 

[All7OfUs]

They really nailed Tiana! Excellent casting for her, and thanks for the great (as always) pix, Lessa!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

They really nailed Tiana! Excellent casting for her, and thanks for the great (as always) pix, Lessa!

Yeah, she was really pretty! Lately I have been seeing some not so pretty princesses in the parks. Looks aren't everything but come on Disney! Many of the princes are questionable as well. Now I sound really superficial.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The Crazy Stepmother Chronicles:August 2011

Day Seven:Arrival in Banff, Lake Louise Campground, Moraine Lake

This is going to be a picture heavy update, you will have to forgive me but I just don't know how to trim down on the pictures.

The last I left you we were trying to fall asleep in our damp and (previously) leaking tent with the rain pouring down outside. I wondered if it would ever stop.

I slept on and off throughout the night. I couldn't get comfortable so I kept shifting in my sleep and according to Alek and Erich I shifted so much that I pushed Erich (who was sleeping on the opposite side of the tent) against the damp tent wall so when he woke up his sleeping bag was all wet.

I finally gave up on sleep around 6am. I could still hear water beating against the tarp so I assumed it was still raining. Luckily I was wrong and it had stopped and it was just water dripping down from the tree that was falling on the tarp.

Nobody else was awake yet so I couldn't get into the car to get something to eat for breakfast. I decided to wander over to the bathrooms. Well the door wouldn't open, initially I thought it was locked but when I went back later it was just a little sticky and needed a good shove.

I went back to the campsite and Dad was now out and about taking Marcus to use the bathroom. When Marcus saw me he got all excited and started jumping all over me. Normally I would love that but his paws were all wet and dirty and I was wearing my relatively clean and dry "sleeping" clothes.

Dad pointed me in the direction of the other set of washrooms and I wandered off. Since I figured it would be awhile until the others got up I wandered around the campsite and read the informational signs that taught me all about the surrounding glaciers. When I got back Dad said he was surprised that I would wander the site alone since we were in bear country. Don't say that it will freak me out!

Eventually the others all woke up and we had the fun task of taking down the wet tents and packing them away in their stuff bags, not a pleasant job!

I had the option of staying in my sweat pants which I had packed to sleep in, putting the damp hiking pants back on or wearing my black stretchy exercise pants. I hadn't brought my jeans as there wasn't enough room in the car for me to bring more clothing than I already had. I opted for the exercise pants. Didn't want to get the sweat pants dirty and there was no way I was putting the hiking pants back on while they were still damp.

We saw no point in sticking around once everything was put away so we piled into the car and started the drive to Banff. The drive isn't long maybe an hour and a half and it is all through national park territory. The drive took us through the rest of Glacier National Park, then through Yoho National Park and then into Banff. Pretty much as soon as we left Glacier the sun started to appear, hurray, oh how I missed you Mr. Sun!

Maria was a speed demon. I was scared at some points. Maybe it is because she is Italian and in Italy they drive like maniacs on the highway? At one point she was going 160 km/hr. That is 100 miles per hour! We all told her to slow down so thankfully she did not drive like that for most of the trip.

Here are some pictures from the drive.

We did stop in the town of Golden for some Tim Horton's goodness. Golden is located on the Trans Canada Highway between Glacier and Yoho National Parks. I got a hot chocolate and when I went to open it the tab on the lid broke off. I had to wait for my drink to cool down to try and get the lid open as I didn't want to burn myself!

Entering Banff

and thus entering Alberta

The village of Lake Louise is just inside the western border of Banff so we soon arrived after passing the above signs.

We stopped at the Samson Mall which has only a handful of shops which were of course touristy in nature. The Parks Canada Visitor Centre is also there. We went inside to use the facilities and I think Dad wanted to pick up some maps.

The campsite was a two minute drive from the mall. We had to drive over the Bow River which flows right past the campsite.

We were really early, check-in wasn't until noon and we arrived around 9:30. Luckily we were allowed to check in. Dad had reserved a camp-site a few days ahead of time so they gave us directions to our site and waved us in. There were still people occupying our site but they were packing up to leave so we pulled into the empty site beside it and waited about 10 minutes until they left.

Here is the site

A gratuitous Marcus picture, isn't he adorable?!

We quickly put the tents together, we got really creative with the tarp. We weren't going to take the chance of spending another night in a damp tent.

Maria had also brought a line that we tied between the trees and we hung all our damp stuff up to dry. That included our coats, Erich's sleeping bag, my hiking pants from the day before and other various clothing items.

While Maria and Dad were getting their complicated tent all set up Alek and Erich were organizing the car to make things easier to find and well to make it less crazy messy! Remember how I told you that Maria had packed the car full of stuff and I couldn't imagine what was taking up so much room? Well she had packed enough food for about twenty people to survive our four night trip. It was insane how much she brought and we had to eat it all or at least most of it. Why you say? Well we had to make enough room in the car so that the back row of seats would be able to pop up by the time we left so that there would be room for Aunt Mary in the car. We already knew that we would be throwing our tent away at the end of the trip as we weren't about to hold onto a leaky tent so that would free up some room but not much.

With the tents all up and the car now "organized" it was time to head out and have some fun. This day was basically planned by me. It was the only day where I had any real say in what we were going to do. The next two days had been decided by Dad before we had even arrived. Where would we go first? I told Dad that I wanted to visit Moraine Lake while the sun was out to get pictures as there was no guarantee that it would be nice when we went there for our day hike in two days time. We would also be taking the easy trail out to the Consolation Lakes, a hike of my choice. The trail starts at Moraine Lake.

The drive to the lake took about twenty minutes. It was a beautiful drive, I was in love with Banff already and I hadn't even seen the two famous lakes yet!

Marcus decided he was going to lie on Alek's lap for the ride, how adorable!

Tower of Babel

Continued in Next Post

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

We arrived at the Moraine Lake parking lot and it was packed! Not surprising given the time of day and the fact that it is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world!

We saw somebody leaving so what does Maria do? She guns it! I was terrified! I thought she was going to run somebody over! It was really unnecessary for her to drive so fast in the parking lot as the traffic in the area was one way so it wasn't like anybody could steal the spot from us. Crazy Italian driver! No disrespect to all the other Italians out there but in my experience they all drive like maniacs.

While everybody else fussed with their stuff and Marcus I wandered closer to the lake as there was a hill covered in beautiful wildflowers.

My first glimpse of the lake

See the jumble of rocks to the left in the above picture? That is the start of the "rockpile". They have created a stairway on the side of it and you climb up to the top to get the classic view of the lake that you see in all the photographs, the "postcard picture". We would of course be climbing up to the top of it before heading off on our short hike.

I chitchatted with a backpacking couple. They were looking for a group to hike with as all the trails in the Moraine Lake area require that you travel in at least a group of four due to the heavy bear population in the area. They were wanting to hike a different trail than the one we were going on so we parted ways as they went off to search for another group to attach to.

The mountains to the side

The first shot of the lake, doesn't look too impressive as the clouds were blocking the sun at that moment and I hadn't yet climbed the rockpile.

There we go

Would you believe that the colour is an even more fantastic blue in person? I wish I had a fancy camera and knew how to use it so I could capture the true beauty of the setting. I think Banff is the most naturally beautiful place I have ever been and Moraine Lake was the most beautiful thing I saw in Banff. Lake Louise gets all the love but I think Moraine is the more beautiful of the two.

This is where you will have to put up with me as I took a million pictures of the lake from various viewpoints.

See how the water changes colour as the sunlight hits it?

I don't understand how they could be in such a beautiful place and not be looking at the lake?!

The lake was so beautiful and the peaks surrounding it were awe inspiring. I can not imagine a more beautiful place.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Looking away from the lake

Alek and Erich sitting around bored while I took pictures.

Looking away from the lake again

You can rent canoes and go out on the lake. I would have liked to do this but we were only there for two full days and both of those were going to be filled with day long hikes.

Dad, the brothers and Marcus with the Tower of Babel in the background.

Here are a few pictures from Dad's camera

In the next Crazy Stepmother update we will be hiking the Consolation Lakes Trail! Stay tuned!

 

[Mysteria]

Wow!!! That lake is beautiful.

Hope you were able to stay dry the rest of the trip.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow!!! That lake is beautiful.

Hope you were able to stay dry the rest of the trip.

I won't leave you in suspense, it didn't rain the rest of the trip.

 

[pinkxray]

I am so glad you did cut out any of your pictures, each picture is more beautiful than the last. Your pictures of the lake are stunning.

Marcus looks adorable is the shot where he is tied to the tree.

 

[KatMark]

All I can say is WOW! You were not exaggerating...that lake is truly magnificent; I love the color of the water. Great photos of you with your dad too.

 

[okw19]

Holy moly, that is BEAUTIFUL!! Such gorgeous pictures!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I am so glad you did cut out any of your pictures, each picture is more beautiful than the last. Your pictures of the lake are stunning.

Thanks! It was even more beautiful in person. I am so lucky that I have been able to travel as much as I have and this was definitely one of my favourite places!

Marcus looks adorable is the shot where he is tied to the tree.

Isn't he?! He is such a cute dog! I hate having to leave him every summer. If only we could dog nap him and bring him back home with us.

All I can say is WOW! You were not exaggerating...that lake is truly magnificent; I love the color of the water. Great photos of you with your dad too.

Nope, not exaggerating and it is even more beautiful in person! Despite the popularity of the lake it is such a peaceful spot.

Holy moly, that is BEAUTIFUL!! Such gorgeous pictures!

Thanks! You should see it in person, really spectacular!

 

[CandleontheWater]

Those photos are SO BEAUTIFUL! You are making me even more insanely jealous I never got to take my Banff trip!

When I was in grad school I was dating a guy in med school in Edmonton, Alberta. Since we were both really busy, and long distance, we didn't get to see each other very often, but we had planned a big 2 week long trip at the end of our semesters where I would come up to Alberta and we would go see Banff and travel around. I was so excited about the trip, and he broke up with me one week before I was supposed to leave to go up there! I got over him really quick, but I never got over missing my two week Canadian Odyssey! I'm still sad I never got to Alberta, maybe one of these days I'll make it!

Please keep posting the lovely photos! Its almost like being there!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Those photos are SO BEAUTIFUL! You are making me even more insanely jealous I never got to take my Banff trip!

When I was in grad school I was dating a guy in med school in Edmonton, Alberta. Since we were both really busy, and long distance, we didn't get to see each other very often, but we had planned a big 2 week long trip at the end of our semesters where I would come up to Alberta and we would go see Banff and travel around. I was so excited about the trip, and he broke up with me one week before I was supposed to leave to go up there! I got over him really quick, but I never got over missing my two week Canadian Odyssey! I'm still sad I never got to Alberta, maybe one of these days I'll make it!

Please keep posting the lovely photos! Its almost like being there!

Awww, I hope you get to explore Banff in the future, it is never too late!

 

[orangecats2]

That lake is a crazy blue/green color!
Marcus is so cute when his ears are up like in that one pic!

 

[mom3sonstt]

The pictures are amazing! But I can see why the brother's weren't looking at it - they both had big sticks in their hands

Why does Maria do all of the driving?? It is obvious that it is not her forte

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Great photos with Tiana and Naveen! I'm a huge fan of Princess & the Frog and I still have yet to meet them in the park. I can only imagine the conversations you could've gotten into, ESPECIALLY with Naveen lol

Nice Photopass by the castle! Seemed like the perfect day for pictures like those.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That lake is a crazy blue/green color!
Marcus is so cute when his ears are up like in that one pic!

The lake was so pretty! Wait until I post the pictures of Lake Louise, it is an even more unique colour.

The pictures are amazing! But I can see why the brother's weren't looking at it - they both had big sticks in their hands

Why does Maria do all of the driving?? It is obvious that it is not her forte

Those are their hiking sticks. Dad, Maria and I use store bought hiking sticks, they have a tradition of finding a good hiking stick each year.

No idea really why she has to drive all the time. Dad isn't a very good driver either, he gets distracted. So she drives and he navigates. If only I need how to drive a standard I could drive, I would feel much safer!

Great photos with Tiana and Naveen! I'm a huge fan of Princess & the Frog and I still have yet to meet them in the park. I can only imagine the conversations you could've gotten into, ESPECIALLY with Naveen lol

Nice Photopass by the castle! Seemed like the perfect day for pictures like those.

Can't wait to read more!

It was a very lovely evening, those are some of my favourite photopass pictures of the trip.