Day 2

Waking up this morning was a much calmer affair. The airbed had been pretty comfortable, and it was good to wake up with no worries about work our timings. Gordon was playing perfect housewife  and had started making pancakes for breakfast, using up the last fresh ingredients before going on holiday was his excuse. Whatever the reason  the pancakes were tastilicious, and much welcomed. With breakfast out the way, we had a few bits to do in Calgary. Clare would be back at the end of our Californian trip before her flight back to the UK, and was booked into a hotel in the city who had agreed to hold some of her bags. This would save us space in the car, was cheaper than flying them back from Los Angeles, and had the added advantage that if the car broke, we'd have less to backpack with! We picked up some lunch items and breakfast for tomorrow and were all set to depart before I managed to break the one essential car component we couldn't continue without... A teacup holder! Luckily it was only a short drive to replace it and soon we were off!

When planning this leg of the journey, we had wanted to be slightly different. We'd driven down to Calgary countless times, but always used the main highway, passing the sign for the Old Banff Coach road every time. This time we decided to follow it, to see just how different it would be. With Clare once more on navigation duty we worked or way through the Calgary traffic, with only a minor inconvenience when the GPS tracking stopped working and old school map reading techniques had to be employed. Once we were on the road the differences were very apparent. This long straight road stretched seemingly to the mountains, and from the top of the hill you could see it laid out like a ribbon. Massive houses lined both sides often with large gardens separating one from the other. Each house seemed big enough to house 20 people in their own ensuite king size room...they were huge! Eventually, the oversized house and large gardens grew further apart as we got further from the city, the large gardens turning into farmers fields, the large houses turning into...well the large houses didn't change, they just grew outbuildings for the farming equipment. Eventually we reached a crossroads, cutting across us was a busy toad, packed with lorries and trucks. Directly ahead a dirt path continuing on the arrow straight coach road. Consulting the map, we could continue ahead, or turn off up to the main highway. With 5000 or more kilometres stop to go, and the car being delicate anyway, we opted for the highway and took the opportunity to top off the petrol tanks before we reached National park pricing or BC taxes.

The next leg of the drive took us back past Banff  and as we passed we tried not to look too longingly at it. Before long, it wasn't just Banff, it was Alberta we were leaving for the last time as we wound our way into the Kootenay mountain ranges. Working in Banff we'd seen and smelt the smoke during the summer as numerous forest fires ate into the area, but were not prepared for how much of the surroundings was black and burnt, right up to the edges of the road.

This road, Highway 93, is renowned for wildlife sightings, and we were not disappointed. Nearly at Radium hot springs, we spotted a car abandoned at the side of the road and the flashes of photography indicating a tourist, and as we went past slowly, Clare looked to see what it was being photographed. Having seen so many bears, elk and deer over the summer, I wasn't really prepared to stop until Clare screamed in excitement "MOOSE, MOOSE, ITS A MOOSE!". With my eardrums ringing, we pulled over to admire this rarely seen icon of the rocky mountains.

Clares day had been made, and even the sight of just turning orange larch trees couldn't take away from it. In Banff, autumn (local dialect: fall) had been and gone, the trees had shed their leaves and snow had started falling. Down here, the brilliant colours were just changing, making a spectacular drive.

Our destination for the night was Invermere on the Lake - and due to the weather I'd been persuaded this would be a hostel stop over. The hostel seemed deserted, but as we checked in we discovered a well equipped hostel, with all the amenities needed, and a much lower price than advertised - good find Clare! Having settled in a bit, I took the opportunity to catch up on a few things online. Setting up this blog, uploading photos, dealing with tax issues, tracking our spending, all the little things I hadn't had a chance to do. Clare quickly discovered, once I got started I could go on for hours getting bits done, and had to start hustling me to finish up so we could head on to the Fairmont Hot Springs for the evening for a soak. The roads were dark and wet, and every driver seemed intent on blinding all other road users, but we eventually found our way there, and getting a discounted entry because of the time made the soak much more enjoyable! With different temperature pools to choose from, it was a good alternative to the other hot springs we've visited.

Home for dinner (left overs from last night) and cooking up our now defrosted meat from home kept us busy all evening, and we were ready for an early night before long. Tomorrow, we'll explore the lake shore and beaches before moving on again, next stop Ainsworth Hot Springs!