We are feeling quite chilled here, and our pace has settled down a bit. With most of our must do's now complete we decided to head for Banff town this morning for a wander round the shops. After a quick video call with Mum and Dad, we drove into Banff and parked at the train station parking which was free. We walked towards the river and then followed it into the main town area.
The town itself, away from the cars and bikes, was quite relaxed. The centre has been pedestrianised making it a very pleasant place to mooch around the shops. We wandered round a few gift shops, and even ventured into an art gallery.
I loved the local Roam buses that all have different animals on the outside. Also saw this sign which made me smile, would love to see some of these outside of our schools.
We stopped for some brunch and treated ourselves to a Beavertail each. These, we discovered, are ovals of pastry, deep fried, the covered with toppings of your choice. I had apple pie and Keith had Skor, which is a kind of candy bar a bit like dime bar. We found a nearby bench to sit and eat.
We continued our wander down the main shopping area, popping in and out of mainly the touristy shops until we found a cafe where we could sit in the sunshine to enjoy a coffee and people watch.
We found our way back to the car and decided to take a scenic road just outside of Banff. It took us up Mount Norquay towards the ski resort. There was a number of switchbacks to do on the way. At the 6th switchback there was a lookout point which we pulled into which had a fabulous view right over Banff and the surrounding mountains. As well as the pull over area there was a large green area where people were picnicking. We found a fallen tree to sit on and rested there for a while.
The next stop was to Lake Minnewanka. As expected the main car park was full, there were lots of people enjoying the sunny weekend by doing watersports - paddleboarding, canoeing etc. We drove on and there was a nice scenic drive that ran partially alongside the lake with some additional pull over spots where we were lucky enough to find a space. We admired the lake from vantage points nearby.
Instead of heading straight back to the condo we grabbed a couple of milkshakes from McD's and then took scenic roads around the edges of town, stopping once at another smallish lake where there was more boating and paddleboarding taking place. Even small lakes like tuismoffer stunning views. We also watched one of the many very very long trains pass by the far side of the lake.
Back to our condo, we chilled on the balcony for a while trying to decide where to go for dinner. we tried making reservations for some of the Canmore restaurants but they were full, so we decided to head back to Banff and managed to book a table at Earl's.
We got ready and headed off, parking again in the railway station car park, then made our way into town. It was still busy, the shops were still open and people were enjoying the lovely warm evening. We wandered for a while as we were a bit early and decided that our early thoughts of Banff may have been misplaced. Having spent time here (and now knowing where to park!), despite being busy it has a really lovely feel to the place, the pedestrianised areas work well and there is lots of choice of food and shopping.
Earls was busy when we initially arrived but our table was ready at the window with views over the mountains and shopping area so we could continue to people watch!
We started with salt and pepper chicken wings, of course! Then I had steak and chips and Keith had cajun salmon and rice. Having seen others having cheesecake, we decided to share one. Food was delicate the service was great.
When we got back to the car park I was really pleased to see that the Rocky Mountaineer train was in the station, I had hoped to catch a glimpse of it somewhere on our trip!
We were back to the condo by 9.30, Keith chilled in front of the TV (golf) and I sat in the balcony updating this page.
We are sorry to be leaving Banff and very sad at leaving the Rockies tomorrow as we start our return journey to Vancouver. Tomorrow's stop is Revelstoke.
Keith's step count today 11,467
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