day 26

Twin Butte to Revelstoke

Lots and lots of driving today with a stop at a Subaru dealership. We drove North to Calgary, dropped the car off, and got a ride to the hotel the girls had for the night to swim in the pool. We said our see ya laters, had big hugs, and I got back on the road to Revelstoke. The drive started out very dry with the haze of nearby fires and ended with cool, crisp, humid, rainy forest. I was at a really nice campground for the night that had a hot tub (bless it). Spent some time in the tub and curled up in bed in the car. It was pouring all night which made for a very peaceful slumber.

day 25

A whole heckin’ day in Twin Butte

Woke up to this

Made some coffee, ate some breakfast, and packed some sandwiches in preparation for horseback riding! Made it out of the house early and drove into Waterton Lakes National Park to get to the stables. We were three of six riders led by an extremely chatty fella named Bryn. We learned a lot about Bryn that morning. Emily rode Charlie, a very tall horse with a tendency to follow the rules. I rode Tonka, a shorter horse (at my request) who had a tendency to follow Charlie. Ariel rode a big white horse with spots named Big Jim (aka biggus jimothy) who would not stop snacking. Despite all feeling like our legs might come off, the ride was super relaxing.

At Bryn’s recommendation, we drove over to the Middle Lake boat launch. There we found soft grass to take a nap on, a crystal clear lake at the base of a mountain, and dock perfect for jumping off. We ate our sandwiches, laid around, and went swimming.

After warming up in the sun we walked around the Waterton Park town area, grabbed a treat, and checked out the visitors center. At this point we desperately needed a nap. We went back to the silo, did some reading, chilling, napping, and played some zilch.

On the way home we stopped at the Bison paddock to hang out with the bison for a little bit.

For dinner we headed down highway 6 to the Smoke Shack, a walk up window with outdoor seating and a cool country band. We got friend pickles, brisket and slaw sandwiches with sides of mac and cheese, listened to the band and watched the sunset. The food was almost too good, the weather just about perfect. We left feeling really grateful for brisket, summer time, and friendship.

day 24

Banff to Twin Butte

Today was light on activities - our main goal was to get groceries and drive to Twin Butte, a very tiny town (actually a hamlet) a 10 minute drive from Waterton Lakes National Park. We were originally going to go to Jasper for the back half of the trip but had to pivot due to wild fires. Thankfully we were able to find a very unique AirBnb in the planning process, one of three silos on a stretch of highway 6. The silos were thoughtfully designed providing a small kitchen, a spiral staircase leading up to a really comfy bed, a communal outdoor kitchen, and endless mountain views.

We arrived at the silos and pretty much took the time to chill. We grilled up some hotdogs and asparagus, took a post dinner walk, and watched some standup comedy before crawling into bed.

day 23

Day two of two in Banff

We woke up and took our time getting packed up to move over to the Moose hotel, a hotel with two hot rooftop pools and a sauna(!). After moving our luggage over, we walked over to Bluebird for a delicious breakfast. The restaurant was very cute, with lots of nicely designed touches throughout. I got a basic breakfast, and we got one souffle pancake for the table.

After breakfast, we walked around downtown Banff, did some souvenir shopping, and rented a canoe for an hour. It took us some time to get our rhythm down (canoeing is hard with three people!) but we giggled our way through it, enjoyed the views, and even saw an elk. Our favorite store was Jolene’s tea house, where we all drank delicious tea and got plenty to take home.

We returned to the hotel for much needed hot tub time. I managed to get a load of laundry in, and we ordered some pizza and salad to the room before catching the bus up to the Banff gondola. We were all very excited to take the gondola (Ariel had timed it perfectly so we would get to see the sun set!) but we didn’t realize how scary it was going to be. The ride climbs almost 2300 feet in 8 minutes and was frankly terrifying! But we made it to the top, walked along the decks to the peak, talked, danced, and laughed. Despite thinking I might throw up on the way to the top, it was absolutely worth it and so, so special.

By the time we took the gondola back down, it was much darker. The dusk light made it feel like we were traveling under water - absolute magic. After getting back to the hotel, I spent about 20 minutes in the sauna, grabbed a shower, and passed the heck out.

day 22

Day one of two in Banff

We woke up and gave ourselves a very chill morning before heading up to Lake Moraine. It took a little bit to figure out the parking a shuttle situation, but we make it heckin’ happen. Once there we decided to do the 4.6 mile hike up to Lake Agnes. The hike takes you up 1260 feet up passed Mirror Lake up to Lake Agnes with stellar views of Lake Louise along the way.

Before grabbing the shuttle back to town, we plunged in Lake Louise! The internet said the temp was about 55 degrees, so very cold but it felt so good. Ariel and I went twice.

After making our way home, we did a dip in the hotel hot tub and got ready for dinner. We had walked past an unbearably cute Italian restaurant called Lupo, and were able to snag a late reservation. The restaurant was beautiful and the food undeniably delicious. We shared a burrata caprese, the crispiest focaccia I’ve ever had, an herby salad with preserved lemon vinaigrette, grilled broccolini with garlic confit crema, chili crisp, and lemon, marsala mushrooms with butter, and we each got a pasta. Ariel chose saffron bucatini with sausage, Emily a rolled lasagne with bechamel and ham, and a spicy rigatoni alla vodka for me. For dessert a bruléed torte limone with what we thought was a cherry crème fraîche.

We went back to the hotel happy and full, and crawled in bed to admire the moon before falling asleep.

day 21

Babb to Banff

Got up with the sun to get the car packed up - had to make sure there was space for Emily and Ariel! I had also agreed to give a ride to the campsite owner’s mother-in-law - a lovely Ukrainian woman named Valentina.

Got over the border, made a stop at Tim Horton’s, and parked at the airport to pick up the girls. What a treat! We had a quick hour and a half long drive to get into Banff.

We got to the Juniper Hotel, dropped our stuff off, and walked into Banff downtown Banff to explore. We stopped for a quick bite (happy hour hot dog, truffle fries, chicken caesar salad) at Park and walked around. On a whim we stopped at Last Temptation Vintage where we all found a lil somethin’

We walked back to the hotel, took some chill time, and headed downstairs for dinner in the hotel Bistro. Our server was a delightful man from Denmark named Clay. We shared a tomato and sourdough salad, brussels sprouts with birch syrup and sunflower seeds, roasted fingerling potatoes with leek puree, half a roasted chicken, and a pistachio cake.

After dinner we moseyed right upstairs to bed.