We made it to Canada! Our flights going out went great (Richmond to Minneapolis to Calgary) and coming back was rather tricky (as usual). It is so interesting (and annoying) how fights change in less than 12 hours. We looked at flights to go home Sunday night and they looked good and then Monday morning the seats were gone! We ended up flying from Calgary to Seattle with the thought to get to SLC, stay the night with Mark's mom and then head East. Sadly all the SLC flights were full. Sue was able to get the last seat on a flight to SLC but we ended up flying to JFK. This was fine except the next flight to Richmond wasn't until Tuesday morning. So we got to JFK at 12:45 am and left at 8:00 that same morning. Sadly my luggage didn't make it. Actually it got scanned at JFK but it was nowhere to be found. We stood around the carousel waiting for it and talking to the baggage people but no dice. We filed a claim and luckily were able to pick it up at CHO today. The flight to Richmond left from LaGuardia not JFK so we took an Uber to LaGuardia and then hung out there from about 1:30 am till we boarded at 7:30. 6 hours is a long time but getting a hotel didn't seem worth it because we would have needed to be back to the airport by 6:00 for security and all so we just hung out there. Lydia actually slept the whole time and Jared read Harry Potter. He slept for about an hour on the flight. While it certainly wasn't enjoyable or in the plan it really was fine. Not that we plan to do it again but really it worked out and we were happy to get home. We all slept on the flight from LaGuardia to Richmond. We were of course exhausted once we got home and all slept in the next day.
One side effect of this job that has been an adjustment is how our kids view flying. Like most people they always hope for first class and we do get upgraded a decent amount but I hate hearing them complain when we don't. I want to shake them and say "we just got seats! Be grateful we made it! We are flying for free!" Jared has it pretty bad. Occasionally we will get 2 first class and 2 comfort plus seats and he always assumes he will get one in first class one. This last time Lydia was definitely over it. She normally doesn't care that much but when the desk agent gave us our seats he said we were all in first class but really 3 were first class and 2 were the first row in comfort plus. I had Lydia come sit with me while Jared, Mark and Sue were in front of us and she was so upset. She makes a valid point about Jared, I just wasn't expecting her to care that much. She threw a big fit and I was trying so hard to be emphatic when really I wanted to scream! Eventually I helped her calm down. We had bought some brownie bites and she asked if she could have one. That was fine with me. They were in Mark's backpack so I told her to quickly go up front and get one before we took off. I am not sure what she said to him when she went up there but the next thing I knew Mark was coming back to sit by me. I was so mad! I had just spent 10 minutes listening to her cry, calming her down, tying so hard not to lose it and then he let her sit there. I was not okay with this. I told Mark to get her back to her seat. We had a rather heated discussion, both of us expressing our frustration with both kids and then he went and told her to come back. He had already given her his first class blanket and pillow and she is little! Its not like she needs the bigger seat. She came back and the plane took off. I was already planning on reading Harry Potter to her which is why I had her sit by me in the first place and after we read some she asked me to stop because she needed to tell me something. She very sincerely and sweetly apologized for throwing her fit and I said thank you and told her we would try harder to make sure she got to sit in first class too. Since they do get better snacks up there I was happy when Jared came back to give her a piece of the coveted mint Oreo bar they hand out. Later on in the flight Mark brought her a bar of her own. I wish I could have just sat with Mark in first class and they could have been in comfort plus which is a perfectly nice place to sit. I just worry too much about them disturbing people on the flights or needing things. If they were just a little older like 8 and 10 I would have done it. Anyway. At least we won't have to worry about this headache soon as Mark is about 85% sure he is going to quit in September. The thought of working those 3 nights while not having chances for long trips again till next Summer makes it not worth it to him. It would be great if he could work from like April - August each year but its unlikely the airport would go for that plus our seniority would restart each time so it would be even harder to make flights. He really feels like he could be better as Bishop too so next month will likely be the last month of flying, unless I do decide to apply which I very well still could. What I will be doing come September is just a big question mark but preschool looks less and less likely every day and at least for today I am okay with that.
Our main goal in going to Canada was to check out Banff National Park. It did not disappoint. It was so beautiful and the weather was amazing. I loved being in no humidity and 60 - 78 degree weather. We stayed in Calgary, about an hour and twenty minutes from the park. Mark found a great place on Air b-n-b. We got the whole top floor of a house which had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen and a living room. Our time there started out a little shaky as there was no hot water. We contacted the hosts and they were able to get the gas fixed the same day which was helpful. There was a good sized backyard which Jared and Lydia loved playing Harry Potter in as they are completely obsessed. Harry Potter and traveling and the three words I would use to sum up this Summer.
The first day we were there we went stocked up on groceries and then headed to downtown Calgary. Mark's Mom was flying in that afternoon so we didn't want to go too far from Calgary. There is a fun pedestrian street with cute shops and amazing hanging baskets of flowers and cool art sculptures. There happened to be a Latino Festival going on so there were tons of food trucks and great music. At the end of the walkway is the Olympic Plaza and an exhibit about the "
Five Figures". It was a really nice outing. We got some yummy tacos and churros, had a little dance party and learned some history. After picking up Sue Mark and I headed to the temple. We were really happy to have the opportunity to attend the temple. I love checking out new temples. Not getting to go to Iceland was disappointing but going to the temple was really good and we would not have been able to do that there.
I have often heard people talk about the variety of chip flavors in Canada. Mark picked Maple Bacon and Chili Lime.
Olympic Plaza and Calgary Tower
Sunday morning after church
The next day we headed up to Banff. The drive was beautiful, I didn't even fall asleep! Going past the prairies and then through the Canadian Rockies was so nice. We spent the morning at Lake Louise which is an amazing setting. The turquoise waters with the mountains behind it. It is so very picturesque. There is a fancy hotel up there and while the four of us went on a walk along the lake Sue stayed there. It was a little chilly when the clouds covered the sun but we were prepared for it and enjoyed our time outside.
Those three mountains are called "the Three Sisters"
Lake Louise
Jared would run ahead of us and find a place to sit down so he could read more Harry Potter. This is his 2nd time through 1-3 this Summer.
The color of the water was so incredible. Here is why:
The silt is created when rocks underneath the surface of the ice are grinding from the movement of the glacier. The rock flour is very light and stays suspended in the lake water for a long time. The sunlight that reflects off this rock flour is what gives the lakes their spectacular turquoise blue or green colour. *
After the lake we headed to downtown Banff. It was crazy busy! We found parking, quite an accomplishment and then walked around the town a bit stopping to enjoy some high quality ice cream. After downtown Banff everyone in the car but me wanted to go check out Banff Hot Springs. With how crowded downtown was and the crazy traffic I was not excited about trying to go there. We waited in traffic for an hour to go what should have been an 8 - 10 minute drive. Sue has her handicap placard so we were able to find parking near the hot springs which turned out to be a crowded swimming pool. We walked over to the pool to check it out and decided it wasn't worth the money. (Sue by the way has a pool heated by hot springs in her development which is way nicer. Since Jared and Lydia are spending next week there I really was not feeling Banff hot springs). Getting out of town was slightly quicker but not by much. The hot springs and Gondola are right by each other and those are the biggest attractions in Banff the city from what I could tell so it wasn't surprising it was that crowded. We eventually made it home and went out for dinner.
Raspberry Cordial from Anne of Green Gables and Cheese from Avonlea.
I adored Avonlea growing up! I loved Anne of Green Gables but watching Avolena after school was my favorite.
We didn't have set plans for Sunday except to go to church and maybe head back up to the Canadian Rockies. We actually chatted with the Bishop before church and asked him for recommendations on cool places to go within an hour and he kindly gave us some suggestions. We had picked one to go to and then during Sacrament meeting Mark actually got a text message from one of his best friends since childhood. I had posted some pictures on FB and he saw them and told Mark that he was in Banff too! It was crazy! Our unplanned, last minute vacation coincided with their kid free vacation. We agreed to meet up after lunch. We drove up to Lake Minnewanka and had a fun time catching up with them. While we did an easy hike around the lake with Brandon and Brittany Sue took Jared and Lydia on a lake cruise. She loves outings like this and was so happy there was one there. Everyone had a great time.
Mark and Brandon Wheeler. It was seriously so crazy that they were there.
Pre Lake Cruise
Jared and Lydia both loved the cruise. Sue said that tour guide was great at his job, funny and informative.
There is an interesting story about a man who claimed to find a merman in the Lake. Norman Luxton a man well known around the area early on claimed to have found a merman. It seems more likely he bought different pieces from a salesman from Indonesia and or Japan and attempted some taxidermy.
Man! This water, it is just so amazingly beautiful. There were kayaks to rent which would have been awesome but the hike was better for visiting.
While on our hike we came up to a bridge. On the far side of the bridge was a pack or wild sheep. It looked like they wanted to cross the bridge so we all stood on one side of the bridge but that wasn't good enough. We all walked off the bridge and climbed up on some rocks near the trail. The sheep eventually crossed the bridge going right by us. It was really cool. There were 3 adorable little baby sheep with them.
We really had a good little stay in Calgary and are glad we made it out of the country. Mark and Sue were so disappointed to not make it to Iceland and just both really wanted to get out of town. This turned out great and we are so happy Sue could come with us.
*http://www.lakelouiseinn.com/explore-lake-louise/
