Day 3 - Banff

Unfortunately, we couldn't walk right along the river most of the way, because most of it had been blocked off by signs warning us of Aggressive Elk. It's calving season, and mommy and daddy elks tend to run down anyone who may be threatening their babies.

We were the only walkers deterred by the warning signs.

            DARIN
        I don't actually fear elk.
        I just don't want my 
        epitaph to read, 'He was
        gored by an elk thirty 
        feet beyond the DANGER!
        Aggressive Elk sign'.
          (beat)
        Also, I like to follow the
        rules.

We instituted an Elk Watch -- every so often we had to stop, find your partner, then look around and hold up one finger for each elk you see.

We walked over the bridge toward town and then alongside the river on the other side. Almost immediately on the riverbank trail we spotted an elk. Between our group and the elk was a pair of teenagers who were throwing branches and other material at the elk to get its attention.

We wished for an elk with antlers at that moment to show up on one side of the teenagers...and a baby elk to show up on the other side.

So we walked along the road for a while, until we had passed the elk. Then we moved back to the riverside trail. We went quite a ways and my boots got some breaking in on the up-and-down terrain.

When the trail met back up with the road, we ended up at a vista point that overlooked the river.

   DIANE and LAUREN sit on a road divider and look
   out at the river and beyond that, Sulphur Mountain.
   
            DIANE
        Wow. This is a great
        view.
        
            LAUREN
        It is.
        
            DIANE
        I say we head back and
        get some hot chocolate.
        
            LAUREN
        Hey, guys! We're going
        back to town.

On the way back to town was the coolest sight -- on the other side of the river, on the trail we'd been warned off of, was a baby elk nursing from mommy elk, while mommy cleaned off the baby.

We went back to town and ate in Bruno's. Scott's immediate question: "Does Bruce Willis own this place?" The food and decor were fine, but the coffee and hot chocolate were mediocre.

Lauren wanted to get some ear gloves, individual ear muffs that she's yearned for. We couldn't find them. Found a candy shop though, and the five of us pigged out. I insisted we needed to begin storing up for winter, or at least the 4-hour car ride to Jasper. Actually, the second I saw the Crunchie bars and the packets of Smarties (which are now owned by Nestle's? What?), I began reliving large parts of my childhood and had to buy some.

Scott and Mitch decided to accompany Lauren on her quest for ear gloves, and Darin and I headed back to the hotel. Once there I tried to sleep, but was expertly thwarted by Darin who asked me to sleep in same bed he was sitting on, turned on the TV, and then bounced around a lot. Most importantly, he kept tuning to shows I wanted to watch, such as Medical Detectives on A&E.

At 6 his folks showed up and the four of us went to dinner at a German restaurant on hotel grounds but not actually in the hotel, the Waldhaus. We ate German food. Darin noted that the Wienerschnitzel his mom had for dinner was clearly not as good as the one his grandfather used to make.

We had chocolate fondue for dessert. It was much better than yesterday's, and it wasn't milk chocolate. A darker chocolate with hazelnuts and pear liqueur. Not enough bananas though. Why don't fondue places ever bring diners enough bananas?

After dinner everyone except Darin and Steve had planned to go to the Banff Hot Springs. I discovered that Mitch, Scott, and Lauren wanted to go eat, which pretty much ixnayed going to the Hot Springs tonight. And you know what? I was so tired, it sounded much better just to stay in tonight.

I went back to the hotel room. I got undressed and settled into bed with Darin to watch TV and catch up on these entries.

And the loudest damn fire alarm ever went off.

I realized that had this been an actual emergency, I would have been dead before I ever finished redressing.

When we got to the lobby the manager told us it was a false alarm. Whee.

So Darin and I have been settled in here ever since.