Old Friends in New Places...

There is so much to do while in Alberta. And Kel and I FINALLY went to one of their most popular tourist locations of all, Banff National Park. We originally weren't going to go to Banff until the next day, but when we got to Canmore (our hosting for the night), the people we were staying with weren't actually at their house. lol. So we decided we might as well go.

We basically flew right through Banff and headed to Lake Louise. While we were walking up to the lake I looked over to my left and saw 2 people I haven't seen in months. My uni friends Dave and Brad were there! I was planning to meet up with them at some point but the universe thought then and there was as good a place as any. lol. HOW COOL! So we ended up spending the day with them. We sat by the lake for awhile catching up and enjoying the view. The guys seemed very appreciative of the beauty of it and the park itself. After tree planting for 2 months I guess you start seeing things in a new light.

Along with Lake Louise we headed to Lake Morraine, which I thought was even more beautiful, as if it's possible! Lake Morraine had a lot more character...it was rugged and secluded. It' also called the Valley of ten Peaks because there are ten huge mountains along it's base. It's gorgeous!!

After that we all headed to Johnson Canyon to the waterfall. It was, again, beautiful! Everything there is pretty wonderful. lol. The best part was the cave that we went through that took us right in front of the waterfall. It was cold and wet but awesome! Fresh glacier water! That's the other thing, all the lakes are very blue...it's really pretty.

Our afternoon in wilderness gave us growling stomach's which led to a quick grocery shop at Safeway. Being with other travellers on a budget is awesome! You start to appreciate grocery stores and coolers a hell of a lot more! And minivans apparently.....We had dinner in Brad's van in the Safeway parking lot. It was quite a set-up with lawn chairs and everything. We were quite cozy and the company was the best part! :)

We eventually made our way back to Canmore where we stayed with our cousin's inlaws, Moe and Garth. We hadn't seen them in a realllllly long time so I had forgotten what they looked like. lol. But they were very welcoming and had a beautiful home that Kel and I were very appreciaticve to have stayed in. We visited with them the next morning and they told us all about their travels to Europe. Can't wait to go there!

Another rainy day in Alberta didn't stop us from going to Jasper and seeing the icefields on our way. Now we saw the Athabasca Glacier and I must say I wasn't impressed. I thought it was going to be alot bigger and more like a glacier....but it really just looked like ice on a mountain. I guess that's what it is, but I just wasn't expecting that. lol. It was neat though, and something to see. We headed to the Athabasca Falls as well. Beautiful, but probably would have been gorgeous to see on a sunny day!

Finally we made it to Jasper. I like Jasper. It's alot quieter than Banff and more low-key. When we got there my friend Whitney, whom we were going to stay with, was at work. So to pass the time we headed to the local brewery, where else? lol. We eventually made it to her place and got to see where she lived now. In a lodge basically. She works for the lodge and lives there as well. It reminded me of residence life in uni, prolly not something I would like to repeat. lol. We just chilled all night and caught up with one another. It was awesome to be around old friends again. I'm getting excited to head back home in Septmeber and see everyone again!