{"id":17003,"date":"2023-07-15T10:29:56","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T14:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=17003"},"modified":"2023-07-15T14:01:29","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T18:01:29","slug":"canada-rockies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=17003","title":{"rendered":"Canada Rockies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I enjoyed one of the best visits to Canada I’ve ever had. Now that I am back home, caught up on the laundry, restocked my fridge, and took care of other things I had to do, I thought I would show you where I was and what I did.<\/p>\n

I have visited every province and territory in Canada during my working career. My husband and I enjoyed celebrating a long-delayed honeymoon in Toronto in 2019<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I returned after the pandemic restrictions were lifted last year to the Canadian Maritimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This year, I ventured to the west and spent most of my time in the province of Alberta. What a stunning and scenic place! <\/p>\n

My trip began with a return to …
\n
\n\"\"Vancouver, one of the most lovely and most expensive cities in Canada. A friend met me at the airport and took me to my hotel.<\/p>\n

I arrived before I could check in, so my friend took me to a nice restaurant where he had a late lunch and I had dinner (considering the 3-hour time difference.)<\/p>\n

On return to my hotel, I checked in and almost immediately went to bed. I don’t handle jet lag well flying west.<\/p>\n

Of course that meant waking very early. But the sun rises early there too. So I went for a nice walk in the city and had breakfast at Tim Horton’s, a favourite of mine (and much better than McDonald’s).<\/p>\n

\"\"That afternoon, I made my way to the ViaRail station and boarded a train headed east. The train traveled through some interesting country. I had a single sleeper cabin and made the best of the small, cramped space.<\/p>\n

The train arrived in the town of Jasper within the Jasper National Park.<\/p>\n

\"\"I dropped my bags at my hotel, had a quick lunch, then was picked up by a private photographer tour guide I had arranged. He took me to scenic locations to capture the lovely scenery that composes Jasper National Park. He also began to show me how to use features of the new DSLR camera that my husband gave me for my last birthday (both the last birthday I had with him, as well as the last birthday I choose to celebrate. I do not celebrate aging.)<\/p>\n

\"\"My photographer Guide picked me up again the next day where we journeyed to additional areas of the park. They were quite scenic and interesting. We also saw some wildlife — an elk and a small black bear. Other animals were sleeping.<\/p>\n

The next day, I was picked up by a bus and traveled across the Icefields Parkway on the way to Lake Louise. Every kilometer on that road and every curve revealed even more stunning scenery. I was mesmerized.<\/p>\n

\"\"We stopped at the Columbia Ice Fields and had the opportunity to walk on a glacier. I’ve done that before in Alaska. This was an interesting experience, but it was very crowded with many more tourists like me. <\/p>\n

We had a few more stops at scenic lakes, but I knew I would see these areas differently….<\/p>\n

\"\"On arrival in Lake Louise, I checked into my hotel which was right on the lake. I had a stunning view from my hotel room window.<\/p>\n

I had dinner at a hotel restaurant… expensive doesn’t describe it. This is expected when they have a captive audience during peak travel season.<\/p>\n

\"\"The next morning, another professional photo Guide picked me up at 0445. He took me to a scenic lake (one that the bus stopped at during the ride here.) He taught me more about how to use all of the features of my great DSLR. I learned a lot, and loved it.<\/p>\n

We watched the sun slowly illuminate the mountains. The reflection of the mountains on the glass-like still surface of the lake was breathtaking. I expect to create a photo calendar from these and other stunning photos I took during this trip.<\/p>\n

My Guide took me to three additional scenic locations during the full five hours I arranged for his services. He could not have been better, more helpful, more friendly, and overall, just better than anyone I had ever worked with before.<\/p>\n

\"\"That afternoon, I was taken by bus again to Banff. This is one of the most scenic spots in the Canadian Rockies. Everywhere I looked, the scenery was stunning. I settled into my hotel, then walked the community, dodging crowds of tourist. I had the most expensive (but great) dinner that evening of Alberta grass-fed prime rib that I’ve ever had.<\/p>\n

\"\"The next morning, I had a built-in tour of the tourist spots in Banff. A gondola ride to the top of a mountain, then a boat cruise on another scenic lake. It was a beautiful day, though the crowds of tourists were sometimes overwhelming. (This is why I prefer private self-guided touring, rather than something like a cruise ship or other group tours. Yuck… the crowds, noise, and general hordes of masses of people are an anathema to my psyche.)<\/p>\n

\"\"At 0445 the next morning, once again my professional photo Guide picked me up and took me to more places to take landscape photos at sunrise over glass-still lakes. <\/p>\n

Everywhere I looked, my mouth gaped at the stunning views I was capturing on my camera.<\/p>\n

\"\"My Guide took me to several locations within Banff National Park. I loved every place I visited. I took more than 2,000 photos. It will take some time to process all of them, though many are duplicates using different lighting techniques and angles of view.<\/p>\n

I can’t say enough about how great my photo Guide was. I learned a lot, so much that I truly believe that my photography has risen to a much higher level.<\/p>\n

But wait! That’s not all! Once again, I boarded a bus and was brought to Calgary, the last location of my trip. The main purpose of visiting Calgary was to see the Calgary Stampede.<\/p>\n

I had tickets to watch the rodeo, and another one to watch a show.<\/p>\n

\"\"But man oh man, the crowds of shorts-and-sneakers tourists were overwhelming. Few cowboys, darn it. This event is much like a U.S. midwestern state fair on steroids. <\/p>\n

No matter, I “cowboyed up” in boots, jeans, western shirt and cowboy hat… strolled the grounds that were enormous. People watching was tiring, as most people were tourists and well… wearing what tourists wear. Few boots… awe shucks.<\/p>\n

\"\"What made my visit to Calgary special is that my buddy CalgaryMn (from old “hotboots” fame) met me and gave me a personal tour of his hometown. I really enjoyed catching up with Clay and observing Calgary through his eyes. We had a great lunch, then he took me boot shopping! Oh my! Couldn’t resist.<\/p>\n

After the shopping, Clay dropped me off for my first visit to the Stampede. That’s when I watched the rodeo for a few hours. Man, are those guys top-of-the-circuit pros. <\/p>\n

The next day, I walked Calgary again. It is a nice city, and is called “the Houston of the North” since Canada’s oil companies are headquartered there.<\/p>\n

I returned to the Stampede and strolled the grounds again. I watched some cowboys demonstrating their craft.<\/p>\n

\"\"Later that day, another friend picked me up and took me to dinner. I enjoy my friend’s high-energy and positive enthusiasm. Plus, he has a killer smile and I’m a sucker for a guy with a nice smile. (Do *not* read any more into this phrase than what it means.)<\/p>\n

Because I chose to see my friend, I skipped sitting among the throngs of tourists to watch the show at the Stampede for which I had a ticket.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. I was picked up at 0330 for a ride to the airport… 12 hours later, I walked through the door at home in Maryland.<\/p>\n

This trip was definitely one of a lifetime. I loved-loved-loved it, especially the private photography tours that I arranged with pros.<\/p>\n

Life is short: and it is meant to be lived fully (in boots!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I enjoyed one of the best visits to Canada I’ve ever had. Now that I am back home, caught up on the laundry, restocked my fridge, and took care of other things I had to do, I thought I would … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}