Banff and BC -- and BEAR!

We headed westward along the Trans-Canadian Highway to the Banff National Park. Along with every other Canadian this side of Ontario. We were pretty shocked at the number of people (ie, cars) on the road. True, it was Sunday, and if ever there were a bunch of "let's go out and about and hike and kayak and canoe and oh-look-there's-a-bear!" type of folks, it's the Canadians. But the population density increased when we got to Calgary and followed us west.

The park was lovely. Lots of snow-topped peaks, rushing rivers, and pretty lakes.

We headed to Lake Louise, where Russ wanted to take some photos. Roughly 4 kilometers below the lake is a village where tourists could catch shuttles. We decided to drive.
Of course, ever though we arrived around 10 am, all the parking was full. Russ decided to jump out and get his pics, then meet me somewhere down the hill. I ended up back in the village overflow parking lots, and he ran down the mountain. He needed the excercise.

Within a few kilometers of Lake Louise you enter British Columbia, our last province. We needed to do laundry again, so we headed for Revelstoke, a small town that boosts a fantastic ski resort. And free RV parking.

Mr. Jones and me

After starting the laundry we took the dogs for a walk. We spied a playground and headed that way for a grassy puppy retreat. The playground belonged to a two-story building that looked like an old schoolhouse. Upon walking around it, however, the city repurposed it for lease. Behold, the new home of Mr. Jones Distillery. Vodka!

We tasted, purchased, then headed for home for the night -- the parking lot of the Revelstoke Ski resort.

Russ making bison burgers for dinner

PS.  Oh look, there's a BEAR! While camping, after eating our dinner, drinking some beer, and doing internet-y things, a black bear simply walked past us, appearing from behind our coach. He had to be within 20 feet of us. We both bolted to our feet, scooped up the dogs, and dashed into the coach. When he move away a bit, we started snapping photos.

By the way, we have a huuuuuge list of animals we'd seen road signs for along the Canadian roads that we didn't see at all (moose, elk, are at the top). No, it had to be a bear that walked through our camp.