When packing for our trip to Canada the weather forecast was rain, more rain, and even more rain.... Lucky for us, that didn't hold to be true. It was really only the first few days that it was miserably wet and cold! It kept us indoors during our brief stay in Vancouver, BC.

From Vancouver we hopped aboard the Rocky Mountaineer Tourist Train to head to Jasper by way of Kamloops.

Each car had their own "conductor" or Tour Group Leader - really. Ours was Tim. He was pretty funny and definitely laid back (in the off season he lives in the Philippines and scuba dives). As we passed certain sites along the way Tim would call them out and give us a bit of history. It was pretty interesting -- although I'm positive Lee remembers way more than I ever will about it all.

It rained the first full day and cleared up a bit as we pulled into Kamloops for the night. But the following day was a mix of sun, clouds and rain. Pulling into Jasper that night we were afraid we were destined to never see the tops of the Canadian Rockies. Lucky for us -- the next morning we awoke to the best weather we saw all week. Blue skies and puffy clouds that blew across the sky and changed shape and location in the sky so quickly that the views of the mountains changed every few minutes.

We only had a day and a half in Jasper but we absolutely loved it. It was definitely the best part of our trip. Probably the biggest highlight was taking the Jasper Tramway to just over 8,000 ft and spending a couple hours on top in awe of the spectacular view. All around us were incredible mountain peaks - mostly visible --despite the never-ending cumulus clouds. Not only were the peaks amazing but all the hundreds of lakes along the valley floor. These lakes though are like ones we've never seen. Due to the glacier melt and the type of rock and silt within the glacier (ask Lee for the accurate explanation) the lakes and rivers are this unbelievable blue. Some of them are a brilliant turquoise. Others are an electric Kool-Aid turquoise blue unlike anything we've ever experienced. We certainly wished we had a week to spend in Jasper hiking the trails around these lakes and canoing. We especially loved staying in a cottage right on one of these lakes with absolutely nothing around us. The peacefulness of it all was simply wonderful. We visited one or two of the lakes seen from the top of the Tramway and also spent time at the gorgeous Medicine and Maligne Lakes. Anothr favorite for us was the Maligne Canyon. It's the deepest canyon in the Canadian Rockies and although small, was very cool. The waterfalls and the force of the water through the narrow chute was pretty impressive. I think Lee took 25 pictures of just that! :)

Our second best highlight of the trip was the drive along the Columbia Ice Field Parkway. Our day started off with the cumulus filled blue sky -- and as we traveled along the Parkway the skies became grayer and the clouds a little less puffy. But-- despite the hiding mountains, our stops along the way were also incredible. We saw multiple waterfalls. They reminded us of Upper Yosemite Falls with the intensity and the force of the water (only these are not nearly as high and don't have quite the fall as the ones in Yosemite do). The Athabasca and Sunwapta Falls were our favorites. We also stopped at the Ice Center just opposite the Athabasca Glacier. When we arrived it was all socked in with fog -- but lifted just before we hopped on the bus to head out onto the glacier. This bus was NO ordinary bus. It had 6 wheels that were 5 ft high each and each weighed 300 pounds. It was a 6x4 and didn't go faster than 12 mph and had to cross a moraine with a 34% gradient! We were super lucky that the first 25 minutes of our "tour" were sunny and blue. We actually got to see the glacier for a few brief minutes before the clouds descended and it started to SNOW! It was a white out by the time we got back to the Center and then it snowed the next hour while we drove South to Banff. We discovered a treasure on our way down to Banff - Peyto Lake. This was by far the most amazing lake we saw during our days in Canada. This one can only be described by the electric kool-aid turquoise blue. Simply unbelievable. Next time we're in Canada- we're going to spend time there. The cold and the snow made that stop way too short this time.

Our last 2.5 days were spent in Banff. We spent one day visiting Lake Louise and Johnston Canyon and its waterfalls. I know Lake Louise is supposed to be the greatest place ever -- and maybe if there had been blue skies that allowed us to see the mountain tops and differentiate from where the glacier stops and the sky begins we would agree. However, Lake Peyto sort of spoiled us and the million tourists and huge hotel on the lake front didn't really speak to us. I do have to admit that once we climbed up a bit and away from the people -- we definitely appreciated it more.

We lucked out that our last day and a half in Banff were beautiful. Being a fan of the Jasper Tramway we rode up the Banff Gondola and soaked in the vista from the top. The mountains truly are spectacular. The Canadian Rockies are an amazing place. We are excited that it's a place that will be feasible for us to return to. We loved it. We didn't do much else in Banff besides eat our way through it. There were fudge and candy shops every 150 ft. I swear there were multiple ones to a block. They were all delicious and we just had to sample all the various maple and chocolate combinations.....

It was hard to leave and return to reality.... but here we are! We're trying to catch up with photos and once we do, we'll perk up this blog with a picture or two (of the 750+ that Lee took) from our trip.