Today was an early start to the day since Beckett woke up around 5:45. Jay was working remotely today, and had to start at 6am anyway due to the time difference. We are fortunate that Jay was able to take so much time off work for this trip and only had to schedule in a few work days. And, as always, we are so grateful for his hard work which provides for our family!
The kids and I had breakfast and got ready before packing up since we needed to check out of our AirBnB today. I’m glad we had such a great place to stay and it was nice to spend 3 nights in one place after moving from one hotel to another for 7 straight nights prior to this stay.
Brooke, Beckett and I started our local Canmore-adventure day by taking a little walk to the Three Sisters Viewpoint. The All Trails app says it’s a 0.6 mile hike and takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. Luckily this is not my first rodeo and I allocated much more time to explore due to little legs and curiosity. Sure enough, we stopped many times for “Mommy look what I found!” breaks (one time was literally because Beckett wanted to show me an ant). We were completely alone on the trail, which was nice, except for the fact that we were walking between thick berry patches and I had read the night before that bears frequently can be found in areas with berries this time of the year. I had bear spray with me, but had not practiced with it like Jay did before the trip, so I was feeling a bit uneasy. I unintentionally mentioned the fact about bears and berries out loud, which scared Brooke on the short walk back to our car, so we didn’t stop as often and made much better time. In the end, we did not see any signs of wildlife, besides the little ant and maybe some birds, and we all made it out unscathed.
The spot where you can view the Three Sisters peaks was so peaceful and it’s amazing that there are areas like this which are so easily accessible and yet we were able to have the moment to ourselves without another soul around. It felt like we stumbled upon an undiscovered realm because surely a place with this much beauty should have had swarms of people. We either lucked out, or, there are so many options in the area that it gives people room to spread out.
We spent some time enjoying the view before heading back to the AirBnB to load up the car. The kids and I went back out for a beautiful 1.2 mile walk called the Bow River Loop which was right in Canmore and had an old railroad bridge to walk over which was built in the 1890s! It followed the Bow River, which is the same river we went rafting on a couple days ago. The kids ended up getting pretty whiny for this walk and we all got a few mosquito bites. Shockingly, this was the only hike of the entire trip where we actually needed bug spray! It was also sprinkling rain off/on but the temperature was pleasant. At least the views were amazing as usual.
Our last two activities in Canmore were the playground and ice cream which were a hit with the kids and a mood-booster for both of them. For some reason, at each of the ice cream shops we have visited in Canada, they don’t have sprinkles. I still haven’t found out if this was a fluke or if sprinkles are actually not as popular in the Canada as they are in the US.
We picked up Jay around 2pm and started the 3 hr 45 min drive back to the US. Beckett and I took a nap and Brooke read another chapter book, so the first part of the drive was quiet for Jay. The most interesting thing we saw on this drive were bright yellow fields of crops which really caught our attention. We later learned that the crop is canola (I’m assuming Jay asked ChatGPT this question).
After a few hours we stopped to stretch our legs and Jay made a joke that the kids were more excited to walk around this lamp post then they probably were for all of Banff 😂
We tried to find a restaurant to eat at, but after putting The High Five restaurant into our GPS and seeing what it actually looked like on the outside we decided to pass and ended up at McDonalds again. So much for eating a healthy meal together. The kids were chanting away in the backseat while I tried to compose myself and was making a mental grocery list of all the vegetables I need to buy for our family when we get back home. At least the kids were happy.
While at McDonald’s Jay noticed that we happened to be eating there during family night. So, he went up to the counter to ask about the free kids activities (expecting a free coloring sheet to keep them distracted in the car)…instead a lady came out with a whole arts and crafts bin and sat down at our table with them. So, the kids and the employee were coloring and gluing and drawing at McDonald’s…all while precious minutes ticked off the clock ensuring the kids would go to bed late again. It was hard not to laugh at the situation though.
A little more driving and we were at our hotel in St Mary Village. When we got there we learned we would be staying on the 3rd floor and the elevator was broken so we had to schlep all our suitcases up the staircases with the kids in tow. The picture below is the view from our room. The sound of the flowing river was a nice touch 🙂
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