The rain was SO LOUD on the tent over night! Thunder and lightning too! This time the forecast was right, it was going to rain, and it did, for hours.

It’s super hard to commit to getting up, knowing you have to pack away a soaked wet tent while it rains on you.

But we’ve done it before, so we did it again.

We skipped the showers, we were already wet, and headed down the road towards Banff.

We stopped here and there, when ever the signs said there was a look-off.

Rainbow!

Columbia Ice fields

We stopped at the big centre for the ice fields but didn’t opt to join a glacier tour. Even despite the clouds sitting on the peaks, I’m not sure either of us really like being in crowds of tourists. and I’ve seen ice before?

Lake Louise

Lake Louise was a bust. We didn’t see it. We tried! The parking lots were full. And they just turned every car around. There were people attempting to walk there, from many kilometres away, but we just carried on. Oh well!

Banff

We made it to Banff though! We had absolutely no idea what to expect. And didn’t know where to go. Dad mentioned something about there being a parking lot and a shuttle. We didn’t even know which of the 3 highway exits to use to reach town. We gambled and took the first one, and it all worked out.

We found a parking lot by the train station and it was free! And just a 5 minute walk to downtown.

The first thing we did was go to a restaurant for some food. We’ve been snacking more than eating. I just haven’t felt like eating much in the evenings when we finally get somewhere and are tired, so we haven’t been cooking much either.

I had a lovely mocktail and a pizza!

And Cathy had a wedge salad with chicken.

Then we wandered down the street and hit a few shops.

The things we saw today included a line of people to use the outhouses, several times, and a line of people wait to take their selfie in front of the Banff sign! We skipped that too.

Rundle Chalets

Two days ago, when we were looking ahead, we found no where we could book around Banff. There are some campsites that are for first come first serve only, but we knew we’d be all day getting here and so couldn’t imagine a scenario where we’d get one.

The hotels were all over $500 a night, even with deals and coupons and discounts.

But we found one chalet with some mixed reviews that is about 20 km past Banff on the way to Canmore. It was significantly over $300 but had two bedrooms. There was only one left, so we booked it.

And now we’re in it. The reviews were mostly fair. It is very dated, but it’ll do. Or check back tomorrow?

Especially since it is pouring rain again! The poor tent is bundled up and all wet but I think we’d both rather open our wallets for this one than put up a soaking wet tent to camp another night in the pouring rain.

Mostly importantly, there is free wifi, and Little House on the Prairie is on the TV. Oh! And you can see the mountains across the street.

Good night!