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Old 27 Jul 11, 02:08 PM  
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roonlou
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Canadian Cowboys and a Whistler Stop Tour! - Pre-ramble

Pre-ramble

Now there is nothing unusual about Roo’s Ma and Pa inviting us out for a lunch date, with boisterous grandchildren freshly delivered from Roo’s elder brother it’s always nice for an “adults” only meet and greet. But when they invited us out just before Christmas, there was a particular buzz of excitement in the air from the older folks.

We had only just sat down in the Jamie’s Italian Restaurant (quite nice, reasonably priced but a wee bit pretentious) and ordered drinks when Roo’s Pa announced with a big smile on his face that they wanted to visit Canada, and we were the lucky two being selected to organise, book and take them on this adventure this coming August for their Anniversary (41 years of married bliss). Err, okay, I guess…

Fortunately my mind works like school holidays, you know the sort of thing, either about to go on School holiday, just finished a School holiday or on a School holiday – in the way that I’m always thinking of places to go, going to places I’m thinking of or being in the places I’m was first thinking of.

So even though not prepared for this holiday request, and managing not to spit my drink across the table I presented an idea for a trip I’d been working on for at least three years, but trimmed the fat from making it a super expensive holiday that included visits to Knight’s Inlet to watch the Bears and other wildlife - to a more reasonable deal for the folks who were getting closer to retirement. My thinking is that we could always go back and do the expensive parts on a future holiday.

So the plan was roughly set over our lunch, fly to Calgary and travel off to Banff National Park for a gondola trip up into the Mountains, then further up to visit the beautiful Lake Louise. Then, continue north up to Jasper National park to see the outstanding scenery and the Glaciers and of course a visit to the hot springs. Then from there to Kamloops, for a brief stay on the main journey to Vancouver, to arrive on time for their Anniversary and a day trip on the famous Rocky Mountaineer to Whistler to celebrate. This was to be only a ten night trip as Roo and I, believe it or not, don’t have an infinite source of Annual Leave, so there was a lot to pack in, and a lot of advance planning to do to make the most of our time there.

So over the next few weeks the planning continued and we decided to try and sample a few different style holiday accommodations, and managed to find and book hotels, cabins, holiday rental and a Bed and Breakfast in the six locations we’d be visiting. This was to be a fairly busy fly drive with 800 miles of driving and with hopefully no time for anyone to get bored.

Fortunately, late in the planning and thanks to our Amex card, a fantastic deal came up for a hotel in Vancouver, buy two nights get one free – so with the money saved on the extra night, we upgraded ourselves to a very nice room on the Gold Concierge level in a very fancy Fairmont Hotel – a lovely treat at the end of a busy trip.

So here we are, departing this Saturday, not packed, but already ready in our hearts and minds to head out and have a fantastic time – Canada are you ready? Because we are!

On To Day 1 - Great Flights & Calgary Delights

Edited at 08:07 PM.
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Old 27 Jul 11, 03:26 PM  
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Scotty
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ohh goody i love your trippies
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Old 27 Jul 11, 04:05 PM  
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MarionG
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You will love Canada, we visited there in 2008. We flew into Calgary, stayed two nights. Then drove to Banff for six nights. Then the Icefields Parkway to Jasper for four nights. Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver where we stayed six nights and then drove back to Calgary. We booked it all ourselves, and did all the tourist things, (Gondolas, Hot Springs, Whale Watching etc)
I would return again anytime.
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Old 27 Jul 11, 07:50 PM  
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nikkimc
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Can't wait for the new trippie...
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Westridge Nov 2003, Bahama Bay March 2005
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Old 27 Jul 11, 08:54 PM  
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tracy99
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i also love,your trip reports
hope you all have a fantastic time!
tracy x
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Old 28 Jul 11, 08:55 AM  
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WALSH FAMILY
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I am so jealous.

We have only been to Banff/Lake Louise in the winter for skiing and stayed at the Banff Springs. We have always wanted to go in the summer and tour a bit like yourselves. It is in the plan for 2013 - will look forward to your report for tips and ideas.

Enjoy!
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Old 29 Jul 11, 12:47 PM  
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Yay, another trippie to look forward to
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Old 29 Jul 11, 06:02 PM  
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Wills
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Looking forward to hearing all about it
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Old 30 Jul 11, 03:05 PM  
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Gill635
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Hotel Reviews: 1
Wowsers, cannot wait to read! Have an amazing time


xx
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Old 30 Jul 11, 04:29 PM  
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Wow sounds great! Looking forward to the trippie. Have fun. Susie x
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