Canadian Rockies Road Trip July 2018 - Travel Day(s) and the Calgary Stampede

[Gunna]

So finally the holiday had arrived, lots of planning, researching and time spent booking various activities and at last the long awaited for trip had arrived.

We where travelling down to Gatwick on the 14th July and as we live in Hull where planning to leave about 2pm (ish). I had booked the day off work but Kirsty was working part of the day. This meant I was in charge of getting things sorted. The night before Sam had his last day from his 4 week NCS, which he had loved followed by his school leavers prom. We met up with him at one of his mates houses with the rest of the parents for pre-prom drinks before they all set off for the night, I then picked him up from the after party there about 1am, once I could get him away, left him in bed the next morning whilst dropping Kirsty at work and getting things sorted at home.

For all I had a few hours they soon passed. Bit of an issue once I had checked in as I couldn't get the boarding passes to load onto my phone then store in my wallet and when I went to print them the printer promptly ran out of ink. So after a trip to Asda to sort that I dropped the cat off with my mum and we all went to see my Dad before I had to leave to pick Kirsty up from work. We had a cuppa and a sandwich before, what seemed a frantic last 30 minutes, and then finally we where on the road to Gatwick. The drive was uneventful apart from some middle lane hoggers and the usual M25 traffic. Stops for petrol, coffee and chocolate and we where soon at the Travelodge at the airport which took a little while to find due to Satnav issues and we checked in using the auto check in which was quick and easy. As we couldn't be bothered to head off anywhere else for food we ate at the hotel which was decent enough and not expensive before heading off to bed.

I was awake at 3am and then 4am before dozing and finally choosing to get up at 5.30am. Showers all round, car packed and a short 10 minute drive to the meet and greet. I tend to use valet with long hauls mainly for ease on return and this worked fine. We where directed to a lane and then held up as the people in front had decided to spread everything out all over the car park and even though they saw people where waiting to pull up behind did nothing about it at all. They certainly took their time but finally they got sorted and we where able to park up, unpack and drop off our keys saying farewell to the car for 3 weeks. We headed into the South Terminal followed the signs for Air Transat to find no queues so we where checked in and though security in record time, they also printed the boarding passes so could of saved myself the cash and Asda trip. Breakfast called and Sam chose Nandos, decided against chicken and opted for pancakes although I was a bit gutted there where no Nata tarts this early. We did however discover something new called 'Corny Browns' which where delicious. Wandered the airport and shops and saw some woman carrying what looked like a hula hoop? until it was time to board. When we got there same woman with the hula hoop was waiting for our flight too. Bit late taking off but found the flight was shorter than expected which meant an earlier arrival into Calgary. The flight was excellent, I was really impressed with the in flight entertainment, staff, food and all round experience, I would happily use Air Transat again and the price was great too. Watched Coco first, didn't realize how sad this was, much more so than Up and maybe not best to be blubbing on the flight. I advised Kirsty to avoid it. Followed by Greatest Showman, I Tonya (which was excellent) then Wrinkle in Time which was okay but not over fussed with that one. Landed and disembarked into Calgary to find a virtually empty immigration hall so we where through and bags collected in about 10 minutes. I picked up a Starbucks mug before we grabbed a taxi into town. I had priced up the shuttle bus but as there where 3 of us it was virtually the same price so we opted for the taxi instead. Bit of a manic driver but soon enough we arrived at our hotel, Fairfield Inns & Suites for the next 2 nights. The room wasn't quite ready so we nipped out for a Tim Hortons and came back a bit later where we got sorted and dropped the bags in the room. It was a large room with a double and single bed, small living room and large bathroom, great price too during the Stampede. Showered and changed it was time to head off to the Stampede.

We when originally booked Calgary I wasn't aware the Stampede would still be on but once I checked and the last day coincided with our first night looked to book tickets. It was going to make it a long day but we didn't want to miss the opportunity. Our hotel was an easy 10/15 minute walk to the Stampede grounds so once we where freshened up and changed set off. It wasn't too busy when we arrived so we started at one of the indoor events where there where various trade stands and vendors selling all sorts, we then headed in to see the dog show.

We grabbed a good seat by going early and watched as the dogs put on a great show doing various competitions, tricks and displays. Hi-light may just have been the dogs leaping and chasing frisbees into ball pools. After this the midway beckoned which meant one thing, fried food! Sam and me watch quite a few carnival/BBQ food shows on Netflix so know that pretty much anything gets fried and sold here so we went to see what we liked the look of.

Sam chose a corn dog and I went for deep fried oreos which where amazing. Kirsty went for some fresh lemonade. Later on Sam also grabbed some fried chicken on a stick which he said was really good. We then went to see some more of what the Stampede had to offer.
I could of quite easily of eaten the Kitkat fries, deep fried cheesecake or reeces cups too. There really was a massive choice of things to eat.

We saw sheep shearing, loads of cattle and various types of horses. Lots of different midway rides, which we though best not to attempt after too much fried food and went across to see the First Nations village which was really interesting. Lots of different tepees, crafts and information on the First Nations people, with dance performances, history and cultural presentations which was fascinating to see.

We had also purchased tickets to see the Grandstand Show so after a while headed on over to take our seats getting more drinks and snacks on the way.

The bucket of mini donuts was massive and the server just kept on filling it, we made a good attempt to eat them but there where a few left, it was a bargain too. The show started off with the chuck wagons which where very fast and skilled. Lots of people seemed to be betting on them but I didn't understand how it worked so didn't get involved in that, just in case I lost our spending money on night one. After watching a number of races we where all starting to flag massively and nod off. The Grandstand finale was a while away but we knew we couldn't stay for it as Kirsty and Sam where nodding in their seats. Reluctantly we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel which was a shame but tonight was our only chance to witness this annual event. What we saw was brilliant and I was so glad we came to it even for a short while. when we left at 9 there where loads of people streaming in and once back in the hotel we where soon fast asleep.

Despite the time I had been awake and on the go I was still wide awake at 4am! The joys of jet lag.

[Libby]

I'm impressed. Our Calgary trip consisted of airport - airport hotel - fast food back at airport - tv - sleep.

What an amazing day! (ETA your day not ours! LOL! )

[MsMinervaMouse]

Hooray, the trip report has started! Sounds like an excellent first day and well done for powering through. Cant wait to keep reading

[Gunna]

Originally Posted by Libby

I'm impressed. Our Calgary trip consisted of airport - airport hotel - fast food back at airport - tv - sleep.

What an amazing day! (ETA your day not ours! LOL! )

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Originally Posted by MsMinervaMouse

Hooray, the trip report has started! Sounds like an excellent first day and well done for powering through. Cant wait to keep reading

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I think caffeine and fried food helped us power through - to be honest if it wasn't for the Stampede I'm sure we would of called it a night a lot earlier, but even for the few hours we where at the Stampede it was so worth it. I would love to go back for a full day and to see the whole of the Grandstand show - apparently Eddie the Eagle made an appearance on stage the night we where there but we missed him unfortunately.

[parisdisneyfan]

A great first day, would love to see the stampede - where is the statue?

[Gunna]

The Stampede was excellent - the statue is at the Stampede park just outside the Saddledome arena - I don't know if you can still get into the park when there are no events on but maybe you can.

[jocat]

Yay, you’ve started! I’m just off out to dinner, but will try my best to read your next couple of days before we leave for Calgary in the morning. That’s the part of our trip we haven’t really planned much for.

A very smooth travel day for you all - let’s just quickly gloss over your lack of sleep.

The stampede looks great. Am so impressed you all kept going.

[Gunna]

Originally Posted by jocat

Yay, you’ve started! I’m just off out to dinner, but will try my best to read your next couple of days before we leave for Calgary in the morning. That’s the part of our trip we haven’t really planned much for.

A very smooth travel day for you all - let’s just quickly gloss over your lack of sleep.

The stampede looks great. Am so impressed you all kept going.

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Certainly took a while to get my body into Canada time but the early mornings did work in our favour at the start of the trip for sure.

It’s a nice city to chill in and we didn’t plan much but found we easily filled a day.

[disney owl]

stampede looks great

[CrispyA]

Stampede sounds great - I’m impressed that you managed so much on your first day!