Weekend Retreat

Well Summer is almost officially here. We've been hearing reports from friends and family in Colorado and Oklahoma about the 90 degree temps and general heat wave they've been having. Seems we went from Winter to Summer. Meanwhile, Jill, Cooper and I are up in Calgary for a couple weeks where we've gone from Winter to 2nd Winter. The good weather has passed and today as we drove out of Calgary headed up to Banff National Park it was 1 degree Celsius, dumping snow and starting to accumulate. Yep, that is Calgary weather for you, where Summer just means more Winter.

Not to be deterred, we headed west and things started looking better. Temperatures started slowly rising as we made our way, and looked generally better than it did in Calgary. Not perfect weather, but certainly workable. As we sit in our nice accommodations looking up towards the peaks that encompass Lake Louise, a light snow is falling and creates a pretty peaceful environment for a much needed weekend mini-vacation.

We did get out enough to explore the area around Lake Moraine today, and I have to agree with some other's opinions that I've heard and say I think Lake Moraine is just a beautiful as Lake Louise. The nice part about the less than perfect weather was the crowds were very light, making it easy to park and get around. Cooper was quite anxious to get out of the car and run around, so we hiked around for a bit.


Cooper storming up the stairs to the overlook

From Lake Louise Weekend

We got the wild child to stop long enough for a picture with Momma

From Lake Louise Weekend

Cooper makes friends with everyone on the trail, calling out "Hi!" repeatedly until they acknowledge him.

From Lake Louise Weekend

Not thawed, but still gorgeous

From Lake Louise Weekend

From Lake Louise Weekend

Family picture

From Lake Louise Weekend

Suited up and ready to hit the trails (Dad's hat is a bit big but it kept him warm)

From Lake Louise Weekend

We found some cute huskies at Lake Louise that Cooper got to play with

From Lake Louise Weekend

Happy to be out of the car and free to roam

From Lake Louise Weekend

The canoes on Lake Louise will get a late start this year. As we walked around Lake Loise, a light snow started to fall.

From Lake Louise Weekend

After walking around Lake Louise for a bit, we went into the super fancy Fairmont ($500 and up per night) hotel on the banks to walk around. The employees there showed Cooper up to the desk where they had steps and a "Kid's checkin". He promptly made his way up the stairs and socialized for a bit. Then they led him around behind the desk, opened up a big chest full of toys and told him to pick one out. Jill told them we weren't staying at the hotel just looking around, but they insisted he pick one out anyway. Of course, he picked out a wind up puppy dog toy. He carried it around proudly. Certainly a very nice gesture from their staff.

From Lake Louise Weekend

Tomorrow we continue our journey westward, heading another couple hours up to Jasper. Lots of things to see on the way there plus the weather looks better the further west you go, so we're hoping for some warmer temps and blue skies tomorrow.

We've got a really nice place with two rooms and a big, soft bed that Jill appreciates so things are good. After a long work week, feels great to be somewhat unplugged from everything and just enjoying hanging out with Super Cooper and Jill. Despite the cool temps, we're off to a good start.