Our Rocky Mountain High - Part 2 (Banff)

The little town of Banff is only about an hour's drive from Calgary - and yet, you could take 5 days to get there. There are no wrong turns when you are driving towards the mountains. Every where you look - every turn you take - leads you to a picture postcard vision of beauty. Is there a limit to the number of times that you can say "WOW!" in one days time?

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Surrounded by mountain parkland and wilderness, Banff is one of the few cities in the world to actually reside within a national park that has also been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The friendly people of Banff share their home not only with visitors from all over the world - but with the local wildlife. It is not at all uncommon to see deer, elk or moose walking in the middle of the streets or grazing on the flowers in the yards of the local towns people.

The "Jewel of the Canadian Rockies" is the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. This beautiful hotel is an architectural wonder. Both iconic and historical - a visit to this hotel is absolutely a must while you are in Banff.

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(note the view of the mountains reflected in the windows of the hotel)

"~~I felt as though I had just stepped in to the Sound of Music movie and than any minute Julie Andrews and the children were going to come up over those mountains ~~"

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"~~just below the hotel is the spectacular Bow River and Falls. We spent the evening walking the trail that lay beside the river, listening to the rush of the roaring waters and gazing at those incredible snow covered mountains~~ this whole trip just feels like a dream~~"

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"~~I have taken hundreds of pictures - there is no where that I look that is not absolutely breathtakingly beautiful~~"

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~the view of the Banff Springs Hotel from the Bow Falls trail~~

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"~~we drove down to the golf course late in the evening - it was almost dusk. We just wanted to see the golf course as it was situated against the mountains - we had no idea the surprise that would be waiting for us there~~"

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"~~we had parked the car and were snapping pictures like crazy and then we saw them - slowing walking out of the woods next to the golf course~~ we stood motionless as about 30 or 40 elk gradually begin to saunter out of the woods to graze upon the grass~~ I held my breath the whole time!"

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I hope you are enjoying your armchair tour of the Canadian Rockies. I'll be back soon with Part 3 - some amazing photos from Lake Louise, the Chateau Lake Louise Hotel and Victoria glacier. The best is yet to come~~!
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I also just wanted to let you know that we just held our fabulous Ronald McDonald Charity dance and silent auction. So many wonderful and talented artists, blogging friends, and etsy shop owners graciously donated their time and talents in helping me with items for the silent auction. I am working on those photos now and I can hardly wait for you to see the amazing creations that these folks donated for our worthy cause. I'll be posting about that just as soon as we finish our tour of the Rockies~~

Vicki