Quist World Tour

So we woke up in Canmore, Alberta. Brian and I had one bedroom, Kurt and Katy had the other, all four girls were sleeping in the den, and the two boys were sprawled in the living room. Not luxury, but oh so sheltered. Canmore is only about 10 minutes from Banff (the town) which is just one small speck in Banff (the national park). It is packed with ski condo complexes that are quite a bit cheaper than the rentals in the actual national park. The financial reward was worth what we were losing in convenience. We decided to start our explorations by heading to Lake Louise, because we’d heard so much about it. Lake Louise (the town) is the home of the gorgeous Lake Louise (the lake), and it’s about an hour from Canmore.  First we had to enter the national park, and there were long, long lines to buy entry tickets. A certain unnamed friend of ours accidentally got in the wrong lane, the lane for people who already have passes. As he cruised forward in the wrong direction, ...

Only one of us was sad to finish up our tent time at Yellowstone. Most of us were very much looking forward to sleeping under a roof again. However, Brian, who had conceded to the cold by wearing a t-shirt, nylon zip-off pants, and a hat to bed, was really the only one who slept very well. Most of us had a much better night that last night, but that did not make the rest of us feel premature nostalgia. Packing up the tent and gear is always a fun way to start your day, especially since it generally begins around 6 am when the rest of the campground is peacefully sleeping. That way the hissing and angry whispers among family members can really resonate best, making the most of the situation. When that fun was over, we packed into the van again and set off for Calgary, where we would spend the night before moving on to Banff National Park in Alberta. The nice part of this was that we took a different route out of the park, and we got to see some new views. All jokes about ca...