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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Bear-ly Illegal

Early mornings are tough! We're on vacation, yet we still had to be up at 6:20 this morning for our first radio interview.  That's right!  Apparently we have an adoring public in Alberta.  CBC Radio Edmonton and CBC Radio Calgary both wanted live interviews on their morning shows today.  The Edmonton slot was at 6:40am, so we had to get up a little earlier to avoid too much "groggy morning" on the radio. The interview was brief, but very fun:

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2692870788

The CBC Calgary time-slot wasn't until 8:40 am - much more conducive to a vacation schedule - but we were up and it wasn't teeming rain, so we decided to make another attempt at wildlife viewing along Spray Lakes Road. Ideally,we would have seen a grizzly, a wolf, and a herd of elk.  Instead, we saw more of our long-horn sheep friends, and a deer. We also saw mist rising off the mountains as the sun gained its position in the sky. Definitely worth getting out of bed!







We were back at the hotel in time for our Calgary interview. This celebrity schedule is tough!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/canadian-death-marathon-engagement-1.3706141

Prior to joining Paul and Stella for a hike, we stopped at Communitea Cafe in Canmore for breakfast and some really excellent coffee. (I'm not exactly a coffee aficionado, but I am developing a taste for it. This was my first coffee from a French Press.)

The four of us had plans to do one of the most popular hikes in Canmore today - Grassi Lakes. The highlights of the hike, apparently, are two emerald coloured lakes that lend the hike it's name.  Wildlife sightings are also common. We never did learn whether the lakes are as stunning as the marketing suggests, due to some of those wildlife sightings prior to our arrival.


We debated doing the hike anyway - even considered that Paul and Stella could respond in Dutch to any Parks staff who questioned us being there - but ultimately the fear of a major fine and the innate sensibility of avoiding areas that are closed due to bear activity turned us away. We continued down the road until we found another promising trail. Though we did not find a lake, we did find a pretty mountain stream.




Paul and Stella set out for Calgary after the hike, but Mindy and I wanted the chance to explore the town of Canmore.

A thriving local business, the Rocky Mountain Soap Company seems to have a monopoly on hotels and restaurants in Canmore. Having tried it multiple times already where we were staying and eating, we were intrigued to visit the actual store.  Finding it, we learned about their excellent business philosophy:




We rounded out our afternoon with Rave Coffee and eclectic pizza at Rocky Mountain Flatbread. Their dessert pizza is worth trying!


Eventually, the adventures in Canmore had to end and we were on our way to Calgary. When we arrived at our hotel, Mindy "casually" mentioned that we were recently engaged; we got upgraded to a suite. Awesome!



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