July 9
We met for our 6:30 tour that included muffins & drinks.
We got to see the mirrored lakes and snow-capped mountains before it was totally
light out.
The lake had a small island on it and the guide said there
was an Eagle Nest on it. I had my binoculars and saw that there were 2 eaglets
in the nest. Greg got some photos with his super zoom. (the guide was impressed)
This was our last shot at seeing a Grizzly on the trip, but we had no expectations of seeing any, since all the guides said that due to the food source being higher up the mountains (unusual this time of year) they just weren’t seeing any. (Black yes, but not Brown)
We were delighted to come across a pair of Grizzly’s right
in and next to the road. Hard to get photos through the van windows, but we
took a ton. There were only 2 vehicles on the road and one car was in front of
us. At one point the female took off running down the road in front of the car.
(being playful) Then the male decided to play it cool and actually laid down alongside
of the road. The guide said he had never seen a bear do that. They acted like
we weren’t even there.
We stopped at a lake where we probably were supposed to have our muffins and the guide showed us replicas of antlers and a bear paw.
That was our turn-around point so we drove back the same road and of course everyone was hoping to see the bears again. They had disappeared, however a bit farther down the road we came to a single male foraging. The guide guessed that it may have been their offspring and hadn’t found his own territory yet, since 2 male Grizzly’s wouldn’t be that close together in proximity. Again, way too many photos of the male.
We continued the drive and stopped at the Eagle’s nest again to see if we could see the adults, but still just the Eaglets. We did see a few more elk on the ride back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel we changed into less layers for the train.
Our next train was on Via Rail’s The Canadian Train, a passenger train with
cabins for 3 nights until we reached Toronto.
We had a 12:30 departure and were picked up over an hour early. We waited to check in and were told that the train was running three and a half hours late and once it arrived, they would need at least an hour to get ready to depart. We asked if we could leave and get some lunch. We were told even if the train left on time, we would not have been fed lunch. (Not sure what time we would have needed to eat lunch before checking in at 11:30) Anyway, we dragged our carry-ons across the street and stopped to eat at The Spice Joint. It was a Jamaican place that had Jerk BBQ Pork Grilled Cheese sandwiches & Jerk Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches that were to die for. Great fries and the sauce on the side was tasty.
After lunch we wandered around the small area and went for ice cream at Grandma’s Place which was awesome! She had around 66 flavors with fun names that are home-made and loaded with chunks. They also had some of the tasteless Nestle’s if you wanted that. When I got my outside shot of Grandma’s, “the sisters” were out front eating some. By this time, we no longer acknowledged each other. (their choice)
It’s a small town so not much to see so we went back to the train station to see how things were progressing. They were taking reservations for early vs late dining. Since we were boarding so late, we chose the late dining. You could choose each day which you preferred for lunch or dinner.
We finally got to board the train way over 4.5 hours late
and got our carry-ons in our cabin. It had a large picture window, but the
seats face the wall not the window. They were movable so we faced them out the
window. Our cabin lady came by to introduce herself and remarked “oh, you moved
the furniture”. I don’t think she was pleased. Despite the small size our carry-ons
fit under the bed when made up.
It was a “sleeper plus” cabin which means it was our private
area (with a door) with a toilet and sink in a separate room. Some people had
just seats to sleep in and others had seats that converted to beds with a cloth
that pulled closed for privacy. There were also other bathrooms and a nice
shower down the hall.
Tomorrow will be our second day on the train across the prairies.
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