Day Seven

We got a little earlier start today; we left our hotel at 7:30 with David presenting the morning devotional.  Our hotel was the most beautiful Hampton I have stayed in thus far. Actually, all our hotels on this trip have been nice, with updated bedding and comfortable beds.  Those shiny-on-one-side and natty-on-the-other-side bedspreads from yesteryear just don’t cut it with me.  None of those have been seen so far.

Irene performed some medical treatment for my one toe that got trod on yesterday. (I have new respect for her and Dave.  They've been forced into the role of house/bus parents for a bunch of crazy adults. They handle it with total competence and a lot of grace.) Carol and Karen patched up my toe yesterday when it was bleeding.  It was difficult to see exactly what the extent of the damage is because I can’t get my head as close to my feet as I once could.  Too many buffalo burgers I guess.  I might lose part of a nail but not sure yet. At least it doesn’t hurt if I don’t bump it.

In spite of the fact that I stayed up late playing Black Seven with some of the others, I was up early and raring to go.  Our major stop for the day was Glacier National Park for a bus ride up Going To The Sun Road.  It took three of the really cool-looking tour buses to load us all up the mountain and we were in the middle one.  As we found out later it was also the fun one.  But I expect nothing less with Marge in tow.

The Going to the Sun Road opened in 1933 and is an amazing feat of engineering with only one switchback in its fifty-mile length.  There were rangers with flashing blue lights congregated at one spot on the narrow road and we met an ambulance on its way up to the scene.  Later, back at the lodge, a medi-vac arrived to pick up whoever the ambulance had picked up.  Well before we reached the bottom, I saw a mini-van hit the low stone wall at the road’s outer edge and heard an impressive scraping.  This means they were about fifteen inches from sudden death.  Glad I wasn’t with them.

Lisa, our tour guide and driver, along with Marge and her shenanigans, kept our group in gales of laughter through the whole trip.  Lisa claimed she was only on paragraph one of her “guide schpeel” when we got back to the lodge.  Carol and I won the quiz contest; I cheated, Carol didn’t.  Well, to be fair, Karen was the one that kept sticking stickers on me so really I was a victim.  I scored some play dough which could prove interesting before the trip is over.

Lisa told us about the only bus that ever went over the side.  Back in the day when the drivers were college kids, a certain one had a request from a female friend to pick her up after work hours and deliver her somewhere she needed to be. Along the way he picked up several more friends and after dropping off the girl they returned the way they had come, “hitting every watering hole between here and there.”  He drove straight off a cliff at one of the curves, killing himself and permanently injuring his two companions.  The few pieces that were left of the unfortunate bus are on display at Jammer Joe’s.

Another tale she told was of one of the men helping to build the road.  His horse was loaded with explosives and they were on their way up the mountain when the horse lost its footing and went over the side.  Greatly saddened the man had no choice but to finish his work day before he could go search for the horse’s remains.  Since no explosions were heard he knew the carcass would be down below somewhere and when he was finally able to descend that evening, what should he find but his beloved horse, happily grazing in a meadow with the explosives still strapped to its back.  No broken bones and only a minor injury to one eye.

After lunch at Jammer Joe’s we clambered aboard the bus and headed for Banff.  Other than a bathroom break and a quick stop for supper at a small town along the way we cruised along steadily.  Oh, yeah, we had to go through the border crossing.  Fortunately it was fairly easy this time; we all had to fill out a paper and send our passports in with Dave and Tom to the guard house or whatever it’s called and off we went again.  From what I heard, sometimes they are forced to empty the bus while all the luggage is rifled through by the border people.  

With about six hours travel time this afternoon and evening the party started up at the back of the bus again.  Lots of conversation.  Some silly, some serious and usually interspersed with shouts of an animal sighting from someone further up toward the front with more serious dedication to the tourism experience than those of us at the back. Today's big sighting: long horn sheep.

We got to our lovely hotel around 9pm and it seems Banff may be a town that doesn’t sleep.  People are crowding down the sidewalk and the hustle and bustle still sounds like midday in Berlin.  Our suite is awesome with a balcony out front and another out back over the pool.  Two TVs, two rooms, two sinks and I haven’t checked yet to see if there are two toilets.  Probably not.  Too bad we’re usually too tired to watch TV.  But it feels luxurious knowing we could each watch whatever we want if we were up to it.  Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers are just not on my favorites list.  Duck Dynasty we agree on.  

Time to go relax on a balcony.