Day 9 - Paragliding and Hang Gliding from Mt. Swansea to Lake Windermere

We went into Invermere again today for the farmer’s market.  There were a lot of local fruits, vegetables, and breads.  The boys are eating their weight in cherries.

We took a picnic lunch down to the lake and watched the hang gliders and paragliders take off from the mountain and land on the beach.  The boys were fascinated.

Day 8 - Panorama

Drew and I were supposed to go mountain biking but I got a 24 hour stomach bug the night before.  We walked with Grammy on the Valley Trail again.  We found 19 golf balls this time.  Must be a tough course!

We are having to boil all of our water for drinking because of all the rain they have had here.  It has caused the banks of the rivers to overflow making the water have more “organic matter” in it than normal.  Also, we have not been swimming in the local lake because there is a sign that says you can get “swimmers’ itch.”  They say it is okay if you just shower right afterwards but I really don’t want the boys to get a funky bacterial infection.

Day 7 - Whiteswam Provincial Park

We drove about an hour and a half south to Whiteswan Provincial Park.  It was a 30 minute drive up a dirt road through a gorge to the Lustier Hot Springs.  The hot springs were located down a steep trail by the river.  It was a natural hot springs that was cooled by the river water flowing by.

Whiteswan Lake was a beautiful glacier blue.  We saw a bald eagle in a tree.

The boys napped on the way back to the condo so when we got back we took them on a hike along the Valley Trail.  We saw mountain bikers coming down the mountain and golfers on the course.  We started finding golf balls along the way.  We found 9 balls.

On the way home, we saw a doe and fawn eating.  We also saw a whole family of gophers.  The boys love watching the wildlife.

Day 6 - Invermere

The closest town is Invermere, BC.  We headed down the mountain for coffee at the local coffee roaster, Kicking Horse.  They had a café with amazing Kick Ass Bombs, granola balls with dried fruit and mini chocolate chips held together with syrup.

We walked through the shops in Invermere before having lunch at a restaurant on Lake Windermere.

Day 5 - Downhill Mountain Bike

Drew rented a downhill mountain bike and biked the trails on Panorama.  He did mostly blue trails but found himself on a black accidentally.  Grammy, Poppy and Mommy took the boys to the pool.  Thank goodness one of the pools is heated.  The air is a little chilly.

After naps, Jackson opened the front door and a deer was standing there eating our bushes.  The deer did not even flinch as we all came to see him.

We also have a snowshoe bunny that lives in the backyard.  

Day 4 - Panorama Mountain Resort

Drew and I took a 3.6 mile run along the Valley Trail at the resort.  We saw two friendly buck.  They just kept eating as we ran by.  Most of the route was along the Greywolf Golf Course which is highly ranked in British Columbia with good reason because it is gorgeous.

The boys played tennis with Grammy and Poppy.  They were not very good.  Carson has a major case of "me do it."  He wants to wear underwear, give himslef a bath and walk by himself.

In the afternoon, we took the boys to swim at the pool.  It has two water slides that Jackson went down.  There is a hot pool, a cold pool and two hot tubs.  Carson was slient as he floated in the water.

Day 3 - Kootenay National Park

We were excited to get away from the crowds in Banff.  We headed across the Vermilion Pass and the Continental Divide.  We stopped for a hike into Marble Canyon.  The water was a beautiful glacier blue.  There were chipmunks all along the path.

As we finished out drive to Panorama, we saw two big horn sheep.  When we got to the resort, we rode the Mile 1 Quad chairlift up the mountain, the view was beautiful and we were only about halfway up the mountain.  Our condo is on Toby Creek.  We can hear the water rushing by and the Aspen leaved tinkling in the wind. 

Day 2 - Banff National Park

We left Calgary and headed to Banff National Park.  We stopped in the town of Banff and looked through all the cute shops before grabbing a picnic lunch and heading to Lake Louise.  It was a holiday weekend in Canada so the crowds were crazy.  The lake was beautiful but exteremly cold.  We ate lunch with a family of gophers/ground hogs. 

We spent the night in Canmore which was a little quieter than Banff. It was Carson's first night in a big boy bed.  What a disaster!  I ended up sleeping with Carson and Drew ended up sleeping with Jackson because the boys were bouncing off the walls when they were in the bed together.

Day 1 - Off to a Bad Start

When we arrived at the airport in Charlotte, our flight to Chicago was delayed by 20 minutes.  We only had a 40 minute layover in Chicago so they had to reroute us.  United sent us on a flight to Houston and then to Calgary.  So, instead of getting into Calgary at 10AM we got in at 4PM.  The kids did well but we were all tired.  I can say that United provided us with food vouchers and upgraded seats which was nice.