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We were headed back to Prins Christian Sund, an area where had visited earlier in the trip, but planned to see new areas.

 

However, we awoke to so much wind that we were forced to make a change to our planned morning stop at Anorliuitsup Tasia, which ironically means “a lake where the wind does not blow” in the Inuit language! Plan B was to head further north to Kangikitsoq Fjord (I do not know what that means) with the hopes that our Viking group could finally go on a heliohiking excursion after two failed attempts earlier in the trip.

Luckily the wind in this region of the fjord was minimal and it was a go from the pilots and captain. We were the first group of 7 off the ship and I drew the lucky straw and flew in the co-pilot seat, giving me 180 degree views of the flight. We were, quickly (would have loved an hour more of flight time) flown to the flat summit (2,690 feet elevation ) of a nearby mountain where we landed. I later learned we were the first group to ever land here.

After disembarking we were led on an hour long hike by an armed (30-07 rifle) ship guide along the flat summit which was totally covered by rock with only a few patches of lichen and an occasionally lonely flower. We saw a lot of scat from tundra rabbits but no actual sightings of one. The event is called “heliohiking”, but because of the terrain it is more like “heliowalking”, as we only took 6,200 steps (~2 miles?) by the time we were finished. The views from this landing area were simply SPECTACULAR; some of the best I have experienced in mountain regions. Everywhere you turned there were jagged peaks, hanging glaciers, small waterfalls and deep, narrow fjords. Photographs simply do not do it justice. It was the highlight of the trip for me, even more so than landing near the ice sheet a few days ago. The hour went too quickly and soon we had to return to the ship so others could experience the same scenery.

I had a window seat on the way back (the copter holds 7 passengers) and we were fortunate that because the ship was moving slightly to a more favorable orientation we had to fly around a bit before landing so the pilot gave us a sightseeing tour of the surrounding area while waiting to land. It was a marvelous, unforgettable experience and more than made up for the earlier failed attempts to go heliohiking. It is the highlight of the trip for me.

Around lunch time because the wind had died down and the sun came out, the captain moved the ship back to the spot where he had planned to visit in the morning and people were offered the opportunity to either go kayaking or ride the zodiac into shore for some hiking. Steve went on the zodiac hike and I chose to remain on board to continue to let my “tweaked (calf muscle?) left leg rest. Besides I also heard the bugs were out in full force at the new landing site. Resting and working on this blog seemed like the best option for me. Steve returned later to tell me that mosquitoes were a real pain on their hike as it was along a small river. I was certainly glad I did not go.

We stick to our regular pre-dinner routine of drinks and cribbage (I still have not won a game, even after starting with a 24 count hand- a superior hand in cribbage) as we waited for the daily briefing by Ali and her staff.

Dinner was followed by a local beer and gin tasting event in the upper lounge and most people participated.

And then it was off to bed as another active day is slated for tomorrow.

We were supposed to arrive at the tiny Inuit village of Appilattoq to visit its inhabitants and participate in a series of events with them this morning. However, when we were awaken by our traditional wake up call we were told the captain has found himself in a fog and a channel full of small ice, forcing him to travel very slowly. As a result the visit to the village would not happen this morning and the helicopter hiking (heliohiking) flights were not likely to fly. Because we had been scrubbed from the heliohiking trip yesterday we were scheduled to be #1 today- not a good sign. As is common on expedition trips changing weather conditions often force a change in plans. The staff immediately responded by posting a series of lectures that would occupy the morning time. So after breakfast we went to a lecture by our staff photographer on how to get better pictures. She is from South Africa and has been a wilderness photographer for several decades. Needless to say the photos she shared with us were superb.

Right after the lecture we headed back to the panorama lounge (where we had started a puzzle yesterday) to continue working on it until the next lecture at 11:00 to be given by Colin, a glacierologist, who will talk about sea ice and glacier ice. We had no sooner began watching the lecture when we received an announcement to proceed to the flight deck as weather conditions had improved and we would be going on a heliohike after all. We quickly grabbed our gear and reported to the flight deck where we received our seat assignments, and I was selected to sit upfront in the co-pilot seat. Eureka!

We would be the first flight out and only had to wait until the staff was taken to the landing site to prepare for our arrival. By the time it was time to board (we were already in proper line ready to board the helicopter) we had entered a section of the fjord where the wind conditions were too high to allow for safe liftoff, so there was a temporary flight halt so it was suggested we go grab a quick lunch and hopefully, wind conditions in the fjord itself would allow for safe flights. Off to lunch we went and no sooner than we had finished we were called back to the flight deck and actually loaded onto the helicopter. The pilot started it up and was ready for lift off, only needing to receive permission from the bridge to go. Unfortunately the wind conditions in the fjord had not deteriorated as hoped so we were not given permission to take off ….yet. We probably sat in the bird for a good 20 minutes, engines running and blades rotating, ready to go, only to be finally told that the winds were too high, and projections were they would not get better, so the flights were scrubbed once again. They were concerned that if they took us up there, would they be able to get us back a few hours from now. We are beginning to think we are bad luck! The good news is while sitting on the helicopter we had a pleasant conversation with our UK pilot about his experiences as a helicopter pilot in the British Navy and his interactions with both Prince Andrew and Queen Elizabeth.

The staff had managed to reschedule the canceled morning trip to Appilattoq to the afternoon and by 2:30 PM we were being ferried by zodiac to shore to participate in a series of events with the people living in this village.

We convened in the local Lutheran church where a small (~10) choir sang several songs, ending with an Inuit version of amazing grace. They had really good harmony. It was then on to walk through the small village (about 80 people) taking in the various colors of the buildings, viewing the surrounding mountains, watching kids scampering around and seeing multiple big, bushy dogs who never barked.

We next met with a local person who told us about life here (through an interpreter) and answered questions we might have. There is a local nurse, but the nearest real medical facility was 2 hours away by boat. There are currently 7 children in the elementary school. As they get older they go to live temporarily in a larger village to continue their education. Their livilhood is hunting (whales, bear, musk ox) and fishing (halibut, cod).  The village recently celebrated its 100 year centennial. Surprisingly I had a 4 bar cell signal strength as they have a cell tower right in town. Idyllic location but I would not be able to exist here.

The highlight on the village visit was a soccer match with the local people. Steve participated; I watched the spirited match that quickly grew to 16 people per side! The home team was tough, ultimately winning 3-0! Luckily no one was hurt while playing on the rocky pitch.

Before leaving the village we gathered in their school/community hall for a rousing rock & roll concert by their local rock band! Rock & roll is a universal language and the place was jumping with both ship people and locals!

By 6 PM it was time to return to the ship and it had started to lightly rain (for the first time this trip) so the ride back to the boat was a bit wet because of the sea conditions and the rain. A hot shower, followed by a cold drink at the bar, solved that problem.

The usual daily recap, a peek ahead of tomorrow’s planned (hopefully) events followed by dinner was next on the agenda. Besides seeing some posted pictures that passengers submitted we heard a short lecture on mosquitoes which was quite entertaining.

When Steve and I seated ourselves in the dining room we found ourselves at the table next to the table reserved for the captain. He was alone and when I greeted him in Croatian (he is from the same region of Croatia as my grandfather) he invited us to join him for dinner. We had a great conversation about his life as a captain, the ship, the polar regions, his visits to the US, Croatia, our common ancestry, etc. It was a fun evening, complemented by reindeer loin for dinner (excellent and very tender).

I had finally managed to snag a 30 minute massage but had to go at 8:30 so I left Steve and the captain to go to the spa. I chose the foot and leg message thinking it might help my pulled calf muscle. Normally messages are super quiet events but when I found out my masseuse was from Serbia and I was Croatian she talked my leg off. We had a fun conversation and my leg did feel better when I left.

There was supposed to be a Sea Shanty song program at 9:15 but when I returned I learned that one of our tour guides (Peter Cammell from New Zealand)  had climbed (among other things) Mt. Everest and he was asked to give a presentation on his climb which occurred in 2012. It was a pretty fascinating talk about the preparation and execution of such a monumental climb.

It ended up being a fun day, even though it started out looking pretty grim.

When asked what is the most impressive thing about Greenland experts will say the ice sheet, which covers 660,000 sq miles, roughly 80% of Greenland. It is the 2nd largest body of ice in the world, only Antarctica is larger. It is almost 2900 km (1800 miles) long and 1100 km (680 miles) at its widest point. It’s average thickness is 1.9 km (0.9 mi) and 3 km (1.9 mi) at its maximum. It is one big ice cube! Here is a scary thought: if the ice sheet were to melt it would raise the level of the sea by 24 feet! Only the extreme southern coast and part of the west coast have land not covered by the ice sheet.

Our destination today was to fly to the ice sheet and actually spend some time walking on it with the expedition staff. As the helicopters (2 on board) hold a maximum of 7 passengers it will be a monumental task to get the 153 of us to and from the ice. Hopefully the weather (wind, cloud cover) will cooperate.

It took quite a while for the scouting team to venture forth and select a safe landing zone for both the copters and us. Once they established that we were gradually airlifted to the location. Normally they like to actually land on the ice but today they could not find a suitable safe, i.e., non-slippery spot on the edge of the sheet which did have a slope to it. They ultimately created a spot on the rocks near the sheet and had to physically move some of the larger rocks to make it safe zone for the copters.

This was to be our first ride so we had to review the elaborate procedure they use to weigh us and our backpacks and then place us in proper seats to balance the aircraft. There are then procedures on how to respond to hand signals by the staff that tell us where to go and how to properly board the helicopter as the noise level prevented talking. It was a well disciplined process.

I really love flying in helicopters! You are low enough to really appreciate the scenery around you and yet being in the air gives you a totally different perspective of the world around you. Our flight to the edge of the ice sheet was unfortunately brief but exhilarating. We reversed the process when disembarking and proceeded to gingerly walk across the rocky moraine left by the receding ice that seemed to go on forever. Ship guides showed us the safe ways to actually get on the ice sheet where we were allowed to wander freely, taking it all in. A ship glaciologist was there to explain what we were seeing, why it was the way it was and answered any questions we might have.

We had about 1.5 hours  to take it all in before having to reboard the copter for a quick ride home. This all day activity was quite a challenge for the helicopter staff, considering everyone on the ship was offered the opportunity to experience the ice sheet. Considering there are about 150 passengers on the ship and each helicopter can take 7 per trip, doing the math says they had to make at least 22 round trip flights during the day. By the way, there are 3 pilots on board, sharing time flying the 2 copters that are on the ship. The pilots are all from the UK and are ex-military pilots so we felt we were in good hands at all times.

Once back on the ship we had the opportunity to watch a marvelous, but scary documentary movie called “Chasing Ice”, by photographer James Belong released in 2012. It is available on Amazon Prime and I recommend you watch it, especially if you do not believe in global warming.

The evening briefing included trying (unsuccessfully for me) to learn some more local language. We also heard about the first expedition that crossed Greenland in 1888 by Fridtjof Nansen. We were also learned that tomorrow’s destination was a visit to a local village where the highlight is expected to be a soccer match between ship passengers and the locals. It should be quite a spectacle and Steve was ready to participate. Being wiser, I will watch from the sidelines and be videographer for the event.

We had another good dinner which was interrupted by the sighting of a whale near our ship.

7:15 AM and we received another cheery wake-up announcement via the ship intercom, announcing a new day and a new adventure.

We had made the decision to change rooms because of the problems with our previous quarters and it was done quickly after breakfast. The new room is much nicer, especially with an enclosed shower and heated bathroom floors- luxury living on an expedition ship.

This morning a PEP kayak trip in the fjord was on the agenda, as well as heliohiking for the “Fjord” group.  We had made a conscious decision to not sign up for what is called the “PEP” kayak trips because we go kayaking at home and we did not like to have to don all the clothing required to go on those trips. So our option was to do a zodiac landing and hike. Steve again chose the “charger” group and after my previous experience with the “medium” group I made the wise decision to join the “contemplative” group today! It started out nicely. I took my time, stopping to take in the majestic vistas around me, snap a few more pictures and simply breath deep. Then it happened! As I was climbing a small hill I partially stumbled and tweaked my left calf muscle as I recovered my balance. Nothing bad, but it became a nagging ache so I cut short my hike and returned to the ship to rest the leg.

After lunch the Viking group was scheduled to take a heliohike which I hade certainly been waiting for. We suited up-parkas and mud boots, but no life vest as we would be wearing special life vests when we flew. We had previously been weighed so when our random group of 7 showed up to the launch area we were giving proper life vests, reweighed (did they think we were eating too much?), including any carry on bags, and assigned one of the 7 seats on the copter. The seat assignment was made to balance the helicopter. Luckily both Steve and I were given window seats. We then simply sit in the chairs and wait to be called to board the copter. We waited. Then we waited some more as the feedback from the air was that the weather had deteriorated and further flying was questionable. After about 20 minutes we were told the flight was scrubbed; we would not be flying today. However, we would be first in line the next time the helicopters fly. Needless to say we were disappointed but we glad that safety was a priority.

By the time our flight was canceled it was late in the afternoon so we simply retired to the Ambassador Theater for some cribbage and drinks to await the daily briefing.

Dinner was again off the menu and was very good. After dinner some of the staff entertained us with a game of “Mariner’s Bluff”, where three of them were to give us the story of what a mariner term was derived from. Basically two people lied and only one told the real answer. We were then asked to vote on which definition we thought was correct. Needless to say there were some humorous moments and the audience was more often wrong in picking the correct answer.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, the plan is to transport all of us by helicopter to experience the immense ice sheet that covers most of Greenland. It should be quite a day,

We had set an alarm to make sure we would not miss the breakfast which is only served from 7:30-8:30AM.  We should not have bothered as at 7:15AM we were awakened by rousing music and a happy voice telling us to get up and start the day, and reminding us of the mandatory briefing starting at 9AM. The breakfast buffet was good with the usual offerings, including a chef making custom omelets. I was really impressed with the fresh fruit, given where we were. Steve even learned they would make specialized coffee for us, so an Americano became our normal morning treat.

Looking outside we found ourselves in a totally different world from yesterday. We had left the docking area and proceeded out to the open sea, turned to the East and now have entered a new fjord with totally different looking mountains. These are much more rugged and “pointy” as we commonly and inaccurately referred to them.

Ali, the expedition leader, had warned us about the mandatory briefing the night before, stating that it was necessary to explain all the activities that would be offered on the trip and safety procedures (including videos) that had be be followed to protect us and the environment. The talks were informative, the time passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time for lunch, again a buffet. It, too, was very good with many choices of both cold and hot dishes. We quickly learned that the ice cream bar would always be there, featuring two flavors of the day along with all the toppings you could think of. Cookies and other desserts were also readily available.

The afternoon schedule called for our Viking group to go ashore via a zodiac landing for a hike. The staff offers multiple hiking levels, ranging from fairly strenuous (chargers) to picture takers (contemplative) and one in between. Steve, as expected, opted for being a charger, while I, the sensible one, decided to push my luck and chose the intermediate, “medium fast” group. I later learned that my hike leader, Peter Camell of New Zealand, was an mountain enthusiast who has climbed Mt. Everest and Denali. His pace was pretty aggressive as his goal was to take us to the terminus of the glacier near where we landed within the allotted shore time. It was a beautiful walk, but there was little time to be “contemplative” with him as our leader! I thought that maybe future hikes would find me joining the contemplative hikers.

The day always ends with a daily recap where various staff members would enlighten us with information and pictures of the daily activities. One of the staff members, Lana, was a Inuit native from Greenland. She “tried” to teach us a few Inuit words today. It is not an easy language to learn. Ali finished the briefing by giving us a glimpse of tomorrow’s agenda. Again she warned us that weather conditions requires us to be flexible. I was impressed with the data she had available to her on the expected wind, fog, temperature and ice conditions where we are heading.

Dinner from now on would be from a menu, which turned out to be quite varied. The head chef was from South Africa. Wine flowed freely throughout the dinner.

There was an optional presentation offered after dinner. Tonight, Colin, our glaciologist, will talk about his year-long complete navigation of the polar arctic region. It was a pretty fascinating talk, which cannot now be offered because of diplomatic issues with Russia.

Thus ended our first full day, exploring the wonders of Greenland. I was impressed, both with the ship, the staff, and most importantly, the scenery I was seeing. It is not what I had expected.

 

 

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We are scheduled to meet at the Reykjavík airport at noon for check-in for our charter flight to Greenland where our ship is located. Steve suggested we head out for a coffee and fresh bakery items from a local bakery.  Sounded like an excellent idea so by 9 AM we were out and about again.  Turns out it was still quite breezy and with the temperature only in the mid forties.  We walked briskly to a neighborhood bakery Steve had identified that customers gave a 4.9 rating. Surprisingly it was in a residential neighborhood, not in the general shopping area. We could smell the wonderful aromas a block away and we were not disappointed. I went with their signature cinnamon bun while Steve chose the ham & cheese croissant. However, we had hoped to sit awhile and enjoy our pastry with coffee but there was no coffee at this location so we left, munching on our treats as we worked our way to another bakery where we knew they also served coffee. Alas, the pastries were gone by the time we arrived so we felt obligated to order something with the coffee and chose to share a scrambled egg & bacon dish that sounded good. When it came it also had two huge pieces of still warm bread on the dish. It was quite a treat!

We left the hotel at 11:30 and returned to the airport (40 minutes away) by cab which was not that much more than taking a bus shuttle. We figured at our age we deserved the extra convenience. At the airport we joined the line of other passengers checking in with the Quark representative who gave us our baggage tags and guided us to the check-in counter for our charter flight to Narsarsuag, Greenland (population 123!). Our flight was scheduled to leave at 3PM and would take about 1.5 hours. We had to laugh when being bussed out to our plane which turned out to have NO name! Turns out it was an older Airbus 320 owned by a company called Danish Air Transport, obviously a “plane for hire” company. The seats were closely packed but the staff on board were super friendly and fed us sandwiches, snacks and soft drinks. We got better service than we usually get on US airlines.

It was cloudy on the way over so we could not see much of Greenland, but as we approached the landing strip of this tiny town the sun came out giving us a good perspective of the land, which appeared pretty barren. I had to laugh as I watched our luggage being offloaded into a big garbage bin looking container to be taken to the ship. How would we get there? Two choices: wait for the small shuttles and local school bus to gradually ferry us the approximately 1/2 mile to the ship or walk along the only road in the area with some of the ship staff. We chose the latter and enjoyed the scenery of the surrounding area as we walked to the ship anchored in the deep harbor here in “town”.

Boarding the ship was easy and a staff member quickly showed us to our room where our luggage had already been delivered. The ship is only one year old and looks like a modern day cruise ship, minus the casino! We quickly chose to tour the ship before the mandatory safety drill. There is a great central meeting room (Ambassador Lounge) with a huge LED screen (along with multiple smaller screens around the room) for presentations. The main dining room is broken up into 3 separate areas, which seemed a bit unusual but does make for a quieter dining experience. There is the standard Panorama lounge located on a high deck for great visibility. And as typical on expedition ships the bridge is open most of the time for all to visit and observe. Before we knew it the safety drill was held and we learned where to find our survival boat should the need arise. I was surprised to find that beside the obligatory life vest in our room there was also a pouch of survival food/water stored next to them that we would bring with us should we have to abandon ship. First time I ever saw that.

Dinner was a buffet the first night served with free wine & beer. There was a brief all passenger meeting where we met the huge staff of all nationalities that would be supporting our trip. There were literally dozens of outdoor-oriented people who will be leading us on excursions this week. We were warned that schedules would be subject to change at a moments notice, depending on the wind, the weather, cloud conditions, etc. I think we all knew that was the standard when on expedition trips. I was surprised at the makeup of the guests. There were many foreign languages being heard and there was even an interpreter for a group of Chinese passengers. I only saw one younger person on board, the passengers ranged from the young to the elderly. There appeared to be many singles as well as same sex couples; it is a very diverse group.

We pulled away from the pier around 7:15 PM, led by our captain, who happens to be a Croatian from our family ancestral home of Split, Croatia. Hopefully I will have a chance to chat with him sometime this week. Another fascinating coincidence is this ship, the Ultramarine, was built in Split, Croatia.

 

Our adventure here in Greenland has begun!

 

We arrived  here in the capital(population of 128,793) of Iceland a day early to allow for body adjustment and to prevent any problems that might have been caused by our flight over. Both Steve and I have been to Iceland before. I was here in 2017 with Scott when we spent two weeks driving the ring road the circumnavigates the island. Steve and his family have been here at least once sightseeing. Our Icelandic flight from Seattle was completely full and we left only 5 minutes late, which we easily made up once we were airborn. Since Icelandic Air uses older Boeing 767 planes from Seattle their “business class seats” are really simply like those in first class in most airplanes, i.e. they are not worth the 100 % premium over the cost of an economy ticket,  so Steve and I simply sat in the economy section of the plane.

Besides the flight was only a bit over 7 hours. We both managed to grab a few hours of sleep during the flight and landed about 9:20AM, Iceland time. By 10:30 we were in a cab headed to downtown Reykjavík where we will spend the night.

Our charter flight to Greenland is tomorrow. Today we will do a bit of sightseeing in Reykjavik and have a nice dinner at Steve’s favorite seafood restaurant that he discovered on his last trip here. If you go back in time on my blog you can find the details of our 2017 trip. A bit of a refresher in the meantime. Iceland is an independent commonwealth of Norway. It has a lot of volcanoes, somewhere between 150-200, of which about 30 are still considered active. Thirteen have erupted since 874 with the last major eruption in 2021, a lesser one in 2022 and now a new one suddenly appeared only a few days ago in a new location not too far from the airport. We were able to see the smoke from it as we landed. Greenland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe, with only 387,000 people. History showed it was first populated by a Norwegian chieftain in 874 AD. Iceland is the 2nd largest island in Europe (Great Britain is #1).

Steve found a local two hour walking tour of Reykjavík starting at 1 PM which we decided would be good to take as it would help keep us awake during the day. Our room was not ready so we grabbed a quick lunch in a nearby restaurant before joining the walking tour.

The weather was pleasant but cool (51 degrees) and quite windy so jackets were necessary for our walk around Reykjavík. Once again I would urge people who are visiting a new city to consider taking a guided tour. You learn so much more about the history, the culture and important aspects about what you are seeing than you would by simply walking around on your own. We enjoyed our two plus hour tour with three other Americans who also signed up for the tour.

We returned to our hotel about 3:30, in time to get our room and also allow Steve to make several business calls before we ventured forth to dinner and a good night’s sleep. Dinner was at a local seafood restaurant Steve had found on his last trip here. Another travel tip: I had tried to make reservations on their website before we left Seattle but was told none was available. I decided to reach out to our hotel concierge (long before we arrived ) and asked them if they could get us a reservation- and suddenly we had a reservation on the desired day and time! Something to consider the next time you travel.

Dinner at Messinn was magnificent! It is a small place and was packed when we arrived at 7:30 PM, but there was our table waiting for us. The menu features a series of fish dishes served with vegetables and different spices in hot skillets. Both our choices were great. Two hours later we returned to our room and promptly went to bed, after a very satisfying day.

Tomorrow we board our charter flight to Greenland and meet our ship.

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With age comes wisdom (supposedly)!  I have learned to avoid early morning flights unless it was absolutely necessary so I booked our return flight to Seattle to leave at 11 AM which would get us back in to Seattle before noon (time zone change). Trip to the airport and check-in was flawless and our Nexus cards got us through the immigration line without a wait. One funny incident was as we went through security the lady said we needed to take off our shoes and I questioned it as, because of our age, we do not need to do that in the US.  Her comment was “this is Canada”, so we dutifully took off our shoes and successfully passed through.

We arrived to sunshine and glorious views of the city from the air. As we walked from the gate to retrieve our luggage I was amazed at how busy the airport was, and it was mid-day Monday. It looks like it will be a busy summer at Seatac this year.

Epilogue:  Lately I have tired to summarize my feelings about a trip just taken. Here is this trip’s version.

-The Canadian Rockies are still magnificent after all these years! I recall when we did this trip in 1965 we went to Glacier National Park after having visited Canada and frankly I was disappointed when I compare the beauty of the two locations. I always tell people headed in that direction to go to Glacier first, then head up to Canada.

-The Rocky Mountaineer train trip was awesome. It is well run and worth it. Yvonne wished it had been longer than the two days.  And if your budget allows taking the Goldleaf service option over the Silverleaf is worth the extra money in my opinion. An interesting option is to simply take the two day train ride, rent a car in Jasper and do your own thing for as long as you wish. We traveled with a couple who did that.

-We were super impressed with the “kids” who were working at the hotels, restaurants and shops. Most are from Commonwealth countries and they were all friendly and eager to help make our trip enjoyable.

-As I said earlier if you plan to travel (probably anywhere these days) you might want to avoid peak travel dates as everyone seems to be on the road these days.

-I am sorry to say we were unable to exactly replicate those pictures from 1965 which was my goal before we left. I could not find that rock we sat on together, Yvonne no longer had that hooded coat from the glacier and that old Sears canvas tent was discarded decades ago! Maybe if we return there for our 75th anniversary we can try to replicate 2023!

The trip did bring back fond memories of that first trip and we have created new memories for the future. Onward!

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Unknown

Today we are headed to our last destination for this trip, Calgary, Alberta, but we will do a bit of sightseeing along the way. It was a leisurely start of the day as we were not scheduled to be picked up until 11AM so we had a chance to have a nice breakfast at the hotel prior to leaving.

Our major stop for the day turned out to be right around the corner at the Banff Gondola, a meer 5 minute bus ride, further up Sulphur Mountain. We had pre-arranged reservations for the gondola scheduled to leave at 11:30. That is one of the nice things about tours; they make these reservations ahead of time so you do not have to wait in line. I was surprised at how busy the attraction was this early in the season. Again I would hate to be here during peak season. Note to fellow travelers: Avoid the peak season when traveling unless you like crowds! After our experience with previous gondolas I was surprised to see that that this one used 4 passenger cars rather than the mega-sized ones that carry 25-50 passengers. Even though the boarding line seemed large it went quickly. I learned that there were 40 of the cars on the total line and they are in constant motion. Soon we were on the upper slopes of Sulphur Mountain looking out over the Bow Valley, Banff far below and the surrounding mountains. It is a spectacular view! There was another opportunity for an extended walk to a former fire watch tower but it involved traversing 300 steps (probably in each direction from the looks of the trail) and being sound, rational 82 year olds, we decided to pass up the opportunity and simply enjoy the views from the terminal area during our 1 hour of free time.

Returning to our bus we were driven to two of the sights we had already seen yesterday (Bow Falls and Surprise Lookout) before we were dropped off in the downtown area for a late lunch on our own before heading to Calgary which was about a 1.5 hour ride.

The scenery dramatically changed as we left Banff and we quickly left the mountains and entered fairly flat landscape dotted with grasslands and grazing cattle. This is now cow country! By 5 PM we were pulling up to our hotel (Fairmont Pallister) in downtown Calgary.

Calgary is bigger and more modern that I thought.  It is the biggest city in Alberta with a population of 1.3 million people and has become the oil capital of Canada. It is probably more famous, however, for the world famous “Calgary Stampede”, their famous rodeo held every July. As a result Calgary is often referred to as “Cowtown”.

A couple of of “I did not know that” facts: Calgary was the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics  This is where the Jamaican bobsled team made its debut. Also, Calgary has the Calgary Tower, built in 1968 and stands 626 feet high (our Space Needle is only 605 ft). The amazing statistic the bus driver told us was that the concrete tower was poured continuously 24 hours a day over a period of 24 consecutive days-pretty impressive!

Since this cow country I decided we needed to end our trip by visiting one of their local steakhouses for our final dinner.

Our anniversary reunion trip is at and end. Tomorrow we fly home.