Rain, rain and more rain.
We were awoken by what sounded like small pebbles dropping on the coach roof. The rain was persistently hammering down so at first we thought it was just heavy rain drops off the trees. Then we realized there were no trees above the coach, the rain had eased off, and the “pebbles” continued.
So, Captain Fearless rushed outside, armed with absolutely nothing, to discover a squirrel, in the only tree branch remotely above the coach, gnawing off fresh pine cones, then scampering down to the ground, picking up all the cones and disappearing into the woods to bury them for winter food. So, when we eventually leave here no doubt there will be a trail of cones falling off the roof, creating a tremendous road hazard behind us.
As y’all can see already from today’s report, there is not much to write about.
The weather was lousy all day and we could not see any of the scenery around. We went into Banff, at around lunchtime, and it is one of those touristy places which is busy all year round. There is a strong skiing presence here, so the winter months are extremely crowded, and coz it is so beautiful, the summer is busy as well.
The place was a mass of humanity from all over the world, and I wonder why it is that so many Orientals like to stand in front of everything when picture taking?
Too many people for us, and too many stores all selling the same made in “somewhere else” crap.
Of course, if the word “ski” is put in front of anything, just like the word “marine”, then the prices triple.
For example, a 2 gig SD camera memory card, $ 27.00 in Sam’s Club, Anchorage or Houston. Here in Banff, they ranged from $ 70.00 to $ 130.00.
Together with all the designer stores, such as Louis Vitton, (spelling? who cares) and the ski people, this place is a complete Posers Paradise, definitely not for us. We drove around, looked at the river, drove up Norquay Mountain, looked at the ski resort which was closed (duh) drove round the golf course, and went back to the coach, and it was still raining.
We had a wonderful stir fry dinner, lovingly prepared by her ladyship, and watched Out of Africa, the weepie from 1985.
Having said all of the above, we cannot complain about the weather. We have been incredibly lucky for three months, and although we were not impressed with the heaving throngs of gawkers here, the place itself is clean and pretty, and we love to people watch, so we enjoyed the day.
Wildlife watch today was one pesty squirrel.
Sorry, no pix today.
