Something Smelly This Way Comes

We really didn't care for Banff (other than the pretty mountains). We went down town and the road was all closed off with construction. Hello? Busiest time of the year?! We found it hard to get around in general (and I'm still miffed about the park bathrooms. I know, 'let it go'.)

In the morning we drove out to the Cave & Basin, the first hot spring discovered in Canada. We watched a 30 minute video on the birth of the National Park system and the discovery of the hot spring in 1883 when it was originally called Rocky Mountains Park. The cave was quite small and full of the sent of sulphur which reminded me of the drinking water when I lived in Geraldton, ON.



After that we drove a short distance to the Banff Gondola rides. We took pictures from the lookout but didn't go for a ride. It looked really busy and we are impatient people. It was still really hot.

Ground squirrels have been in abundance since we hit Alberta. They are cute and probably the size of an average city squirrel. They burrow everywhere and seem to be in groups. They make a loud chirping noise when humans approach and aren't too scared, always willing to pose for pictures.


After I had a hissy fit with my MIL in the grocery story I became ill. It hit me around 3 pm. I don't know if it was a heat sickness/altitude thing or what. Everything was spinning if I lifted my head. Occasional bouts of nausea but mostly a head thing. I was out for the night and pretty much good to go the next day.