July 24, 2016, Sunday — Banff Gondola

After sleeping on it overnight, we decided the practical jokes were going too far, and that some things are better in the planning (or plotting) than the actual doing. Our driver today is Stewart. He drove us to Sulphur Mountain (1,800 meters or 5,905 feet) where we took a gondola and where there were great views. There were a lot of hikers hiking up the mountain. We had lunch at a place called Coyotes, which had great quesadillas. We were sitting at the counter, and watching the cooks was a spectacle in itself.
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our gondola car

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Arthur and Anika ride up Sulphur Mountain

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view of the Bow River from Sulphur Mountain



Anika's Notes

We went up in the gondola and I got some great photos of the mountains!

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Arthur, Anika, and Marilyn atop Sulphur Mountain

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Marilyn and Anika

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view of the Bow River

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Arthur and Anika descend on the gondola

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gondola coming back up

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Anika surrounded by her two favorite drivers: Stewart ___ and Andy Brewster

Anika's Notes

I also got pictures of me driving the tour bus ;-) We saw Bow Falls, and I climbed the rocks right by the river! We saw the Banff National Park and I got a sweet time lapse along with some pictures. We went up into a helicopter to tour the Rockies! It was soooo coool!

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Anika will drive us to Bow Falls ?!

daisies

July 24, 2016, Sunday — Bow River Falls

Anika's Notes

We saw Bow Falls, and I climbed the rocks right by the river! We saw the Banff National Park and I got a sweet time lapse along with some pictures.



We then drove to the Bow River Falls, which is over 265,000,000 years old. We also went to see nearby Hoodoos and got a picture of an adorable ground squirrel.
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Anika at Bow Falls

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Martha at Bow Falls

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a curious ground squirrel

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July 24, 2016, Sunday — Banff Helicopter Ride

Anika's Notes

We went up into a helicopter to tour the Rockies! It was soooo coool!

we drove to the Kananaskis Village Helistop for a short helicopter ride. It was only 13 minutes, but it was neat anyway, and the copter’s windows were such that they kept down many of the internal reflections, so our pictures came out better. We took a picture of the Bow River, the cement factory and its quarries, and the mountains. The helicopter ground crew took pictures of the four of us which we were given along with our certificates.
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Arthur and Martha

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Marilyn and Anika

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the Bow River

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the Bow River and quarry

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Anika deplanes

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Arthur deplanes

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July 24, 2016, Sunday — Calgary Tower

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We drove to our hotel in Calgary, and Arthur, Anika, Marilyn and I went up in the Calgary Tower with its wonderful views of Calgary and its glass-floored Sky Walk. Dinner together, and then an early bed to get ready for our flight tomorrow morning back to Vancouver.
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The Calgary Tower

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view of Calgary from the tower

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Anika and Marilyn on the Sky Walk