Day 7: Coram, MT to Banff, AB Canada

Out of the Railroad Tracks and Into the Fire

Canadian Rockies in the Haze

We happily bid our cabin by the tracks goodbye, and jumped back out on the road to the final sounds of the train whistle, headed over the border to our first Canadian stop: Banff.

I drove for the first leg of the trip, as Bob narrated and managed GoPro.  Some highlights from that first leg follow in the video below:





The first piece of the drive in the US was uneventful, but then we hit the border with Lisa in the driver's seat and taking point with the Canadian Border Police. Unfortunately, that did not go as smoothly as it should have. 

We handed over our passports and were asked the typical litany of questions regarding our destinations, whether we were carrying alcohol, gifts, or large amounts of cash.  Then came the question that sunk me.  "Do you have any personal protection?"

My first thought was birth control, my second deodorant, and I was totally befuddled as to why a border guard would be asking about that. Before I could formulate a third thought Bob muttered "he means firearms."  Ah-- and why couldn't he just say that?  Or perhaps "Guns" or "Weapons" or something less ambiguous than "personal protection?"

So, we then went through the list of "personal protection" items that I might be trying to sneak into Canada-- including mace (luckily that was not one of the spices I packed), pepper spray, bear spray, tasers, and of course guns. (Bob blames Toni for the pacifist upbringing.)

Those I answered without hesitation, but we still got flagged for a search before being allowed into Canada.  The guy assigned to search us apparently thought his colleague was crazy and wanted nothing to do with searching our packed to the brim trunk.  So, after a cursory look around and a peek in the glove box he sent us on our way.

The one good piece of news at the border crossing was that the road closed yesterday by the forest fire was now open-- so we could proceed with our original drive plan (and not be forced into an hour+ detour).

I continued driving until just before we were about to enter the fire zone, and then I handed Bob the wheel.

Here's some footage of Bob's drive with me in charge of GoPro.




The visibility wasn't too bad, but you could really smell the smoke and as you can see below, the mountains are covered in smoky haze.  

Smoky Canadian Rockies

Banff is pretty empty for this time of year too.  I'm thinking they got a bunch of cancellations because of the fire.  

We arrived at our 1950's resort in mid-afternoon then headed downtown to walk around a bit-- the town is pretty touristy with not too many good galleries or restaurants.  So, we stopped at the grocery store to buy provisions for cooking (as we have a full, if very rudimentary, kitchen).

The outside of where we are staying is nothing special, but just for Toni here is a picture of the living room with me at the table writing this blog.

Lisa at the computer writing this blog (Diet Pepper in hand of course)

Tomorrow we'll take the Banff Gondola and head over to Lake Louise.

Now off to bed, for a hopefully good (and train free) night's sleep.

--Lisa