25th September 2016

After a good night’s sleep, we woke around 8 am to a bright, sunny day. Following a coffee in our room, we both headed to the hotel pool for a swim. Jamie had been challenged on Facebook to complete 22 press-ups over 22 days, so I was roped into filming him as he did them.

Back in our room, we packed up our belongings before heading out for breakfast at a ‘Good Earth’ restaurant. One thing that stood out was how quiet the city centre felt, unusually calm for a Saturday morning.

After checking out of the hotel, we left our luggage in storage and went for one last look around the city. Once again, there seemed to be very few people about. It made me wonder what locals do on a Saturday afternoon; evidently, shopping isn’t high on the agenda.

Returning to the Sandman, we collected our luggage and took a taxi across town to the RV Centre. Arriving half an hour early, we watched the orientation video before completing the necessary paperwork. We then gave the vehicle a thorough inspection before accepting it.

With the SatNav on my mobile set up, Jamie took the wheel and drove us out of the city. It was smooth sailing until we hit a traffic jam caused by roadworks just beyond the city limits.

As we made our way through the foothills, the landscape became quintessentially ‘Canadian’. Trees were beginning to display their autumn colours, while vast, sweeping carpets of grassy plains stretched out on either side. Ahead of us, the snow-capped mountains grew ever larger, a striking symbol of the adventures that lay in wait.

While passing through one town, I caught sight of an American football stadium. Spectators lounged in their seats, basking in the sunshine as they waited for the game to begin. Latecomers strolled along the road, dressed in their team colours, clutching pots of popcorn and plastic tumblers of cola. How quintessentially American!

As the traffic thinned out, we made good progress, with the road rarely deviating from a straight line. I noticed we were having some difficulty staying within our lane, with Jamie constantly adjusting the steering wheel. Fortunately, there were few bends to navigate, but it was clear that even a light crosswind had an impact on our direction of travel. I suspect this may be a flaw in the RV’s design.

Entering the mountains via the Bow River, the scenery suddenly became vast and awe-inspiring. It felt as though the spectacular photos I’d recently seen online in preparation for this trip were unfolding before us in a never-ending slideshow.

At the entrance to Banff National Park, we stopped alongside a row of other RVs to purchase our park pass. $67 lighter, but I suppose we’re now set for the full year. Unfortunately, the rather pretty French park employee short-changed Jamie, leaving him $10 out of pocket. He took it in stride, though.

We found the Tunnel Road Campsite just outside Banff and parked up. Annoyingly, there was no shop on site to stock up on provisions, so I drove us into town. I have to admit, this vehicle is a nightmare to drive; it wallows and drifts with the contours of the road. After managing to park the beast, we set off to explore the town.

Despite it being the off-season, Banff was surprisingly busy, with people of all nationalities milling about on the pavements. One thing that quickly becomes apparent in this country is the over-cautious attitude of its drivers. Even the slightest glance at the road and traffic comes to a halt. Equally striking, however, are the pedestrians, who steadfastly refuse to cross the road until the little green man begins flashing. I thought the Japanese took this practice to extremes, but here, with the delay in the traffic light sequence, you could easily play a game of chess while waiting! Even tourists seem to adopt this behaviour and stand idly for ages, waiting to cross the 30 metres or so of concrete highway. That is, until we two decided to take matters into our own hands.

We spent a while at Eddie’s Burger Bar, sipping water (really), while I enjoyed an excellent burger and fries, and Jamie devoured a superb hotdog and fries. We watched a Russia vs Canada ice hockey game on the TVs above the bar while indulging in these North American delicacies. I sense a theme developing here.

With full stomachs, we set off in search of a supermarket. Banff, being mainly a tourist destination, is packed with gift shops, climbing gear outlets, bars, and restaurants. Eventually, we found a supermarket called Inga (how novel). After picking up milk, coffee, sugar, pasta, cheese, lemonade, and biscuits, all neatly packed in tariff-free plastic bags, we made our way back to the RV.

Banff is certainly a picturesque town, but it’s even more so with the breathtaking backdrop of towering, snow-capped mountains in every direction. Stark grey rock is sandwiched between lush, evergreen forests, all crowned by a sparkling, powdery cap. By late afternoon, a chill was starting to creep into the air, signalling that it was time to head back to camp.

Upon our return, we discovered that our parking bay was already occupied, so I took the opportunity to ask for some help with our water hose, which wouldn’t connect to the RV. Annoyingly, it turned out we had the wrong connector. Instead of the typical male and female couplings, we had two female connectors, and as we all know, that only works in exceptional circumstances! After a friendly chat and swapping of information with our new German friends, we retired to the sanctuary of our metal tin on wheels.

With a warm cup of coffee comforting us, we decided to explore our surroundings. The dusk was already settling in as we descended the slope through the tree line towards the Bow River. The bold red, illuminated sign flashing over the highway as we entered the park came to mind: “Beware of wolves.” They’d surely go for the younger and juicier one first, wouldn’t they?

We didn’t make it all the way down to the river before wisely deciding to turn back, instead resting on two very comfortable seats placed conveniently on a flattened area, offering magnificent views along the valley and the line of mountains marching off into the distance. Jamie suggested we were short of breath because of the altitude. I knew better, but it was a nice try.

Back in the comfort of our ridiculously large abode, which easily sleeps six, and boasts a fully fitted kitchen, shower and toilet, plus a dining area, we sank another comforting cup of coffee and nibbled on some biscuits (yuk). We flicked through some of the resort’s brochures, decided not to head up to Lake Louise as planned, and opted to stay for another day. Jamie then tuned to the radio while I got on with writing this blog.

After a brief sortie outside by Jamie to gaze at the stars, taunt the wolves, and chill his bones, he unwrapped his sleeping bag and went to bed. Sometime later, I followed suit to my own little nest, wondering if I’d be disturbed by bears searching for  Yogi-type pic-a-nic baskets.