Banff part III

this is the greatest place. I could stay here for at least a week. The hikes are beautiful, fantastic and the setting itself is so spectacular.

We finished up our hike off of The five glacier trail and got some tea in lake Louise. There isn't much in Lake Louise but this little mall, some restaurants, gas station and hotels. We are glad we decided to stay in Banff. more and more we are appreciating our hotel, particularly for its location. When we need to run back for something, it's right there.

After returning to the hotel, we settled in for some reading, showers, laundry, etc. And at 6pm, headed out for dinner. Mom and I had already done about 8-10 miles so we weren't sure we wanted to walk up tunnel mountain (1.1m one way) for dinner, but the restaurant, Cilantro, sounded so good we decided what the heck. the road offers great views (but all of Banff does) and eventually there is no side walk so we had to single file along the bike lane until we reached the Buffalo Mountain Lodge. The menu for cilantro looked fantastic with wood fired pizzas, salads, burgers but then Mom noticed a sign that said, open Thurs, Fri and Sat only. We were so bummed and thought we'd try the restaurant in the lodge. Nothing on the menulooked good, the restaurant was almost empty and the prices were outlandish (these Canadians seem to think nothing of paying $38-40 for an entree at most of the restaurants--not just the super good ones. Well, maybe this is why all the restaurants are empty . . .).
So we walked back out to the road and gazed down the hill, took a deep breath and started down. I have a back up list of restaurant sin my pocket at all times (in case of emergencies like this. A girl cannot be caught without a known great restaurant otherwise someone might make her go to subway or something and then I'd miss a dining opportunity!!!). So, I consulted my two back ups: Maple Leaf Grille for traditional canadian food and Nourish, for non traditional veg.
On the way down the hill we contemplated what "traditional Canadian" food might be: beef, berries, wheat, fish were all we could think of. And, when we got to the restaurant (foot wearied and starving) we found that the menu consisted mostly of those ingredients with a huge emphasis on fish, but what really put us off was the smell when we entered the restaurant: it was like stinky fish. Not surprisingly, this restaurant was also empty. Nourish was now our final option. We could not find it. We walked up and down the street and were just about ready to abandon our search when I spied the name in tiny letters on a mini mall board. Inside, the cheezy mini mall was not impressive. The board said the restaurant was on the second floor. Most of the store fronts were empty on the 1st floor and on the second floor only one was doing business, Nourish. but we decided to give it a go.
We were very, very glad we did. Asha has evens aid this is the one place she'd like to eat again (now, if possible). The tiny restaurant had many 7 tables and one friendly, hippie-like waiter who we chatted amicably with about where he got his produce (his window herb box and Calgary), where he was from (Regina), his favorite restaurant there (Willow or 13th st. Bistro) and other important topics. The restaurant serves the food as it is done unless you request everything at once. we were fine with this and started with chips and strawberry pineapple salsa (the salsa was finely blended, tasted slightly sweet and could have been eaten like a soup). Fresh coconut was sprinkled on top. This looked pretty but didn't have much taste. Our second course was gazpacho, what mom ordered. it was fresh with lots of chopped veggies and fruits, slightly sweet and perhaps with some of the same flavors as the salsa. Third was my stuffed red pepper with so much stuff in the stuffing I can't even name it all, but there was cheese, blueberries, quinoa, spices and tomatoes and it was really fantastic. The pepper still had a bit of texture in it even though it was baked (I don't think it was roasted but forgot to ask), the fruits and veggies that filled it were distinct and flavorful. But the real winner was Asha's dish: her ravioli's were something else. They were mushroom with a lavender cream sauce. Sound a bit weird? it was fantastic and the three of us gobbled these down without speaking for several minutes, surprised and amazed and just how good each bite was.

Banff part II

got up early and did a walk on my own up to bow valley falls. I was a bit worried to hike on my own because of the bears but decided it didnt' really matter if someone was with me. The bear would still win. When I got up I ran to the window to see if the sun was out. The morning was gorgeous with blue skies and fluffy clouds, a pleasant change from the two days of rain. I quickly donned my hiking gear and headed out, leaving Mom and Asha sleeping.
I returned at 8 to let everyone know that today was "tea house" day. We were goign to hike up to five glacier tea house in Lake Louise. Asha could not motivate herself to get out of bed, so we set off. We took the highway to get there knowing we'd take the local Bow Valley drive on the way home (the more scenic route). We did see a moose on the side of the highway however, attempting to navigate the road construction.
The trail was phenomenal. I would love to do this hike again. First, the scenery is incredible. You start behind the Fairmont lake Louise which is an eight story hotel of the old style (something like The Lodge in The Shining) and it towers over lake Louise. Japanese tourists literally surrounded the patio but we quickly moved through them and onto the path. Most people did not venture past the beginning of the path, even though it starts out paved and we were soon on our own. Towards our left were multiple towering moutains, jagged as if their other half had abruptly plunged into the lake leaving raw mountain face. Waterfalls tumbled down from the glaciers and clouds and fog moved in and out leaving moments of sun and clouds that provided a variety of scenic opportunities. Behind us we could watch the Hotel recede and ahead of us a ginormous glacier towered above us (we were later told that the ice on the top of that glacier was 300-500 meters thick (and that the 8 story hotel was about 100 meters thick). It was incredible.
The walk itself started on a paved walkway and then after about 2.2 km it started to climb over glacier moraine so lots of rocks to maneuver over. Immediately to our right was more of the jagged rock face. Little was growing on these mountains. I don't know if that was a result of the rocks themselves or their age or some other factor but the trail was mostly open with few trees as we continued to climb for a total of 1000 feet. We crossed large snow fields and encountered rain on and off, mostly on as we approached our final destination.
When we arrived at the tea house we were hungry and ready for something to eat. The tea house has a limited menu of tuna, cheese and hummus, rice krispie treats, scones and jam, carrot cake, tea and a soup of the day. It all sounded good but we had the tuna and cheese. The cheese was simply cheddar cheese with a piece of iceberg lettuce and butter, but it was fantastic. The food is brought in through a combination of helicopter, backpack and mule. At the beginning of the season, one helicopter load is brought in of all the non perishable stuff. then mule trains bring in scheduled loads and workers haul up other stuff (of course, stuff also has to be hauled out). They did request you take your garbage or leftovers with you (which we stuffed in the fanny pack). The workers stay up there for four to five days in small cabins on the premises (without electricity or running water) and then they spend three days down the mountain and come back. the tea house itself is kind of perched on wooden stilts with a ladder leading up to a small wraparound deck with a kitchen inside. The deck is covered so you don't get rained on and the views are unbeatable. A ranger happened to be up there when we were and he talked about the calving of the glaciers and some local friendly bears that hang out on the hotel's lawn.

Some things to keep in mind when traveling to canada (or what I've learned so far from my own mistakes):
Some cell phones do not work in Canada (buying a Canadian cell phone is an expensive substitute)
Canadian stores will gladly take American money but they do a 1/1 exchange and give you change back in Canadian coin
Canadians do not seem to care if their pillows are hard as rocks or soft as cotton balls.
Beds may not have blankets only bedspreads and the bedspreads may weight as much as a 12 year old (imagine your 12 year old lying on top of you all night . . .)

Cupcakes in Banff

Our first cupcake tasting: We selected vanilla, lemon, peanut butter chocolate, chocolate caramel, chocolate raspberry and carrot.

Vanilla
Mom: hmmmm hmmmm good. this is so good. Very vanilla-y. Subtle vanilla flavor in the frosting.
Mary: bit of lemon or something in the flavoring, moist but kind of like a sponge cake. Frosting is quite sweet but doesn't have much flavor
Asha: yummy, very good vanilla taste, better than Daddy's favorite cake.

Lemon
Mom: wish there was more lemony stuff in it. The filling was very intense
Mary: cake same as in vanilla, but had a bit of lemon filling, kind clear like lemon curd. Didn't taste any lemon in the cake. frosting was light and mildly lemony. The lemoncurd was quite intense.
Asha: Very good, intense flavor, good frosting, yummy cake, same as the vanilla, but with lemony filling.

Carrot
Mom: could be a little more moist. it's a little dense
Mary: moist but seemed to lack salt or some underlying emphasis, some light spice, but the frosting had light cream cheese and too much sugar in it, almost crispy sugar
Asha: Not my kind of cupcake. There were chunky things in it, like apricots. Tasted ok though.

Stay tuned for more cupcake reviews--we have to take a sugar break.

June 22nd -- Asha's

WE SAW OUR FIRST BEAR TODAY!!! She was by the side of the road as we were driving to Banff; she was grazing on the side of the road with her two baby bear cubs. They were absolutely adorable! Before all that though, we got up early and packed the car and started our drive to Banff. It was about a six hour drive, not including stops. We listened to our book tape, Lady Elizabeth almost the whole way there. It rained almost all day. We were going to have another picnic lunch but it was too rainy, so we just pulled into a park area and ate in the car. Mom and I shared a pastrami sandwich and grandma had a tuna sandwich. I slept some of the car ride and then woke up as we were about to go through customs. It was a little wait, but was very fast once it was our turn. They just asked us a few questions and then we were on our way into Canada! We stopped at a visitor center to get a National Parks pass and a Historical Sites pass. The people there were very friendly. It was too rainy to take the hike that mom wanted us to do, so we got back in the car and drove to our lodge. When we got to the lodge, I took a quick shower and then we got ready to go out to dinner. We walked there, since our lodge was right downtown. The downtown here is really nice; it has a lot of cute little shops and restaurants. We ate at a place called Fuze. I ordered Bangalore-style chili prawns, mom got an Alberta top sirloin burger and grandma got South Indian bbq pork ribs glazed with mango chutney. It was really yummy, and I ate off everyone’s food. Mom also got a pomegranate martini. She seemed to like it, because she ordered a second. After dinner, we walked around the town a little bit and then headed back to our room to watch the last episode of Friday Night Lights!

Banff Part I

Banff Part I
What a fantastic day. We arrived last night after a full day of driving and rain, but we could still tell that Banff was going to be fantastic, and so far it hasn’t disappointed. To start things off, on crossing the Canadian border (after a long wait in a short line where we were asked if I had vive's written permission to bring Asha to Canada and where the clerk finally decided that "she's old enough to get away from you if she wanted to" and let us in) we stopped at this great little cafe in Yahk. they made me the strongest tea I've ever had. it was so strong, that after drinking part I added water and today when I got some hot tea at Lake Louise I added it to the remains and it still was overpowering. But the cafe was great and if we hadn't gotten sandwiches to eat on the way, we'd have had lunch there (great little menu of buffalo burgers and soup and hot dogs and ice cream and homemade waffle cones).
then, we were greeted by a bear and her cubs as we entered the area. We pulled over and observed their antics for several minutes, thankful for the lack fo traffic on the highway.
We checked into our lodging: Banff lodge. A word on lodging which I haven’t really talked about. We’re not too particular about lodging and have found that more expensive does not necessarily mean better, especially given our needs. We want to be central (we like to walk), we want internet and parking and we want to get in and out of the hotel easily, etc. Here we are in a 4 star Canada select property (which is not at all like a 4 star American) and it’s more hassle than its worth, but we got a good deal . It is central, but parking is a pain in the ass, the hotel is huge and we get lost in it when we are trying to find our room or the laundry and the pillows are lousy. So, I’d rather pay $60 for this pleasure (and usually do, when that’s available). When it’s not, then we go with what is available that meets our needs.
After checking in, we poured ourselves a glass of the wine from Foris which Mom and I proceeded to almost demolish in one sitting (it took us four nights to finish the Eberle). It was an excellent Grenache, that got better as it was open. And, unfortunately, was the only wine they do NOT sell retail. Wish I’d bought more. Then we headed to dinner at Fuse. The dinner was excellent (I believe asha wrote about it). One of our favorites. And the atmosphere was very nice, sophisticated with leather booths, low but useful lighting and friendly waitstaff around a great lounge menu. But the place was empty. We showed up at 7:30pm and stayed until 9:30 and there was only one other couple in the place that entire time. I asked if this was a slow time, and they said yes. Last week was packed because of a bike event and she hoped things would pick up again in July. I hope it wasn’t indicative of the recession. Ironically, tonight we stopped by several places and they were mostly empty as well.

Spokane part II

Got up early this am to check out Spokane before we head out. Wish we had another day here. This is a great place for roaming. The riverfront walk is beautiful. If my kids were four or five years younger, I could see spending a weekend here. along the riverwalk are multiple parks geared at every level, a ferris wheel and small amusement park, an IMAX theater, lots of waterfalls and even a giant wagon with a slide (which I had to try). towards the end of the walk are the Spokane falls. We wandered back and forth over several bridges just to get different views of this phenomena. It's so nice to have nature so present in the middle of a city.
Also downtown, which is right along the riverfront is lots of shopping including two great stores: Aunties and Uncles. Aunties is a huge, borderesque bookstore and Uncles is a wonderful toy store that emphasizes puzzles, board games and other problem solving games (no electronic games at all). They all looked great to me but I didn't think my kids would play any of them, unfortunately. I think younger kids could practically spend a day in these two shops (we wandered into them yesterday to get a break from the rain).

spokane and our first rain

We headed out for Spokane today after a brisk 6am walk to downtown Hood River (we did the trip five times yesterday for a total of about 15 miles). It's a great walk taking you through the garden like homes to the downtown which overlooks the Columbia river. This early in the am, however, we don't see any of the kites but it's still beautiful if a bit overcast today.
We head to Maryhill museum, a mixture of Kitsch and kind of sort of high brow art: think Hudson river school meets the Simpsons, or Russian royalty meets American Indians. So, we got to see a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. I'll have to say that my favorite part of it was the outside sculpture gardens and the peacocks which yelled at us continuously and the views of the Columbia river. the sculptures were those created by Northwest Artists invited to submit their creations and they ran the gamut from a wood shingled "privy" like thing to a beautiful colored steel flower.
I wasn't so enamored with the inside.
Next, we attemtped to stop at a monastery that promised Greek pastries, but they were closed (Hello, it's sunday!). then we were going to have a traditional native American meal at the yakama Cultural Center in Toppenish, WA. However, they were serving a pancake breakfast which I am not too keen on. People were lined up outside the door, however. We left and had a picnic at the Vernita Bridge overlooking Hanover Reach. Mom had peanut butter and pickles, Asha had slices of salami and a pound of fresh Hood river raspberries, I had the best! I had a slice of bread (the heel which is my favorite cause it's so tasty) topped with sweet hot mustard (lots of it) and hot and sweet pickles and salami and after each bite a few hot fries. Yum. My favorite picnic food. i also had some fantastic Hood river sweet cherries. We stopped yeserday at the apple Market, a farmers market like stand where Mom had the best huckleberry shake.
About 10 miles out of Spokane, we hit the rain.