June 3rd to July 10th - Vacation in Seattle and the Canadian Rockies

 

We decided to take one final "big" trip. It was difficult to plan because we had a lot of criteria:

• We wanted to limit the amount of walking we had to do.
• It had to be largely planned by someone other than us.
• We wanted to limit our Covid exposure as much as possible.   

We decided to travel to Seattle for a couple of days and then travel to Vancouver, British Columbia to take the Rocky Mountaineer train. For those who are unaware, the Rocky Mountaineer is a daytime only train with a choice of four routes. Nights are spent in hotels arranged by the tour operators. Luggage is transported to each hotel and is in your room when you arrive. 

We wanted to go to Seattle to visit the Rad Showroom, the maker of our ebikes. Luckily for me, there were no new models that I lusted after. I came away quite satisfied with the bike I have. We took the ferry over to Bainbridge on a beautiful day and were able to get beautiful shots of Mt. Ranier. On previous trips, we faced rain and fog which made pictures of Mt. Ranier impossible.

After a short visit in Vancouver, we took a taxi to the Rocky Mountaineer train station and prepared for our adventure.

I can't recommend this trip highly enough. I have more than 300 pictures. Hopefully, these will give you a feel for the experience. 

The area just outside Vancouver was very green. Referred to as the Frasier River Basin, snow melt from the mountains formed very fast currents in the valley. The area has experienced warmer than usual temperatures.

The next ecosystem was a dry desert area. The temperature got up to 101 degrees at one point. They advised us not to go outside to take pictures as the air conditioning could not keep up with the door being repeatedly opened.

 

For two days, we traveled the Canadian countryside in absolute comfort. The drink cart came down the aisle starting at 10:30 am -- and the "drinks" included every kind of non-alcoholic and alcoholic drink you can imagine. This was followed by the snack cart. A couple hours later, gourmet lunches were delivered to your seat based on your order earlier in the day. Of course, this required the "drink" cart to come by. The drink cart made its way down the aisle five times a day along with the snack cart (twice a day) and the dinner cart. They also included a dessert. We were treated very well.

As the elevation increased, so did the beauty of the surroundings. I'd need to post another 100 pictures to do it justice. 

At the end of Day 2 on the train, we ended our adventure at Lake Louise. Buses took us to our hotels. You can't imagine the amount of organization, as this train consisted of 23 cars and 700 passengers.

The next morning, Bill and I got up and took a bus up to Lake Louise. The lake lived up to its hype.

The next morning, we went by bus to the town of Banff in the province of Alberta, Canada. This was clearly the highlight of our trip. We stayed in the most incredible hotel (Rimrock) for two nights. 

In Banff, a full-day tour was scheduled.The highlights included a ride on a gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain. There were several scheduled stops in the area, including lunch in a great local restaurant.

We took a one-hour boat ride on Lake Minnewanka.

On our final day in Canada, we were bussed to Calgary for our flight home. We enjoyed a great dinner out and rested up for our return trip. We were proud that, once again, we were able to rise to the challenge, and make it home with nothing but good memories. 

In the next post, I will provide a short health update. So click on Part II if you are interested in the nitty-gritty.

Kathy