Mom made pancakes. There was honey from Greece thanks to Valerie and Ben. There was also nutella, peanut butter, and blueberries. And bacon.
My ideas for the day centered around two breweries and a distillery in Banff. The distillery wasn't doing its tours. One brewery (Grizzly Paw or something) only did tours on weekends. The other only did them on request, which made us feel like it wasn't worth going to. So, we ended up with a few walks instead.
First, though, Canmore was having its farmers' market, and we had to wander around that. There were artisans selling jerky, jewelry, and produce. We got some of each. We walked up Main St. to a flannel shop. I peeled off to find a post office, then found everyone in, surprise surprise, a bookstore. We probably spent slightly more in there than in the game store a block away. We did purchase "Three Cheers for Master", a macabre cheerleading, physics, card-lying game. Dad couldn't purchase the stone gothic arches at the book store, sadly.
It was home for lunch, then the next "plans" were made. Mom and Dad found out there was a geocaching coin one could get for doing 3 of the 10 easy/moderate caches around Banff. They had done three yesterday (Vermillion Lakes, Fenland Trail, and Cave and Basin's Marsh Loop) just in case, but we had two more on my list for today - the Hoodoos and the Bankhead Trail.
I could only find one mention of a Hoodoos Trail in the piles of brochures I was carrying around, and that was a 3-mile hike starting in downtown Banff. We packed up the cars, and Valerie and Ben followed us in the Subaru.
I looked at the map of the Hoodoo Trail, and there was a parking lot at the end of it, like, right where the viewpoint was. Turns out, you can just drive there. Since all of us were less in the hiking mood, more in the "vacation" mood, we just drove to the parking lot, then walked the 1/8 mile to the overlook.
We found a geocache, saw a stand-up paddle-boarder, watched some ravens pretend to be eagles soaring on the thermals, and got wind-whipped. The hoodoos were different than those we saw in Utah like a decade ago - more peak-like, and along the Bow River - but the geologic premise (that a "cap" prevented them from eroding like the road around it) remained the same.
The geocache was found, trivia was learned, and we headed back to car. Since that hike wasn't a hike at all, we headed straight to Bankhead, an interpretive trail about the town of Bankhead.
A mining town for 17 years, Bankhead had been told to remove itself from existence by the government presiding over the national park in about 1925. With coal prices down, it was no longer convenient to have a mine inside a protected zone. All buildings were removed (with the exception of the transfomer house), and the mine was shut down. As we walked around the gravel trail, each piece of ruin told its story of a family whose lives were changed when a town disappeared underneath them.
We hopped onto a train car, but otherwise, were told to avoid contact with the rhubarb and raspberry bushes from backyards of former houses, because there are known carcinogeons around the abandoned mine.
Both trails were exactly what we wanted - to learn something, to not sweat in the (gasp) 85-degree weather, and to not have to have hiking clothes on.
We circled around Johnston Lake (which looks very similar to a power plant) ad found some mountain sheep, right on the road. There was a "wee" one with his mom. The males are much more weaned then
Mom and Dad had successfully completed more than three of the ten caches, so we all went to the visitors' center to claim our loyalty. The parents got to the counter and "donated" so they could get a geo-ring. We had half the staff at our table, determining that the teahouse challenge is only activated in fall during Banff's "Wonderfall" event. One of the four clerks did give up some rockin' moose stickers. Consolation prize - accepted.
Next, it was a block to Cows, voted Canada's best ice cream by Reader's Digest. The amount of flavors was awe-striking; the amount of cow puns was dizzying as well. Everything from "Moo Henry" to "Messie Bessie" to some special "moo crunch" in many of the flavors.
We circled Main St., then headed back to the cars. Val and Ben have been experimenting with how much they can disassemble this 2015 Jeep - so far, only the roof has come off. And that meant, it was a pleasant drive up to the Fairmount - the castle in Banff.
The drinks, with a majestic mountain majesty over my shoulder, made me settle.
Overall, a few things were witnessed, but it was a relaxing day. So relaxing that the post-hotel drive back to Canmore had be droopy-eyed, and a nap was in order before dinner.
The nap might have helped keeps the wits around for a game or two. We pulled out a new one - The Master in Coming. I didn't win. Then we played Istanbul again. I drank wine and kinda, sorta, almost won by getting in second. We really won because all of the alcohol is gone.
With my streak of losses, I think there is an easy win as we head to bed.
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