So we went on our first international trip as a couple, to celebrate our 10th anniversary (which isn't actually till Sept. 10th). We are extremely grateful to God for this trip, as we feel completely undeserving of both the extravagance of the trip, and the simple yet amazing events that occurred along the way.
As many of you know, Ben is going through school right now and working in-between, so money is scarce. However, thanks to much advice and planning assistance from Charity's sister Faith, we were able to cover the entire trip using points and miles from credit card offers, and without accruing any debt along the way.
We have been completely inundated with literally several requests for pictures and stories, so here are the highlights from each of the eight days.
Starting with our 2:30 a.m. Saturday arrival at a timeshare resort in the little tourist town of Canmore Alberta, just outside Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies.
First priority: sleep.
Eventually, we took a look around at our spacious digs for the week
Then we cracked open the blinds! Here some shots from throughout the week, all taken from the window!
It was a wide mixture of weather, with at least one rain shower every day, but it was always between 60 and 80 degrees. The high moisture made for some epic "misty mountains", we know some fellow J.R.R.Tolkien fans that would have loved it. Then the sun would pop out and make an incredible contrast between the puffy, pure white clouds and the popping blue sky. All framing these amazing peaks, super thick forests, incredibly green lakes and streams, and even glaciers (none of which our cameras really convey).
We spent Saturday catching up on sleep and stocking up on groceries, (and bear spray, thanks Dad C!) and got to check out the town of Canmore. Here's some shots from Main Street:
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Most all the waterways here were an amazing green color, which we tried our best to capture on film. As you browse, you may see some pics that show the color, just be aware that all the rest of the water we saw was actually the same way. The color comes from the rocks being pulverized into powder ("rock flour") under the paths of glaciers, resulting in minerals suspended in the melting water.
On Sunday we went on our first big tour, beginning by driving almost 3 hours through Banff National Park to the "Icefields Parkway", a highway with views of glaciers, peaks and lakes that completely defy description. We are far from professional photographers, and using cheap cameras to boot, but we feel even the most amazing photography in the world couldn't convey the grandeur of these sights and the emotions they conjure.
We finally reached our destination, the Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Icefield. We were herded onto a giant custom built Mercedes "Ice Exploration Vehicle", which we rode over the rugged path of the retreating glacier and up onto the ice itself for some photo ops, and some of the worst film making in history.
Glacier water, straight from the source!
Also on this highway was the "skywalk", a viewing platform cantilevered over a 1000' canyon, with a glass floor! We saw a few mountain goats crossing underneath us, though the shots aren't very clear because they were taken on max zoom. We also wanted some pictures of us laying on the glass with the drop beneath us, but the recent rain made the glass too reflective.
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