My First Post...Our Trip to Banff!

So this is my first ever blog.. call me a blog virgin. It took me 15 mins before I had to go through the tutorial to see how to actually post something. Here is the outcome! I hope you enjoy reading as much as I had putting it all together!

Well, where is a better place to start then our trip to Calgary, Drumheller and finally Banff for the wedding of Seth & Michelle, two amazing people who we hope to visit again really soon.

So we arrived in calgary in the early morning and decided that since we couldn't check in to the hotel, we might as well head out to Drumheller to see the dinosaur park... which to be honest was very cool!

The whole drive was really quite boring! partially because I wanted to sleep so bad but I  couldn't do that to Danny, who very sweetly agreed to drive!
The whole drive was fields and fields of these yellow flower crops which we both took guesses on. Later we found out from Dave Eamor that it was Canola Oil... Cool!






After a 2 hour drive we arrived at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller Alberta which has some of the most amazing fossils found in Alberta!

Hey did you know that i'm not even 2 meters tall?!

Ok I'm such a kid but this honestly was so much fun! It was in the kids area where you put a nerf style ball into the tube which sucks it up and shoots it out at another random end! I LOVED IT, GIGGLED LIKE A SCHOOL GIRL!

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This t-rex was very cool, it reminded me of the t-rex from night at the museum.

So we finished up at the museum and it was such a beautiful day out! I loved this pic of Danny!

From the museum we did the drive back, well Danny did the drive back and I tired my best to stay awake. And of course we had to stop and see the biggest dinosaur in the world!

We stayed in Calgary for the night, not too much going on that night, but we were excited to get an early start to the day and head off to Lake Louise and then to Banff! So lets take a look!

This was taken on the drive there, not the nicest day but still such an amazing landscape and I didn't do too badly on the photos.

So our next stop was Lake Moraine. I wish we had a clearer nicer day but was still beautiful. I found some very cool facts about Lake Moraine and where it has appeared.
A little "did you know?" for everyone plus some pics!
Lake Moraine appeared on:
On the reverse side of the 1969 and 1979 issues of the Canadian twenty dollar bill.[8].
In one of the main preview pictures for Google's new mobile-platform Android, Moraine lake was used as a background picture.
In one of the backgrounds available on the Blackberry Pearl.
In one of the backgrounds available on the Palm Pre
In one of Windows 7's backgrounds in the "Canada" series.
As the Bing homepage on 10/13/2009.

 Rain was not going to ruin our day! You like the patriotic hoodie?

Our next stop was Lake Louise, where we not only saw the lake but had lunch at the Chateau. I have to blog about my lunch there because the food was delish! I had 3 sliders; one bison with brie and blueberry compote, the next a lamb slider with articoke and garlic puree and finally an Alberta beef slider with roasted red peppers and a garlic mayo aioli....wait for it....all served with killer sweet potato fries..mmmmm
Danny had a chicken club with a fig spread, grilled veggies and again a side of sweet potatoes....honestly all I remember is that it was too figgey for us both but still very good! Here are some of the better pics from there!

After a nice night in Lake Louise we finally headed to Banff where we would meet up with great friends and celebrate the marriage of Seth and Michelle, the real reason we came out west!  I forgot to mention that this was Danny's first time to Alberta and all he had read and heard about, was about the wildlife he would see along with the stunning views.... He was definitely amazed by the views but in the 2 days of driving we had already done, still no wildlife... Danny was not happy about that and determined to see something!

Last time I was in Banff which was way back at the beginning of my WestJet days we had tried to go on the Banff Gondola which takes you to the top of Sulphur Mountain, where there is suppose to be an amazing 360 degree view of Banff and surrounding areas. Unfortunately we got there and it was closed and we were only there one day, so c'est la vie I would do it again sometime. Little did I know next time would be with my husband many years later...I'm glad I got to experience it with him! Again it was overcast but still pretty breathtaking! Here are some pics of that.

FYI from the top of Sulphur Mountain this is far it is to home!

I had to take a picture of this little girl, so adorable trying to coax the chipmunk out from the garbage can :) These little guys were everywhere on top of the mountain! Danny was not as impressed and wanted to see a "real" animal! 

 Ok so this post is way longer than most but I promise going forward that they will not be this long. We did have so much fun with the camera and great scenery! Plus this is the first one, I'm learning here people, but I digress....

After checking out the views from the top of the mountain we headed down and were off to the The Rimrock, where the wedding was going to take place. It was a beautiful resort that was nestled in the mountains of Banff. As we are driving to the hotel,  Danny stops and makes a sharp right turn, of course I freak out until I see why!

Finally not more than 10 feet away is this beautiful creature... totally minding his own business as people stop to take pictures. Now, I say creature because there was later argument as to whether is was an Elk or Deer?

If any animal enthusiast know, please help me win this argument!

I really love Banff it reminds me of this cosy little ski town much like what I imagine Vermont to be like. We had the most amazing dinner in Banff at the Maple Leaf Lodge where we both had Alberta Beef of course! In that restaurant we saw this amazing huge canvas on the wall as you walk in that I fell in love with and the hostess gladly told me where I could purchase it for the reasonable price of $6000.00...so long story short, the artist does not do prints and I will appreciate his art on my blog!

Artist: Glenn Payan
You really have to see it in person to appreciate it!

In the heart of Banff

Saturday July 24th, the wedding day! First of all, they had the most beautiful day ever! Hot but with a breeze, it couldn't have been more stunning. Danny and I both agreed, next to our wedding on the beach that this is the next best! The hotel was buzzing with wedding excitement it was such the perfect day!

The hotel has a dessert chef who has displayed an amazing piece in the lobby completely made out of chocolate! It truly was remarkable! mmmmm chocolate.....

Danny went to meet his boys in the lobby and to make sure Seth wasn't getting cold feet ;-) This set of pictures were taken on the lobby balcony... Looking good boys!

I met Danny downstairs a bit later when we were heading to the ceremony, it was held in an open area with the most amazing mountain backdrop you could ask for. Here are a series of pics from there.

MAZELTOV GUYS!
I love Weddings :)

Ok the best part of the wedding reception!!! They had been taking dance lessons for maybe a month before the wedding. We were at dinner with them 2 nights before the wedding and Michelle was telling me how nervous they were and they kept changing their minds about whether they were going to do the dance or not. Obviously by the pics they did it and it was amazing!!! They were so perfect and it was so romantic! Awwwww so cute you two! And of course it would not be a proper party unless Seth brought out the wicked dance moves!!! So awesome!

Love the argyle socks by the way Seth!

Well the next day came too soon and we were saying our see you later and on our way back to Toronto.

We had such a blast and can't wait to go and visit soon!

This is the part where I'll wrap it up by saying, it was a great time with some really great friends. Another fantastic memory to add to this crazy adventure of our life! I know it's a little cheesy but even today only over a month later, I still look at these pictures and I can't help but find myself grinning ear to ear and thinking about all the memories...

Maybe that's another reason I love these photo blogs so much, I may not be a professional photographer and I don't have to be. But the pictures do exactly what I want them to do for me, they bring me back to some of the best times in this crazy life!

If you've made it this far, thanks for the checking out my blog and I promise they won't be this long all the time! Either way I hope you enjoyed a little expression of myself and will come back for more :)