We're going on a bear hunt...

It came to our attention yesterday that bears often don't go into hibernation until Christmas so our theory 'it snowed last night so they'll have gone into hibernation early' went out the window. Even more so when we found bear prints in the snow on the edge of the village. I had my trusty Dr Martens on, we'd read all the safety guides in the hostel so a few paw marks weren't going to stop us. I admit the 3 inch claw marks that accompanied the paw prints stopped us briefly to think about what we were about to do but we figured our singing would keep them at bay.

 5km and countless renditions of "there was a crazy moose..." later we arrived at Lake Louise. I can't even begin to explain how happy I was to be there, a mixture of "I can't believe we're alive" and the fact that I never thought I'd be back there. We arrived as the mist was beginning to disappear but we had to leave before sunset (for obvious reasons) so we never got to see the glacier or the full scale of where we were. We popped into the Fairmont for a hot chocolate and a well deserved rest before the nervous descent down the mountain.

Big shout out to Taylor Swift, also, who's songs calmed us in times of panic.

Louise x

Bad Decisions

Today we went on a hike along the river. The bears did cross our minds but why be sensible now? Today was a day full of bad decisions starting with a hike in the woods followed by sliding down an embankment to get a better look and eat our lunch. Later that day we seen two elk in a garden after taking a back road, nearer the woods, to buy drink eh. To end the day we went over to the Samesun Hostel ('cause it's just cooler) to win the quiz but we made the unfortunate decision to play a drinking game with a Swede. I told them I was skyping my mum in the morning but they just wouldn't listen.

^We tried walking to the Banff gondolas but we got lost here. 

So we went back to town and sensibly got the bus.

We got stuck up there for an hour while the storm calmed down. 

Louise x

Head down Elk St onto Beaver St and you're there.

Elk St, Beaver St, Cougar St, Lynx St, need I say any more. Welcome to Banff, STI capital of Canada, home to the evil 100mph snow, and human-chasing deer.

First of all I'd like to address the baby clothes, neither of us are pregnant nor do we want babies...at least that's what we keep telling ourselves but could you resist those tiny little Indian shoes? No. I'm definitely not a baby person. They scare the sh*t out of me but if I had one he would be called Charleston and he would only wear cowboy clothes.

So asides from baby talk we set out, braced for the cold, ready for bears, heading towards the Banff Gondolas. In true Peyton-Preston fashion we found ourselves walking unessessary lengths to get somewhere most people would just pay for a taxi, it's almost becoming a tradition of ours. This time we were headed in the wrong direction. I know what you're thinking and no my map skills did not fail me, the map was lying. Another 2km and a bus ride later we arrived to no queues and a clear sky. Of course it was just our luck that we'd been up there an hour and the blizzard started so we waited in the empty cafe and watched as the entirety of Banff was engulfed in mist then we braved the elements and caught the gondola back down to earth. Don't you just love the magic of a snowy day!

We went back to the hostel for mashed potatoes and to put our finest woolys on for a night out in Banff.

Louise x





I'm gonna really miss this cafe...

Last night we made a conscious decision to not die so 100 yards from the front door we turned back and had our beers on the decking instead of walking the distance to the pub. Just to be clear, it's really dark here and there's no where to run. 

On a Saturday night the HI hostel has a bonfire but because of the snow they lit the fire upstairs in the lounge. Kind of a pathetic night all round but I caught up on some reading and investigated our next stop, Revelstoke.

We've also found ourselves in the Bill Peyto cafe which I like mainly because of the name and secondly because it's on site.  It's not gonna win any awards but the foods good enough and cheap enough that we've been two nights in a row. The Lake Louise Inn across the road serve a cracking poutine as well. 

I also feel like I should mention the Visitors Centre, it's definitely worth a visit even if it's just for a "I need to get here...". As for Lake Louise itself I couldn't say whether summer or winter is better. The mountains weren't as visible and the water not as still but you can't justify hot chocolate on the edge of a lake in the summer.

This post is dedicated to my mum and dad who I fear are on the verge of a breakdown with all my tales of bears and alligators.

Cow(boy) Town

We've landed in Canada once again! We were so tired. Like head bobbing mid conversation kinda tired. However we were persuaded by the crisp autumn air and the lure of Tim Hortons to venture out into the Calgary wilderness in search of some Alexander Keith's cider. And who did we bump into on our way to the liquor store? Only our two roommates (and Sunday dinner friends) from Toronto!
So we spent our day in Calgary the only way it should be spent...playing dress up in a cowboy store.

 

 

Dixie dreamin'

This week we made the best decision of our travels, to catch a 20 hour long Greyhound bus to Charleston. It was probably the worst travelling I've ever done, we thought because it was an overnight bus that we would be able to sleep and the length of the journey would ensure we would be the only ones stupid enough to do it. Funnily enough we were wrong. Reeally wrong. We also never looked at the schedule details so we didn't realise until we were in Columbia that we had a 5 hour stopover in a room which they've tried to pass off as a station.

 

We arrived in Charleston to everything we'd expected it to be. Palm trees, chevrolets, sun, and the accents. Aah the accents. We spent the whole week walking around, or cycling, catching the free trolleys up and down downtown, and the nights spent with beer on our balcony as the sun set and the temperature dropped. We've both loved everywhere we've been but there's something about Charleston that feels comfortable and homely, I can't explain it, I'm just completely in love with the place.

 

Tonight we leave to fly back to Canada where we will stay until next year. We land in Calgary where it's already winter weather. I don't think we'll see summer nights like these summer nights for a very very long time, bro.