Banff to Calgary

Today we ate at a castle (Banff Springs Hotel) and the food on the buffet could have fed a starving country.  Rooms range from 400 per night to several thousand for the premier suite. What a place to spend a honeymoon, if money were no object. The castle is outside of Banff and believe it or not, the meal was free.  Holiday Vacations arranged it because of the early difficulties we had during the trip.   We got a meal fit for a king or queen.  Although Banff is a total tourist town, it is very lovely.  Some of the houses range into the 10 million dollar range.  The owner of the New York NHL Team has a house there.  The thing is you can own the house for 40 years but never own the land because it is a national park.  To live there you must work there. Today is the end of our tour. Eating at the castle, training through the Rockies, riding the ferry are just a few of the more memorable things. What really is touching is the friendships that have developed and the cordiality among us.  We laughed together, looked out for each other.  Our farewell dinner in Calgary tonight was a tear jerker.  To think that this grand adventure has to end tomorrow makes all of us sad though none of us is sorry to have taken the trip.  Many people said they'd been on Alaskan cruises and those cruises did not have the spectacular scenery, the incredible hotels, and the food...oh was it good.  The only disappointing meal was at Lake Louise but the scenery erased any negativity.  The trip was everything we hoped for and so much more.  We visited Olympic Village, site of the 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary. Remember Eddie the Eagle- who still holds the record for the slowest downhill race in Olympic history? And then there was the Jamaican Bob-sled team.  After Banff and the Rockies, Calgary is ho-hum, flat. Or maybe it is melancholy that we are at the end of the tour.  Tomorrow we see if flying Northwestern is better than United- I hope so. It couldn't be worse.