Gayle and I both woke up a bit frantic. We had each done some research individually and realized that the journey to the heliport was a bit longer than we were thinking. We weren't sad to leave the Fairmont Jasper....
...but we were looking forward to not rushing around. We decided we didn't want to eat breakfast at this "hotel" and so we loaded our things and drove into the village of Jasper. We found something to eat for breakfast and ordered sandwiches to go at the Patricia Street Deli. We were their first customers of the day. One of the co-owners waited on us but before he made my sandwich he asked about our trip. I told him I was on a 6-week retirement road trip. He asked me what I did. "I was a pastor," I said. His eyes lit up with delight and he gave me an elbow bump. This is such a different reaction than I have gotten from other people I have met along this journey.
It isn't that I walk up to everyone and say, "Hi! I'm a retired pastor on a six-week road trip." That would be just a tad bit creepy. But I have found that people in service jobs in Canada all engage us with questions like: "What are your plans for today?" or "What did you do today?" When we tell them what is on our itinerary for the day the next question is always: "Where are you from?" We explain that we are from Kansas and California. That seems odd to them that we are from different places so I follow up with something about being on a sisters' road trip in honor of my retirement. The inevitable next question is: "What did you do before you retired?" I don't hesitate to tell them I was a pastor. The usual reactions are very unlike the one from the co-owner of the deli. The female bellhop at Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton had a follow up question: "What denomination?" I said: "Church of the Brethren." She laughed and said: "A female pastor in a church called Brethren. Now that's funny." Tonight our waiter had the very same conversation with us only when I said I was a pastor he said: "I could make fun of you for spending your life doing that."
With our bellies full and our sandwiches in the cooler we headed to Rockies Heli for a 30 minute helicopter tour to view the Columbia Icefield. We traveled back down the same road we traveled north on yesterday. We marveled at how different and just as beautiful the journey south was from the journey north. We made several stops along the way to take photos but we stayed on task. We didn't want to be late for our ride.
We arrived a half hour earlier than our designated arrival time so we pulled out our sandwiches and ate them at one of their picnic tables until it began to rain. We went inside to use the restroom before it was our turn. We both took photos of the sign above the toilet.
Our pilot was a 30ish person named Kyle. We got our safety instructions and got into the copter for our 30 minute ride.
We were the only passengers on the helicopter and we both sat in the front. Gayle insisted I sit by the door because I would get to see through the side window and the front window and she has been on a couple helicopter rides before. The beauty around us was amazing. There is a lake right next to the heliport that is human made and is the color of a glacial lake. It is the reservoir that provides water for all of Alberta.
We flew right next to amazing glaciers.
Kyle, in the most calm and steady voice, gave us an explanation of how these mountains were formed; how they are different from each other; for whom they were each named; the age of the glaciers we were seeing; how Banff National Park used to bring all their "pissed off" grizzly bears and relocate them to a certain valley; how tall the waterfall was; and why a certain lake was lime green instead of glacial blue.
I was terrified the whole time. When I am truly frightened I get quiet because I am having a conversation inside my head trying to talk myself out of my fear. I remember very little of his descriptions but the steadiness of his voice assured me that he was not frightened by how windy it is as your fly over ice covered mountains.
But we safely made it back to base camp. We thanked Kyle for the good ride and got in our car to head for Lake Louise . We are spending the night at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. A night in this hotel is Gayle's retirement gift to me. We are on the fourth floor with a view of the lake. I have always, always wanted to stay here.
We got dressed up for dinner in the hotel's Lago Restaurant. We didn't need to dress up. We could have worn shorts. It was the best meal we have had so far on this trip. We had a grilled watermelon and feta salad. When we asked our waiter (the one who thought my vocation was hilarious) about this salad he said, "You can't really grill water but it is delicious." It was. We also had a mushroom ravioli that was so good I wanted to lick my plate but refrained because I had a dress on.
After dinner we walked around the hotel to get a better understanding of the lay of the land.
There is a nice garden out front where only registered guests can sit. There is live music.
The lakefront was stunning.
We took photos of each other and laughed hysterically about how not photogenic we are.
I got a great one of Gayle.
We walked along the rest of the lakefront so my sister, who is a licensed contractor, could understand how this hotel was constructed. But the rest of the lakefront just required more photos.
Then we passed back into the registered guest only section.
It was an odd feeling to have this boundary. It reminded me of a time I traveled with my son Matt after I had gotten global entry and he didn't have it. I went through the pre-check line at TSA and then waited a half hour for him to get through. He said, "I was in the peasants' line. Now I will go wait at my gate until they call group 6 and when I get on the plane the rest of the passengers will throw rotten tomatoes at me and yell, 'peasant'".
Back in our room we watched the sunset from our "exclusive" room.
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