Sunday Salon from Banff, Alberta

Canadian Rockies

Good morning. We are in Banff, Alberta in Canada.

Yesterday: We arrived in Banff around 6 PM after a very beautiful, scenic drive from Kelowna, British Columbia. We even saw some bighorn sheep, in the wild, along the way. This is my first visit to the Canadian Rockies. Spectacular. Bow Falls was our first scenic stop in Banff.

Quick photo stop enroute. We are traveling light with the top down on the S2000.

Bighorn sheep; fencing was part of a road project, they were not fenced in.

Bow Falls

Kelowna, British Columbia- Less than 300 miles from our home in Washington State I had never heard of Kelowna, B.C. before but now I know about it and want to go back for a much longer stay.  It is located on the beautiful and large Okanagan Lake. It is a city unlike any I've ever been to before. It is a little like Chelan, WA or Sand Point, ID because of the lake and the warm weather associated with this part of the country and the associated water sports/boating. It is a bit like Boulder, CO because it is so artsy and has the feel of a college town (young hippie types everywhere.) It has a vibrant downtown with little shops and lots of restaurants which reminded me of the Capitol Hill area of Seattle where everyone walks about and visits on the streets. Lastly, I thought of Venice, Italy because it actually has canals where people can park their motor boats right in front of their homes or condos. In fact, the town had a bit of the Mediterranean feel because of it's warmth and resort-feel. We only had one evening in Kelowna and we spent it listening to a free concert in the park and walking the boardwalk around the waterfront park. Lovely. The dolphin fountain is located at the entrance of that park.

Kelowna, BC, Waterfront Park

Dinner last night was at Bear Street Tavern where we visited with a newlywed couple from U.K. We each ordered a small pizza and then only ate half.  That was silly, we should have only ordered one! Guess what we will have for lunch today? Cold pizza.

Today: we will take a few hikes and check out the local shops.  Tomorrow we hope to take the gondola up for sweeping view of the mountains.

Audiobook: We are listening to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn in the car. It is a long book, 15 CDs with over 17 hours of listening. The book, a mystery, has lots of plot twists and turns.  So far we are enjoying it and find ourselves discussing what we think will happen.

Books finished this week:

• The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd---a horror novel which takes HG Wells' novel The Island of Doctor Moreau from his daughter's point-of-view. Very well done ad creepy.
• What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard---a suspenseful mystery. I will do book reviews of both these books soon.

Both book clubs met this past week: 

• We discussed Saving Cee-Cee Honeycutt at my SOTH club. Everyone LOVED the book and the discussion questions were fabulous, very personal. 
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver was the RHS Club selection of the month.  It provided a lot for us to digest and discuss though a few gals weren't completely crazy about the book like I was. I was the hostess of this meeting and made a Chocolate Carrot cake for dessert with a chocolate cream cheese frosting. Yum.

Breakfast:

We just returned from our hotel-provided breakfast. The highlight was homemade granola and yogurt. Delish! Now we are off to explore.

Don't forget: You can sign up for my blogoversary giveaway once a day.  I have a new question today prompted by my vacation:

• Question- What is a book that you read during a vacation that really stands out in your mind?
• My Answer- a few years ago my whole family met at the Oregon Coast for a few days. While there I read Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It was a good vacation book because it was essentially little short stories or vignettes where the main character, Olive Kitteridge, played a main or bit-part in each segment. I think that short stories work well on vacations because you can finish one story in a sitting and not have to focus on complicated plots.
• Your turn. Reply in the comment section and fill out the rafflecopter to enter.

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