Photos in this post are some of the best from the trip and do not necessarily relate to the Bad or the Ugly part of our trip.
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| Banff |
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| Butterfly |
THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The best thing about the “bad” of the trip was that nothing was terrible. It was bad that we had to go to three different garages to get a two-minute fix, but there were other negatives as well.
In Canada we traveled through five different Canadian national parks (Kootenay, Banff, Yoho, Glacier, and Revelstroke). There were wonderful sights to see in all the parks, but only Kootenay and Banff National Parks were really tourist friendly. In Yoho, Glacier, and Revelstroke we could see dramatic views (mountains, waterfalls, rivers) but there was no place for the casual tourist to stop and see the sights.
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| Mountain in Revelstroke Nat'l Park from roadside. |
From Canmore to Kelowna after leaving Banff National Park we drove for hours without finding a single worthwhile viewpoint even though there had been plenty to see.
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| Mad Hatter at street market in Canmore. |
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| Just to prove I was there, too. |
In Canmore we also had a very negative eating experience. For lunch our first full day in Canmore we tried to eat at the popular Grizzly Paw Brewery where we’d eaten before and knew it should be good.
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| Grizzly Paw |
First, they told us the wait for an inside seat would only be five minute (outside was much more). Fifteen minutes later they came to show us to our upstairs behind the fireplace table. Ten minutes later they took our drink and food order. We got our water and my one soda within a couple of minutes, but that was the last we saw of our waitress. Thirty minutes after we had ordered (forty minutes after we’d been seated) I call the waitress over to find out about our food. She apologized and said that when they’re busy (and they were) the average wait was twenty minutes. I pointed out we’d already waited thirty. She said she’d check on our meals. Ten minutes later she brought us a small chip and dip tray appetizer and said it’d be a while before our lunch (two simple sandwiches) would be ready. I said that was unacceptable and that we’d go somewhere else. “I’ll pay for my soda, but then we’re leaving,” I told her. She huffed and said she’d bring my drink bill. A couple minutes later she showed up with our bill for $4.20 for one cream soda. I paid with a $20 and when she came back she said, “Here’s your change.” She put down three fives. Do the math. Thankfully that was the only really negative eating experience of the trip.
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| Osprey with Fish |
Another Bad was due to poor timing. We hadn’t realized that we’d be coming home on a Canadian three-day weekend which even Canadians couldn’t tell us what was being celebrated--probably similar to Bank Holidays in the UK. This meant that when we left Kelowna on a Monday morning driving Highway 5, a lovely four-lane road which goes up and up and up it was terribly crowded. What made the drive bad was that it was a high speed road (70-75 mph) and it was practically bumper-to-bumper for all 120 km. This was some of the most stressful driving I’ve ever done. You see, Canadians look at a posted speed sign and think it’s the minimum speed rather than maximum. Pickups pulling thirty foot trailers were whizzing by us uphill at 90 one after another. It got better later in the day, but worse as well. The speed of the roads dropped to 60 mph which meant everyone was going 75, only this time on two-lane curvy roads bumper-to-bumper. Then it all stopped. Forty miles from Vancouver we hit stop-and-go traffic which would stretch all the way to Vancouver. Thankfully, we got off that highway twenty-five miles short of Vancouver. That was definitely a Bad driving day.
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| Waterfall near Canmore |
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| Lake in Kootenay Nat'l Park |
Lots of Good, a little Bad, and one Ugly. Jim Morrison may have said that “people are strange,” but on this trip people were Ugly! As much as I want to consider myself to be above prejudice or stereotyping, I keep finding examples and experiences which push me in that direction. As we were standing in line for an ice cream at the School Bus Ice Cream shop in Canmore, a lady unceremoniously shoved her way in front of the gentleman in front of us. Anne said loudly to him, “I thought you were next.”
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| School Bus Ice Cream--even wedding parties queue up for the ice cream. |
He said in a very British accent, “I thought so, too.” The lady never flinched. Hearing her accent when she ordered he said, “The Germans are like that.” We did have a pleasant conversation with the Brit as we waited in the queue. At Lake Morraine we noticed Asian tourists who crowded in front of others to take their photos, Middle-eastern tourists being pushy and rude, and Southeast Asian tourists who were oblivious to everyone else. On the trail through Johnston Canyon I was pushed and shoved as I tried to take a picture by an Indian family hurrying to beat others to the view points. At the overlook to the falls as a number of us photographers were working hard to stay out of each others way, an Asian family pushed through, stood in front of all of us, and wouldn’t move after they took their pictures. Seeing example after example of these “ugly” tourists certainly makes it hard not show some cultural bias--and that in itself is an Ugly feeling. Every once in a while in Scotland we see examples of “the Ugly American,” but more often we are seeing others as Ugly Tourists.
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| Lake Reflection near Canmore |
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| Baker Creek, Banff Nat'l Park |
Our summer Road Trip to Canada was truly great. And the Good far outweighed the Bad or the Ugly.
Next: The next post will come from Scotland, if the Icelandic volcano doesn't change our trip.
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