My dear friend, Amy, came to Calgary for a visit at the end of April. She flew in late Thursday evening. After getting Ben off to school the next morning, the three gals headed to the Farmer's Market for some coffee, play time, shopping, and bagels. As we were talking, I just kept thinking how grateful I was that she was willing to say goodbye to her family for a few days and come visit with us! We ran a few more errands, relaxed a bit, and then invited Amy into our Friday night tradition of pizza and a movie. It was Ben's turn to pick, but he gave the choice to Amy. That is saying a lot of how much he already likes her to give that privilege away! :)
Greg agreed to spend the day with the kids on Saturday so that I could take Amy to the mountains. It was a cold and snowy day...welcome to spring in Calgary, Amy! But, we pressed on and drove to Banff for some sightseeing. Ha! As we drove, I kept pointing out to Amy where the mountains SHOULD be, but were completely hidden by clouds and snow. It was still a great road trip...time in the car to chat and laugh and catch up. When we arrived in Banff, we drove to Bow Falls...a sight that I hoped would not be covered by clouds. We found a path to walk along for a bit, until we decided it was time to head into town for a potty break and some lunch.
We drove downtown, parked, and made our way to Banff Avenue. As we walked along, we found some stores to pop in, and I introduced Amy to Roots. Love! We enjoyed some lunch and more great conversation at Banff Ave Brewing Company. Before leaving Banff, we thought we should at least try and see if it would be worth it to go up the gondola. LOL! In the first picture below, you cannot even see the gondola cable or cars along the treeline. We walked inside, and I asked the woman behind the counter what it was like up at the top. She pointed to the TV screen...the completely gray screen...and said "that is the visibility". OK, bummer. So, we grabbed a drink from the "highest Starbucks in Canada", climbed back in the car, and headed back to Calgary. Not a lot of the mountains I had promised, but a really special day of just being together and making new memories.
After church on Sunday, Greg suggested we try Banff again! It was a relatively clear day, so on the road again! This whole experience reminded me of our first trip to the mountains. It had been cloudy and snowy that Saturday, and then when we woke up in Canmore on Sunday, I had been completely blown away by the fact that we had been surrounded on all sides by these massive mountains, and couldn't see them at all the day before. Wild!! Anyways, we stopped off in Canmore for lunch, and then on to Banff to actually see some mountains!
We climbed in the Banff gondola...up, up, and away for amazing views!
We were saying goodbye to Amy on Monday, but not before a trip downtown to Devonian Gardens. It was a rainy day, so it was a good excuse to check out these indoor gardens that I had read about. We walked around a bit, admiring the flowers and quiet space. We found the playground and let Nathalie enjoy sliding and spinning. She kept giggling and asking for more. Uh oh...too much spinning! All of a sudden, she turned white as a ghost and felt sweaty. She looked sick. :( We made our way back to the food court where Amy and I grabbed some lunch, and Nathalie curled up in my lap and fell asleep. Poor girl. :( She woke up as we walked back to the car and looked much better. Whew. We drove Amy to the airport and said goodbye. So hard...and yet such a blessing to have had this time with her! It's probably been over a decade since we've had this much consecutive time together, and it was fantastic. We love you, Amy!
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