I woke up in Canmore, Alberta around 0730 and it was still dark outside, this was my first time I had been that north so I wasn't used to the limited daylight hours. I grabbed a shower, then drank some coffee while I debated what to do in my finite time in Canmore. I always start a trip with a fairly detailed plan, but I have a full expectation that no plan survives first contact, and I intentionally build flexibility into my travel plans to lower the stress. I left my room and ended up getting lost in the hotel for about 15-20 minutes in the labyrinths of hallways and ladder wells, until I finally found the front desk and got a secondary opinion of what I should do with my day. The French man at the desk recommended the same thing everyone else did, Lake Louise, so I drove through Banff National Park to see what all the hype and postcard photos were "abutte." Lake Louise was about an hour drive west of Canmore, but the drive alone made it worth it. The mountains in Banff made the Rockies in the states look like the Appalachians. Lake Louis was frozen over but still beautiful. I am a full on Game of Thrones fanatic and was waiting for a horde of White Walkers to come screaming out of the draw in the mountains onto the frozen lake.
I wanted to go to Lake Moraine, which is what the majority of people see in pictures when they look up Canada, but the roads were closed for the winter. I was only in Calgary for a 23-hour layover so I did not have time to go on any long hikes so I went to Banff really just to sight see.
I drove back to Canmore before heading back to Calgary to get some food, some poutine to be precise. I always use Yelp to assist in my foodie decision making, at least as a starter, and found what I believed to be the best place to get poutine. The hours in the pictures on Yelp showed it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so thankful for me it was Wednesday.
I pulled up to the poutinerie and…it was closed. I ended up going to a different place called Pub 1888 instead. I was the only one in there which made it odd but the service was good and the pork belly poutine was rich, warm, and filling. I was not even able to eat half of it but it was glutinous. I could definitely see myself craving an order of the gooey cheese curd deliciousness at 0200 after a few pints. Back to the Calgary Airport I went.
I ended up going to the Chinook lounge, the only lounge available outside of the international terminal, and it was a premium spot. The food was sandwiches and small snacks but the slider style sandwiches on pretzel buns were freaking addicting! It was no centurion lounge pretzel buns and unlimited self-serve alcohol was a varsity move… I ended up caving and told myself I was on vacation and poured myself a potent gin and tonic. I justified this to myself because I told myself I was on holiday and honestly…If the next flight was anything like my last I was going to need it. My flight from Calgary to Yellowknife, NWT was again delayed due to weather and we had to fly into Edmonton to get extra fuel, thankfully I indulged in a few gin and tonics, which made the delays a little more tolerable.
I finally made it to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and National, the rental car company, had lost my reservation so I had to wait about an hour for an attendant to come back to the airport, because they had closed down shop and went home, and take me to there warehouse. All of the cars the attendant tried to give me were dead…that’s right dead rental cars. It was like a graveyard of frozen freaking car popsicles. Apparently cars don’t do very well in -58 C. I finally got this tiny purple Chevy Spark and I was ready to go. The guy said he gave me my diamond discount since there were no cars to upgrade to (This is another perk of the AMEX platinum card) but the price ended up coming out more that I was quoted for on my reservation. Oh…I forgot to mention the car he gave me, the only one that worked, was on the mechanics hydraulic lift… but after waiting for over an hour for a car and tired after a delayed day of travel, I took what I could get, was not rude, and headed to the Air bnb.
I made it to my Air bnb and it was GREAT!! The initial first impression as I opened the door immediately superseded what I had imagined. The ambiance of the lighting, the fire, the cleanliness, and the overwhelming delightful smell was a great to come “home” to after my shit show day of travel. The hosts, Kim and Graeme, were out with friends so I was all alone so I could get settled in with peace. I walked up the stairs and the presentation of my space was luxurious and took all of my travel stress away. I met Kim and Graeme around 2300 and had a quick conversation with them before crashing after day two of the Canada trip pumped and ready for my first full day of being north of 60 degrees!