Better Days in Banff

Today turned out to be a much happier day.

After a relaxed breakfast, we started the day with a visit to Surprise Corner to see the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel nestled amongst the trees and mountains.

 

And then headed to "downtown" Banff to wander through the shops a bit.  With an obligatory stop for a chai latte, of course.

After a failed attempt to get Logan to nap at the hotel, we decided to head back out to visit the hot springs again.  But Logan fell asleep in the car about 5 minutes before we got there.  And Chloe was already asleep.  Score!! 

So we decided to try to drive the Bow Valley Parkway (a scenic route linking Banff to Lake Louise), despite the warning that park officials had given us that it can be too dangerous to drive in the winter.  We thougt we'd try a few kilometers and turn around if we found it too dicey.  And good thing we tried it.  It was the same as driving in downtown Montreal on any given day in the winter.  I guess those warnings are for Californians, or for anyone on days that it is snowing heavily. 

We were lucky enough to have the kids remain asleep the whole way along the Bow Valley Parkway and right back to Banff (two whole hours!!) and even managed to stop for a few photos without them waking.  AND the sun started to peek out from behind the clouds and the fog started to lift. So we could actually see some mountains!

And then we were back at the hot springs, where Logan and I relaxed in the water while Jerome opted to enjoy a quiet coffee with Chloe.

The photos are foggy because of all the steam.
But check out the icicles in my hair!!

Bubble blowing gets a high five from mom!

Tomorrow they're calling for clear skies.  Here's hoping we'll get to fully see the mountains and get some beautiful sunny photos, as we're off to visit Lake Louise tomorrow and hopefully do the Banff gondola, if the weather holds out.