[AAA] With a Friends reference.

There is a later episode of Friends in which Phoebe dates a man played by Alec Baldwin.  This character oozes compliments, optimism, and adjectives for “beautiful.”  He calls a traffic jam on the highway magnificent and can’t get over how wonderful the lights in the hallways are.  That’s how I felt today as I drove through the Canadian Rockies via Banff and Jasper National Parks.  [Phoebe dumps the Alec character and all the other friends hate him.  The comparison ends there.]

I can’t anything but use those cliche words like wonderful and beautiful and magnificent.  If photos are worth a thousand words, it’s still not enough.  I tried to capture the mountains, the water, and the forests on camera but it isn’t the full effect.  Words can’t describe.

I checked out of my snazzy hotel by 7am and stopped at the Starbucks across the street before getting on the Trans-Canadian Highway towards Banff.  The mountains loomed in the distance, growing closer as I listened to Harry Potter on cd.  [Or, as the narrator in Hermoine’s voice would say, “‘arr-eeeee.”  It annoying; when I start to go stir-crazy – about eight hours into the drive of the day – I just start saying it aloud over and over.  ‘arr-eeeee.  ‘arr-eeeee.]  I pulled off in Banff – a small town I initially looked at staying in – only to drive the main street and quickly get back on the highway to avoid the tourists.  The same was for Jasper later in the drive.  Touristy places.  Terribly.  But beautifully all the same. 

I did utilize a national park pass at Lake Louise, a stop I had been looking forward to making since I began the trip.  Lake Louise is one of the most photographed lakes and rightfully so.  The water is a crazy opaque teal/turquoise [Water in Canada is all sorts of different colors.] and the mountains and snow in the background complete the picture.  There is a hotel right on the lake [behind where the photo was taken] and it’s uber swanky and expensive.  [And kinda ruins the whole lake effect, says the girl who could never afford to actually stay there.]

 I also pulled off the highway to visit Bow Summit in order to view Peyto Lake and the glacier that borders it.  Seriously gorgeous.  No further words.  [No Aperature used to edit the photo and add color.  This is it, folks.]

From there, I had to put the stops to a minimum if I was going to make it to Prince George for the night.  The highway continued to ascend and descend, up down and around mountains, surrounded on both sides by immense forests.  [I feel no way around it so here I make a Twilight reference.  The landscape reminded me a lot of the Forks used in the movies.  It also rained today on and off so vampires could very well survive in the climate.]  My hands only got clammy at one point [the point where I looked up the mountain, was astonished to see cars there and then realized that’s where the road I was on was going], there was only one bridge I felt fairly uncomfortable driving over, and I didn’t feel queasy throughout the day.  [Victory.]

In conclusion, go to Canada.  It was another 12 hour day in the car for me [I started making up songs about sunshine and mountain goats around hour ten.] and I enjoyed all of it.  It was too much to see and explore in just a day’s drive.  Must go back.  Maybe you’ll come with me?