This Year's Trip

The trip this year definitely has a different theme from last year.  While last year we had the culture and history of France and Spain, this year we have the awesome and extraordinary beauty of the Canadian rockies.  But that's not the end of the departure: we went from tapas in Spain:

To caramel corn with bacon in Jasper.  Quintessentially Canadian, but weird.

Jumping back to last night's historical walk, we really enjoyed learning lots about the history of Jasper, and its natural surroundings.  We learned, for instance, that because the town is within the boundaries of the park, you can't retire there unless you've been living there for at least the 5 prior years.  That seems smart.  And there are 2 million visitors every summer.  And the Canadian National Parks system walks a balance between trying to maximize numbers to maximize revenue to keep up the park, and avoid damage from too many visitors. Sounds familiar.

We also learned that Jasper's houses all have front-yard fences to keep the elk from coming onto porches to scratch the felt off their antlers on the posts that support the deck.  Practical.

Here's a few shots from around town.

This is Old Man Mountain, a name that seems apropos.

Old Anglican church that Queen Elisabeth visited a few years ago.  Albertans don't go in much for royalty, we were told, and not near so much as, for instance, Victoria.  But there are a few nods to the commonwealth.

We'll post about our first ride to Sunwapta Falls shortly since we have a great interweb connection tonight.