Hello From Alberta

I arrived in Calgary Thursday evening after a pretty turbulent plane ride. I actually prayed for safety for the first hour or so until the plane stopped bouncing and also prayed the Jewish woman beside me was praying the same thing.

Once things settled down, I read my book until it was time to land. And who would have thought it would be 20 minutes earlier then expected?

Tara was ready and waiting for me and off we went to her home.

Friday Tara's mom took me to the market while Tara worked and she bought me a bracelet and ring (so sweet) and then we met Tara at work. Tara and I then headed off to the Saskatoon Berry Farm for a bit of sight seeing and lunch. 

Don't forget that the West is all about the cowboys and indians so here is a gate entering the farm showings the lands heritage.

As you can see there is the western theme with the buildings and this is where we ate lunch (don't worry, it was actually a gift shop and restaurant not a saloon). See the woman in the shorts? When we arrived the weather was pretty nice but the wind was picking up. By the time we left, I was very glad to be wearing a coat.

Saturday (today) Tara and her sister dragged themselves out of bed just for me to take me to Banff. Be prepared for some beauty.

Now, we woke up and it was cold but not too bad. On the way we saw some beautiful sights:

 This was taken outside of Cochrane on the way to Canmore. See the mountains and the clouds and the Starbucks cups???

 Here we are just about to enter the park but we had to pull over at the breath taking spot and get a few pictures. Can you see the green water? Stunning!

This is the last time we were dry folks. Once we made our way into Banff the weather became blustery:

We made our way up to see some falls and as you can see, the ground is no longer dry. The snow just kept falling and we were enjoying some very sticky and wet snow.

Tara, Vanessa and I managed one picture of us all together and it was time to check out the shops!

 Say HI to the black bear at the fudge store (don't worry, I didn't buy any. I'm sure it would have killed me).

Don't forget the moose either!

 And no one can leave without having at least tried on a cowboy hat. Do see the little cowboy boots in the background? I was really tempted to buy the boys each a pair but figured they wouldn't really appreciate them.

The way home was far from peaceful. The snow kept falling and the drivers just seemed to get worse and worse. I found myself praying for safety once more. Telling the Lord I still didn't want to die just yet. Several people cut in front of us without looking in weather that we couldn't stop in. We had to swerve carefully into new lanes to keep from crashing. We saw a transport truck across a ditch and numerous cars in trouble... I was a very quiet wreck in the front seat. Once we were out of the foothills, however, the snow died down and the roads were much better. Tara decided to take a smaller highway to get away form the scary drivers and it was a very wise choice.

We're back home again, exhausted from the stress of the drive and all the walking but it was a fabulous day full of beauty and TONS of pictures. Hopefully I can share more with you later.

Until next time.