Silverhorn Creek Campground - Day One

Disclaimer: I am finally posting about our trip to Canada, while we are currently on a trip to Wyoming. Many of these photos were shared on Instagram & Facebook, so they may look familiar to you. Sorry for any confusion!

Canada Road Trip (Summer 2023)

June 16-17, 2023

Banff to Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

Daily Mileage: 76

Silverhorn Creek Campground

Site: 20

Duration: 2 nights

Cost: $16.75/night

Weather: Sun, rain, snow, oh my!

Cell Coverage: none

Day One

Wow!! What a gorgeous place to spend a couple of days. Our drive from Banff up to our next campground took about 90 minutes or so. There was some construction on the highway, but that gave us a chance to relax and keep an eye out for bears or moose.

We stopped at Peyto ("Pee-toe") Lake, which is another beautiful glacial-fed lake. "Water leaving the glacier is muddy with rocks, gravel and silt. As the stream slows down most of that rubble is left behind to become delta. Silt flows into the icy water where most of it sinks to the bottom. Fine particles of round ground to the texture of baking flour remain suspended in the water. This 'rock flour' scatters the blue-green rays of light, giving the lake its special colour."

We arrived at our campsite only to discover that it's an unserviced campground. We were prepared for the lack of electricity and sani-dump station, but didn't remember (we had been informed...) that there were no water hook-ups, and we failed to fill our fresh water tank before leaving Banff. Rookie mistake! So, we ventured up to Saskatchewan River Crossing (the starting point for tours of the Columbia Icefield) where we were able to fill up all of our tanks (water, gas and propane). The attendant was super friendly and very helpful. Canada, ya know?

After we got back to our campsite, we wandered around, taking in the amazing views of the nearby mountains. It was a bit overcast and chilly, but we didn't mind. After a gentle shower, the clouds began to part, and we were able to continue to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings. 

Bow River

Cool rig!

Now that's an RV!

Peyto Glacier

 Peyto Lake

Silverhorn Campground

Dinner with our travel buddies

Silverhorn Creek turned out to be one of our favorite spots on this trip. Be prepared for a deluge of photos!

Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court - Days Four & Five

Disclaimer: I am finally posting about our trip to Canada, while we are currently on a trip to Wyoming. Many of these photos were shared on Instagram & Facebook, so they may look familiar to you. Sorry for any confusion!

Canada Road Trip (Summer 2023)

June 11-15, 2023

Canmore to Banff, Alberta, Canada

Daily Mileage: 22

Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court

Site: A712

Duration: 4 nights

Cost: $55/night

Weather: Sun & rain (70-80, but down to 40 in a.m.)

Cell Coverage: 1-2 bars Verizon & 1 bar TMobile

Days Four & Five

After more than two weeks on the road, it was time to hit the laundromat. We located one in downtown Banff, but it would have involved parking several blocks away (if we were lucky enough to find a parking spot), so we opted to drive back to Canmore and go to one in a small shopping center. That was our excitement for the day, since it wound up raining all afternoon.

The following day turned out to be much colder with temps down below 40 when we woke up. After a brisk walk, I took the shuttle into Banff for a few groceries. We relaxed that afternoon, then took the shuttle back down into town for an excellent dinner at St. James's Gate Irish Pub. Definitely a spot to return to on our next visit to Banff!

Fun times!

It snowed overnight!

Fairmont Banff Springs

Steak & Mushroom Pie

Bangers & Mash

Watch Us Shine

 

Watch Us Shine by Marisa de los Santos

Love Walked In #4

Fiction

2023

Finished on October 1, 2024

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

“Bring me the Northern Lights.”

Cornelia Brown is reeling from a terrifying act of violence when she gets word that her mother has been badly injured in an accident. Cornelia returns to Virginia, to the house she grew up in, and in the weeks that follow, she watches her mother Ellie struggle to recover, fluctuating between her usual crisp, can-do clarity and periods of delirium during which she seems haunted by a devastating loss from her past. In grief-stricken tones, Ellie begs Cornelia to bring her the Northern Lights, and despite her confusion at this mysterious plea, Cornelia vows to do so: “She was my mother and she wanted the Northern Lights; I was her daughter and would have given her anything, anything.”

With the help of her prickly sister, Ollie, Cornelia embarks on a mission to piece together the lost years of their mother’s life: people, places, and events spanning Ellie’s late teens through her mid-twenties. Cornelia and Ollie’s quest takes them to unexpected places and into the worlds of strangers whose lives Ellie touched and irrevocably changed. As the sisters uncover truths about their mother’s life—some beautiful, some ugly, some tragic—Cornelia herself begins to heal, to forgive herself, and to find her way back home.

Alternating between two timelines—Cornelia’s story in the present, and that of the young Eleanor Campbell in the 1960s—Watch Us Shine explores the complicated bonds between sisters, the impossible demands of motherhood, and the power of human love to save us again and again.

I've been a fan of Marisa de los Santos since I read Belong to Me in 2008. I gave up on one of her novels (Falling Together), but her Love Walked In series earned high ratings from me, and I was excited to start reading this latest installment. And yet, Watch Us Shine wasn't nearly as good as I'd hoped for. I grew impatient for the big reveal about the violent act Cornelia experienced, and felt that it was unnecessary to tease it out so slowly. The characters were likeable enough, and the alternating timelines were interesting and easy to keep up with, but it's been a long time since I read the earlier books in this series. I eventually gave up trying to remember Cornelia's friends and extended family members from those novels. It would probably be best to read these in order without such large gaps of time in-between.

While not a book that I'll keep to read a second time (nor one that I would thrust into someone's hands, imploring them to read it), Watch Us Shine was entertaining enough to finish. Good, but not remarkable.

Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court - Day Three (Banff)

Disclaimer: I am finally posting about our trip to Canada, while we are currently on a trip to Wyoming. Many of these photos were shared on Instagram & Facebook, so they may look familiar to you. Sorry for any confusion!

Canada Road Trip (Summer 2023)

June 11-15, 2023

Canmore to Banff, Alberta, Canada

Daily Mileage: 22

Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court

Site: A712

Duration: 4 nights

Cost: $55/night

Weather: Sun & rain (70-80, but down to 40 in a.m.)

Cell Coverage: 1-2 bars Verizon & 1 bar TMobile

Day Three

After a relaxing morning, I took the shuttle into Banff to do a little exploring. The main street is full of touristy, souvenir-type shops, as well as some nicer boutiques, galleries and restaurants. I was happy to leave the crowded streets and go toward the edge of town where I could check out the view of the Bow River and the Cascades of Time Garden. The latter was an unexpected treat and had I more time, I would have liked to have relaxed in the sunshine with a good book! I eventually caught the shuttle back to the campground and as I was walking back to our site, I saw what looked like a large domestic cat in the middle of the road. It was watching me, as I was watching it while trying to figure out why someone would let their cat wander outside of their RV. It ran up the small hill to the next row of campsites, so I followed along, as did another woman who thought (correctly, as it turns out!) that it might be a lynx. I got a couple of photos with my phone, which are pretty blurry. I regret that I wasn't carrying my Canon with the telephoto lens!

Mt. Rundle

Bow River

Cute sign

Mount Norquay?

Banff National Park Administration Building

Lynx!