Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Cochrane: Last Campground with Marie & Eric

The Alaskan trip farewell

And they're all made out of ticky tacky

Driving into Calgary

Parking under Calgary Tower

Eric offers to support me on the glass plate

That's the bottom of the tower down there

Saddle-shaped Calgary Stampede Arena in background

Revolving Cafe in Calgary Tower

Marie & Murray in the Mall

View from East to Bow River

View from tower to Bow River

We had a short and very scenic drive from Banff to our next campground at Cochrane, a town about 40 mins drive out in the NW outskirts of Calgary. The last campground we will share with Marie & Eric this trip. We were only going to stay one night, but it was such a nice campground and the wifi was great (which we appreciated after a 4 day lack) and we weren't quite ready to say goodbye, so we signed up for another night. That first night we went out to dinner as a celebration to the end of our great Alaska trip. We found a nice steakhouse and Marie & I shared a delicious steak dinner. The serves were so big that we were each very satisfied with our half, and had no room for dessert.

The extra day stopover also gave us a chance to take a half-day trip into Calgary and check it out. As we drove in we saw rows of houses in a new housing estate up on the hillside and Marie & I broke into a rendition of 'little boxes on the hillside and they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same'. If you click on the photo above you will understand why!

Murray insisted we all needed to go up the top of the Calgary Tower and we are so glad we did. It took us $15 each to go up, and then strong intestinal fortitude to actually walk out on the clear glass plate ledge. But we all did it in the end, with a little help from one another. We celebrated our bravery by having a light lunch at the revolving cafe on top. A bird's eye view of the whole city - we could see where the Calgary Stampede is held each year - in fact the arena roof is in the shape of a saddle, so it is hard to miss it. We had a 2 hour park right at the foot of the tower, so in the remaining time, we took a walk up the nearby mall and took in the sights. Bright flowers hanging baskets, music bands playing free music for the crowds, some stalls and a little posse of 3 police officers to keep everyone in line. As we crossed the Bow river on the way home, we decided to pull into the Prince's Island Park, walk up the steps and get a different view of the city.

After a few hours catching up on blogs etc, it was time to think about our stomachs again. None of us were that hungry, but we knew it was our last meal together, so it called for one final celebration of life, food, and good company. Thanks Marie & Eric - our 8 weeks together has been a fantastic adventure.