Canada Trip Part 1

So we were blessed with the opportunity to go to Canada and Glacier National Park this past week. We left last Saturday evening, the 13th, and headed North. We rented a suburban, packed our stuff into it and started the drive. We stopped in McCammon for pizza at the truck stop and continued our journey. We got to Butte, MT about 11 PM and checked into our hotel. Our vacation started a bit rough as when McKenna got into bed, it broke. It was still okay to sleep in, so we did. Then on Sunday morning, McKenna managed to elbow Chase in the nose and gave him a bloody nose. We got ready and went to Sacrament Meeting in a ward in Butte. Then we headed back to the hotel, packed up and hit the road. We stopped at a lodge in East Glacier and then we went to Two Medicine. We walked a trail to see Running Eagle falls. Then we headed North to leave the U.S. It was the first time that McKenna and I had ever left the country! We got through the border checkpoint quickly and uneventfully and headed to Cardston where we would stay for the night. After we got checked into our room, we found the Cardston Temple. We spent a while there talking with a very nice couple at the visitors' center and Dad took pictures of the Temple. We also did and had to get a picture of the Canadian flag too.

Dad went and took more pictures while we had a huge Monopoly game in which McKenna creamed us. We went to bed late and got up early to head to Banff. I slept a lot in the car that day, but I was awake and taking in the area as we drove through Calgary. We went to Banff National Park and we headed to Banff where we had lunch and did some shopping. Then we headed to Lake Louise where we checked into our next hotel. Monday night we went to the lake and spent some time there and took pictures. We also took pictures of the beautiful chateau there and had dinner. Then we drove up and hiked to Lake Moraine. We spent a bit of time there and even though it was actually late, it didn't feel like it because the sun didn't set until about 10 PM. Lake Moraine is beautiful and the color is amazing!

Early Tuesday morning, McKenna and Dad went back to Lake Moraine so that McKenna could see it when it was cobalt blue, which is her favorite color. Then we all went to breakfast and made our way through the park checking everything out. We also went to Jasper National Park to hike up to and see Payto Lake, yet another beautiful lake in the that area! Everywhere we went there were warnings of grizzly bears and we didn't see one. Not that we would want to see one up close and personal, but we had heard that it would be common to see them even from the road. The weather was amazing. It was such a nice temperature and wasn't stormy, like we had expected it to be. We saw glaciers, beautiful lakes, saturated green forests and lots of natural beauty that was so peaceful!