Canada Trip Day 9 - Let's Go to Crossiron Mills, Calgary

The ladies wanted to shop and wanted to go to a shopping mall. I told them I will see them in the mall as I will be going there with the bicycle. After checking with Margaret the directions I headed first toward Crossiron Mills using non-highway roads. My to and fro ride took me a distance of 31 kilometres generally it's was a monotonous ride unlike back home there are always variation in the scenery .... over here it was almost prairies after prairies ..and no shade at all for a rest.

I did not see any other cyclist on this hot summer road except myself. The yellow patch of field is rapeseed or Canola fields.

After a long straight ride at the junction of Centre Street /Road 566 I was glad to see more than prairie lands there were cows and old horse carriages on a corner plot of land.

And it was back to the same setting of prairies.....

And finally the break came I have reached a gas station (Balzac Store) at a traffic light of Road 566 and 24 Street, the atmosphere of a cowboy stopover was strong and I could smell it.

This cowboy from Malaysia came with an iron horse and do not have a rope to tie it to the orange rail.

Inside the store by the name of Balzac Store.

The sight of the shopping mall was visible while I was crossing the busy road of Street 24.

There you are the big shopping mall, Crossiron Mills located at Crossiron Bolevard and I was on time. In fact, I was early and went to a huge home improvement store called Lowe's for a look see before going over to the next store.

The cowboy shopping mall big and interesting.

While the iron horse was chained outside the mall at a designated area near the entrance door.

The journey back to Panatella was hot and boring but I did it. Cheers!!! What's next......

Canada Trip Day 8 - Lake Louise to Calgary

Lake Louise is such a scenic place the weather was lovely, the air was fresh and I was not going to waste time in the hotel room. Let's go wandering in the small settlement of Lake Louise and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere before the coach take us away.

A hostel which is just across where we were staying with Rocky Mountains standing beautifully behind it.

Lake Louise Inn I hope I can come back to stay again and for a longer period as I like it here.

The last stage of the journey was handled by another coach with more passengers on board. The distance from Lake Louise to Calgary is 180km. I am impressed that the coach has a wifi facility on board but unfortunately it was not strong enough most of the time. At last we completed the Western Trail at Calgary for 3 nights 4 days it was an interesting tour and I enjoyed it even though we had too much of lakes, rivers, mountains and glaciers for the last 4 days.

Margaret, a friend of Sook Ying & Jo was waiting for us at Westing Hotel at Downtown Calgary, we took a short walk to her car at her office building and off we went to her house where we will be staying there for the next 8 days.

On our way to Margaret's house we stopped by at T & T Supermarket to buy some foods, this supermarket is big and very much of an Asian market. It makes you feel that you are not in a Western Country.....

We had a dinner arrangement with Margaret's family at Harvest Hills the same place where T & T Supermarket is located. I was excited to know that Margaret has a bicycle that I could use during the stay. Do you know that you have to pay one Loonie (one Canadian Dollar) for pumping air even it's a bicycle.

Having an opportunity to cycle oversea makes one very excited where one can see places in depth and learn its cycling culture. I told them at the house that I will find my way to T-Pot Restaurant and it wasn't difficult.

A typical bicycle & pedestrian lane of Calgary.

A group picture with family of Margaret's at T.Pot Restaurant.

T.Pot is just opposite T & T Supermarkert and I managed to reach there in time for the makan.

The route that I took going to Harvest Hills.

And the route and places I went after the dinner at T.Pot Restaurant. 
Till then watch out for the next posting on Day 9.

Canada Trip Day 7 - Another Canadian Rockies Experience at Banff - Lake Louise

Another hectic day of Canadian Rockies experience covering places from Banff to Lake Louise. The 22 of us were always on time as far as the schedule is concerned.

We started with a cable car ride to Sulphur Mountain. The weather was on a cooler side with a temperature of 16°.

It is an 8 minutes Banff Gondola ride where we began seeing nice aerial views as we ascend.

The panoramic views from above are spectacular.

The cable car took us to an observation deck where we could see the beauty of the surrounding areas like Banff town, Bow Valley, Lake Minnewanka and the adjoining mountain range.

The stair to the Cosmic Ray Station.

The Cosmic Ray Station located at the peak of Sulphur Mountain.

A few friendly squirrels were running around entertaining us and soliciting for foods.

Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station.

A brief visit to Bow River to see Bow Falls immediately after our Gondala ride.

Bow Falls is about 10m high separating by two different rock formations, one is 70 millon years older than the other.

Banff town has a population of 8,500 and during summer time it will increase to as many as 30,000 people staying within the town. It is popular for its outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, sightseeing and skiing.

Visiting Johnston Canyon requires only a mild hike where you could see a series of waterfalls, pots (formed from the forceful erosion over the years).

The lower falls are 1.1km from the trailhead.

While the upper falls are 2.7km away with a depth of 30m and we could see the effect of the erosion that have changed the rockies.

Lake Louise is known as Canada's "Diamond of the Wilderness" as well as the "Hiking Capital of Canada".

The emerald coloured lake is fed by glacial melt water and looking awesomely majestic.

The first mountain guides from Switzerland brought in by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1899 to the Canadian Rockies who have inspired mountaineering that continues to this day.

Moraine Lake is situated in the valley of the Ten Peaks at an elevation of 1,885m.

Though the lake is less than half the size of Lake Louise but it has one of the most iconic images of the Canadian Rockies. Its image have featured in the older version of the Canadian Twenty Dollar bill.