Day 3 – Swift Current, SK to Banff, Alberta

August 8^th, 2009

I woke up late this morning at around 9am and proceeded to pack everything up and get ready to continue West to Calgary, AB.

I finally got on the road after stopping at Tim Horton's for coffee and a ham sandwich around 11am.

More big skies and finally some sunny weather. After about an hour of driving I pulled into Gull Lake to fill up with gas again. I drove through town looking for a gas station and finally found a place called the Co-Op. I got out to pump my gas and realized it was full service when the attendant came up and said that they have to pump it. I'm not used to so many full service stations.

The young lady who was pumping my gas was quite friendly and we talked for a bit when I came inside to pay. She said she had a friend she'd met through the internet from Minnesota. Some how we got on the subject of Cds and music and she talked about how she was a Disney Soundtrack geek and proceeded to rattle off all of the movies and soundtracks that she had collected. I said that I remember watching the Jungle Book and Robin Hood as a kid and before I could say anything else she broke out in song. She airily sang “Not in Nottingham” from Robin Hood while she was tapping her foot to keep time. About three and a half minutes later while cars were stacked up outside waiting for service she finished the song as suddenly as she started and I bid her good day.

Back on the road it was rather uneventful... more straight road. Eventually I passed through Brooks without incident ( I didn't even speed up.) As the day wore on into the late afternoon I reached the outskirts of Calgary. I thought I'd avoid the hustle and bustle of the big city and fill up now.

After I filled up, I check my dry ice and saw it was about half gone so I went in to use the bathroom and buy some cubed ice. I asked an elderly lady hunched over a counter near the rest room if she was in line and she rudely yelled, “Hell No!” Ok... After I'd grabbed some bottled water and ice I went up to the counter and was cut off by the same lady who proceeded to get into a shouting match with the two clerks about how the lottery was ripping her off and that she had a winning ticket. The clerks calmly tried to explain that she had filled out the wrong side of the ticket and it was no applicable to the current lottery. She proceeded to tear up the ticket while the clerks shouted “No No No!” explaining that they needed to void the ticket in one piece. Whoops. While I watched my bag of ice slowly turning to water the clerks proceeded to bust out the Acme Crimelab kit and tape together the shredded ticket. After about another 5 minutes and 3 ice cubes later my goods were rung up and I was on my way.

Entering Calgary was interesting. I'm driving Westernly through farm fields and you can see the skyline of the city in the distance. It's really quite unique. I drove along the TC-1 towards downtown as the traffic thickened. 5 pm rush hour in Calgary really isn't that bad. The traffic is thick, but it keeps moving unlike the Twin Cities or most other major metro areas. I wanted around downtown Calgary and it's clean streets. I drove along the river front where there are bike paths and the zoo. Koala's were the big attraction at the time being constantly announced over the local radio stations. I zipped by the Saddle Dome where the Calgary Flames hockey team plays... yup looks like a saddle in real life too. After meandering through the downtown streets for about a half an hour (even witnessing a wedding photo shoot) I decided to keep moving to Banff so I could get there before dark.

I continued onto the TC-1 towards Banff, Alberta and after driving up out of the valley I could see the Rocky Mountains coming into hazy view.

Getting into Banff I drove around the town. I haven't been to Aspen before, but it really seems like Banff and Aspen would have the same feel. Very touristy / fake. Nobody really lives there an entire town with almost the entire population being transients and the actual locals being recluises.

After driving around and around the 8 blocks of Banff looking for a place to park I pulled off on a side road near the enterance to the town and attempted to call some of the loding leads that were posted on the CouchSurfing website. After unsuccessfully struggling with that, I decided to try the backpackers'

hostel. I've never stayed in a hostel so I have no idea what to expect. When I arrived at the Samesun Backpackers' Hostel there was no where to park, so I drove down the road looking for a place to park and came across the Samesun Chalet hostel. They had open underground parking spots, so I took one and went inside. I inquired about a room. They only had dorm-style beds (6 people to a room) available.

I said, “Ok, what's the cost?”

“$35 a night”, the young female Australian clerk answered.

$35 was much more reasonable than anything else I could find in town which would run me upwards of $125 a night or more.

I took the key for room 201 and went up to claim my bed. Luckily there was only one other person staying in the room at that time and I was able grab a top bunk.

I left a few compression sacks of clothing, turned down the sheets and went down stairs to get some food.

The hostel had a bar inside of the hostel itself called The Beaver. The menus crudely proclaimed Eat (at the) Beaver.

I ordered a chicken wrap which was ok, but the fries were soggy and greasy. The nice thing about the hostel is you make fast friends... especially with beer or food. Two Austrialian guys were nearby, we looked at each other, said “hi” and I offered them french fries. What a great conversation started. The younger brother was Mark and I don't recall the older brother's name right now. I would come to learn that Austrialians make up a large part of the face of the hospitiality industry in Banff.

While having a chat with the front desk clerk about music two men came flying out of the bar and sprawled out on the lobby floor. I moved myself out of way of the grapling duo and watched on as the Australian bouncer, Shady, was pushing a quite stocky, tattooed man with a shaved head out of the building. The front desk clerk began to call the police as the fight continued through the lobby and towards the front door.

The tattooed man had the most unusual fighting style. He would perform a fully extended kick, but would never throw a punch. It was quite odd to watch. Once Shady had shoved the guy towards the door one of the Australian brothers jumped into the fight to help out his countryman. The tattooed man was tossed out of the door and the other brother jumped in. So now there were three Aussies against the kicking bar brawler. After a bit of shoving and posturing between the men, the tattooed man charged towards the front door, intentially kicked at the glass door, shattering it, and then ran off.

The police showed up a short time later with the man in the back of their squad car. The bartender identified him and the squad drove off to the jail with the man in tow.

What an exciting first experience in a hostel. After a bit of chatting outside with Shady and a few other people, I headed upstairs to bed from my first bunkbed experience since I was about 12.