Still gorgeous!

I went snowboarding at Sunshine village in Banff yesterday. I think I spent the entire day talking to myself and telling myself how wonderful my life is and that I am oh so lucky. They close the chairs down sequentially so I actually managed to get two last chairs. I started to drive to Jasper, but was a little tired so I pulled over and slept (extremely comfortably I might add) in my car. When I woke up this morning it had rained, hailed and snowed and my doors were frozen shut. I slept an extra hour and then opened the doors fairly easily.

The drive from Banff to Jasper was even more amazing than the drive to Banff (sorry you guys still working on getting pictures online). I did not get to stop at as many places as I wanted to because many of the roads have not been plowed and it started snowing (I am going to buy a shovel in the next town just in case). I am staying at a hostel tonight just south of jasper and was very happy to get a nice warm shower.

I have seen all kind of great wildlife on this trip: big horned sheep and caribou top the list, but I am also seeing lots of birds that I did not expect to see outside of the US and certainly not in the snow specifically the common loon, tons and tons of magpies and white-headed? sparrows.

Tomorrow I will travel to Edmonton to obtain a SIN (Canadian SSN) and a bank account. After that I will obtain a funny accent.

Cheers!

Not such a cold world...

Well I made it to Banff in one day. The whole trip from Seattle took 13 hours (including 1.5 hours convincing customs that a wildlife technician was indeed a biologist. Canada reminds me a lot of Alaska. Absolutely gorgeous, surrounded by snow covered peaks and driving through river valleys with shallow river beds. The only difference is that the accent is better and I pay with monopoly money.

I was a little sad to see how many starbucks and costcos there are, but they seem to be disappearing as I go farther north. On the plus side due to some money limitations I am forgoing coffee for a few days (there was a toll booth in the middle of nowhere...). The headaches are not so great, but it will be better for me in the end.

Banff is gorgeous. You can see snow-capped mountains and trees in every direction. I enjoy staying in the hostel because it is one of the few times I will get to interact with people for awhile. Also I got a great deal on a bed/lift ticket and am excited to go to Sunshine tomorrow- from the pictures it looks like a really beautiful place.

And so it begins...

This is my last full day in the US. Starting tomorrow I shall be headed across the extremely large country of Canada. I am slightly nervous as I have a 2WD car and an inability to understand the metric system. I have been staying with my sister Hannah and Cousin Kat in Seattle as I make my last preparations to leave. This last week has reminded me how thankful I am to have such loving and helpful family and friends. I will miss everyone dearly.