Canada: Ice Fields Parkway and Taking a Train

       The t-shirt quote of this day was,

"I am the official character of the train."

As I write this, I am sitting at DFW waiting out a layover that we did not intend.  Fortunately, Lily is enjoying the kids' play area, and Bella is kicking it in the stroller, though we would rather not be stuck here another two hours.  But, we just finished up a fantastic vacation and have nothing to whine about, really.  Good to keep perspective.  I decided to continue making each day of the vacation into a separate post, because we did manage to cram a lot into this trip.  Which means it wasn't exactly relaxing, especially with two little friends in tow, but it was great.  Canada is truly gorgeous.
      On Friday we got up and drove the Ice Fields Parkway from Canmore to Jasper, supposedly one of the most beautiful drives in the world.  And it is hard to imagine how it could get more spectacular, and we missed out on some of it because of heavy cloud cover.  Here's some of what we took in.



(That picture on the left is a giant glacier that people drive out onto.  Kind of amazing.)

The water was so bright blue green everywhere.

We stopped by some bubbling springs to watch them and stretch our legs.





(So great to have Uncle Luke and Aunt Ellen along - they definitely help entertain baby friends on a car ride and are just all around awesome.)

      Even though the cloud cover was intense, the snow caps and glaciers and ice fields were incredible sights to behold.  I can only imagine what it would be like on a sunny day.  I did think that it is a small taste of what we get to see of God, just a little bit of the wonder, shrouded here on earth - and one day we will get to see him clearly.  What glory that will be.
      We arrived in Jasper, which is one of the most scenic places conceived and boarded our train to Vancouver.  We felt a little crazy, knowing we were about to sleep on the train with our two little friends, but we really wanted to get the experience.  And in the end, we really were glad - though if you are looking for a good night of sleep, economy class on a train probably isn't it.  The sleeping quarters were cost prohibitive, but our seats were roomy, and the staff kindly arranged a four-seater area for us with Ellen and Luke seated next to us.  Which was a great set up.





Our little family took dinner in the dining car, which was fancier than we thought it would be, but quite tasty.  Lily really loved the butter, which we realized she was eating straight from the package right before this picture.





We spent time playing cards in the car with tables while the girls entertained each other next to us, and we took in more of the Canadian splendor.  I think it is one of the places in the world where is would be possible to get "Spectacular Mountain Scenery" fatigue.  It just didn't end, and that made the train ride so fun.  The bottom three pictures were all taken from the train.




      Our t-shirt quote of the day was provided by the very strange man sitting behind Luke and Ellen.  He announced that to us upon our boarding of the train, and he lived up to everything that it implies.  At one point, he informed us that he was a gymnast, and though I am no sports expert, I can say that he did not exactly have the physique of your stereotypical gymnast.  He told Luke that you could use different spaces on the train for advanced stretching, which he would randomly demonstrate.  He also kept trying to become friends with the girls, and Bella smiled at him, but Lily would have none of it.  John had to remind me that he really was harmless and trying to be pleasant, because my patience can be pretty short with someone like him.
      The girls slept great on the train - I think the gentle rocking motion and noise is quite soothing.  Luke and his special camera powers took some hilarious pictures of the four of us curled up on the little pallet that our chairs made all together.  It was not comfortable for us, but it could have been much worse.  We got to see the countryside, and we made it to Vancouver all in one piece.  Stay tuned for our Vancouver adventures - it is a magical city!