Day 36 and 37 - May 26 and 27 WINDING DOWN

Day 36

We're down to 4 days and things are definitely changing. Gone are the lack of crowds (the lack of people in general) and that totally contented feeling with the whole world. We are now in Calgary, though infinitely more relaxing than Toronto, compared to the territories it's a madhouse. Look at this photo as we left Whitecourt VERY carefully. Enlarge and look in the distance - the traffic is building.  😂

We were on it for a few days in 2024 so it was nice to return. The Cowboy Trail, Highway 22, runs 584 kilometres through the foothills and ranch country along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. It's not always the most scenic drive (the mountains are a long way away) but the whole atmosphere makes for a pleasant trip. 

It was about 3:30PM when we arrived in Calgary...just in time for rush hour. Though slow it is typically a few hours of slow down. Nothing like Toronto's ongoing, never ending rush day. I do like that slogan. Maybe not specifically for Calgary but it certainly describes most of our days on this trip.

Day 37

Over the last couple of days we have achieved a level of just about zero when it comes to activity and exercise so we had a remedy for that this morning. We were up, had breakfast and were out by 8:30AM because it was cooler and we knew there would be less people around. As we were waiting for the elevator in the hotel I stopped to admire the view of Calgary. It is a very nice looking city and despite the cultural shock of traffic yesterday, this area was laughable for the morning rush hour.

The Bow River Pathway is a 48 kilometre multi-use (primarily walking and cycling) paved trail system spanning both sides of the Bow River in Calgary. It offers pretty parkland, quiet wooded areas, serene river scenes and dramatic views of the city. The trail is well-used which is wonderful but it was reasonable at this time of morning. We managed about 7 kilometres.

Looks like my photography has gone to the birds because that was all we saw on the hike. Still more wildlife than we saw on the drive in from Whitecourt yesterday. 

The view of the city is pretty sweet from the trail but if you look you can see the mountains in the distance. This photo is taken with a camera not a phone so the telephoto lense compresses it atrociously. Those mountains look like they're 100 kilometres away in reality.

John and Marie, we thought of you when we took this. You are probably driving on roads where you are that are not much wider than this path.

On our return we stopped in at Carburn Park. The very impressive Eric Harvie Bridge is a stunningly beautiful piece of engineering. Both Karen and I commented that it seemed massive overkill for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the river. It does, however, suit the beautiful surroundings.

One of the reasons we came to Calgary was to catch up with our friends Ron and Wendy. It's been two years since we've seen them and it was over a decade before that visit. Always a pleasure to be with them to reminisce and compare travel adventure stories. It was a wonderful visit and I'm so happy we were able to make it happen. Thank you Ron and Wendy.

Tomorrow we leave Calgary for a two day wrap up in Edmonton. There will be one blog for the two days posted Friday night. Hang in. Sadly we are almost finished.

😎