Couchsurfing in Cardston, Alberta
Well here goes – my first experience with Greyhound. I am getting the bus from Edmonton to Calgary its only a short bus ride so how bad can it be right!! Having spoken to many wise people i am of the knowledge to get to the station early as its a first come first served basis. The bus pulled out of Edmonton city centre with me on board thankfully and it was a full bus too. Actually in hindsight it wasnt too bad really – the seats are fairly comfortable and they didnt lose my bags so my first greyhound experience was hitch free yay!!
Having arrived in Calgary some 4 hours later bored of my mp3 player i wandered around the station looking for my new friend and host to be. Having found each other eventually we headed to the car and drove out of Calgary which seems like a fairly uninteresting city – sorry if i offend anyone just doesnt look like my cup of tea. But first we stopped at a ice cream place called Marble Slab where you make your own concoction. Only in North America – so many choices and boy was it good. Having not had anything to eat it was delicious.
Pam and I drove down to Lethbridge – the biggest place near to her town. She took me on a tour of the place and we stopped in to see her parents. Her parents took us out for a meal and they were fab – wouldnt let me pay at all. They were really lovely and its always a joy to meet new people – especially Canadians who have been far and away the most friendly people i have met on this planet. As im not one for decisions – part of my British reserve i guess – can make them for myself when it only involves me but when its more than just me – i become very much – well i dont mind what do you want to do kinda girl. Having debated a few options we decided on a movie and went to see a new Dreamworks animation Bee Movie which was so good – go see it when it comes out in the UK its – wait for it – totally awesome!!
i then got my first view of the town i would be staying in for the next couple of days – Cardston is right near the border and close to the Rockies. It is a Morman town and there is a huge temple/church in the middle which imposes itself over the rest of the town especially at night when it takes on a glow of importancy(is that a word?). That being said – being a religious town meant that it was also a dry town – yep thats right folks no alcohol for sale here anywhere!! Oh well the old body could do with a bit of a detox.
One thing you do notice about this place is how windy it is – man i have not seen wind like this except in a hurricane. we are heading over to Waterton National Park tomorrow and Pam has warned me that it gets windier – great.
Mooched around for the morning having a lie in and then we drove to the Park which is pretty quiet at this time of year – i can see what draws the crowds in the summer though – its a beautiful place – cute little town with deer just wandering around showing no fear for the humans around them. Stopped in for a picture of the Prince of Wales hotel which looks expensive and reclusive – apparently it draws in the celebs wanting to get away from it all – however no celeb spotting for me as its closed for the winter – damn.
We decided to see how far we could get driving up one of the roads as they again are mostly closed this time of year due to the ice and snow. Managed to get a little way and literally lmost ran into the mountain sheep – of the big horned variety who were meandering down the middle of the road.
So i had seen sheep and deer – now all i needed was a moose or two and a bear. Pam said that the golf course here has the brown bears wandering over the course the rest of the year – wonder what happens when you are playing a calming game of golf and run into a bear!!! But alas winter is the time for hibernating and i didnt see a single one. Probably a good thing but still i had wanted a view of one behind the safety of the car mind you.
We had a chilled out evening eating munchies and i finally watched Transformers – oh yes i did – and i’ll even admit it was pretty good – there i said it. Who knows when im in Philly i might even bring myself to watch Rocky (hmm maybe not hey Bri!!)
On monday Pam went to work and i took the opportunity to have do some laundry – trust me it is a luxury to use a good machine and proper detergent and all my clothes smell lovely and fresh. Only those who travel will fully understand my obsession with this methinks.
And that was my first couchsurfing experience – thanks to Pam for giving up her weekend to entertain me – i had an awesome time and its nice to be away from a hostel once in a while and see a place off the tourist path.
Tomorrow im off to Banff and ice and snow and cold – real cold – brrghh makes me shiver thinking about it.
Tags: Canada
Administrator
Leave a Reply