01 JUL 2003 TUESDAY
the kids in the campsite beside us (there are at least 4 of varying ages) kept yakking and screaming until midnight or so. since quiet hours start at 10pm i guess they believe that they are above the rules. they left today, but our new neighbors pitched their tent on the grass instead of the dirt platform on the site; they too think that rules are for others. it also appears that our campground has been invaded with rv�s, since the rv campground is �complet�.
we woke up late today, but we made it down to the banff central park for the $2.50 canada day pancake breakfast. there were many many people in line waiting; i guess it is a popular pastime. the people in front of us evidently worked for the hotel concerns in banff. one had just gotten fired for some weird reason, and the others were commiserating with him and bitching about their jobs and life in general. the dark underbelly of the resort town reveals itself. we got a canadian flag pin to celebrate from the pancake people. we also got extra pancakes because we could not eat the sausages.
there were many activities in the park all day (what with it being canada day and all).
�being right is more important than being caring� � amanda
amanda was feeling out of sorts, so we went into keller foods for some medicines. on the sidewalk outside the store we saw: �GOD BLESS ALBERTA BEEF�. the mad cow scare is wrecking havoc on the beef industry here.
we were kinda uninspired, but we roused ourselves to go and hike. we were probably both having a severe carbo crash. we went back to lake louise and hiked up fairview mountain. the hike itself was very nice, but by the end i almost hacked up a lung. we got a bit of a late start, and were among the last people that day to ascend the mountain. the weather probably dissuaded people as well. we passed quite a few people coming down on our way up, including a couple of guys waving about a huge canadian flag and a couple of octogenarians. the final 1000ft above treeline completely wasted me; i was clearly not happy about the altitude. the rain and snow didn�t really help either. amanda had no trouble and patiently waited for me at various places. the summit itself was very nice. we got a nice view of lake louise and the surrounding mountains from quite a lofty height. i could even see the little gazebo on the big beehive were we will be married tomorrow. it was quite a bit below us tho. there was a funny plaque on the mountain warning people that there are cliffs all around. as if that was not obvious for anyone with a clue. however, i will admit that from the summit it is not immediately obvious when looking about that there are sheer cliffs on most sides. one would hopoe that people wandering about the backcountry would be slightly clueful tho. when we started our descent, two other octogenarians totally kicked our asses down the mountain. one of them even asked if something was wrong with amanda�s knees since she was going so slow (to them at least). crazy.
it was a invigorating hike, and one of the few summits that we have done in the canadian rockies. we were both wasted afterwards. we went back to banff, showered, and went to dinner at tuscany, a restaurant on banff avenue associated with the mount royal hotel. i had two glasses of wine, and tomato and goat cheese tart, and an oven baked cod. amanda had a grilled vege salad and a vege primavera. the food was ok, but everything was slathered in a lot of olive oil. grace, our waitress, actually gave me a differently entr�e� i had ordered something else. but that was ok, as i was thinking about getting the cod anyway.
we were still hungry when we got back (not a good recommendation for a restaurant), so we had our leftover tofu pups at the campsite. we are pretty tired, so we will probably retire before dusk and miss the fireworks. ah, well. too bad dusk is around 11:30pm here.