Banff-iversary

One of these past weekends Chad and I took ourselves on an anniversary camping trip to Banff. He has never been and I haven't been in 10+ years. We camp for our anniversary every year and it was time for somewhere new. 

We didn't really do any planning ahead of time besides checking for closures or warnings in the area. We also found or campsite, but just as a first choice and feeling perfectly open to going somewhere else if need be. 

After missing a few turns along the way we finally made it to the site. It was full. As it would turn out though, there is a nicer site across the road by the same name... I'll take it. It's a good thing too. Chad informed me that I'm a terrible road trip companion because all I do it sleep and complain.. Oops

Castle Mountain campground has powered bathrooms with flush toilets and hot/cold sinks. An automatic win in my book. It also has sinks for dishes, a food locker (strange and new for me,) a covered shared picnic area, free wood and a delightful little stream running right through the middle of the camp. It wasn't to busy either which is always nice. 

We weren't in until after 5pm so we didn't really do much on the first day. Got our tent and sleeping bags set up, collected fire wood from the pile, got attacked by Mosquitos and then went to explore the town of Banff for a bit. 

Let me just say, Banff is crazy. It has the kind/amount of tourists you see in Europe. Hoards of them, big tour buses full, every street corner is pack.. I love it. It can be a bit overwhelming, not to mention annoying, but it gives me a sense of being on an adventure. Being somewhere new and exciting, even though I've been there. Chad feels very differently. He doesn't like the crowds or the people in general. 

Anyway, first things first, food. We love to eat. And I love it even more now that I'm willing to try most foods. Seeing how busy most places were we just kept on moving and if it wasn't so full, it was priced crazy high. 

We ended up going to a... Saloon? That sound kind of bizarre actually.. It is a country bar at night (live music/dance floor) and a restaurant/pub during the day. It's good. I had some kind of chicken club, but it had avocado. Anything with bacon and avocado is a winner in my books. The fact that we had fried pickle spears and a Caesar with in didn't hurt either. 

To finish off our first day, we found a Cows ice cream. I didn't actually know we had Cows in Alberta at all. I kind of fell in love with the ice cream shop when we travelled Nova Scotia and PEI a few years back. I had birthday cake/frosting/sprinkles ice cream. It was great. 

Speaking of Nova Scotia and PEI, I've been think of going back in time and sharing some of our trip here. Would anyone be interested?

More Banff soon!

xoxo

*Note- before we left for camping, we made a pit stop for me to take a particular test. A driving test. One that I passed!!! I got my license! 

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