Banff
Springs Golf Club
Sunday | 19 August 2001 | Banff National Park:
We woke to a beautiful sunny day, went outside with our coffee and came back
inside for sweaters! It was cold! The wind has blown all the smoke away,
though the fire is still burning, and the skies were clear.
In town, the gardens near the Banff Museum were crawling with Chinese. They
were walking in huge groups (bus loads) following the raised flag of the
tour leader. We then saw banners in Chinese and realized they were
protesting! The Falun Gong were exercising in the park and giving-out flyers
to passers-by to urge the Canadian government to pressure the Chinese
government to release the Falun Gong prisoners! Why in Banff, I have no
idea, but it was very interesting and - no matter how many years we spent in
Asia - our first encounter with this group.
Today, DT golfed at
Banff Springs Golf Club - an old, famous course in the Rockies. I rode
along in the cart, toting my camera. He was paired with a nice man, Lee, from
Kansas and two brothers from the San Francisco Bay area. Lee, 70 years old and
widowed for two years, told me that about 10 days ago he realized
time's awastin' - so he hit the road in his van. He had always wanted
to see the Canadian Rockies, play Banff Springs and see the Dakota Black Hills
country. His kids (probably our age) made him a take a cell phone and here he
was! Lee kept pouring Dewar's into his water bottle and his play kept improving.
It was incredibly windy on the course. I was "forced" to go into the pro
shop and buy a fleece jacket. (Oh, ladies, it is just adorable, grey, ribbed,
zips up the front, with a small Banff Springs logo, a Bighorn Sheep, on the
chest. And, goodness, does our American dollar go far!) It kept me warm all day!
DT tees-off on the beautiful 4th hole
One of the Bay Area Brothers was a bit of a hack. He was
also very nice and apologized profusely when he hit me with a golf ball! I
was standing by the carts on the cart path as he was whacking his tee shot
out of the woods. He yelled fore. I put my hands over my head. The ball hit
a tree, ricocheted onto the cart path, took a wicked bounce and hit me under
the arm! (I may be the first person in history to be hit in the armpit by a
golf ball.) I wanted to cry - it hurt so much - but I was a good sport and
laughed it off. Tough Broad! I now have a lovely bruise developing... so
much for not playing golf today to give my shoulder a rest! I may have to
return to testing my LaBatt Blue Beer Pain Relief Technique tonight.
The Banff Spring course also has interesting bunker and fairway hazards:
ELK: walking hazards
The elk on the course are obviously used to players and are
all tagged, either with a band around their neck or with a blue tag in the
ear. They are beautiful creatures and looked very healthy (and possibly very
spoiled and not very wild at all).
After golf, we stopped to pick-up DT's photos from the one-hour place. His
photos of the grizzly are pretty good! He also has about one roll of
glaciers and ice fields and we will never figure out which glacier or ice
field we are viewing! (You've seen one glacier, you've seen them all???)
Plus, a trip to the local Safeway to stock up on fruits and vegetables,
because we are heading out tomorrow morning and are not really sure where we
are going. We will try to stay at Lake Louise, but some of the campgrounds
are closed due to... what else???... BEARS! Today, the Rangers opened some
of the trails again to hikers - especially the high-country backpack trails - to parties of six or more.
Just a comment here on all the signs in town. I am enjoying the French
translations. Especially the translation for "Banff, Alberta", which is
"Banff, Alberta". How about the signs for Lac Johnson or Lac Louise? Like
the French-speaking, or the English-speaking, couldn't understand if it read
"Lake Louise" or vice-versa? How about at the recycling cans next to the
garbage cans - "Plastique/Plastic" and "Aluminum/Aluminum"? Other Canadian
stuff: the dollar coin in a "loonie" because it has a loon on the face. The
two dollar coin is called a "toonie", just because it is clever. And people
in Alberta really do end half their sentences in "eh".
NOTE FROM LISA'S MOM: Lisa has arrived safely back in
Washington, D.C.
Tonight we will stay "in", eat more pizza and watch HBO. So, that's it for
my report today, eh?
Campground:
Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court
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