Day 16
Date: July 8, 2014
Total bear count: 11
Weather: sunny 27-30 degrees
We started the morning with a simple breakfast on the patio of the house with the Rockies in the background. After breakfast Gary showed us the neighbourhood. On route we found an easy geocache.
Back at the house we got in the car to drive to HWs second cousin Henry’s work where a BBQ was held. We had some nice talks and a good bun with warm meat. Afterwards we went with Henry to his house in Calgary where he gave us a tour.
Next stop was the famous Stampede! One of the biggest outdoor events in the world as the Canadians say. We took the train to the Stampede area. What we saw was a sort of fair. Here you could buy food, soft drinks, lottery tickets. We walked around to look at all the booths. We also went to the Indian part where they have build their Teepees where they live. We could even get into one and see how they use it. We went to their stage and see them dance and perform.
Then it was time for a small break so we went for the BBB. that stands for Beer bulls and BBQ. It was a place where you could drink Corona out of a can, eat some burgers what we did not do, and watch people riding mechanical bulls. Especially the cow girls got special treatment from the bull operators. There was much more to see we did not do. Like rodeo shows (there we no shows when we were there), farm exhibits etc.
Before we left we ate a Canadian treat: mini donuts. They are wonderful. Still not satisfied we want to a burger place for some poutine (fries with gravy) and hot dogs. There we saw that Germany was humiliating Brazil in soccer! At Henry’s place we ate our meal watching the game. There we met Henry’s room mate Peter.
We ended the evening in the garden drinking beers at the fire place in the garden. We had some awesome conversations. Around midnight Henry dropped us off again in Cochrane.
Day 17
Date: July 9, 2014
Total bear count: 11
Weather: sunny 27-30 degrees
The morning started with a quick cup of coffee because we went out for breakfast in Calgary. Because of the stampede pancake breakfasts are organized everywhere in Calgary. So Gary, Sandy and HW stand in line for pancakes. While eating we got entertained by music. There was for example a high school marching band from Australia performing for us.
After breakfast Gary took us on a scenic route through Calgary. These showed us their previous houses. They also showed us river sides that were overflown a year before. Back in Cochrane we watched the soccer match against Argentina that we sadly lost. So no finals for us on the time we need to fly home..
Before we went back to Canmore Gary and Sandy made us delicious buffalo burgers. In Canmore we went back to our motel from a two days back. Sadly no kitchen this time. But still with hot tub!