We drove up to Calgary with my dad and uncle who flew up on Thursday. From Tacoma, the drive is WAY too long to be at all enjoyable. 13 hours from Tacoma to Calgary is ridiculous, especially in a small car.
I can?t figure out anything unique about Calgary. It appears to be in the middle of no where, on the eastern side of the Canadian Rockies. There aren?t any mountains or lakes or rivers (from what I saw). Nor is there anything unique about the culture, people, or districts within town. In fact had it not been for the once-a-year Calgary Stampede Rodeo and the hotel with views from the sauna and whirlpool, it would have been a total waste.
The Stampede is this multiple week long Rodeo that apparently comes to Calgary once a year, apparently it is one of the largest in North America. Canadians though should stick to playing hockey () because I saw very few true cowboys, nobody tried to sell me chewing tobacco, and not a mechanical bull in sight. It was more like a large county fair than a rodeo. The Pendleton, Oregon rodeo I went to a few years ago was much more enjoyable and authentic (yah, true American Cowboys!).
Banff, Alberta in the heart of the Canadian Rockies was a different story. The town is a typical mountain resort, with tons of tourists. There was however an unusually large number of Asian tourists (I think many of them were actually Canadian. Canada has seen an influx of Asian immigrants in recent decades). The town and surrounding mountains was really cool. They have a gondola to the top of this mountain but instead we decided to take a 2 hr hike to the top J.
Lake Louise was unimpressive but that?s coming from a kid who grew up going to Lake Tahoe. Considering the size, views, and density of tourists it isn?t really worth the hour drive from Banff. It is a surprisingly small lake but has this unique turquoise color. It?s a World Heritage site but also has this luxury hotel along its shores (which is simply out of place).