We are staying at the Rimrock Resort Hotel. Probably the most upscale hotel of the trip. I would call it “Mountain Elegant”. All the staff are uniformed. All the guests, regardless of their age, look like they just got off a hiking trail or a mountain bike. We ate in the lobby lounge last night entertained quietly by an “oldies” singer and guitar player. Between a couple of songs he asked what are first time visitors to Rimrock called. Answer – “first timers”. He then asked what are people called who have stayed multiple times called? Answer – “rich”.

We are first timers and staying in a standard room, this is a view from our window.

Local hot springs attracted people to the Banff area throughout history. Just above our hotel are the Sulphur Mountain Hot Springs.
This is a picture of their outdoor hot pool.

Outside of town there is a drive called the “Lake Minnewanka Loop”. A guide suggested we might see some wild sheep there. We took it. This is Lake Minnewanka.

And these are the sheep.

Returning to Banff we stopped at the Banff Springs Hotel. If I described the Rimrock as elegant, I can’t think of a word or phrase to describe the Banff Springs Hotel. It is just that much grander. Built by the Canadian National Railroad, it and sister hotels underwrote the construction of the railroad through thr Rockies. As one of the supporters said, “We can’t take the scenery to the people so we must bring the people”

We returned to town for a late lunch at our now favorite lunch stop, the Bear Paw Tavern. They had the Sox-Jays on TV and a Giant football game. I relaxed when I saw a Pats score of thirty something to something teen.

After lunch we went to the Whyte Museum which gave a wonderful overview of mans history in this area. A well spent hour.