Drive back to Calgary

I was particularly grateful to be able to get in another 5.5 km run on the morning of our check-out from Jasper and generally happy that fitness has managed to take a high priority on vacations just as much as it does in routine for the last few trips. The scenic untiring drive back on the Icefield Parkway gave me an opportunity to multitask between enjoying the views while catching up on the a large chunk of this blog and listen in on Parishi’s conversations with us and then her fairytale talks with Kairav all while Chinmay hummed to the desi music. The 2 stops at the Athabasca falls and the Peyto lake on the way were truly worth it in the gorgeous sights we got to enjoy. A close-up bear 🐻 encounter on the side of the road was the first ever in its natural habitat, little did he/she care about the several cars that were stopping and continued chomping on the vegetation to make it to its 40K calories/day quota! With breakfast almost skipped and most of the snacks exhausted on the 9th day, we were looking forward to a nice but late lunch at the Nourish restaurant in Banff and picking up Kairav’s jacket from the Moose hotel. The Marriott hotel in downtown Calgary was in a great location right across from the Calgary tower. The city had a great happening vibe with restaurants, bars and the streets swarming with people a lot of who were there for the famous Calgary Stampede festival. I particularly loved the sleek yet spacious room with the downtown view although we were only there for a few hours. We strolled on the streets in Calgary hoping to visit the Peace bridge which looked like a cool architectural structure on the river in pictures but didn’t make it there as a lot of our time got used up Protein bar shopping at the Canadian Superstore thanks to the kids who thought the store was their personal playground! Saffron street food, one of the 2 Indian restaurants that Bhakti at the front desk in Marriott had recommended was within walking distance but had pretty ok food crumbling our anticipation for good desi khana in Calgary on the last night. The other option was Calgary Cricket Club; wonder if that would have been a nicer option. Back at the hotel we did our trips gratitude ritual with the kids with each of us listing our top 3 favorites from the trip and what we were grateful about. We had to call it a night for the 4am Uber ride to the airport to catch the early flight back home. A million memories were made, thousands of pictures snapped, hundreds of football 🏈 catches caught, teens of tranquil moments savored, over half a dozen potential trips brainstormed, 8 bonds strengthened and immeasurable joy was shared over these 10 days in the beautiful Canadian Rockies.