Do you have any idea how loud the coffee grinder is when it goes off in your ear at 6a.m., I do, it's loud. Mike very consideratley didn't set the alarm this morning (I am on holiday after all), he did however turn on the coffee timer, lovely! We wanted to get an early start today as we decided to visit Banff and Jasper National Parks.
Today was Mike's turn to pick what we were going to eat (we decided yesterday to have alternate days so we didn't have to argue about what to eat) so first order of business, Tim Hortons of course. Doughnuts all round, boston cream for me, walnut something and an old fashioned glazed for Mike, and timbits for Tal-y, all before 7.15 a.m. Once we were all fueled up it was on the road to Jasper; we decided to head to the town of Jasper along the 93 which is known as the Icefields Parkway (one of the worlds ten greatest drives apparently). It's a 143 mile drive from Banff NP to the town of Jasper and they (whoever they are) weren't joking about the drive, it is absolutely spectacular with glacier topped peaks, waterfalls and green and blue lakes. Words cannot really describe it and none of the pictures we took do it any justice, it is just stunning, gorgeously beautiful. I spent alot of time looking for wildlife on the ground and then I'd look up and the mountains would just take my breath away, each magnificent in their own right. We did get to see a rather large black bear grazing alongside the road on the way to Jasper, like he didn't have a care in the world, but no other animals.
Since we were on the road early it was quite cold and we got to see snow, in June, whilst driving through the Columbian Icefields. The trees all looked beautifully festive with their dusting of snow. The early morning fog hadn't lifted when we were driving through and Bow Glacier, which was the first we passed looked both majestic and eerie, just beautiful.
Jasper was cute, very touristy. We didn't spend very long there other than to let Tal-y have a run.
On the way back we got to see more bears, some really close as they crossed the road right in front of us. We also saw mountain goats and some feisty long horned sheep who decided to have a head butting match in the middle of the road - typical males!
It was a long day, we (I mean Mike) drove for about 10 hours altogether, but it was so worth it to see the views; nature at her finest for sure.

Mike: Long drive but it didn't seem like it, great views and the weather was perfect.
Lots of stops along the way. Lakers tonight! We have internet but not fast enough to
stream live video. We listened to the radio pod cast. Yeh, they're even now, and going to a 7th game Thurs.