Another Great Day Off

Anyone who knows me knows that I am FAR from being a workaholic. Probably about as far as you can get actually...

So today I had the day off. Usually I go back into Calgary when I have time off, but I decided since I only have 2 weeks left in Canmore (yikes!) I better take advantage of being in such a beautiful place!

I got up this morning, threw a lunch and my cross country skiis in my car, and headed up to Lake Louise. I haven't been there in years! Such a cute little place though.

I haven't been out cross country skiing yet this year, and I was talking to my dad last night and he suggested the Moraine Lake road. Sounded good enough to me! I couldn't really remember how far the road was, but I was kind of expecting something similar to the Cameron Lake road in Waterton...a nice little ski, not too far, have some lunch and head back. Well when I pulled into the parking lot to sign said 11kms to the lake. That should have been my first red flag. Did I forget that was ONE WAY? I think the farthest I had ever cross country skiied was to Crandell lake...that's what, like, 2 kms one way? If that?

Anyways, lets just say I was a little intimidated as I started skiing (at a snail's pace, might I add...) up the road, when 2 middle aged ladies FLEW past me up the hill. That happened more than once throughout the day...I kept on skiing though! Now, usually I am anti-technology when I am out enjoying nature, but after about an hour, I was more than happy that I had brought along my little ipod shuffle to keep me company for the next few hours

This song may have been played several times throughout my adventure:


Well after 2 and a half hours, I made it! Sort of...turns out the ski trail doesn't actually go all the way to the lake, so I just had to admire it from afar!
(P.S. I also forgot my camera in Calgary, so I swiped all these pictures from Google...you get the jist though...)
I make it sound like this was a terrible experience. It really wasn't. I just came to the realization that my cross country skiing skills are less than prestine, to say the least. Turns out 20k is a ways to ski! The weather was perfect...just warm enough, and snowing lightly. I love that! And Lake Louise has so much snow right now so everything looks so pretty! I really did enjoy it...I promise!
After my little journey, my legs needed a rest (4 hours of non-stop cross-country skiing will do that to you!), so I headed up to the Chateau Lake Louise.
I am in love with this place! Everything is covered in snow and gorgeous, and they have all their Christmas decorations up. It made me want to have a cabin Christmas so bad!
I was about ready for dinner when I got here, so I stopped by a little deli in the hotel for a bite to eat. A delicious Mandarin Chicken Salad sounded pretty good, and since I was a smart one and didn't take water on my ski trip, a liter of water sounded like a good solution to my dehydration.
World's most expensive liter of water that is. My total bill was $15.17. My salad cost $8.50. Do the math. Was it worth it? Yes.

Oh P.S. It's the World Cup in Lake Louise this weekend. The Italian skiiers are staying at the Chateau Lake Louise. I may have a secret crush on them all...

Well then I headed toward home and stopped in Banff for a bit to do a little Christmas shopping...
Why is it that when you are Christmas shopping, you ALWAYS find things for yourself? Am I the only one that experiences that? Well, I did exercise some self control, but I love this jacket:

I like everything about it. I like that its cozy. I like that its the Canada Olympic line (I'm patriotic like that?). I like the thumbholes. I like the neck (it has some cool collar/hood thing going on). I don't like that its expensive.

To finish my night off, I made a quick stop at Second Cup for some Candy Cane Hot Chocolate. Sooo good!

Well there you have it! My wonderful day off in the mountains. And I have another day off tomorrow! Sunshine here I come!