Spring 2010 Alberta Revisited: Two Kids, Two-Hundred-Sixty-Four House Payments, and Twenty-Two Years Later By Kathy Chin Leong The Columbia Icefield hails as the mother of all ice masses in Canada. She feeds eight glaciers in the province of Alberta, and the blinding white slab is so popular you can board an “ice explorer” tour bus every 15 minutes to get to the top of one of her children, the Athabasca Glacier. However, like my husband’s hairline, the glacier has been receding. When we first came as newlyweds in 1987, the bluish frozen finger almost touched the scenic highway known as the Icefields Parkway.  And now 22 years, two children, and 2,000 gray hairs later, we noticed that the ice border  began higher up the hill, and we had to hike about one-quarter of a mile to get to the edge. ANNIVERSARY Celebrating our anniversary here provided a good opportunity to reflect on the changes in ourselves and in Alberta itself.  In 1987, it was the go-to lover’s haven.  Our close friends in San Jose, Calif. raved about the blue-green waters of Lake Louise, its colors conjured up from falling  rock “flour” created by the snow runoff.  Other newlyweds spoke of the Chateau Lake Louise hotel resplendent  with European elegance. Our pastor and his wife seemed to drool as they spoke of Alberta’s prime rib so tender you could carve it with a soup spoon. Anchored by the snow-capped Canadian Rockies, pristine lakes, and wide, smooth roads, Alberta was the perfect escape for myself, a high-tech reporter and my husband, Frank, then an engineer at Hewlett-Packard.  Back at home, our brains were crammed with deadlines, corporate pressures, and politics.  Things were so bad in my office, I was thinking about quitting my job; Frank was contemplating whether to go into management. That euphoric week in July 1987, we hiked every trail that lay before us. I made sure I had enough rolls of 35 mm slide film in my backpack to capture moments where we spied bear, elk, and deer.  Each day was rife with anticipation as we woke early and tore out of our rooms as fast as we could to trod glacier trails and forest switchbacks.  We often stopped the car to let sheep or moose cross the road. It didn’t take long for me to forget about my woes back at the newsroom. FOOD For daily sustenance, we picked up sandwiches from delis along our route. Whenever we saw a hiker’s sign, we would find an outlet off the freeway and park the car.    It was completely safe, and even on the smallest, no-name hiking trails, there would always be a payoff - a moose lapping up water, a reflection pond at sunset.  Wary of the new mortgage payments we had to make on our house, we stayed in no-frills inns to save money. At that time, one dollar US was worth two Canadian dollars, and we stretched every cent, staying well within budget. NEW AGENDA Over two decades later, we returned with a different agenda. As a mother with responsibilities for carpools, classroom volunteering and bag lunch creativity, I was no longer the happy-go-lucky, serendipitous traveler as I once was.  I learned to be detailed when it came to keeping up with my children’s schedules. The opportunity to research every snippet of our trip struck me with an eerie, yet euphoric challenge.   I created a binder with clear plastic sleeves that would hold our week’s itinerary, rental car information, and maps. Frank had taken charge of the first Alberta trip, and used the trusty AAA guide as our travel Bible.   But this time, thanks to online resources, I ran the show with the precision of a maestro.  I knew the score, what the weather would be like, where we would go to dine (not merely eat), which hotels we would stay.  With a  refinanced mortgage that allotted us more breathing room each month and a stable income, we splurged without guilt.  In addition to savoring Alberta prime rib, we expanded our palates. Unlike the 1980s, Alberta is now known for wild game cuisine, and we sampled exotic dishes such as wild boar osso bucco and grilled caribou at Normand’s, an intimate, yet well known restaurant in Edmonton.   GOURMET EATS Making annual pilgrimages to Napa for our parents getaway, we grew to appreciate exceptional wine varietals and innovative food preparation. So instead of tracking down delis for sandwiches, I made reservations at top flight restaurants. Most remarkable was Eden Restaurant in Banff. Five-star. French. Mecca for foodies. This stately establishment inside the Rim Rock Hotel is affixed to the side of a mountain range.  Perched at a window table looking across to purple granite walls and staring below to the chasm beneath, I tried hard not to dwell on what would happen if we had an earthquake. If I fell first, would Frank rescue me, or would he run for cover?   I quickly grabbed the menu to distract myself.  It didn’t take long for me to make my decision. I put my finger on the ultimate meal: a Canadian wine paring with an eight-course dinner- at $150  per person, it was our most opulent investment. Those three hours represented a dining extravaganza like none other. The tuxedoed waiter and sommelier were friendly and informative, but not intrusive.  Each course parading out was the work of a culinary genius, for the bite-sized plates of poultry, meat, seafood, and vegetables were delectable and artistically rendered with sauces swirled just so. The eight wines enhanced the flavors of every entree and did not overpower them. Could such perfection be possible? After such an indulgence and feeling a bit light-headed, we agreed taking a cab was a smart move. NEW VISITS TO OLD TOWNS   This time in Alberta our activities were more varied.  I wanted to step on cement streets, not just dirt trails. Canmore, a sleepy mining community in the 1980s, is today reminiscent of the wild west. It’s downtown features wooden historic buildings, shops and coffee houses with saloon-style swinging doors. To Frank’s chagrin, boutique shops are abundant, rife with made-in-Alberta soaps, jewelry, and all the accoutrements that make a shopper’s heart sing. In downtown Banff, formerly comprised of tacky t-shirt shops and small nondescript eateries, a slew of chain stores and restaurants were interwoven with high-end clothiers and souvenir trading posts. Amid Baskin-Robbins ice cream  and The Gap, several jewelry shops were touting the world’s newest gem called “ammolite” -  a rainbow colored shell resembling the hues and texture of the abalone shell.  Ammolite comes from prehistoric snail-like creatures found only in Alberta. Yes, snail carcasses sound gross, but I was so entranced by the wavy, attractive colors of the gem that I almost purchased a necklace.  With my track record for losing jewelry (lost the opal Frank got me from Australia) I reluctantly passed it up and grabbed some brochures instead. BANFF Banff is known for its natural hot springs, and in 1987, we peeked at the outdoor hot springs, but drove off quickly for could not stand the rotten-egg sulfur smell.   But at the spa of the newly remodeled Fairmont Banff Springs hotel, there is a mineral pool, without the odor.  The hotel’s exquisite, newly added Willow Stream Spa also features icy indoor waterfalls adjacent to a series of mosaic-tiled hot tubs.  The method of standing under the cold for as long as you can stand it and plunging into hot water immediately afterwards is supposed to be good for circulation.  We didn’t feel guilty for not hiking everyday, for we mixed our physical activity with relaxation. From the hotel’s spa lounge, our faces beamed with our hearts giving way to the panoramic views of the monolithic Canadian Rockies. In retracing our steps, our other must-see stop was a trek to the famed and much-photographed Lake Louise.  We drove up in record time from Edmonton, and it wasn’t until after I returned home that I realized very few animals had crossed the road to slow down our trip compared to our previous visit At Lake Louise, we were pleased that the circular lake dotted with couples in canoes remained blue-green after all these years.Yet, somehow it seemed smaller, more compact. Perhaps it was the hoards of visitors and air-conditioned coaches crowding its perimeter that made this lake seem as though it shrank a few sizes.   Instead of hanging out in the lobby of Chateau Lake Louise, this time we actually stayed  overnight. The ten-story historic hotel, only steps from the lake, had visibly aged. When I saw the scuff marks on the door jam of my room and scratches around its walls, I thought of myself, now with a few more lines and scratches of my own. OLD & NEW DREAMS In 1987 when we were just kids, our conversation during our climbs above Moraine Lake and the Athabasca Glacier centered on our careers, our dreams for a family, and our personal goals. I was so intoxicated with love I don’t recall talking to anyone else on this journey or thinking about anyone other than ourselves at all.  Now on the steep Beehive Hike along the Lake Louise trail, we talked about our hopes for our teenagers, Gwen and Aaron. We promised we would return as a family next time, so the kids could also witness the glory of Alberta’s turquoise lakes and purple mountains. Our deep conversation continued on the Rocky Mountain Railroad. We reminisced over good life choices, avoided discussion of  bad ones. We met a single young man who eagerly told us about his decision to take a leave from his stressful Wall Street job and roam throughout Alberta.  Recalling our first escape to this magical destination, we told him we could relate and that selecting this region out of all the places in the world to detox and breathe was a perfect choice. The train chugged on, passing a grassy field of wildflowers with the Canadian Rockies as the backdrop. A perfect choice, indeed. **** NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES: www.rockymountaineer.com - Rocky Mountaineer Railroad description www.travelalberta.com - Alberta tourism info and more details on province www.jaspercanadianrockies.com - Photos and info regarding this national park www.banfflakelouise.com - Info on cultural heritage and activities www.tourismcanmore.com - Details on about this small mountain village  [Back to Top]          [Back to Index]