Author Topic: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway  (Read 9761 times)

Offline Jm1248

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Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« on: December 06, 2015, 11:59:30 PM »
Nov 26 - Dec 1, 2015



First things first, I want to thank RabbiGoldenberg and MarcoPolo, both of whom were extremely generous in helping me plan this and together saved me hundreds of dollars.  .

This trip was very last minute as I was extremely busy at work and didn't have much time for planning. I started off looking for flights to an unknown destination about a month in advance but everything was ridiculously expensive due to it being peak season. We had been considering going to Banff this past summer but flights were overpriced then as well so we ended up going to the Carribean instead. So the thought of going to Banff was still resonating in the back of my head and when I happened upon flights at just over $300 roundtrip I decided to jump on them. Although its not very warm in Banff during late November (an average high of less than 20 degrees) we decided that the snowy mountains would make for a beautiful winter getaway, plus I was dying to get in some good snowboarding already.

With flights out of the way (Thursday-Tuesday) it was time to plan an itinerary so I could book hotels in the appropriate locations. This was a bit complicated as we were landing in Calgary on Thursday afternoon so we didn't want to drive too far as Shabbos was about 4:15 pm. We ended up deciding on Canmore for Thursday night, Calgary for Shabbos, Banff on Saturday night, and Lake Louise for Sunday and Monday. We were originally going to kinda just drive through Banff because we didn't want to switch hotels as many times as we did but there was no availability in the Fairmont Lake Louise for Saturday night. I later found out this was due to the World Cup men's event taking place at Lake Louise ski resort that weekend.

(To be continued over the next few days. Hopefully with pics)

Offline yakrot

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2015, 01:05:19 AM »

Nov 26 - Dec 1, 2015



First things first, I want to thank RabbiGoldenberg and MarcoPolo, both of whom were extremely generous in helping me plan this and together saved me hundreds of dollars.  .

This trip was very last minute as I was extremely busy at work and didn't have much time for planning. I started off looking for flights to an unknown destination about a month in advance but everything was ridiculously expensive due to it being peak season. We had been considering going to Banff this past summer but flights were overpriced then as well so we ended up going to the Carribean instead. So the thought of going to Banff was still resonating in the back of my head and when I happened upon flights at just over $300 roundtrip I decided to jump on them. Although its not very warm in Banff during late November (an average high of less than 20 degrees) we decided that the snowy mountains would make for a beautiful winter getaway, plus I was dying to get in some good snowboarding already.

With flights out of the way (Thursday-Tuesday) it was time to plan an itinerary so I could book hotels in the appropriate locations. This was a bit complicated as we were landing in Calgary on Thursday afternoon so we didn't want to drive too far as Shabbos was about 4:15 pm. We ended up deciding on Canmore for Thursday night, Calgary for Shabbos, Banff on Saturday night, and Lake Louise for Sunday and Monday. We were originally going to kinda just drive through Banff because we didn't want to switch hotels as many times as we did but there was no availability in the Fairmont Lake Louise for Saturday night. I later found out this was due to the World Cup men's event taking place at Lake Louise ski resort that weekend.

(To be continued over the next few days. Hopefully with pics)
nds great so far happy it worked out for you in the end.

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2015, 05:20:09 PM »
Following.
Quaerite et Invenietis.

Offline beeweegee

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2015, 05:27:07 PM »

Offline ar

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2015, 01:01:56 AM »
Following too

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2015, 01:21:50 AM »
Uh-oh now I need to make sure to finish this  ;)

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2015, 01:41:40 AM »
Following is the new +1

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2015, 09:58:00 PM »
Our flight was bright and early Thursday morning out of LGA so we drove there, parked on the streets and Uber'ed to our terminal.
Checked into the Centurion lounge for a bit to daven shachris and grab a coupla drinks and had an uneventful flight to YYC with a short stopover in YYZ. We rented a Volvo SUV from Hertz with free day vouchers bought here on ddf (thank you Abetrich!), paying just 30 USD in taxes and fees. We then drove up the TransCanada highway to Canmore (appx 1 hour away) and checked into a homey little hotel called Falcon Crest lodge. It really is a nice little place and they even had kosher buttered popcorn packets for free at the front desk. There are not many points options in these parts so I just searched for good deals on hotels.com who always have fantastic customer service. We had a one bedroom suite with a kitchenette so we double wrapped the delicious pepper steak dw had cooked and frozen in anticipation of the trip and heated it up in the oven. After supper we went down to the awesome heated outdoor hot tub overlooking the mountains and sipped some beer (compliments of YYZ lounge). It was truly amazing as there was literally a rim of ice on the outside of the hot tub in the below zero weather but we were snug and cozy in the 104 degree water.

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2015, 09:58:38 PM »

En route to LGA

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2015, 09:59:04 PM »

Centurion Lounge

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2015, 10:00:03 PM »

TransCanada highway to Canmore

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2015, 10:00:57 PM »


Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #12 on: December 08, 2015, 10:01:18 PM »

Living room

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #13 on: December 08, 2015, 10:01:32 PM »

Bedroom

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #14 on: December 08, 2015, 10:01:52 PM »

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #15 on: December 08, 2015, 10:03:09 PM »
Friday morning we had to get an early start so we wouldn't be too rushed getting back to Calgary for Shabbos so we woke up in time to catch sunrise over the mountains (which was not really so early). We saw a wolf or a coyote or something - not sure exactly what it was - rolling around in the snow behind our hotel! We didn't want to do any tough hiking trails as we didn't have the proper gear/clothing especially with the amount of snow they had already received, so we decided on a nice easy trail along the Bow River. It was really gorgeous, what with the clean, white snow and the large ice floes drifting down the river. We took the trail to Engine Bridge and then circled back around on a bit of a roundabout route. There were lots of people doing cross-country skiing there as well.

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #16 on: December 08, 2015, 10:03:29 PM »

View from porch

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #17 on: December 08, 2015, 10:03:50 PM »

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #18 on: December 08, 2015, 10:07:18 PM »

Bow river

Offline Jm1248

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Re: Jm1248's Banff Thanksgiving Getaway
« Reply #19 on: December 08, 2015, 10:07:39 PM »