Day of Hope #67

Friday July 13 – Day of Hope #67

Goal: Find ice, a restroom, and breath-taking views

Quote: “People wait all week for Friday, all year for summer, and all their life for happiness. Don’t wait”.

- Unknown

This day was a great day, and I incorporated the weekend in as well since it was Friday the 13th. My sister and her boyfriend flew in on Wednesday night to Boise and we were going on an adventure driving up to Canada and Banff National Forest. They wanted to go to Lake Louise to do the Lake Angus hike to the tea house. I did this same trip back in 2014. You can read about that in Day of Hope #18.

They loved my stories and pictures so much from my first trip they wanted to go themselves and I was very excited to go back. We set out on Thursday the 12th. It’s a thirteen-hour drive from Boise to Banff National Park. It’s a beautiful drive. Canada really takes care of their countryside. On our drive up about four hours in we stopped in Nez Pierce to see our aunt and cousins and have lunch and check out their new house. We got to see them out in the field on the John Deere Combines while farming. They really are true farmers. It was great to see them and take a break from driving.

We then headed to Sandpoint, Idaho which was another three and a half hours away. They loved the scenery all the way up. So many great things to see. We had the radio cranked up and we had the sunroof open and had a great time. We stayed the night at Best Western by the lake in Sandpoint. We got in around sunset and had dinner at a great pizza place and walked around the lake taking pictures. Bob was so excited he jumped into the lake just for fun. Sally was worried about him for a bit, but he loved it. We headed back to the hotel to get some rest for our early drive to Canada the next day. Only five more hours to go.

On our way to Canada, we had a few fun things happen. We stopped a lot to take pictures of the amazing scenery. We also stopped so I could get a soda. I asked for ice for my soda, and they looked at me like I was crazy. Apparently, they do not use ice cubes, I thought it would be a one-time thing, but we did not get ice with anything in Canada.

We then drove for a few more hours and Bob stated he needed to use the restroom. I told him that we would stop at the next exit. We drove for about another thirty minutes and there was still no exit. We saw a sign about a rest stop a few miles ahead. My sister and I were watching for the exit on the right side of the road. We keep driving and there is no exit. Then suddenly, we go flying past a rest stop on the left on the other side of the freeway. My sister and I look at each other and say was that the rest stop? We are sure there will be one soon on our side of the freeway, so we keep going. There is nothing. He is now getting annoyed. We started laughing. He says I don’t know what’s so funny, but I have to pee. We broke it to him that we would need to turn around as we passed the exit. We turn around and he says, in a loud voice, “Pull over now”. I pulled over so he could find a tree to relieve himself. We could not stop laughing. We did not do it on purpose but to hear him tell the story now is quite humorous and how he thinks we did it on purpose. Who has exits on the opposite side of the freeway; Canada does. We get back on the road and head to Banff.

We did not see any bears like I did on my previous trip many years ago. We arrived at the Lake Louise Inn to get settled and then did some sightseeing in town. We had a great dinner and drinks at the hotel and off to bed early. I got to journal some and watch the beautiful sky full of stars to finish off my Friday 13th.

We are up early the next day to catch a bus up to Lake Louise and to do the wonderful hike up to Lake Agnus to the tea house. The weather was great, and we started up the hill. It’s a beautiful hike with mountains and lakes. My sister did not train very well for the hike so we were going a bit too slow for Bob so we sent him up ahead of us so he could go at his own pace. We made it to the top and it was such a spectacular view we all agreed it was worth the hike. At the tea house we had tea, sandwiches and an apple betty dessert. They cook everything in a wood burning stove and boil the water from the springs. It’s all homemade and it was so good and just what we needed to celebrate our accomplishment. We soaked it all in and headed back down the hill.

On my vision board that year I had cut out a picture of someone with their back to the camera wearing a red sleeveless shirt and gray sweats. Jumping up in the air for joy with their arms spread wide. It made me feel joy and peace, so I wanted to re-create it. I bought the outfit earlier that year in January just for this special occasion, so I changed into it. They took several pictures of me jumping for joy and it was so much fun. We then headed back to the hotel and just sat outside on a picnic table talking and enjoying our day. Then we showered and went to a barbeque and bonfire hosted by the hotel. They had great food and we met lots of cool people from all over the world. We met a couple from France who were wine connoisseurs. The hotel had some wine for dinner, and it was strong, so I was going to put some Sprite in mine to make it a bit milder. The French guy sitting beside me put his hand over my glass very fast and said loudly, “NO! Impossible, Impossible”, in his French accent. Apparently, I offended him by putting something in my wine. He stated it would ruin the wine. I drank it slowly choking it down. After they left, I put some Sprite in it. HA!

The hotel also had a fire going where they were roasting marshmallows. Bob went first and toasted his marshmallows perfectly. The other people seemed to have issues with theirs, like it was the first time they had done it. After a bit everyone asked him to roast theirs. He became the marshmallow king for the night. Lots of fun meeting so many different people. What an amazing Friday the 13th weekend getaway.

My lesson of hope: When you find something or someplace that brings you joy and peace it’s great to do those things over and over as it fills your soul again and again.