Exploration day in Banff. We started off the day going horseback riding. Carson has been wanting to for a couple years and there was a ranch just outside of the campground. What a fun experience! The guides were awesome and the horses were well behaved.
After that we drove into Canmore to pick up some groceries and had McDonalds for the first time on this trip. Then we headed up to Banff Town. Beautiful but oh so many people everywhere! We stopped at Banff Springs Hotel to recreate a photo of Jeff’s grandparents there in 1941. It is an actual castle as you can see. Wow!
Next, we visited the Banff Upper Hot Springs and dipped our feet in the hot water. Fascinating! One last stop to see the train station (Jeff loves trains) and then back to the campsite for “camping mac and cheese” for dinner.
Carson was beyond excited to ride a horse! 
Carson’s horse was named Pinkie. She was a “sneaky snacker” and was really good at nabbing a mouthful of grass before Carson noticed and pulled on her reins. 
Santana was my horse. Very sweet horse. 
Spencer’s horse was named Chili. Santana is his mother. 
Shanelle and Emily were awesome guides. Friendly and knowledgeable and very patient with the boys. 
Such a fun time! 
We survived! And now the boys want to go horse back riding again soon. 
This horse saw us walk up and came right over to get a pat on the nose. 
The boys were captivated by the horses. 
The McDonald’s in Canada has Poutine! 
Coolest crosswalk ever. The stop lights are fixed so all cars stop at the same time and all the walkers can cross, including crosswalks that go across the road diagonally. Much more efficient I think! 
Nice Shower house 
The view outside the shower house. The sun had set by us, but had not yet set on the mountain. 
Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Very castle like. And it has amazing views of the mountains. 
Jeff’s grandparents were here in 1941. We recreated the photo in the same spot. 
Jeff’s grandparents stayed here in 1941. We had the photo and found the exact spot we think. 
The Queen’s portrait was hanging in the stairway. 
One of the halls we walked by. 
The view from one of the balconies 
We dipped our feet in the hot springs on the little path in front of the building, right as it came out of the earth. It was hot tub temperature. Ahhhhhhhh 
Carson loves this and wanted to stay a long time. 
This was the hot springs pool. We spontaneously visited the upper hot springs so did not have our swimming gear with us. Definitely next time though! This water is said to have healing properties due to all the minerals in it. 
Kline Road Trips 