Global Teen Adventures

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6/23/19 - Hot springs or a pool?

Day 7. Today is our last full day in Banff.  The week has flown by and this was supposed to be our slow week!  Makes we wonder what is come in places like NYC, London and Tokyo. The girls have been lobbying for going to natural hot springs.  John has done his research and recommends Radium hot springs over Banff hot springs. The only problem is that we’ve been trying to go Radium for 3 days and every time I put it in the GPS, its location keeps changing.  I’m guessing a massive hot spring isn’t actually moving locations and that it must be the lack of a good WIFI signal that is the issue.  Today maps says Radium is 2 hours in the opposite direction of where it was yesterday so we opt for the local Banff hot springs.  Ug.  John was spot on.  Banff hot springs is actually just a pool you have to pay for that is way over crowded. The consensus is that the spa pool in our place was way better than this.  If you go to Banff, pass on the hot springs.

Given we only stay at the hot springs for an hour, we have unexpected free time on our hands.  There is a gondola that goes up to the top of Sulphur Mountain that seems interesting until we find out it will cost $350 to go up and see views that we can see from town.  Justin and Corey point out that they hiked to the same place for free and why would anyone pay that much money to get the same place?  That settles it and the Banff gondola makes the “not recommended’ list.

We go to Cascade Gardens on the edge of town.  I find it very relaxing with a cool layout.  The kids are apparently already suffering from the comparison problem.  “The Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada were way more impressive than this one.”  While they are technically correct, we vow to focus on teaching them to evaluate each experience in the moment and not compared to everything else they may have seen. 

We all go into town for the dinner and the first teen vs adult split vote occurs.  The weather is gorgeous, and Leanne and I vote for outside dinning at the Meatball which we ate at the 2ndnight.  The kids veto so I see the first opportunity for a date night.  We send the kids off to their choice and eat at the Meatball surrounded with an amazing view of the mountains.