Alberta is like that fairytale land you'd think was too enchanting to actually exist.  From the mist-blanketed mountains to the virgin forests so pure that one breath can cleanse your mind of the tumbling vanities of our modern world, this part of Canada reminded me just how beautiful our mother earth is.  
 Last year when we helped move our grandparents down from Salt Lake, we discovered a projector and dozens of picture slides dating back to the fifties.  One of the sets showed my grandma young and smiling with her cute vintage fashion-- and a stunning emerald lake behind her.  Turns out this was Lake Louise, and my jaw dropped the very second I set my eyes on it.
 In Banff we walked through a highly sulfur-scented tunnel and saw an sacred Native American hot spring shimmering below the cavern's stalactite.  
Some of the small Canadian towns reminded us a lot of the ski towns in Utah and Colorado.  Mom was super excited because, as it turns out, the candies we discovered in Spain are actually called livewires and are popular in Canada. 
We also stayed in a hotel next to the Olympic stadium, complete with a fabulous water
slide that we couldn't help but go down over and over again in the ten minutes before the pool/hot tub closed.  The three younger kids were so ecstatic to relax in the room that they offered to stay back with a cheap Wendy's meal while us older people ate at a fancier restaurant.
 I told them they shouldn't feed the wild animals knock-off Cheeto puffs, but they couldn't resist the urge to bribe furry critters into their laps.  We saw lots of animals including moose, bison, bighorn sheep, and antelopes, but no bears-- to my strange family's disappointment {not mine}.  One night while camping Adam YouTubed a video of a bear growl, played it right outside the window and made Sophie cry.