Day 17 - The trail ends at the last Port o' Call

As we leave Banff we pop in to Canmore. There is a fair bit of Nordic skiing available here and we see people with roller skis practising on the road. We also see a curling rink reminding us that the Winter Olympics were held in Calgary in 1988. Further on we decide to veer off Highway 1, the Trans Canadian Highway, and go down Highway 40, a longer route to Calgary, but it is worth it as we take a last trail through the Rocky Mountains, this time following the Kananaskis Range. It is a long detour and we see deer, gophers and a cayote. We also see some scraggy Rocky Mountain Sheep. The scenery is again a fantastic wilderness.
All along the routes that we have taken in the Rockies we have seen people cycling, even during the all the snow. This is really extreme seeing these people going up the mountains but they seem to do it and you have to admire their ability and stamina.
Soon though we leave the mountains behind and head toward Calgary. Our hotel is the Port O'Call and is situated near the airport. It has a swimming pool with slides and hot tubs. To the amazement of the girls our room has 2 doors, one of which goes out onto our balcony that leads directly to the pool. It is not long before they get their swimming costumes on. The swimming pool is a substitute for the noise of the aircraft taking off.
Getting here we have relied heavily again on the Sat Nav. What a real asset, we would have been struggling without it, especially here in Calgary where the traffic was very busy and the motprway is worse than the M25. We have now done 4000km. The car has been quite adequate but anything smaller would have been a struggle both in terms of getting up and down the mountains and also space for fitting 4 suitcases and flight bags. Our radio entertainment has been by way of Sirius, a satellite broadcaster. We have a vast choice of radio stations that we can listen to from Elvis to Vatican Radio, from Frank Sinatra to 24 hour news.
And would you believe it, petrol here in Calgary is the cheapest of the route so far at $0.92per litre.