The Sister Dearest Series: Part Two

I’ll admit - it was a little strange having Sister Dearest in Banff.

Strange in the way that absolutely nothing has changed in the 12 months since I’ve been out of the country. We still cracked the same personal jokes, still bantered like we were the Gilmore Girls, still obsessed over poached eggs and espresso coffee and still couldn’t understand when people said we looked exactly alike.

I just don’t see it, people.

I did my best to give Sister Dearest the royal Banff treatment, right down to pizza at Aardarks after stumbling home from a 2am dance session at HooDoo’s. It’s something she would probably prefer to forget, but midnight pizza is crucial to anyone’s overall Banff experience.

Thanks to it being Spring Break, I had to work most of the days she was here but we found time to ride most afternoons, leaving my days-off free for more interesting things.

Like dog-sledding.

Dog-sledding is a long-practiced Canadian tradition, originally used to transport produce and medicine back in the day when there were no highways or semi-trailers. Now, dog-sledding does more for the tourism trade than it does anything else, putting willing (and sometimes unwilling) tourists in the driving seat of seven over-excited huskies.

The dogs were gorgeous, but not quite as gorgeous as our tour guide, Phil. Phil was especially gorgeous when he was holding a puppy. I regret to admit, I may have shamelessly lusted in his direction in hope that we might live happily ever after in his mountain lodge.

After Phil and the huskies, Sister Dearest and I took a break from Sunshine and went riding at Lake Louise. I hadn’t been to The Lake since the start of the season when the runs were covered in ice and the snow-guns were working overtime. I was pleasantly surprised at the conditions and the steeper terrain, a welcome change from Sunshine. We spent the better part of an hour building a pathetic-looking kicker off a green run on Larch and the better part of an hour throwing ourselves off it as we took photos.

The expiry date on Sister Dearest and I’s time together came all too quickly and before I knew it, I was standing on the footpath waving goodbye to her as she headed back to Calgary airport. Being back together after so long apart was like reuniting Lorelei and Rory and then cancelling the Gilmore Girls all over again.

Who knows when we will see each other again, but until then, we will always have our memories of Banff.

And Phil.

Ciao for now. xo