Lethbridge to Calgary

Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens

We started our morning by visiting the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens, a tranquil spot in a mostly industrial town. The gardens were small, but beautiful. A lot of effort had been made to build a tranquil setting with ornately pruned trees, carefully placed rocks, and gurgling water features. The pavilion house was set up to be a Japanese Tea room and an exhibit of water painting depicted a pilgrimage to Japan. Our favorite part of the visit though was wandering the pools with their reflections of rocks, waterfalls, and trees. We also just spent time in the gazebo listening to the reverberation of the water against the rocks, a nice respite from the highways.

We continued on to Calgary and tried out the Calaway RV Park. The park is right next to an amusement park of the same name, we didn’t go, but lots of the families did. I can’t recommend this RV Park, because it is poorly designed, most of the utilities are shared between two campsites, and the posts for electricity and water may be too far for your connectors (they do offer extension cords for rent). The sewage connection did not have enough maneuvering room for the connectors.

Old and New Buildings in Calgary

In the evening, we did a rare thing, we visited the center of the city. The famous landmark of the city is the Calgary Tower, but at $18.00/person, it didn’t seem worth going up to see the view. We did, however, walk the pedestrian street, Stevens street nearby. It actually was quite interesting because of the mix of new and old architecture – sandstone classical buildings mixed with the steel and glass of new buildings. The stores stayed open till 5 and then it became a restaurant and bar scene. We had a Guinness and Harp at the Irish Bar along with some Irish Meat Pies, great setting and good food. The prettiest part of Stevens street was near the municipal building, Olympic park. A huge pool of water with fountains and flowers as well as the award platform for the 1988 Olympics. The awards continue, since all the Olympic medal winners are commemorated here on bronze plaques.

Olympic Plaza