calgary

after randomly driving around and finally finding a decent place to stop i get gas and then head to a parking lot. i have decided to bite it and pay for a hotel, cause i dont want to do the car thing, nor do i want to keep driving...so i wanted to see a little more of town, and figured i would enjoy the little splurge.

so i call up burly and get her parent's number and give them a shout (since they live in calgary) and i try and find what is cool to do there and where some good, relative inexpensive hotels are. So mrs. burly tells me of some attractions and then asks if i wanted to stay the night...i was...slackjawed...and said that i would be willing to if they were offering...a true blessing there, thanks guys!

so i was actually across the street from the chinook shopping center (which i didnt know at the time) and i saw a bank across the way and figured i would get the lowdown from an actual banker...but turns out they were closed, so i decide to go across the footbridge to this shopping center and see what it was all about...

GINORMOUS is what it was. i walked and walked and walked and that was about it...well i looked too. anyways as i was leaving i managed to see a little bank in the mall and decided to stop and ask questions. turns out i could use visa or master card, and all the calculations would occur automatically...sweet.

so i head downtown (or to the city centre as they say). pretty nice downtown. i walked and saw the calgary needle and the plus 15 (which is a second story mall in these buildings that are connected). i eventually ate at a place called earls. nice little place, and great food. i had the turkey gouda sandwich (with great sauce) and a little salad...superb.

after dinner i went to the island park and to some movie place/mall over there and then through the chinese cultural center.

i then headed to burly's place. i passed the ramps that they held olympic stuff on, it was pretty sweet. so i get there and we catch up and chat. it was a great time getting to talk to them.

in the morning they cooked me breakfast, which was great! and it made me feel extra special.

i then headed out to banff national park