littledogs

COVID Clampdown in Banff

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So we’re sitting around watching some predictable and boring show on Netflix when I say, “Hey I can get us into the Rimrock for a hundred and sixty a night.” Now the Rimrock is a very posh hotel in Banff,  Alberta – warm bathrobes, slippers and a chocolate on the pillow. (I’m sure they’ve junked all those amenities due to COVID. Who sneezed on the chocolate? Perspiration on the robe? I’m surprised you don’t have to bring your own sheets.) I recheck the price. It’s in American dollars, so one sixty is like a million Canadian. The plan is sinking faster than a Rocky Mountain boulder in Lake Vermilion.

I check again. A small condo at the place we love (Rocky Mountain Resorts) with a separate entrance, fireplace and kitchen is on for a reduced price of one twenty in the Queen’s dollars. A pop up, “Type snowday for a twenty percent discount.” Whooohoo!  A hundred bucks a night and we can bring the little dog and our own food. Yes please. The poor town is suffering due to COVID.  It’s my patriotic duty to help, right? Let the snowday begin.

Now the only rub is I’m in the middle of my “Dryuary” (no booze for the month – my Christamas liver is close to pickled) and I’ve never and I mean NEVER sat in front of a fire (condo or otherwise) without a glass of wine, single malt or beer.  Never. It’ll be a challenge but I’m up for it (for the sake of the town, right?). The next morning we pack up our gear and hit the road. Little dog is in the back seat panting and doing her, “We there yet? We there yet? It’s so hot back here. We there yet?” This lasts the entire hour and a half drive. You’d think she hadn’t had a drink in a month.

Arrival and lunch at our favourite bakery (Wild Flour). We eat in our vehicle while overlooking the frozen Bow River. Breathtaking. Up to this point no contact except to grab lunch and walk it to the car. The town is so dead I feel sorry for all the business owners and employees. Masks everywhere. No mask. No service. Very strict here in the Canadian wilds.

We get to the hotel. Check in is quick. It’s Tuesday at two in the afternoon. Quiet time indeed. We get to the room. Take care of some business and we go for a walk. Normally we use the road behind the hotel. But the town’s had a major snow storm and every ten minutes a gravel truck filled with snow zooms past us. I’m afeared for the little dog. One slip and she’s a new pair kid’s slippers at the Rimrock. I pick her up and dash home.

At home after I get the fire going, I prepare some lovely charcuterie for a session by the fire. Another first.  I’ve NEVER eaten cheese, cured meat, baguette, pickles and fig jam without a nice glass of vino. I’m starting to sweat. Tea. I make some tea. It goes very well with the cheeseboard. Relax. I can do this. Time to break some traditions. New associations. Chamomile and charcuterie.

We hike the next day. Not a single soul on the trail. Well except for a lonely male elk. Midweek – excellent for social distancing. The COVID clampdown is great – barely no contact. We eat inside or order take out. The suite has it’s own entrance so no contact with people in the hall. I consider the gym but I walk and hike instead. The trails are calm and quiet. It’s not only midweek but winter so the vacation spot is nearly dead. In summer you have to step over people to get anywhere. The best part? Who knew that chamomile and cured meat is a match made in sobriety.

Fernie, British Columbia

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Bridge in Mount Fernie Provincial Park

I love travelling with the little dog and I don’t mind paying an extra dog fee, but please make sure the room is clean. We get to the room and there  is a brown spot in the middle of the duvet. I’m too shocked to sniff, so I ask my wife but she gives me the, “Yea, right” look. We also find a wet spot in the corner of the room. We don’t need to sniff, a wet toe is confirmation enough, but running through little dog’s Yorkie brain is,  “Hey I need to make this my territory. Move over pal.”

I go the the front desk. They are very apologetic and move us to another room on the second floor, obviously not a pet friendly room (most are on the first floor – easy access outside), but one reserved for bipeds. Little dog hasn’t been feeling well on the trip (nasty dog treat?). Her poor derriere is red, sore and the run off is not pleasant. The dog farts in in the car are brutal and more than once we had to stop to make sure she didn’t poop on the back seat. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Now I don’t know if it’s karma or what, but in the middle of the night little dog moans and whimpers. We turn on the light only to find she’s marked the bed sheet with a brown coloured skid mark. I pick her up and move her to the other bed only to find I should have wiped her derriere first – bang another couple of Jackson Pollock swipes.

We spent the next day at the laundry mat cleaning bed covers. We could have spared the cleaning if my wife had gone to the front desk and said, “Hey my husband had an accident.” Who would have checked? And I’ve no problem taking one for the little dog.

Now on to Fernie  – first the good.  Tons, and tons of activities to to. The river was flooded with kayakers and floaters. So many places to phone and buddy will come pick you up plop you in the river and pick you up at the end, try here. What a great way to spend the afternoon, floating with your feet in the water, watching the world slowly slip by.   The most preferred mode of transportation in town is the mountain bike. Bring it. Many trails to ride around the surround area, levels for everyone, so if  you hike or bike check this map out.

The Bad: We had the little dog with us. The town is not dog friendly at all. Not even on patios. If we wanted to eat on a patio with the little dog, we’d have to tie her up some twenty meters away. She wouldn’t be  close to us and it’d break her poor little heart. Since we had the little princess with us, we needed take out. The two restaurants I wanted to try – a sushi place and a Mexican joint (both had great reviews) weren’t offering take out. Weird. I’ve never heard of a place in today’s economy that didn’t offer take out. Maybe they have a dine-in space so big they don’t need the extra income.

The Ugly: Smoke. The BC wildfires are raging once again this year. I can’t remember the last time I went to BC in the summer and it wasn’t filled with smoke. Not a great comment on our environmental situation. It wasn’t so bad that we couldn’t get out and walk or run so that’s good. My lovely morning run along the Elk river was amazing but I felt it in my throat and eyes. Make sure you bring eye drops and some lozenges.

Great trip and we’ll definitely go back. Perhaps with out the little dog, but leaving her at home makes travelling less fun. And winter time means skiing!