Friday, June 11, 2010

LIVE from the Rocky Mountains

Hola Bloggies:

Let me start off by saying, I’m having the time of my life with Susan (of The Great Balancing Act) and Holly (of The Healthy Everythingtarian). They’re both awesome girls and fabulous travel companions!!!

I arrived in Banff on Thursday afternoon and met up with the girls and since then we’ve been having an awesome time. Truth be told I was particularly excited to tag along (they planned this trip a while back and traveled from New Brunswick and Wisconsin to be here) because I don’t have many friends my age in my current city. Yeah there are one or two but they’re into different stuff. Hanging out with food bloggers, on the other hand, is perfect!!! No having to explain why you want to life a healthy lifestyle and no having to apologize for taking food pictures. Brilliant!

But enough talking – let’s look at some pictures!

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The morning started off in typical food blogger fashion, with a hefty bowl of oatmeal. This one was loaded down with soy protein powder, a crumbled 1/3 of an All Bran bar, and a smushed banana. It was hearty and filling. Good thing because we had an action packed day ahead!

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As we walked downtown to have coffee, we happily noted that the clouds were lifting! Perfect, considering we had grand plans of attempting to hike a mountain in the afternoon. Truth be told I was a little chicken about the whole mountain thing!

Our morning largely consisted of walking around the mega-cute city of Banff, drinking coffee, and doing a bit of shopping (why hello there incredibly cute Lululemon sweatshirt!). Eventually we headed to a local yoga studio for their lunchtime yoga class. Although, I have done tons of yoga DVDs and attended yogalaties class this was my first ever purely yoga class.

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The yoga class turned out to be a multi-level flow class. My non yogi self managed to keep up with most of the moves. I only ran into trouble at the very end, with the balance postures. Instead of falling over I opted to settle into an easier pose and enjoy the ridiculous view out the window! Overall I was really pleased with the class and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Rocky Mountain Yoga to others looking for yoga in and around Banff.

After yoga we were sweaty and starved. Just downstairs from the yoga studio we found a bakery that was just begging to be explored. While we were getting our food we noticed that the crowds kept on pouring into the place! Wild Flour Bakery turned out to be quite the hot spot in town.

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I totally devoured by traditional ham sandwich on a baguette. The bread was dense, grainy, and perfect. Total score! And at a reasonable price (considering where we were).

After lunch we decided it was time. We were going to hike up Sulphur Mountain. Most people use the gondola to get up the highest peak in the Banff Region. But we were going to do it the good old fashioned way going up. On our way down we planned to take the gondola (my knees LOVED this idea). I was kind of intimidated but I couldn’t avoid it any longer.

We had a mountain to conquer!!!!

 

To be Continued . . .

5 comments:

Marianne (frenchfriestoflaxseeds) said...

I am jealous of your fun adventures in Banff. I haven't been there since I was a kid, so it would so fun to explore as an adult. Looking forward to your post on the mountain climb :)

A Toronto girl out West said...

Should you find free time and extra money I'm available for other blogger adventures in Banff! :o)

Anonymous said...

You guys look like you are having a blast! I need to visit Banff - I have surprisingly never been!

A Toronto girl out West said...

You would love it Sarah!!!!! You should totally plan a trip!!!

Unknown said...

sounds like tons of fun!! :)