7/31/2010 Lake Louise

We started today by sleeping in.  We only had one thing on the agenda...the much talked about Lake Louise.  Everyone, especially Mom, had been looking forward to going to Lake Louise this entire trip.  We were told it is GORGEOUS!  Since Lake Louise is about an hour and a half from our campground, before we left we made a big breakfast on Dad's newest edition to the camping kitchen...an electric griddle.  It's pretty handy and Ben decided he's going to put it on his Christmas list.  We had scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.  After breakfast we took it easy for a few hours and left around 10:30.  When we got to Lake Louise we walked around the hotel, The Chateau which is huge!  They have 4 restaurants, over 5 gift stores, etc, etc, etc.  We had read some reviews on the Internet and Mom and Ben wanted to get cheese fondue at the hotel so after some research and questioning, we discovered that the only place to get fondue was at

supper time at a Swiss restaurant in the hotel.  We made reservations and then went looking for a little lunch. We had lunch on the patio of this cute cafe - I had the most delicious potato soup.  It was neat because they were having a wedding at the hotel so we got to watch all the guest arrive and the orchestra start playing.  After lunch we decided to hike around the lake - They have a hike that goes along the lake and then up to the Victoria Glacier.  It was very pretty and serene.  After our hike we walked around some of the shops in the hotel and relaxed until 6:00.  We were very impressed with the Swiss restaurant called The Strube.  It was VERY authentic!  I had Raclette, which is a cheese you melt over potatoes, bread, and veggies. Ben and Mom finally got their Cheese Fondue!  We were so full after supper that we felt like we were rolling out of the restaurant.  Before heading home we walked around a little more and sat and watched people canoe on the lake .  Upon arrival at the campground, we...crashed!  We were so tired I don't even remember what time it was.