Life Happens at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone

So we've had an exciting couple of days, and very little sleep, so this morning we slept in late, had waffles for breakfast, and decided to have a lazy day exploring Canmore. A gentle rain started this morning, and kept the temperature down, so we decided to walk into town, a distance of about a mile. After coffee and breakfast the rain began harder, so we decided to drive into town. The loser in this equation was Sasha, who had planned to go on a walk with us!

Downtown Canmore consists of about 5 blocks along 8th St. This area has been transformed into boutique shops, restaurants, and sporting goods stores. Canmore is evidently a year-round destination, so everything from bikinis to skis are displayed. I guess that's explains the hundreds of condo complexes scattered about.

We visited an Art in the Park event while we were walking 8th St, and talked at great length to a local photographer who has lived in town for thirty years or more. His photos were spectacular, and we had to buy a couple (ok, three) note card sized pictures. I'm not sure we'll be able to part with them as letters, so don't hold your breath to get one! The photographer told us he has seen a great number of changes in Canmore the last few years, unfortunately not all for the good. New construction demands have caused property values to rise to the point that local and seasonal help are hard pressed to find an affordable place to live. Same story, different place.

As we were walking along the street, we noticed an unusual motorcycle. Kinda wish I could have a Middle Aged Crisis, but I'm too old for one.

We stopped at the Canmore Tea Company to sample several teas. Tea is one of the very few items not taxed in Canada, so the price was pretty good. We bought a small packet of Pina Colada Carmen Miranda because it tasted a lot like Carmen Miranda dressed! It contained apple and rosehip and pineapple. A little coconut and hibiscus thrown in gave it a unique flavor!

A grocery store advertised as being the oldest in Canmore had some unusual items for sale. We didn't buy anything.

Ok, you knew it was coming....we had to find a place for lunch, so we expanded our horizon a bit and checked into The Gaucho, a Brazilian Barbecue restaurant. We've never tried this type of food, even though we've seen it advertised in a number of cities, so...here we go.

This restaurant is sort of an "all-you-can-eat" situation, where there is a salad bar (with unique pasta and green salads), followed by a selection of soups, chicken stroganoff, and beef stew as well as small potatoes. The special thing about the restaurant is that the meat course is brought to your table on a skewer (read: sword) and as much as you like is sliced off for you. They offered Herbed Lamb, Marinated Sirloin, Rosemary Brisket, Chicken Wings, and.....wait for it......Marinated Chicken Hearts! Sorry, we passed on those. Severs made regular trips to the tables to make sure that customer desires were met as far as the meat course was concerned, and repeated trips to the salad and soup bars were encouraged. The food was absolutely delicious, with a generous application of herbs and spices being the main thing. We may go back!

We ate lunch in a glass covered area where we could look out at the nearby mountains. Unfortunately, the smoke from the BC fires has intensified to the point of raining ash down on Canmore, so our view wasn't as spectacular as it could have been. Combine the smoke with rain clouds, and you have a mess!

The sky had an almost eerie beauty. Of course we knew that the danger was many miles distant.