This is the life...

Lake leaving Kamloops
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This morning we have a 8am pick-up for the transfer to the train. We get a fright when we get to the station as there is no train there, thinking we have missed it. I then notice that we beat the train, as I see it backing into the station. Apparently they start their pre-boarding work at another station then bring it over to another one when it is boarding time. Joe and I are first on our carriage.

Today the train is a lot smaller. Yesterday's train was actually 3 trains hooked together - 27 carriages in all. At Kamloops, the train splits into three smaller ones, each heading off in a different direction. Today our train has 6 carriages and an engine. We are in the last carriage, giving us a great viewing area. There is an open area on the lower level of the carriage at the back, which is great for getting fresh air on the ride and taking photos that are not distorted by the windows in the top level dome.

I tawt a saw a brown bear, I did.. I did!

Montain View
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We get some excitement early on in the trip today as a black bear is sighted. All passengers on the train rush to the right side to get a glimpse of this animal. I try my best to grab a shot with my camera, blindly holding the camera up in the air, hopefully aiming in the direction of the bear. Joe is out the back when this happens and I am hoping that he gets a real good shot. After the excitement passes, I check my photo and I can't believe I got a good (enough) shot. Most people got the backside of the bear only, but I managed to get a full side shot of him.

Brown Bear viewed from train
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The views are much the same as the previous day, although today we move into the official Rockies area. There is snow on the top of the mountains here. As the train slowly climbs in altitude, the temperature in the open-air viewing area downstairs gets colder and colder. I went down a couple of times, and found that my fingers start to go numb before long because of the artificial wind chill factor caused by the moving train.

Today we are in the second sitting of the dining room (the carriage is split in half for access to the dining room - the upstairs area seats 72, and the dining room seats 36 - the rest of the area taken up by the carriage kitchen, the restrooms and the outside viewing area. There is more food in store today (if that was possible) as the second sitting gets "snacks" to tide them over until their sitting in the dining room. Coffee and muffin for pre-breakfast, Fruit & croissant, Hot selection and toast and coffee/tea for full breakfast. Then only three hours later, pre-lunch snack with cheese and crackers and local wines, then onto the three course lunch with fresh rolls, soup or salad, hot selection, three small desserts and coffee/tea. Yet another drink service an hour or so later and then chocolates served by the chefs (yesterday it was cookies to take with us to the hotel). I couldn't eat another thing! We are provided with a free gift by our hostesses of a short DVD of our trip, then we sadly disembark the train which has now arrived in Jasper.

River Rapids
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Once again we find we do not have a transfer organised to get to our hotel, so have to find a taxi. This we find without much effort, and on talking to the driver find that it is one of only 3 taxis in the town, so it seems we were lucky to happen upon him. We arrive at Jasper Park Lodge - our accomodation. It is a very large resort, with a large range of activities both for summer and winter. The rooms at this hotel are located in distributed log cabins, and we find we have a short stroll to our room. We are expecting to find our luggage in our room (delivered by Rocky Mountaineer), but this was not the case. we start to fear that our luggage is sitting at the Jasper train station... Finally an hour and a half later our luggage arrives and we feel somewhat relieved.

River winding
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We walk up to the main lodge and decide we don't want much for dinner, but something small would be nice. It's already 8:30pm and very busy, and we end up waiting over 45min for a table. There is a piano player playing requests, and a very large log fire in the open hall area we are sitting in, which is a nice atmosphere. Joe is fading fast and is getting ready to just leave when our meals arrive. We head back to the room and look forward to a sleep-in tomorrow.