To Calgary and First Day in Calgary

From Moose Jaw to Calgary was an easy 400 mile drive. In the prairies the roads were straight with a fast speed limit. The granaries nicknamed the “cathedrals of the prairies” did stand tall and magnificent against the blue sky.

Saw another largest picture along the road, this one was for the largest teepee. Sorry there is no picture of the sign, it was read and then disappeared in the dust of our speeding car. The picture of the teepee itself made up for missing the largest sign.


Calgary houses a little less than 1 million people. As we began to approach the city, traffic increased. The city was driving friendly with good signs and accommodating drivers for when we had to cross over several lanes of highway or were trying to make a bad turn. There was good downtown parking. The Sandman Hotel was great. Our room was on the 21st floor with windows on two sides of the building. It provided a great view of city. The location could not have been better, right in the center of downtown. This downtown was vibrant, even after work hours. After checking in and settling the car, we explored our little city niche.

The downtown area was growing, there was a lot of oil and banking money in Alberta. We saw signs of new construction projects all over the downtown area. There was a map store in the area that I wanted to visit but we were not able to find the time when it was open. One place we did visit was a company founded in 1670. How many companies can make that claim? Our shopping excursion there was a disappointment; we did not find a large outdoor selection. Hudson Bay Company brought ideas of clothes and necessities for the local environs. The beaver skins and hats were missing as well.

The winter weather is supposedly rough here; there is a series of glassed in walkways between buildings. You can catch a glimpse of one at the end of the street. This street was closed off to vehicle traffic. There were a lot of restaurants with sidewalk patios and on Day 2 in Calgary we ate at one of those restaurants.

Calgary has a small Chinatown area, about 2 square blocks. We were looking for a cultural center that supposedly had a beautiful tile dome. Our first exploration of this area, the night we arrived, did not turn up anything. We thought that we had toured all of Chinatown. The next morning as we were returning from getting the car oiled and tires rotated we passed a building that we had been looking for. A quick visit inside confirmed that we found the Dr. Henry Fok Cultural Hall. The ceiling was impressive.


That evening when the other members of our Banff/Jasper party had joined us we went out to dinner, at Joey Tomatos. (Five others had flown into Calgary to share the experience with us.) We were settled outside, the temperature was very comfortable. The outdoor seating area was full of flowers. All of a sudden the rains fell and fell. We thought that we could outlast it since we were under the umbrella, that was a joke. We raced inside as the flood waters descended. All the restaurant staff tried to protect the outdoor cushions from the rain and accommodate all the patio sitters inside. It was an exciting dinner. By the time we had finished our food, the rain was gone. These sudden summer thunder showers are unheard of in California. This was an exciting experience for me.