Took the scenic route 1A to Lake Louise. Lovely forest, great POTENTIAL for seeing bears and stuff. Maximum speed limit is 90kph - this is slow. Experimented with cruise control later in day.
 

The approach to Lake Louise is absolutely stupendous. The 'village' as we found out later, is at the bottom of the valley near the Information Centre and shop/garage complex. As you approach this you see at the top of the valley a huge glacier. We followed the road signs to 'Lake Louise' to find the lake and have breakfast. At the top is indeed the lake, which is a gorgeous green/blue nestled just underneath aforementioned glacier. The only other things that were there - one huge hotel and thousands of tourists taking pictures (ie no breakfast).
 

From there on it was non-stop to the Columbia Icefield Centre and the Athabasca glacier trip.
 

Interesting talk about glaciers, hanging glaciers, cirques etc and then stop in middle and we all got out for 15 minutes to walk around. Photo shoot of us on ice, views, Mary eating ice, me by wheel of bus etc. Absolutely incredible (and a cold wind off the glacier to boot).

Journey down off the glacier, more facts, geography etc, then smooth transition back to coach and the Centre. All seemed to be students, but very professional - some quaint French accents. Back at the Centre it was drinks and sticky buns, then the stroll round the exhibits. As usual I finished first, then the girls. We think Mary went round twice, once in English, second in French.
 

Drove around a couple of times to approach the main junction from several directions - just to practice my left and right turns of course. Eventually had to ask a local (as we were now in the suburbs with real housing and no shops) where Tekarra Lodge was. Retraced our steps and found it on the original road we came in on. And yes, Katie was right, it would have been quicker to cross the railway lines like the man said!

The lodges are little log cabins with a small table, small kitchen area, small bathroom, single bedroom (Katie bagged it), curtained off alcove with double bed (Lucy bagged it) and a double bed in the corner off the main room (we got it - nothing else left). Classed as a family cabin or quad. Pink curtains with tie backs and the windows that opened had fly screens. Beautiful views from front porch. Only 20 yards away from the Athabasca River in a pine wood.
 

Everyone slept well - and I was actually cool and comfy.

OOPS - forgot the most important part of the day!! After the meal, as we were all back in the cabin, a minor catastrophe occurred. Had occasion to take the Mickey out of Katie (apparently wrongly accusing her of passing wind in her room). She rushed out and stubbed her toe on the (substantial) leg of the settee. She cried, she laughed (with us it must be said), there were tears - there was a poorly toe. Luckily Mary is a First Aider so an Ice Pack was applied for 10 minutes - not 9, not 11, but 10! Still sore to touch - which I proved repeatedly. Katie was convinced she had broken it as she had "heard a crack". Now, I had done the same thing earlier (without the accusation of flatulence) and only sworn and got on with unpacking. So we laughed it off as teenage hysteria. However, next morning it (the toe) was slightly swollen and on close examination appeared to be mis-shapen - OK so it is broken. First Aider Mary stated that they don't do anything with broken toes (Borne out later by the Chemist in Jasper) Katie can still walk OK with a little discomfort, so we will carry on with the day's activities - now read on.