Back to Canada

Last Thursday Pat and I left for the airport bright and early for our short trip back to Canada. Anyone who knows me, knows I HATE flying. But, having Pat with me seems to calm me down. The flight from Boston to Toronto is a nice short one. I should also mention that Thursday seems to be the best day to travel. Pearson airport was dead and so was customs. Pat and I also enjoyed our in-flight movies. It's always nice to sit next to each other but watch completely different movies...best of both worlds I say. He watched Robin Hood and I caught up on Sex and the City 2. I never saw it in theaters and it actually turned out to be pretty good....just not very plane appropriate....hem hem.

We landed in Calgary and went straight to the passport office to renew our passports...where we didn't have to wait very long at all. Surprising I know! Our plans that day could not have gone any smoother. That night we had a delicious dinner with Pat's family in Calgary.

The next morning we woke up to snow! Which was really no surprise hehe. Pat's parents drove down from Edmonton to meet us and then it was off to Banff. My CGA grad was at the Banff Springs Hotel and it made for a nice little getaway! We stayed at the hotel and felt pampered all weekend. Friday night we had dinner at the Bow Valley Grill in the hotel and it was yummy. The dessert buffet was especially delicious.

After dinner we wondered around the massive hotel and eventually found the ballroom where the ceremony and banquet would be held the next day. It's a good thing we went the night before, otherwise I would have been late in the morning. It took us about 15 minutes to walk inside to get to the conference center. It was a little convoluted, but eventually we did find it. We could have just walked outside but it was cold and not as fun.

Pat and I also walked around the grounds of the hotel to do a little night photography:

Saturday morning we were up early for my graduation ceremony. Apparently there were more than 1200 people at the ceremony. It was nicely put together and it definitely exceeded my expectations. After the ceremony my ladies from CRA and I had a little photo shoot with our new certificates. For lunch we went to The Bison in Banff and then for a long swim in heated outdoor pool at the hotel...it was divine. 

 

That night Pat and I went to the CGA banquet. The food was delicious and they had a harpist and a live band. It was a fun night and it was so nice to catch up with my buddies from CRA that I hadn't seen since the move. I miss them!

Having a little too much fun

Feeling good

Sunday morning I wasn't feeling as good as I should....so after a delicious brunch at the hotel I went for a nice swim in the pool again. At the pool I ran into one of my previous tax instructors, who I ran into the day before at the pool (I guess we both really like swimming). We had a nice long chat and then it was time to get ready to check out.

After check out we headed to Peyto Lake for a hike. This lake is popular because of it's bright turquoise colour. The hike and views were amazing. After our hike we stared to head back to Calgary.

Peyto Lake

Whoa bear!

During our drive back to Calgary we stopped so Pat could take a few more shots:

We stayed in Calgary for the evening before flying back to Boston the next morning. In Toronto we missed our flight because we were stuck in customs. But I now have a working visa and we were put on the next flight to Boston. So it all worked out!

What a great weekend!