Pink Martini is an American band renowned for its eclectic, cosmopolitan style, blending classic pop, jazz, Latin, big band, and international influences. The group describes itself as a “little orchestra” that emphasizes multicultural connection and inclusion through a glamorous, accessible sound. Founded in 1994 by pianist and bandleader Thomas Lauderdale in Portland, Oregon, Pink Martini has enjoyed global popularity for over 30 years, performing at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Sydney Opera House. This evening, Jeanine and I were invited to join our good friend, Aliza, and another couple to attend their concert in Lexington’s intimate Cary Memorial Hall.

Lauderdale is a flamboyant pianist who, in the photo above, performed briefly in a chicken suit, a nod to recent ICE protests in Portland. Leftmost in the photo is Ari Shapiro, acclaimed radio journalist, cabaret performer, and author, most widely known as a host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Lead singer Storm Large, pictured below, exudes a magnetic stage presence, mixing raw emotional energy, glamor, humor, and vulnerability. She delivered a captivating, uninhibited performance that combined vocal power with theatrical charisma. Each of the other singers and band members, to a person, was an exceptional artist in their own right. We had a great time at the concert, which ended with us on stage dancing in a Conga line.

Earlier in the day (8 am), I had a soccer match in Haverhill, which proved to be a very close match. Although we dominated the run of play and despite numerous opportunities, we struggled to find the back of the net. Our defense held them scoreless, which allowed the one goal we did score to secure the win. I played well despite lingering symptoms from the cold I caught while on vacation.

Initially, Jeanine and I thought we would be happy with a stone dust walkway to our front door. It imparted the casual feel we were after. Having lived with it through four seasons now, we have decided it is not really the right material. When wet, two problems emerge. First, the sand-like stone dust sticks to the bottom of shoes, which then tracks it into the house. Second, it becomes soft and particularly prone to denting from point loads such as a high-heeled shoe or crutch tip. Finally, when using a snowblower to clear the walk, it is very difficult to avoid scraping up material into the augers, bad for the machine and the walkway.

Yesterday, the installation of a bluestone slab walkway started. The large stone slab “bridge” over the river rock river drainage channel remains in place. With any luck, the job will be completed before the forecasted Nor’easter hits us on Sunday afternoon.

Every once in a while, I take an unintentional photograph that holds my interest. This morning, a mystical fog was lifting over the river in front of our house. I decided to photograph it from above with the drone and set out to launch it from a bistro table on the patio. I accidentally snapped the photo above before takeoff and have decided I like it better than the aerial photos I took once airborne.

I have been to Canada several times in my life, but this past week has been the longest stretch of time I have spent in the country. It is said that Canadians are polite, friendly, humble, and community-oriented, with a strong emphasis on respect for others, fairness, and multiculturalism. Based on my experiences here over the past week, I can confirm these generalizations to be correct. I found myself constantly compelled to apologize for the manner in which our administration has been characterizing the country. It is so insulting to suggest that Canada would be better off if they became our 51st state. In fact, we could stand to learn a lot from them. Canada may not be a perfect country, but it is full of truly wonderful people who we are lucky to have as neighbors.

Pictured above is the boarding area inside the Calgary Airport where we waited for our departure. Unlike our flights to get here, our return was uneventful, and we enjoyed sharing stories of our adventure with Maya, who picked us up at Logan Airport.

Thus far on our vacation, we have been fortunate to dodge inclement weather, if not, more than our fair share of cloudy skies. Today, on our drive from Jasper to Calgary, we experienced an hour of rain, an hour of snow, and three hours of clear skies. We stopped in Banff for lunch and to enjoy the Vermilion Lakes area. It has been a wonderful vacation during which we celebrated my 67th birthday and our 35th wedding anniversary. Having both caught colds, we did not do quite as much hiking as we had originally planned but were able to reach more than 90% of our planned destinations. I return with a treasure trove of photographs, only a small fraction of which I have posted here, and the satisfaction of finally visiting a part of the world I have wanted to see forever.

The drive from Banff to Jasper took us about 5 hours with stops at the Sunwapta Falls (above), Athabasca Falls (below), a second visit to Herbert Lake, and an unnamed horseshoe bend in the Athabasca River. Forecasted rain never materialized, and we were bathed in sun for most of the day. Should we get percipitation this evening, it may take the form of snow which could slow us down tomorrow as we make the long trek back to Calgary.

Thirty-five years ago, I had the good sense to marry Jeanine. Some men talk about their “better half” when referring to their wife. Jeanine is my better two-thirds. She is a genuinely kind and wonderful human being, a loving mother, and still a sexy dish. She puts up with me because I am good at fixing things. I consider myself a lucky man and look forward to the many adventures we have yet to share.

We departed our hotel in Banff at 5 am to arrive at Lake Moraine in time for sunrise. Waiting in the bitter cold for the sun to kiss the mountain tops was totally worth it. A light snowfall last night had left the mountains and trees covered with a dusting that made the scene even more magical. What is not shown in this photo are the several hundred other people interested in capturing the exact same moment. I was able to use my tripod on top of a retaining wall to shoot over all the distractions.

By the time we left Lake Moraine, the parking lot at Lake Louise was completely full, so I used my drone to get an aerial view, including the famous Fairmont Chateau.

We decided to spend most of the remainder of the day in Yoho National Park, stopping at Takakkaw Falls and Natural Bridge.

By late afternoon, the light on the Icefields Parkway was not very flattering, so our drive there was mostly a scouting mission for tomorrow’s outing.

Jeanine has been feeling a little under the weather and slept in this morning while I drove from Banff to Calgary to pick up a new drone. When I returned, we enjoyed a leisurely walk about the town, which is nestled between massive peaks and the confluence of the Bow and Spray Rivers.

Later we drove to the Surprise Corner Viewpoint for views of the stunning Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and Bow Falls.

When your drone lands on a highway, there is a good chance it will get run over by a car. Lately, I have gotten lazy and allowed my drone to self-navigate back to its home point, which gets established during take-off. Provided you wait until the drone gets a GPS satellite fix on its location this results in pinpoint accuracy (within inches). Apparently, during my last flight of the day, I did not allow enough time to get the fix before launching. Rather than landing directly in front of our rental car parked on the side of the highway, it landed on the roadway. Even the micro SD memory card was cracked in half and I lost all my aerial photos for the day (adding insult to injury).

Fortunately, I took several land-based photographs during our 6-hour drive from Whitefish, Montana, to Banff, Alberta by way of the Kootenay National Park. We made several stops, including Olive Lake, the Paint Pots, and the Stanley Glacier viewpoint.

For the third time in as many days, I drove to Many Glacier, hoping for clear skies. I timed my arrival for sunrise and captured the image above during a window that lasted 3-4 minutes. Pictured below is Grinnell Lake with just a tiny bit of Grinnell Glacier and the Garden Wall showing beneath the clouds. Jeanine, who seems to have picked up a cold, slept in this morning.

Pictured below, as the sun was rising, is Swiftcurrent Lake in the foreground and Lake Sherbourne in the background

Our plan for the morning was to hike the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail. When we arrived at the Logan Pass trailhead, returning hikers reported zero visibility due to the clouds, so we opted to hike the Trail of the Cedars and the Avalanche Lake Trail instead. All in, we covered 6 miles with 750 feet of elevation gain; worth every step for the idyllic views.

Virginia Falls is a striking 50-foot waterfall located along one of the park’s most scenic trails, a 3.8-mile round-trip, with roughly 500 feet of elevation gain. It also passes Saint Mary Falls and several smaller cascades. It was the perfect destination for another cloudy, drizzly day.

While picking up food supplies, we encountered a group of four tricked-out Mercedes-Benz Sprinter-based RVs that we have been crossing paths with around the park.

Sometimes when traveling, you just have to roll with the punches. When planning this trip, I optimized the timing for fall foliage, missing only one soccer game, and allowing us to attend the Conantum Harvest Supper, the latter pushing us back a week more than what would have been optimal. What I did not realize is that on October 1st almost everything in this part of the world shuts down for the winter season. This includes the hotel where we just spent the night, the Carway Border Crossing we are relying on to get back into the States for our visit to Glacier National Park, the Many Glacier Hotel, access to the Two Medicine Lake area, and the restaurant where we had dinner. Although we just squeaked under the bar today, the outlook for tomorrow is questionable, especially in light of the likely government shutdown which could potentially close all national parks.

Uncertainty notwithstanding, we made the best of the day despite overcast skies and intermittent drizzle. We drove to Many Glacier and hiked around Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine and then drove to Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun Road, which on this day would have been more aptly named Driving In Clouds Road. We found slightly better weather as we ventured further south to the Two Medicine Lake area where we hiked to Paradise Point.

We had dinner at the Cattle Baron Supper Club in Babb, where I was served a rib-eye steak the size of Montana, one of the few menu items still available on this, their last night of operation for the season. Between Jeanine and me, we ate about half and saved the rest for dinner tomorrow. We are staying at a cozy little cabin near Babb where we slept well after a long day of driving and hiking.

When I booked our travel to Canada several months ago, we had a 5-hour direct flight from Boston to Calgary on WestJet Airlines. When we arrived at Logan yesterday, we discovered that our flight had been cancelled and replaced with a flight to Vancouver, followed by one to Calgary at 5am this morning. There was nothing to be done about the predicament and we wound up sleeping in a waiting area at the Vancouver airport between flights.

Not the best start to my 67th birthday. Fortunately, the rest of the day was wonderful. We drove three hours from Calgary to the Waterton Lakes National Park where we stayed at the Prince of Wales hotel. The hotel is a historic landmark perched on a bluff above Waterton townsite, offering sweeping views of Upper Waterton Lake and the surrounding Rocky Mountains. Opened in 1927, the hotel was built by the Great Northern Railway in a dramatic Swiss-chalet style, and has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada since 1992. We arrived shortly before noon and paused to enjoy a charcuterie board which was more like a full meal.

Between the three-hour time difference and lack of sleep last night, we decided to let our rental car do the “hiking” today. We drove to Cameron Lake on a road that just got better with every turn and returned to town for a visit to Cameron Falls.

In 2017, the Kenow Wildfire, triggered by a lightning strike, consumed 100,000 acres, half of which was within the Waterton Lakes National Park boundary. The fire destroyed the visitor center, campground, staff housing, and much of the hiking trail network, while forcing full evacuation of the Waterton townsite. Although major infrastructure was lost, proactive firefighting measures saved the Prince of Wales Hotel and mitigated even greater damage to the town itself. It may not be apparent at first glance, but all of the trees in the photo below, save a few dozen in the lower left corner were killed in the fire.