It ain't no Dirty Dancin'

You know that scene in Dirty Dancing when Baby discovers the staff bar and walks in amidst girating, sweating bodies and meets the lovely Patrick Swayze? I have to admit that when I moved to Lake Louise, I was expecting evening upon evening of gyrating bodies of my own. Alas, not quite. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Canadian Rockies, Lake Louise is a tiny ski town in Alberta, 45 minutes West of Banff - it's the typical tourist town, filled with Japanese tour groups who do the tour between Vancouver to Calgary in 2 days flat and ski bums who smoke too much weed.

Leaving Ontario post-uni, hubby (then mere bfriend) and I backed out of my parents' driveway to begin the drive cross-Canada and never looked back. I remember feeling elated, so freakin' excited to FINALLY get away. Funny, we never even discussed when we would be back. It was just understood that it was just not an option (oddly - we never actually discussed getting married or having kids either. Maybe we need to work on communication?!?).

We both worked at Chateau Lake Louise (yes, the grand one in all the photos) - In the 3 years we were there, I worked Banquets, Front Desk and Concierge. Hubby worked in Food Stores - the warehouse where all the food & liquor arrives for the 5 restaurants. It was funny, the 'boys in food stores' got to all wear black head to toe and everyone was intimidated by them. I used to love sneaking into Food Stores and stealing rasberries from the giant freezers... It also meant I had an 'in' with the Executive Chef - I was the only waitress he didn't make cry on a daily basis. Every day, I would have lunch with the Food Stores boys in the staff caf - it was 5 guys dressed head to toe in black and me, dressed in my heritage uniform - think LARGE burgundy skirt, frilly white top, burgundy vest (always attractive) and a flowered necktie. I was the envy of all - or so I thought...

On days off, we went hiking, skiing, snowshoeing or just hung out with roomates (we had to live in staff accommodation with 4 others). Yes, we did drink quite a bit and yes, there may have been some drugs. Once a week, we would make the trek to Banff (45 minutes drive away) to buy some over-priced groceries, treat ourselves to lunch at St. James' Gate (yummy brie & strawberry sandwiches and potato, leek and ham soup - I can still taste it....Delish!). True fact - if you needed to buy underwear, you had to drive to Calgary - 3 hours away! Banff was filled with Canadiana stores and souvenir shops. After 3 years, driving 3 hours to buy underwear and paying $5 for a bag of chips got old. Hubby and I packed up, and ended up here, in Vancouver (well, there was a 3 month stint in Thailand but that's another post).

Kris - hope this was enough to let your mind wander - your turn!