Tour Blog — Day 8

Hey everyone — as much as you know I like to work a little too hard to find a connection between some whimsical rumination and what we’re doing on tour, my brain just isn’t working that way tonight. I usually get at least one of these nights somewhere near the middle of a tour. Sometimes there doesn’t have to be something bigger to say, I suppose.

It was a fun day, even if it found us dodging some unexpected scheduling rigamarole. The drive up to the Columbia Icefields is an attraction in its own right. If it weren’t for three hours on the bus, I’d almost say the drive alone was worth it, glacier or not. This might be the best day for mountain viewing on the whole trip. All of us sponsors agreed — even having been here before, you’re just not ready for how grand and massive these mountains actually are. There were glacier-fed lakes up there, mountains in the background, rivaling the beauty of Lake Louise. And no smoke today. Just beauty.

When we finally got to Athabasca Glacier — three hours from the hotel, zero cell reception the whole way — it turned into one of those days where sponsors have to think on their feet and singers have to stay flexible. Today gave us both. First, the parking lot was packed with other buses, and ours actually got struck by one of them. No real damage, and our drivers handled it like total professionals. Then we found out we wouldn’t be splitting into groups after all — no glacier group and shopping group, everybody together. Which meant flooding a food court already jammed with a few hundred other tourists. I don’t remember it being this busy last time we came. We rushed everyone through, and somehow everybody got fed.

Up on the glacier, our bus was driven by a hunky — apparently, I don’t see it — Australian kid, about 25 or 26, named Lars. We didn’t hear the end of it all day. Every girl on the trip wanted a picture with him. To hear Delylah Reinert tell it, this guy was Fabio. I just thought he looked a little rough around the edges, but he was a genuinely good tour guide. And the glacier itself was about as awesome as standing on a big block of ice can be.

Back down the mountain, everyone went shopping, and unfortunately the dining room was closed, so we all had to wait until we got back to the hotel to eat. No big deal — heading back the same route in reverse felt like seeing it for the first time. Delylah bought a deck of cards with conversation starters printed on them: “Tell us something a mentor told you that’s stuck with you,” “What’s a trait you admire in someone that you want more of yourself.” Good conversation, better views. We even saw two bears cross the road. Don’t worry — only one of them got Delylah.

Now we’re back in Golden, looking forward to our first performance in Canada tomorrow, followed by a four-hour drive and another performance in Bonners Ferry, ID. Then we’re back in the US. Canada’s been amazing, but I’ll admit — it’s a place I love visiting and then coming home from, back to the good ol’ US of A.