Anyone going on the July 12th departure?
Hi,
Just curious to see if any of my fellow travelers are here! I'm looking forward to the trip; it will be my first Tauk trip...and my first tour in a very long time.
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Hi,
Just curious to see if any of my fellow travelers are here! I'm looking forward to the trip; it will be my first Tauk trip...and my first tour in a very long time.
Comments
Hi Traveler_JH, I am not your July 12th departure, but wanted to say that back in July 2005, we did this tour with Tauck and it was our first trip with them also. My husband was concerned the he would not want to “be on a bus full of strangers”, but after the trip he could not stop telling everyone what a wonderful trip this was. We loved the trip so much, that now 21 years later we want to go back, so we are going on the Grand Canadian Rocky trip towards the end of this July. In between we traveled with Tauck going to different places, but always love going to Canada.
Back in 2005 this tour started in Calgary and we were able to go to the Calgary Stampede before the tour started. I see that if you arrive early, Tauck uses the Westin Calgary, which is where we stayed. This year the Stampede is July 3rd to July 12th. It is a huge rodeo and was a lot of fun.
Hi Susan - thank you for the reply! It’s nice to hear that this trip has a good, long history of satisfied customers! And, yes, I am arriving two days early and have a ticket to the Stampede. I was just looking up the Evening Show to see about a ticket to it, as well, but I definitely have a seat with some shade for the rodeo.
I hope you enjoy your trip in July. I have been to Vancouver; spent a week there back in October 2009, and I loved it! As part of that trip I also did an overnight in a Victoria and went to Butchart Gardens. It was wonderful! Tea at the Fairmont was lovely, too, if you have time.I’ve always wanted to go back, and looked at all the various itineraries, but I have limited time off. So I’m just focusing on the Rockies for this trip, as I’ve wanted to see this area for years!
As part of the Grand Canadian Rockies tour we visited Victoria. The gardens are stunning and, yes, I also highly recommend the afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel and the museum across the street. We then took a float plane back to Vancouver. We enjoyed the overall tour so much that we took it again years later. I hope to do it for a third time.
Have a wonderful trip.
Ohhh! I am really looking forward to seeing Butchart Gardens, but not too crazy about the float plane ride to Victoria. It will be a short flight so I can almost hold my breath! Our itinerary does include tea at the Fairmont Empress, so I am looking forward to that also. And I have a little story about the Calgary Stampede when we went in 2005. As we were looking for a place to watch the parade, a man asked if I was looking for a seat and I replied yes. He said he was with the local Rotary organization and 2 people cancelled, so he had 2 seats under the bridge (shade)where we could sit! After we sat down, he told the crowd that we were from NY and everybody should give us a big HOWDY! They were so welcoming and gave us juice boxes and donuts. Then at the Stampede we wanted to have the prime rib dinner they offered so we waited in a little line. The hostess told the couple in front of us that if the four of us wanted to sit together, she could seat us right away. Sure, we all said. They were an older couple and very nice. The husband explained he had a box for the events at the Stampede and he owned the GMC dealership nearby. He told us we could sit there which was so nice, but we already had good reserved seats. The chuck wagon races were very cool! We find the people in Canada very welcoming.
The float plane was one of the highlights of the tour
Sussan - I was apprehensive of taking the float plane but my fears were quickly alleviated when I saw the beautiful Vancouver skyline. The water landing was so very smooth. Such a wonderful experience.
Ok, that is good to hear! When we did the Spirit of the West tour, there were several small plane rides that made me nervous. I’m not sure why, but they make me nauseous and when the pilot looks old without a co-pilot, I get nervous. I will take some ginger and enjoy the scenery. Thanks for the encouragement.
Yes! I always travel with ginger.
Susan, that is a cute Stampede story. I bought tickets for the rodeo and the evening show, The less expensive, but still good, seats were getting to be difficult to find for the evening show. I didn’t want to spend a ton in case I decide not to go back in the evening. I got the rodeo ticket a while back and my seat should be shaded.
The small planes are an adventure! I’ve only taken one once, between islands in the Caribbean, but I was nervous. Like kfnknfzk noted, once the scenery was visible, my fears went away. I’m looking forward to the helicopter ride on the Best of tour. I’m nervous about the white water rafting and wondering if I’d prefer the “easy float” option.
Traveler_JH, I think we both are going to have a lot of fun! Just the atmosphere of the Stampede is fun. The whole city of Calgary really gets into it by making it look like an old western town. We will both be on some adventures with flying and rafting. Helicopters are interesting, but not my favorite. The white water rafting will be great! I am sure they take special care of Tauck people. When we did one in Utah (with Tauck), the current was not running very fast. A long time ago, we did an Alaskan cruise and to get to one of the excursions, they took us on one of those big inflatable engine powered boats. The guy was driving it really fast and we were bouncing on the waves. I thought I was going to bounce out of the boat, but in between screaming, I was laughing. Some things just have to be experienced.
Fun travels for the both of you! I hope you will post your critiques of your experiences afterwards.