Banff - Day 2

Our second day we really used the day productively. It was the day of the Oracle sponsored activity. This was an activity we were able to choose from a list of things and Oracle would pay for it. We chose to do a 2 hour horse back riding - correction - I chose the horse back riding, Lorne was fine with whatever I chose.
After eating a big breakfast - Oracle was kind enough to buy breakfast all the days we were there, we headed off to the bus that took us to the stables for our ride. It was fun - we saw some amazing scenery, which I attempted to catch on camera but am afraid I didn't get good shots as it is very difficult to take pictures while riding and keeping control of a horse. Yes - the water is that blue - the glacial water that runs off the mountains contain sediments, that when mixed with the river water, turn that brilliant blue. The water is super clear too - you can see all the way to the bottom - made me want to swim in there! The problem is, that glacial water is super cold!After the ride - which we recovered from very quickly - we showered, got dressed and headed to Sulphur Mountain to ride the Gondola up to the top. This was amazing. We ate lunch at a Cafeteria at the top and enjoyed the glorious views. It struck me that if you visit a place like this, it is impossible to not believe in a supreme Creator, God. This majesty does not happen by accident. It was marvelous to see this beauty - to say the least. The pictures do not do it justice. We could see our hotel from the top, the Bow River, and the entire Valley. They say on a clear day you can see 90 miles - and this day it was a clear day.After coming down from the top of the mountain, we headed downtown for a carriage ride through Banff. It was relaxing and nice to see the town in a slow intimate way. We were in the carriage a leisurely 30 minutes and afterwards, we enjoyed an ice cream at Cows - Canada's best ice cream (or so they claim). It was very good, but not having tasted all the ice cream in Canada, I cannot with assurance say it was the best.That evening, Oracle sponsored a Denim and Diamonds ball out on a field behind the hotel. They had more BBQ food - which was good but more of the same as we had had the day before. They also had a live band that played covers and we got to dance the night away. We had a great time dancing and watching others dance. I definitely could have danced all night and it felt like the party went by very quickly.After saying good night to our new friends (at least new to me) - we went back to our stuffy, hot, hotel room and went to sleep.