Saturday, September 30, 2006

Bear's Paw Bakery


4 Cedar Ave
Jasper, Alberta

"I have really high hopes for this," Brad nodded to his coffee. It'd been a while since we had espresso and along with our power cord collection, we'd left our little italian coffee pot behind. Expectations were high.

Aslin passed over the veggie sunrise sandwich for a pizza pretzel. "Absolutely perfect. Baked with still just a soft touch of chewy.

Ukiah asked the man behind the counter. The sticky buns do NOT have raisins. "Delicious, but too much bun, not enough sticky. The water is mediocre and the napkins feel rushed."

Fiesta colored dishes invited us to stay an hour. A local artist showed his acrylic works- semi-comic brights- sunflowers, bakers, yellow jackets. I finished my coffee and bought a loaf of whole-grain bread. "What's a 'london fog'?"

Who can resist an earl grey tea with steamed milk and a shot of hazelnut? "It's dangerous," winked the man at the counter.

Ukiah raised his eyebrows, "I think you should probably pass. Didn't you have tea before we got here?"

Michael Jackson sang from speakers above the country wood display, "You wanna be starting something, got to be starting something..."

That afternoon I watched the Athabasca river out the window, coaxing Buttercup between 2nd and 3rd gears through the Rockies. I had plenty of energy for our 6-hour drive.

Note- the bakery folks are connected with The Wee Scottish Inn, in town at the weescottishinn@telus.net
I haven't stayed there, but am confident in recommending it. (So long as you invite me too.)