We made it to the Rockies !!!
The drive as you approach from Hinton towards Jasper is beautiful. Within minutes of approaching the mountains we were greeted by several big horn sheep along the side of the road, on the rocks! We stopped at Jasper Lake and walked in. It was very shallow and pretty cold but you either got numb and couldn’t feel it or got used to it. We were able to wade to the middle of the lake without it going past our knees! We got a full panorama of mountains surrounding us! We also saw many elk grazing.
We stayed in Wabasso Campground for three nights, which we were told had the most bear sightings of all the campgrounds in the park, how delightful! We had a quick dinner and then went to Maligne Canyon, for a small walk/hike. There are beautiful waterfalls that you cross over bridges. The canyon itself was pretty amazing.
We had a little sleep in and French toast at our campsite for breakfast then drove into town to get some info and scope out the laundromat. We drove about 40mins to Athabaska Falls. The falls are very big and powerful, th water comes from the Athabaska ice glacier which is part of the Columbia Icefields. The scenery and water here is so beautiful.
On our drive back to Jasper we saw a huge bear walking along the side of the road about 15feet away! It was pretty neat!!
We did a few loads of laundry while the kids wandered around town and headed black to our campsite for dinner and campfire. The Athabaska River flows about 50ft away from our campsite so evenings and mornings walks there are beautiful.
On our second full day in Jasper we drove past the Columbia Ice fields and did a short hike called Parker Ridge, which was recommended to us by friends. It was spectacular!! It is about 40mins to a ridge, from there you can see the Saskatchewan glacier and the start of the North Saskatchewan river. It is a view only scene by hiking, very serene and stunning. We hiked along the ridge for a while until we reached the end, where far down below was a little lake with that Rocky Mountain Aqua blue water. If you are ever in the area Parker Ridge hike is as a must. You can be quick or spend 2-3hours, either way it is beautiful.
On our way back to our campsite we stopped at the Athabaska Glacier. We walked to the toe of the glacier and were able to observe how much it has receded. We were also able to see the Snow Dome. The peak where the ice melt flows in 3 directions to feed rivers flowing North, East and West, the Columbia, Saskatchewan and Athabaska rivers. Pretty neat.
Our last day, we got up early and head into town to get all cleaned up for our visit with CCIF. We showered up, did some last minute wandering and starts our drive towards Banff where we were meeting for dinner.
The first hour of the drive was a little rough, there had been a fatal car accident the previous day very close to where we saw the bear, and it was within 10 minutes of us being there. So, it was very unsettling. We passed the accidents scene and were feeling very grateful. This was the second accident we had missed by a matter of minutes.
Our first stop was Peyto Lake, which is so incredibly beautiful. If you can ignore the crowds of people and just take in the beauty, it is stunning. We walked around a little bit there before continuing on to Lake Louise. We wanted to take the girls just to see the Lake and hotel grounds. Again, with the caveat of the crowds, it is stunningly beautiful. We decided that next time we would visit the lake very early and hike up to a tea house well before the crowds set in!
We finally made it to Banff, and we were on time...even a few minutes early, so we walked around before meeting Craig, Cristal and Flannery for dinner. We had a delicious dinner, I think this was only our 2nd dinner out and with the company it was extra delicious. We walked around town a little and took a stroll along the abou River. Edie driving to Canmore for the night. We will be spending 5 nights with CCIF, including 3 nights in Kelowna where Iona is going to University.
One thing I forgot to mention is that the smoke from forest fires have started to set in. We noticed it on our third wfternoon in Jasper. That smoke was coming from over 400km away, in Banff, the smoke is coming from fires much closer, from the Invermere area.
Friday, August 24, 2018
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Day #7 - Elk Island National Park
We ate breakfast at the campsite, all took advantage of the showers at the Watrous campground except for Daddy and packed up the site. We were out around 10:00 am.
Our first stop was downtown Saskatoon where we went to a bakery and drove through the Saskatchewan University campus. Then we kept on driving through the prairies and stopped in North Battleford for groceries and lunch.
Right on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan, there is the town of Lloydminster. Also, the 4th meridian is there, there are four big red poles and apparently is is the world’s longest survey line.
Once in Alberta, it was still prairie, but we started to see more little hills and rises in the terrain.
We stopped in Vegreville to see the world’s largest Ukrainian Easter egg! It is called a pysanka. It is intricately decorated with designs and it rotates with the wind. Very cool!
Then a bit further down, in Mundare, we got gas which happened to be right across the street from the world’s biggest sausage!!!
Pulling into the park around 6, there were Texas gates entering and making enclosure for the wildlife and seperating them from the campground part of the park. We drove around looking for wildlife and saw 2 bison. One of them was right on the side of the road and the other was grazing around the park employees’ house, scratching against the tree. We also saw a few pairs of deer, some young calf’s with their white spots, as well as a coyote on the side of the road. We went for a little walk on a trail in search of moose, but only saw tracks and poop.
Our campsite is really only meant for an RV because it floods with rain and it had rained today, so it was flooded. We just barely fit our tent on a small flat patch of grass in the middle of our campsite and neighbouring one. It was pretty funny!
Then in the morning before leaving the park for Jasper, we went on another Canadian Safari! We saw a herd of about 40 bison, some of which were young calves, grazing, rolling around in the dirt and scratching.
Once we got on the road, we stopped in Old Strathcona, Edmonton. It is a older, little quaint part of town with stores and market.
We started to see more trees and hills and got our first views of the Rockies!
Our first stop was downtown Saskatoon where we went to a bakery and drove through the Saskatchewan University campus. Then we kept on driving through the prairies and stopped in North Battleford for groceries and lunch.
Right on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan, there is the town of Lloydminster. Also, the 4th meridian is there, there are four big red poles and apparently is is the world’s longest survey line.
Once in Alberta, it was still prairie, but we started to see more little hills and rises in the terrain.
We stopped in Vegreville to see the world’s largest Ukrainian Easter egg! It is called a pysanka. It is intricately decorated with designs and it rotates with the wind. Very cool!
Then a bit further down, in Mundare, we got gas which happened to be right across the street from the world’s biggest sausage!!!
Pulling into the park around 6, there were Texas gates entering and making enclosure for the wildlife and seperating them from the campground part of the park. We drove around looking for wildlife and saw 2 bison. One of them was right on the side of the road and the other was grazing around the park employees’ house, scratching against the tree. We also saw a few pairs of deer, some young calf’s with their white spots, as well as a coyote on the side of the road. We went for a little walk on a trail in search of moose, but only saw tracks and poop.
Our campsite is really only meant for an RV because it floods with rain and it had rained today, so it was flooded. We just barely fit our tent on a small flat patch of grass in the middle of our campsite and neighbouring one. It was pretty funny!
Then in the morning before leaving the park for Jasper, we went on another Canadian Safari! We saw a herd of about 40 bison, some of which were young calves, grazing, rolling around in the dirt and scratching.
Once we got on the road, we stopped in Old Strathcona, Edmonton. It is a older, little quaint part of town with stores and market.
We started to see more trees and hills and got our first views of the Rockies!
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Day #6 - Dead Sea of Canada
Today’s plan is to make it to the Dead Sea of Canada.
We decided to pack up our campsite early and drive to Audy Lake in search of roaming Bison. We saw some deer, a coyote, a beautiful big bald eagle and finally saw about 8 bison roaming in an a small opening!! We spent some time watching them and looking st their enormity using our binoculars. Early wake up call paid off!
We made it to Saskatchewan “Land of living skies”. Passed the 3000km mark of our trip.
Thankfully we gained an hour as the drive was taking much longer than we anticipated. The guy at the gas station did not give the impression that he knew anything about time zones or time change!!
We FINALLY arrived in Watrous, pronounced “Wa-truss”, parked at our campsite and walked directly to the beach. It was cold, but really cool how we just floated in the water. Even Grant could float. Imagine the Kali’s treatment to le spa Nordic, but FREE!
Day #5- Winnipeg to Riding Mountain Provincial Park
Day 5- Winnipeg to Riding Mountain Provincial Park
The drive to the campground was only 2.5-3 hours long so we spent the morning and early afternoon in Winnipeg. The kids went swimming at the hotel while Amma went for a run. Then we checked out and walked around. We stopped at the food trucks for lunch, Maya got a delicious “sweet and heat” grilled cheese that had mango salsa and jalapeños! Continuing to the legislative building and walked inside, it was all marble and stone, beautiful and stunning! At the base the stairs inside, there were two huge bison statues made of stone.
We continued past the Louis Riel statue, founder of Manitoba, where the kids spent time sliding down the railings! We walked over to Baked Expectations, a cake shop, yummy! The highlight was Jaida’s Tia Maria cake, made of chocolate cookies and whipped cream!
On the way out of town, we stopped at the Assiniboine Zoo to see the Winnie-the-bear statue and headed to Riding Mountain PP. There were lots of fields of yellow canola and many long trains as well as grain elevators. Before the campground, we stopped at the giant elk statue in Onanole.
The campground has many bear warnings and while entering there was a bear trap! Don’t worry, we didn’t see any. We had our first official “homemade” camping dinner of cheesy arribiata tomato sauce pasta! It was also our first campfire! We had s’mores and Natasha played the guitar for us!
We hit the 2500km into our trip!
The drive to the campground was only 2.5-3 hours long so we spent the morning and early afternoon in Winnipeg. The kids went swimming at the hotel while Amma went for a run. Then we checked out and walked around. We stopped at the food trucks for lunch, Maya got a delicious “sweet and heat” grilled cheese that had mango salsa and jalapeños! Continuing to the legislative building and walked inside, it was all marble and stone, beautiful and stunning! At the base the stairs inside, there were two huge bison statues made of stone.
We continued past the Louis Riel statue, founder of Manitoba, where the kids spent time sliding down the railings! We walked over to Baked Expectations, a cake shop, yummy! The highlight was Jaida’s Tia Maria cake, made of chocolate cookies and whipped cream!
On the way out of town, we stopped at the Assiniboine Zoo to see the Winnie-the-bear statue and headed to Riding Mountain PP. There were lots of fields of yellow canola and many long trains as well as grain elevators. Before the campground, we stopped at the giant elk statue in Onanole.
The campground has many bear warnings and while entering there was a bear trap! Don’t worry, we didn’t see any. We had our first official “homemade” camping dinner of cheesy arribiata tomato sauce pasta! It was also our first campfire! We had s’mores and Natasha played the guitar for us!
We hit the 2500km into our trip!
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Day #4- Thunder Bay to Winnipeg
Day 4- Thunder Bay to Winnipeg
We woke up at our campsite and it had rained overnight so packing up the tent was wet. After a quick breakfast at the site, we went to Robin’s Donuts because we had seen many driving in town yesterday and had ecided it was a must to go there before leaving! We drove through Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. They have a bike shack on campus, basically a huge bike parking enclosed place, great! There were a few newer and nice buildings.
Just before Dryden, we entered the Central Standard Time Zone! We gained one hour!
In Dryden we stopped for,lunch at a HuskyStop and gas and then as we were leaving we saw a giant moose statue and a sheep outside a wool store.
During our lunch, we noticed an older couple who kept staring at us. The girls were at one table, being girls who had been driving for 3 days, silly but not annoying. Grant and I were at a table next to them, chatting and laughing at, with, them. After the couple finished their lunch, the gentleman came over to our table and said “there is something VERY wrong with your family.” We were a little taken a back until a few moments later he said “you are a family ACTUALLY talking to each other. No devices, you’re all talking. You don’t see that anymore!” We chatted with them for a while, turns out they are from Parksville BC heading to Timmons, both of us four days into our trips! We will be visiting Parksville later in our trip.
On to Kenora. In Kenora, still in Ontario, we stopped by the beautiful waterfront at Husky the Muskie, a GIANT fish.
We finally got out of Ontario and were welcomed by the blue Manitoba sign!
Entering Winnipeg we noticed the land getting flatter and flatter with less and less tress. It was replaced with more and more yellow canola fields, wheat and other grains/crops. We passed the Center of Canada about 9 km east of Winnipeg.
We stayed at the Fairmont Winnipeg, a big upgrade from camping and Canada’s Best Value Inn! We walked to the Forks for dinner. On the way we walked by the Human Rights Museum, a beautiful building.
Jaida volunteered to be the one to sleep on the floor in her sleeping bag!
We woke up at our campsite and it had rained overnight so packing up the tent was wet. After a quick breakfast at the site, we went to Robin’s Donuts because we had seen many driving in town yesterday and had ecided it was a must to go there before leaving! We drove through Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. They have a bike shack on campus, basically a huge bike parking enclosed place, great! There were a few newer and nice buildings.
Just before Dryden, we entered the Central Standard Time Zone! We gained one hour!
In Dryden we stopped for,lunch at a HuskyStop and gas and then as we were leaving we saw a giant moose statue and a sheep outside a wool store.
During our lunch, we noticed an older couple who kept staring at us. The girls were at one table, being girls who had been driving for 3 days, silly but not annoying. Grant and I were at a table next to them, chatting and laughing at, with, them. After the couple finished their lunch, the gentleman came over to our table and said “there is something VERY wrong with your family.” We were a little taken a back until a few moments later he said “you are a family ACTUALLY talking to each other. No devices, you’re all talking. You don’t see that anymore!” We chatted with them for a while, turns out they are from Parksville BC heading to Timmons, both of us four days into our trips! We will be visiting Parksville later in our trip.
On to Kenora. In Kenora, still in Ontario, we stopped by the beautiful waterfront at Husky the Muskie, a GIANT fish.
We finally got out of Ontario and were welcomed by the blue Manitoba sign!
Entering Winnipeg we noticed the land getting flatter and flatter with less and less tress. It was replaced with more and more yellow canola fields, wheat and other grains/crops. We passed the Center of Canada about 9 km east of Winnipeg.
We stayed at the Fairmont Winnipeg, a big upgrade from camping and Canada’s Best Value Inn! We walked to the Forks for dinner. On the way we walked by the Human Rights Museum, a beautiful building.
Jaida volunteered to be the one to sleep on the floor in her sleeping bag!
Day #3 - Lake Superior Provincial Park to Thunder Bay
Day 3 - Lake Superior Prov. Park to Thunder Bay
We had a relaxing morning starting with coffee and hot chocolate by the water. Our campsite was along Lake Superior, very beautiful and calm. We had a pancake breakfast and packed up to make our way to Wawa to see the BIG GOOSE!
While at the Big Goose, we met two cyclists who’d left Victoria June 14th, headed for Halifax. We gave them some snacks, Grant and them exchanged stories from his cycle trip almost 20 years ago. They mentioned seeing a guy who was WALKING across Canada. He had left Victoria in February and was heading to St John’s!!! Amazing.
As we rolled out of Wawa, about 20kms away, we spotted a guy walking along the highway, we rolled down the windows told we’d heard about him and gave him a big thumbs up!
White River. Have you heard of Winnie the Pooh? Well, Winnie was purchased in White River. There is a statue here, but close to the statue there is a GIANT thermometer! White River is apparently the coldest city in Canada. According to who exactly? We don’t know!!
Thunder Bay. Terry Fox monument. Beautiful. The grounds are beautiful, the statue is inspiring, the view is stunning.
We had a little malfunction with our GPS...GPS Jaida! It her defence we were all distract d as we left the Terry Fox monument, so the 5 min drive to our campsite turned into about 25. We had a good chuckle. Up until that moment GPS Jaida had been doing a fantastic job of guiding us to our destinations!
We had a relaxing morning starting with coffee and hot chocolate by the water. Our campsite was along Lake Superior, very beautiful and calm. We had a pancake breakfast and packed up to make our way to Wawa to see the BIG GOOSE!
While at the Big Goose, we met two cyclists who’d left Victoria June 14th, headed for Halifax. We gave them some snacks, Grant and them exchanged stories from his cycle trip almost 20 years ago. They mentioned seeing a guy who was WALKING across Canada. He had left Victoria in February and was heading to St John’s!!! Amazing.
As we rolled out of Wawa, about 20kms away, we spotted a guy walking along the highway, we rolled down the windows told we’d heard about him and gave him a big thumbs up!
White River. Have you heard of Winnie the Pooh? Well, Winnie was purchased in White River. There is a statue here, but close to the statue there is a GIANT thermometer! White River is apparently the coldest city in Canada. According to who exactly? We don’t know!!
Thunder Bay. Terry Fox monument. Beautiful. The grounds are beautiful, the statue is inspiring, the view is stunning.
We had a little malfunction with our GPS...GPS Jaida! It her defence we were all distract d as we left the Terry Fox monument, so the 5 min drive to our campsite turned into about 25. We had a good chuckle. Up until that moment GPS Jaida had been doing a fantastic job of guiding us to our destinations!
Day #1 and Day #2 - Ottawa to Lake Superior Provincial Park
Day 1 - Ottawa to Sudbury
All packed up and ready to go!
We left Ottawa just after noon on Sunday, July 29th. The girls settled into their books within a few minutes of the drive. “We’ve driven this way so many times, I’ll stop readin after Pembroke” Yeah, right!!
We made a stop in Mattawa, home of large statues, there are wood carved statues all along Main Street. We happened upon a boat show as we walked towards the river so we spent about 15 minutes watching a guy on a FLY Board. It was cool! On our way out we happened upon a HUGE voyageur statue carved out of wood
We made it to Sudbury!! First stop the BIG NICKEL!!!
The Big Nickel is about 64 million times the size of a regular nickel.
It is an interesting story. In 1963, there was contest asking Sudbury residents for ideas on how to celebrate Canad’s centennial, in 1967. Ted Szilva entered with the ideal of the Big Nickel along with a Science Centre, his idea was rejected, but he perused his dream and made it happen!
We had a nice picnic dinner on the grounds and spent the night at Canada’s Best Value Inn...enough said!!! :)
Day 2 - Sudbury to Lake Superior Prov. Park
We went to Science North in the morning and AMMA TOUCHED A SNAKE!
Other Science North highlights included:
- the Gyroscope. We were all able to try it, except Jaida, she was not tall enough. It was really fun, you get to sling in three different directions at a time, if you get going fast enough.
- we watched documentary called WILDFIRE . Very fitting considering the number of forest fires in Canada right now.
- we also spent a long time doing various physical challenges and activities to test our stretch and balance. It was fun!
Here is a family photo we took. Can you guess who is who?. We drove through the campus of Laurentian Univerrsity and University of Sudbury before leaving town.
We stoped in at Echo Bay, just East of Sault Ste. Marie, to see the big Loonie. Just past Sault Ste. Marie there was an accident on the road. An SUV hit a truck and a pickup tried to dodge it but ended up in the ditch. We were stoped for about 1.5 hours. While we were stopped we met 2 motorcyclists who started in Newfoundland and Labrador and were headed to Alaska. We ended up eating a makeshift dinner in the van on the way to our campsite.When we got to our campsite it was 10:30pm.
The drive was beautiful along Lake Superior.
All packed up and ready to go!
We left Ottawa just after noon on Sunday, July 29th. The girls settled into their books within a few minutes of the drive. “We’ve driven this way so many times, I’ll stop readin after Pembroke” Yeah, right!!
We made a stop in Mattawa, home of large statues, there are wood carved statues all along Main Street. We happened upon a boat show as we walked towards the river so we spent about 15 minutes watching a guy on a FLY Board. It was cool! On our way out we happened upon a HUGE voyageur statue carved out of wood
We made it to Sudbury!! First stop the BIG NICKEL!!!
The Big Nickel is about 64 million times the size of a regular nickel.
It is an interesting story. In 1963, there was contest asking Sudbury residents for ideas on how to celebrate Canad’s centennial, in 1967. Ted Szilva entered with the ideal of the Big Nickel along with a Science Centre, his idea was rejected, but he perused his dream and made it happen!
We had a nice picnic dinner on the grounds and spent the night at Canada’s Best Value Inn...enough said!!! :)
Day 2 - Sudbury to Lake Superior Prov. Park
We went to Science North in the morning and AMMA TOUCHED A SNAKE!
Other Science North highlights included:
- the Gyroscope. We were all able to try it, except Jaida, she was not tall enough. It was really fun, you get to sling in three different directions at a time, if you get going fast enough.
- we watched documentary called WILDFIRE . Very fitting considering the number of forest fires in Canada right now.
- we also spent a long time doing various physical challenges and activities to test our stretch and balance. It was fun!
Here is a family photo we took. Can you guess who is who?. We drove through the campus of Laurentian Univerrsity and University of Sudbury before leaving town.
We stoped in at Echo Bay, just East of Sault Ste. Marie, to see the big Loonie. Just past Sault Ste. Marie there was an accident on the road. An SUV hit a truck and a pickup tried to dodge it but ended up in the ditch. We were stoped for about 1.5 hours. While we were stopped we met 2 motorcyclists who started in Newfoundland and Labrador and were headed to Alaska. We ended up eating a makeshift dinner in the van on the way to our campsite.When we got to our campsite it was 10:30pm.
The drive was beautiful along Lake Superior.
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