I went to Alberta

We meandered through the Fraser Valley as the sun set behind us.  We drove through the Coquihalla Pass and stopped at the summit among the snow.  We climbed into the Canadian Rockies, leaving me breathless.  We circled Calgary.  We watch the plains of Alberta whiz by …very, very, very slowly.  We made it to Edmonton where the road construction mixed with melting snow left Africa-worthy potholes.

And somehow, eventually, barely, painfully, we sputtered into Bonnyville.  Two fatigued, road-weary, battle-scarred souls excited for a home cooked meal, time with dear friends, and two whole days NOT in the car. 😉

 

In case you’re wondering, we drove OVER 3000 km (2000 miles) in the four day weekend that was the Easter holiday.

That’s a lotta miles.

Last Easter, our meandering roadtrip took us on a loop through the Okanagan. No such leisurely stroll here.  But oh my, so worth it!

 

 

My twelve-year-old self counted down the days (hours! minutes!) until we finally pulled into Banff. My favorite Janette Oke character had stopped in Banff on her way to the “wild west” with her red-coated Canadian Mountie. The description of Elizabeth’s delight in the scenery has stuck with me these eighteen years.

Bucket list item: check.

 

 

Hiking at Johnston Canyon seemed like a great idea for a mid-drive stop . . . until the entire trail was one big sheet of ice.  Not too bad . . . until I slipped, fell on my poor still-recovering-from-broken tailbone, smashed my camera on the ice (it’s fine, thanks to Nikon’s great construction!), and scared a very packed trail of tourists with my squeal and slide.

 

As gluttonous a punishment as it might seem (four days?! 3000 km?!), our roadtrip was a delicious adventure, filled to the brim with wondrous scenes and fabulous friends and fabulous food (Banff’s Irish pub is so cute . . . and decadent!) and spectacular mountains and many many miles of reading, talking, listening, sitting, thinking.