Home on The Road

Farewell, Rockies. Farewell. 

Monday of our journey kind of felt like "the end" of our great adventure. In order to deliver the RV back in Missoula on Wednesday by 11am, we had to seriously book it. Our hurried farewells to the Canadian Rockies were in beautiful Canmore where we camped three times and ran lots of errands. Seriously, I'll never be content with the views from my local Safeway ever again. The views from the opposite direction were just as amazing. 

The sky was incredibly CLEAR (of course, just when we had to leave) but it made for a nice drive through Southwestern Alberta. We had heard of the Calgary, Alberta Roundup and Rodeo before, but driving through that area, it totally made sense - horses everywhere! 

I couldn't catch any pictures of the horses, but it was an amazing expanse of wide open prairies with snow covered peaks doting the horizon. I could imagine thousands of buffalo stampeding across the range. 

As we headed for Waterton National Park (the Canadian side of Glacier NP) for the night, we watched the mountains rise up before us on the horizon. We got to the campsite just outside of the park during the afternoon and I caught up on housekeeping - cleaning and laundry while Ada and Colin played at the park. Then we took an evening stroll in Waterton before dinner. It's pretty quaint! 

(Prince of Wales Hotel looking rather majestic) 

(About to stroll through Waterton) 

(The view of the lake from the great hall in  the hotel. Pretty swank. I chatted with a slightly tipsy couple who invite me to have some wine with them. I totally would have if daddy and the kids weren't waiting!) 

Back at camp, we enjoyed a tasty dinner, beautiful views, an amazing sunset, bathing our two babies and some of the most incredible stars we've ever seen.

 

By Monday night, we had been traveling for a solid week, and the RV was really starting to feel like home. From grocery shopping, to doing laundry, to bathing the kids, it was truly like home away from home. I was actually sad our trip was coming to an end. But, Tuesday dispelled those feelings...more on that next time! 

Glaciers and Patience

This post is coming three weeks after the fact. I quickly learned how hard it was to blog every day during our Canadian Rockies trip. We didn't always have internet and I didn't always have the energy at the end of the day. But, I wanted to finish writing about our journey, so here are few more humble posts of our trip. OXOX - BG

Sunday was one of the more interesting, yet difficult days of our Canadian Rockies Adventure. The sun rose with the clearest skies we had seen in a few days - perfect for our drive back down the Ice Field Parkway! 

(One of the picture stops we made. Don't worry, our RV and babies were within feet of us. We didn't abandon them for a photo op!)

After several delays, we FINALLY reached the Columbia Ice Fields visitor center at midday. By that point we were all starving, so we had lunch in the parking lot with views of Athabasca Glacier from our windows. I have to say, that is one of my favorite aspects of traveling by RV. We could pull over ANYWHERE, turn on the generator and have lunch and a spot of hot tea or cocoa without stepping foot inside a restaurant or cafe. So convenient!

The Columbia Icefields is a network of eight glaciers sitting on the continental divide. They were discovered in 1898, and tourism in the area has been around since the early 1900's.

(One of the old snowmobiles on display from the olden days.)

Brewster Co. runs an assortment of tours of the glaciers. We did their family friendly tour to Athabasca Glacier. It entails riding on a Greyhound type bus from the visitor center out to the snow coach depot, then another ride on the enormous snow coach out onto the ice, with a QUICK step onto the ice for pictures and a look around before getting back on the snow coach, back to the depot, then back to the visitor center. All told, we spent 90% of the tour time going back and forth and very little time on the ice. My inner traveler and adventurer was BUMMED. C'mon, I've hiked up and down a glacier twice in New Zealand! But my inner momma bear wasn't about to do ANYTHING to potentiallly put my precious babies down a crevasse. So! My conflicting emotions hashed it out and I had a great time! The snow coach ride was a bit terrifying, since it goes down a 34% grade hill to get to the ice.

(Snow Coach coming back to the depot. Its max speed is 11mph!)

(Each Snow Coach costs a whopping 1.3 Million! It is a six, all wheel drive vehicle with anti-locking breaks. They are actually, really safe!) 

(We had a really great and engaging Canadian guide who gave us lots of information on the history of the Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Glacier, the surrounding terrain and geology, the history of tourism in the area, information and statistics on the Snow Coaches, etc. I found it all so interesting that I bought two books in the gift shop. By the way, can you spot Big Sis?) 

(Athabasca Glacier! Over 3.5 miles long and over 900 feet deep at its deepest point! The wind that swept down the glacier was bone chillingly cold! Good thing we only had 15 mins on the ice!

(Colin and I hiked Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand on our honeymoon, so it was great to see a new glacier together and to compare our experiences. The girls didn't mind it. Big Sis actually fell asleep!)

After the tour, we had to make our way back to Canmore where we would be staying that night. It was a gorgeous drive, but exhausting. I lost count how many glaciers I saw and how many beautiful lakes we drove past. I seriously felt like I was having visual overload. 

(Suffering from visual overload. Exhausting!)

I REALLY wanted a photo of our family by at least one of the beautiful glacier lakes, so we planned to stop in Lake Louise for a picture. Unfortunately, the girls barely napped on the way there, and so by the time we got to Lake Louise, the girls had HAD IT with traveling that day. Ada was delirious! We let her walk down to the pier (seen below) and I wouldn't have been surprised if she jumped in the lake. At least she was silly tired and not screaming tired. 

(Lake Louise Family Photo Fail! We have some better ones, but this one will always be my abiding memory! Ada was giddy with exhaustion dilerium!)

So, after our pitiful photo attempts and crazy fast stop in Lake Louise, we piled back into the RV, happy that our campsite and hot dinner were only an hour away....Then we hit bumper to bumper construction traffic. Oh BOY. 

(Then traffic came to a grinding HALT!)

This is when Little Sis lost all of her patience. I was able to figure out a detour via a back road that was pretty easy to get to, (thank you, Google maps!) so we made a break for it and left the traffic behind. After two additional feeding stops to calm down the baby, we pulled into our campsite at 8:30pm, the latest ever. Whew, what a day! I'm glad we did the glacier tour, but we should have broken up the day a little better for the girls' sake. The exhaustion tested everyone's patience, and since that time, I've noticed Colin asking for patience in dealing with the kids when we say our night prayers. It was an tiring, trying, beautiful and amazing day that we will always remember.  

Adventures in Jasper

Saturday in Jasper National Park was great. We walked around the town of Jasper in the morning before setting out for Athabasca Falls, about a 20 minute drive from our camp. The falls are glacial melt water and the most brilliant aqua blue, especially in abundant sunshine. There's just something so amazing about the roar of thundering water. Ada likes water, and as always, I was so thankful she was on her daddy's back. Otherwise, she would have wanted to take a dip! 

 

In the afternoon, we rode the Whistler Mountain Gondola. This one was even
worse in the nerve wracking department than Sulphur Mountain. It was a nail biting 7 minute journey up, elbow to elbow in the gondola car with 20 other people. I wanted to pass out. Ha!   

The views were incredibly beautiful. Colin's favorite was Mount Colin in the Colin Range!  We were unable to make it to the peak due to lots of slippery snow and ice, so maybe next time. We got some fun pics regardless. 

At both the Falls and Whistler, we had so many people looking at us! I guess no one has ever seen a daddy carrying two babies, front and back. I've also never had so many people come up and touch my kids. (Pinching a cheek, shaking a hand, etc.) It's kind of annoying, but I also felt bad for the people - many of them were grandparent age people who we guessed, don't have grandkids. How sad. 

Whistler Mountain was right up the road from camp, so we went home and made hotdogs and s'mores on the fire. Mmmmmm. Little Sis approved. 

 

Journey to Jasper

Friday morning arrived cold and gray. Many of the surrounding mountains were wrapped in clouds and mist. We left Banff National Park and headed west towards Jasper National Park. It was a four hour trip without stops, but babies love stops, especially Little Sis! 

The road leading to The Township of Jasper is called the Icefeilds Parkway, and is suppose to be one of the top ten most scenic drives in the world. But, due to the clouds and snow we saw at higher elevations, we couldn't see its full glory. We did see some mountain goats being chased by Japanese tourists with cameras and a massive bull elk at our campground in Jasper. I thought the elk looked pretty tasty! 

Fortunately, the girls were great the whole drive and we pulled into our campsite at 4pm. Earliest ever! Colin took Big Sis to play at the campground playground to burn off pent up energy and I dealt with a teething baby. Why do my babies alway cut their first teeth while we are away from home? She also has learned to say "mama" and calls for me when she's hungry and wants out of her car seat. Stinker. More on Jasper to come...

(Sweet sleeping sisters on the long drive to Jasper) 

Up the Mountain!

Wow. Today was gorgeous! As we drove into Banff National Park yesterday, the land was shrouded in gray, snowy mist. Today, the sun rose bright, revealing freshly powered peaks beneath endless blue skies. Perfect weather for a gondola ride up Suphur Mountain...but how would our little people like it, we wondered? 

We stayed at a campsite about 30 minutes from Sulphur Mountain, so by the time we woke up, ate breakfast, ran errands, etc., it was practically nap time, and luckily, the girls slept on the way there. 

I don't know what it is about becoming a parent, but I'm such a scaredy cat now. I've ridden gondolas and ski lifts many, many times. But, oh my. Sulphur Mountain was terrifying! I had to close my eyes part of the way. Luckily, the girls didn't mind it. Ada even said "Weeeee" as we started ascending.  

When we arrived at the visitor center at the top of the gondola, we saw a deck plank style path leading to the tip top of the mountain. So, we thought we'd go down the trail for a bit, and then before we knew it, we went all the way to the top. Unfortunately, snow and ice covered most of the path. Good thing the girls were riding dad-pram style! Also, good thing we were wearing good shoes!  

(Colin, the mountain climbing dad pram)

The views from Sulphur Mountain are breath taking.  

The girls were so GOOD! They enjoyed the ride and sun. Little Sis even fell asleep. We heard so many people commenting on the dad carrying two babies. One Chinese lady even had to take their picture she thought they were so cute. So yeah, our kiddoes became a side attraction on Sulphur Mountain. Oh yes, they conked out on our way back to our campsite too. 

I am thankful they are now sleeping peacefully after a long day. More adventures await tomorrow! 

Crazy!

"I love crazy."

If you've seen the Disney movie, Frozen, you might remember the lines between Anna and Hans, where Anna says, "Okay, can I just say something crazy?" To which Hans replies "I love crazy." 

Traveling with two under two really does seem CRAZY! But we keep doing it. We must LOVE crazy. 

All Frozen references aside, this trip has been a wild ride, filled with ups and downs. Each day we learn a little more about how to keep the kids happy on the road. Each day gets a little better as we fall into some kind of groove. Snacks, movies, music, stickers, books, new cheap toys, are making the long hours on the road bearable. They are little troopers and we are enjoying this adventure as a family.  

We finally arrived in Canmore today. Guess what? It's FROZEN. 3-5 inches of SNOW. In September. It's not officially autumn yet! It is truly crazy. Good thing we love crazy. (Sorry, one more Frozen reference!) 

Canmore, Alberta campground. 

Canadian Rockies. Please?

"ARE WE NOT MEANT TO GO ON THIS TRIP, COLIN?!?!" 

This quote sums up last week pretty well.  It was insanely crazy and we thought more than once that we may never go on our Canadian Rockies adventure. 

On Labor Day, our one and only car got sick. It was in the shop for four days, holding up last minute preparations for our trip. Then we got it back and problem came back the same day (oil sensor issue). Two tows in one week! Colin was going to have to get a ride to Spokane to pick up our RV when Cruise America called. Our RV in Spokane was damaged, and the only replacement they could find us was in Missoula MT, 4.5 hours away. So, Colin, being the determined fellow that he is, drove a one-way rental car to Missoula, picked up the RV and came home in one day. Exhausting! On our way home, we will have to drive through Missoula, drop off the RV there, and get a minivan one way rental to get home. Thank goodness they are giving us the RV for half about half the cost! Colin works so hard and has wanted to do this trip for a long time, so I'm glad it's all working out so far! 

This change of plans means we have to drive back through Glacier National Park on our way to Missoula. Oh drat!!! ;-)  

Pic below from our road trip to Glacier Sep 2013. 

Canadian Rockies, here we come! Maybe....

Welcome to our page! We are glad to see you!

When Colin and I met, we had one thing in common that has proven to be both a blessing and a curse...we love to travel! It's great that we share the same sense of adventure and love of exploring new places...but since we've had two kids, we've discovered the curse side of our adventurism. Traveling with kids is not easy. It's not impossible, but it is definitely harder than I had anticipated. But, we are determined to keep on traveling and our two little people are becoming travelers whether they like it or not! We hope to share some of our experiences here in the hope that we inspire other parents to travel with their kids. As Rick Steves, travel book author and TV personality says, "Traveling with children is character building." 

Our next adventure begins in approximately 48 hours to the Canadian Rockies. However, we've been holding our breath on this trip for a while. More on that for my next post!