I would have to say that we have taken full advantage of Brogan's summer vacation so far! MeMa was here to greet summer (a welcomed treat after her 4 week stay in January/February...BRRR!). Brogan started off his summer vacation with a summer camp before PePa arrived for our big tour of Alberta. We rented a 12-passenger van that we nicknamed "The Beast", and it fit us and all of our junk quite well. The Outlook was just not going to cut it for 4 adults and 3 kids in car/booster seats.
A preface to the story...About 2 weeks before we left, downtown Calgary and much of the surrounding area flooded. The Stampede grounds were underwater and downtown Calgary was a ghost town. Drumheller was sand bagging, preparing for the worst. Canmore took a hard hit...washed out highways essentially stranding those in town. Banff seemed to be on the fringe of the flooding, and sections of Highway 1 (Trans-Canadian Highway) around Canmore and Banff were closed for days. I frantically watched the news and road closure sites hoping the waters would recede in time for our trip (and of course for the people affected by the flooding). Thankfully, sunny skies followed the mass amounts of rain that caused the flooding, and our trip was a go!
Our first stop was Drumheller...about 5 hours of canola fields west southwest of Saskatoon. It was in Drumheller that I realized what it was that I forgot to pack. There's always something forgotten, right? (Hanging clothes is typically what we forget.) I forgot pj's for Kian...a quick, cheap fix at the local Walmart.
Drumheller is located in the Alberta badlands, so we set out looking for hoodoos. When we found them, we were slightly disappointed...they were about 5 feet tall. We expected something much larger. Brogan fell in the mud...twice...so he didn't get to see much of the hoodoos as he spent most of the stop getting cleaned up. Alberta was/is a hot spot for dinosaur fossils, and Drumheller is the place to see them. We visited the Royal Tyrell Museum to check out all the old dinosaur bones (a very impressive collection) and had a picnic lunch before setting off to Calgary.
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| Hoodoos |
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| Drumheller Badlands |
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| Neala actually posing for a picture |
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| MeMa getting her head chomped on |
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| Big smiles from Kian! |
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| Measuring up the kids to the dinosaur leg |
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| Kian had to have a turn too! |
We got in to Calgary earlier than expected, so we decided to go see Despicable Me 2. It was Neala's first movie in well over a year and she did fairly well...changed seats a couple times but didn't need to be removed from the theater. Kian also did really well...he's going to be a TV watcher like his brother. The movie was awesome and well worth sitting in a crowded theater with 3 kids.
The next day, we braved the crowds at the 101st Annual Calgary Stampede..."The World's Greatest Outdoor Show". Due to the flooding, they also had the slogan "Come Hell or High Water". It was still a bit squishy in the area. We were definitely not appropriately dressed for the Stampede. I've never seen so many cowboy hats in my life particularly on people that don't typically wear cowboy hats (lots of Asians and Middle-Easterners). It was amazing to see all of the different cultures enjoying the Stampede. We got to see a lot of farm animals and agricultural displays. I got elbow deep into the "business end" of a display cow to see if it was pregnant...I felt the calf's ears! We also got to watch the afternoon rodeo. The bucking broncos and bull riding were fun to watch. Brogan and I were a little sensitive to the calf roping and steer wrestling...Brogan even cheered when the calves didn't get roped. We left the rodeo early to head to Banff.
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| Casey and the kids trying out the livestock equipment |
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| Time to weigh in! |
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| Neala too! |
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| Feeling around for the calf |
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| Our little cowgirl |
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| Mom and the Mountie |
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| Enjoying the shade from Brogan's cowboy hat |
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| The rodeo started out with some motorcycle stunts...Look Ma! No hands!!! |
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| Buckin' Broncos |
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| Loved it when the horses jumped like this! |
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| The McHughs at the Stampede |
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| Goodbye Calgary! |
Our first day in Banff was a rainy one, so we milled about the shops in town and let Neala and Kian take a nap in a bed (and not the car). We did manage to squeeze in a visit to Cave and Basin National Historic Site. The sulphur smell in the cave was nauseating...can't imagine bathing in that stinky water, but I guess that was the thing to do back in the day. Our second day in Banff National Park was gorgeous. We hiked Johnston Canyon, took a walk around Lake Louise, and hiked to a lookout over Peyto Lake. That evening, we took the gondola up Sulphur Mountain. Casey, Brogan, Neala, and my mom took the path to the weather station and encountered a very friendly chipmunk that Neala said "freaked her out". According to her, she said "Hey squirrel!" and the chipmunk replied "Hey Girl!" She is so silly!
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| Cave and Basin National Historic Site - the beginnings of the National Park System in Canada (it was VERY stinky in here!!!) |
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| Beautiful (but stinky) hot springs outside of the cave |
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| Posing with the turn-of-the-century bather |
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| Seriously...could she get any cuter?!?!? |
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| Getting ready for a hike |
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| The Johnston's at Johnston Canyon |
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| The McHughs at the lower falls |
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| Bear Hug |
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| Getting close to a REAL bear! This poor guy got hit by a train in Banff and became a display. |
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| The McHughs at Lake Louise |
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| Beautiful Lake Louise!!! |
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| The kids taking in the sights |
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| Kian says, "I was there too!!!" |
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| Peyto Lake |
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| Daddy and Neala heading up the gondola to Sulphur Mountain |
Our next stop was Jasper which Casey and I were excited about because we had never been. On the way, we stopped at the Columbia Icefields and took an Ice Explorer up to the Athabasca Glacier. We learned all about glaciers, icefields, moraines, and flagging on trees. It was very informative! Kian fell asleep on the bus ride to the transfer station (after Neala bit him...grrrrr), and it was COLD on the glacier, so I zipped him up in the baby carrier in my hoodie. It freaked out a couple ladies taking a photo for us. They thought I was carrying a backpack until they noticed the legs dangling out. We also stopped to see the Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls on our way to Jasper.
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| The whole gang on the Athabasca Glacier |
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| Looking up the Athabasca Glacier to the Columbia Icefield |
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| Our ride up the glacier...top speed of 10 mph |
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| Athabasca Glacier with Mt Andromeda to the left and Snow Dome to the right |
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| Sunwapta Falls |
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| Athabasca Falls |
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| Athabasca Falls |
Our only day in Jasper was another rainy one. Determined to do some sightseeing, we drove up the switchback roads to Mount Edith Cavell. Casey and Brogan decided to don garbage bags and make the hike in the rain. About 15 minutes after they left, the rain had stopped, so I put Neala in the back pack carrier and hurried up the mountain after them. It was quite a hike with an extra 30 pounds on my back! I was very thankful for Casey taking over when we finally caught up with him and Brogan. The views were well worth the hike! Angel Glacier was so three dimensional! The rain clouds flowed over the mountains and were so low. It was absolutely beautiful, even though the sun wasn't shining. I was so impressed that I rushed down the hill and made Casey take my mom up to the lookout. While they were enjoying the views, they witnessed a small avalanche from the glacier. (Last year, a huge chunk of the glacier fell into the lake underneath creating flash flooding and the demolition of part of the picnic area and parking lot.) After Mount Edith Cavell, we headed to Edmonton since the weather was not ideal for hiking and sightseeing.
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| Casey squeezing into the garbage bag |
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| Angel Glacier...the pictures do not do it justice! |
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| Looking down the valley where the avalanche crushed the land and picnic area |
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| Clouds pouring over the mountains |
A highlight of our time in the mountains was seeing the wildlife! Besides the talking chipmunk on Sulphur Mountain, we saw several deer, one of which was just down the road from our hotel. There were 2 bear sightings...a momma black bear and her 2 cubs were snacking on the side of the road. One cub was black and the other brown...something I never had the chance to ask a ranger about. We saw several big horn sheep on our way to Jasper on a steep rocky section of road. Right outside of Jasper, there was an entire herd of elk munching on grass alongside the road. Several of them were quite young, but probably not babies. We had our eyes out for caribou in Jasper National Park, but seeing as there are only 12 of them in the entire park, we weren't surprised we didn't see any.
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| The deer right down the road from our hotel in Banff |
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| Momma bear and her two cubs |
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| Big Horn Sheep on the steep, rocky edge of the road |
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| A few of the elk right outside of Jasper |
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| The kids riding a mountain goat...just kidding!!! |
Saying goodbye to the mountains was sad...such a beautiful place! But we were moving on to urban fun at the West Edmonton Mall, Canada's (bigger) version of the Mall of America. We spent most of our time at the water park with Tena, Cael, and Breck Harty (Nate stayed home with a sick Tyce). The kids had a great time!!! And thanks to MeMa taking care of Kian most of the day, the adults did too! We took turns ditching kids to ride the big water slides. After over 6 hours of fun at the water park, we were sure that the kids would pass out, but they were still going strong at 9pm. (Neala was out as soon as her head hit the pillow though!)
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| Neala squirting people at the water park |
Before heading home, we hit the mall one last time. MeMa and I did some shopping with Kian in tow (I had a Children's Place coupon that I just had to use since they were having their monster sale too), and Casey and PePa took Brogan and Neala to the aquarium and pirate ship.
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| Going down into the aquarium |
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| Brogan and his peg leg on the pirate ship |
It was such a peaceful ride home! Kian slept most of the 5 hour drive. Neala had a good nap, and Brogan even nodded off for a bit. The hustle and bustle of the week long road trip had finally caught up to the kids. We had such a great time on the road, but it felt so nice to sleep in my own bed! Kian must have felt the same way because he slept until 10am the next day! But being back at home meant we had to say goodbye to MeMa and PePa.
After our long trip, it was back to summer camp for Brogan! Then we spent the good part of a week packing for an overnight camping trip. Yep, just one night! The car was full and so was the roof top carrier! But we had a great time camping with the Harty's at Dillberry Lake Provincial Park in Alberta...despite the freezing cold temperatures overnight. There will definitely be a space heater packed in the car for our next camping trip. And just a few days after our camping trip, the kids and I headed up to Emma Lake for an overnight trip at the Dechka's cabin. I'm very proud of myself for surviving the trip "solo-parenting", but it definitely helps having other kids around to keep Brogan and Neala busy.
Although all of our travels in July were fun, I'm looking forward to laying low in August. Brogan has one more summer camp and a soccer camp this month. I think Neala, Kian, and I might just have to hit up the playground program and spray park in our free time. The last half of August is shutdown...always an exciting time for the McHughs!
