Sea Wall, Spanish Banks, and Wreck Beach

Just a quick note to say that we’re alive and well; still busy getting the apartment in order and slowly finding our feet.  But, this weekend we took a break from apartment organizing and did some exploring around Van, checking a few more beaches off our list (apologies in advance: this is a photo-heavy post). 

We started with the Sea Wall in Stanley Park yesterday.  The Sea Wall is a total of 22km (I believe), 9 of which border Stanley Park, so we grabbed our longboards and joined the crowds of people making the most of the beautiful, sunny Saturday (I should note, we’ve been super lucky, only having a day or two of rain, but we were nonetheless excited at the prospect of sunshine and a few hours of dry weather to get outside).  The Sea Wall was beautiful, wrapping along the shoreline with views of the Harbour, oceangoing tankers, the Lion’s Gate Bridge and a couple of playful sea lions!  We had a lot of fun snapping photos (me) and cruising along the walkway [well, J cruising and waiting for me to catch up every few minutes, but I like to think I’m pretty cool at my granny-pace, too ;) ].  We managed to get a few good kilometers under our belts before the sun started to sink, forcing us to set off back to the parking lot, trekking through the forested walking paths and making plans to return soon (but with a picnic basket in hand).

Lion's Gate Bridge from the Sea Wall

Vancouver!

Well, we made it to Van!  I’m a little behind with blogging; it’s been a busy first few days, but let’s backtrack a week or so, first.

From Jasper we drove to Kamloops where we crashed for the night before heading to our final destination: Vancouver.  The drive from Jasper – through the Rockies and Mount Robson – was a drive we were both a little (a lot) nervous for, given the recent snow/ice storm in Jasper.  But, we totally lucked out, the roads were bone dry (no snow or ice in sight) and we spent the drive winding through the mountains, the sun shining down the entire time.  It was the perfect drive for the last leg of the journey and a good omen for things to come in a new city.

Jasper

Jasper was a cold and busy stay.  We ended up staying an extra day after a winter storm Saturday/Sunday left us a little nervous about mountain driving.  Hwy 16 and Hwy 5 (the route from Jasper – Kamloops) would take us through the mountains, including Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Rockies (typically and thankfully, the roads were perfect – bone dry, without a drop of snow or ice and sunshine the whole way).

Anyways, back to Jasper: Day 1 we decided to check Patricia and Pyramid Lakes off the list, along with the Maligne Canyon and Falls.  We were also treated to a herd of elk grazing and resting alongside the road; it was really cool!  (Even though we have yet to see a grizzly, much to J’s dismay, the elk were a nice little wildlife fill in the interim).

Sand and snow at Patricia Lake

Bow Valley Parkway

A few snaps from Bow Valley Parkway and the drive from Canmore to Jasper.  Better late than never!

Random roadside stop somewhere in Banff

Banff

We started day 2 in Canmore off right, with a little longboarding, the Rockies as our personal backdrop (“real life” is going to be one serious reality check after this trip) before heading to Banff.  We started in the Vermillion Lakes in Banff – postcard beautiful with the mountains and clear blue skies reflected in the perfectly still water.  With no real hiking trail around Vermillion, we had no choice but to do some more longboarding around the lakes, under the mountains!  It was a tough compromise, but somehow we survived the whole ordeal.

Vermillion Lakes

Catching up & Canmore

I’m not sure exactly where I left off, but I know I have some catching up to do. 

We’re on our way to Jasper, and I thought the 4h drive would be the perfect time to do exactly that, but I keep getting distracted by the majestic yet eerie Rockies looming overhead, as we wind our way through the mostly deserted mountain highway.

Luckily, the roads are clear and dry, although the ominous sign warning of “Snow tires or chains required beyond this point” (in conjunction with the fact that the vast majority of traffic has been headed in the opposite direction, away from the mountains) succeeded in thoroughly terrifying one of us…I’ll leave it up to you to guess who.  But luckily, so far my paranoia has been misplaced.  Although if I’m being honest, there is still great comfort to be found in a passing vehicle every so often, particularly as we continue to climb higher in elevation, the white of the snow-blanketed mountains bleeding into the white of the clouds.  Driving through the clouds at the top of the mountain is magical, lending itself to a feeling of utter peacefulness, yet contrasted with the sharp knowledge that you are completely alone up here.

And with that, it might be time to reminisce and recap the last few days spent at a lower altitude in the company of many people and vehicles!

1 more province down!

Hello Alberta!

Reflections

Wisdom (I use the term loosely) from the road:

-Buy your own coffee and tea for the road, a buck fifty every rest stop starts to add up pretty quickly.  Similarly, fruit and veg (and chocolate covered pretzels, obviously) are roadtrip gold!  There are only so many breakfast sandwiches and restaurant meals one can stomach as fun as it is to have an excuse to eat junk all day long.

-Scrounge as much plastic cutlery and coffee creamer as will fit in your bag. Do this at every hotel and motel you stay at.  Turns out a grocery bag of bagels and PB isn’t much good without a knife.

-Make use of every BnB that has a washer and dryer.  Socks and underwear, man.   Everytime.

-Turns out you can take an alarming amount of video footage from the road.  You should probably ease up on the record button, if you don’t want to spend approximately 1,000h sorting and editing the various highways and roadways of Canada.

-Do not be alarmed if you see swans (yes, swans) on the side of the highway in the prairies.  No, you are not hallucinating or (completely) losing your mind (only 50%).  They are, in fact, real.  Likewise, tumbleweeds are to be expected. (Yeah, we didn’t know either). Update: don’t be alarmed if you see swans in the prairies and in Alberta.

Grasslands National Park

En route to the Grasslands!

Regina

Nov.  4, 2014

Riding Mountain National Park

Nov. 2, 2014

Yesterday we stocked up on groceries - real food (fruit! veggies!) feels like such a luxury after living on Timmy’s and gas station coffee - and headed for Riding Mountain.  We’d read some excellent reviews about the Park and were excited to see what all the hype was about.  In true form, we went with no particular plan, no real map, and no cell phone reception – perfect conditions for an adventure if you ask me! (Sorry, Mom and Dad).

First stop: a little village on the edge of the park (where everything was closed for the season, naturally).  We walked along a small pier to check out the water.  It was a pretty little stop, but the patches of snow and ice covered branches were somewhat of a shock to the system (although, “not if you have the right jacket” as J would say, to which I promptly reply with rolled eyes).

Winnipeg

Nov. 1, 2014

Thunder Bay to Winnipeg – another long day of driving (“what?  No way! A 4700km across the country and the driving is long? That’s crazy!” I know, I know, who would’ve thought.). 

The days are starting to blur together a bit, one long drive punctuated by some really cool stops, beautiful parks, and interesting hikes (the people have been pretty awesome too!), and the journey to Winnipeg was no different. 

On our way out of Thunder Bay, we stopped at Kakabeka Falls (pronounced Kekebeka).  They were beautiful, despite the frosty cold morning; the rays of sunshine peeking out from behind the clouds certainly helped.  It was a lovely little stop before the impending hours of driving that stretched out before us.

Thunder Bay

The two things I’ll remember most about Thunder Bay are the cold (-) and lots of food (+)!

We decided to spend two nights in Thunder Bay to give ourselves a full day to see Sleeping Giant Provincial Park and to break up some of the driving (before the long haul to Winnipeg).

Turns out Thunder Bay has a sizeable Finnish population – the second largest, in fact (after Toronto), in Canada.  And so, we started the morning off right at Hoiko for Finnish pancakes…and salt fish...and vilii (when in Rome!). Finnish pancakes are a cross between a crepe and a dutch baby, salt fish is salmon preserved in salt (eaten open-face sandwich style with tomato, onion, and pickle) and vilii (‘clabbered’ milk) is reminiscent of yogurt (we added strawberry preserves to ours).  All was delicious, of course!

Finnish pancakes, vilii, and coffee - can't go wrong!

Notes from the Passenger Seat

Blogging from the road, good tunes, feet on the dash, hot coffee in hand…or, you know, cross-legged in the passenger seat with warm-ish tea next to me, but those are minor details really.

I’ve got a few days of catching up to do, which is good ‘cause we’ve got a long drive today: Thunder Bay to Winnipeg (~8-9h).  It’s taken us a week just to get out of Ontario, and it’s definitely going to be bittersweet crossing that border into Manitoba; really time to say goodbye to the province that’s been home for the last twelve years…

The past few days we’ve made good time and distance.  After spending two days in Owen Sound exploring the Bruce Peninsula, we set off for Sault Ste. Marie.  Arriving in the evening, we found a cheap/decent motel and crashed for the night before setting off for Thunder Bay.  Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay was a long haul, but made infinitely better by the addition of a few hikes and a few sightseeing stops along the way.  There are two parks en route to Thunder Bay, Pukaskwa National Park and Lake Superior Provincial Park.  Not enough time to see both, we decided to go with Lake Superior.  More specifically, we wanted to see the pictographs and Old Woman’s Bay in the Park.

Bruce Peninsula: Take II

Yesterday we decided to tackle Bruce Peninsula for the second time.  We drove about 1.5h from Owen Sound to Cyprus Lake (Bruce Pen) in search of the grotto and were the only two kids crazy (stupid?) enough to start our hike as the drizzle turned to sheet rain (not surprisingly, we returned to an empty parking lot, save for our trusty Suzuki).  But, we didn't re-route through Owen Sound in order to not see the Bruce Pen., and so off we set.  Our decision to brave the elements proved 100% worthwhile as forested path gave way to a rock beach along the shores of the Georgian Bay, water a turquoise-y blue.  We had certainly found what we came in search for: an escape from all the people and spectacular views of both Indian Head's Cove and The Grotto (even made the speeding ticket worthwhile...just kidding Mom and Dad, we didn't get a speeding ticket!)

First stop: Toronto

Kingston to Toronto, 263km and the first leg of our 4700 km road trip complete.  We spent Friday and Saturday in Toronto, being tourists and saying our last goodbyes to the last of our friends, on our way out of town, before embarking on this crazy roadtrip.

A few of the things we got up to:

FRIDAY
-the Ripley's Aquarium, we were both mesmerized by the jellyfish wall.  I think you could stare at that wall for hours and never get bored!

Sawfish and shark

Let's do this crazy thing we talked about that one time

{Oct. 15th, 2014}

In less than one week I’m packing up my life to fit into the back of a car and driving across the country with a friend-turned-boy-who-I’m-kind-of-into (like, a lot). I’m packing up my life with a rough idea, a final destination, and a plan to figure out the details along the way. At the very least, I must “have a job lined up? Or a place to stay when I get there, right”.  Nope.  All I can offer in response is a nonchalant shrug and a big grin.  It’s a crazy plan and it’s going to be an even crazier adventure. I can hardly wait!

1 more sleep!

1 more sleep and 1 step closer to making agenda notes, scribbles, and dreams a reality.  Here's to hoping the adventurous spirit doesn't wane anytime soon: