Favourite 2019 travel photos. Lake Louise, AB. May 2019
High up above Lake Louise
Alberta
Visiting with Mr. Goalie
On every trip with my dad, something kind of crazy, something memorable, always seems to happen. As we were doing a road trip through the mountains, while we were having an amazing time, we hadn’t yet had that “you’ve gotta be kidding” kind of moment.
Until Edmonton.
Dad and I met a family friend for lunch at the West Edmonton Mall and at one point the conversation drifted to my dad’s time as a goaltender in northern New Brunswick in his younger years. A few minutes later we had a proposition for our afternoon. Did we want to drop in on his friend outside the city? His friend? Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender, one of the greatest to ever play the position in the history of the game, Glenn Hall.
We left the mall, drove west of the city, picked up a six pack and casually dropped in on a hockey legend. As you can tell by the photo, he’s a pretty gracious hall offamer.
Into the mountains with dad
I’m not going to bury the lede on this… The five day, 2,200km road trip I took with my dad from Saskatoon to Calgary, then onto Banff, Lake Lousie and Jasper, and finally back to Saskatoon via Edmonton was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long, long time. Every time I speak with my dad on the phone since he returned to New Brunswick, we end up talking about this trip and how much fun it was. Here’s the recap of an epic road trip, at least what I’m willing to share publicly. As with any good trip, there’s always a few things that need to respect the mantra “what happens on the road, stays on the road”
Calgary
When dad booked his flight from Bathurst, NB to visit me in Saskatoon in May, I immediately booked hotels for a mountain road trip so he could see the Rockies up close for the first time in his life. He arrived in Saskatoon, got acclimatized to my hometown for a couple of days, then we packed up the car and pointed it west. About seven hours later, we rolled into a rainy Calgary. First stop was at National on 17th, a great beer bar close to our hotel. Dad seems to be a fan of the pint I picked for him.
Family on the prairies
When Jodi’s parents visited us this past summer, there was one place they were itching to get to… the West Edmonton Mall. While the idea of visiting a mall normally induces dread akin to an upcoming visit to the dentist, the idea of a prairie road trip with family to a city that’s really grown on me sounded like a great way to spend a weekend. Another plus for me? You can’t really road trip in Canada without pulling over somewhere beside a roadside attraction, so on the way to Edmonton, here we are in Vegreville in front of their famous pysanka. Unbelieveably, at three and a half stories high and more than 5,500 pounds, it is only the second largest pysanka in the world due to some deft one-upmanship from Kolomyia, Ukraine.
In the mountains
Favourite 2018 travel photos. Kananaskis, AB. June 2018.
Fifteen foot tall Lanny McDonald
I’m still getting used to having Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver as my extended long weekend city destinations rather than Montreal and Toronto when I lived in the east. Even though it was a quick visit for my first ever time in Calgary back in June, the city left a great impression on me and I think I’ll be bumping Calgary up in the rotation when I’m craving some big city fun.
One of the reasons I left Calgary with an eye to returning was how visually appealing the downtown area was on a couple of aimless wandering hikes. And a huge reason for that was some very interesting art, including what was probably my favouite and most visually arresting piece I’ve seen this year – Wonderland by Jaume Plensa. It’s a piece I could instantly relate to as one representing imagination and dreams. I connected with this immediately because on my hiking around a new city, I’m always lost in my own mind and thoughts.
Rainy days and penguins
The Calgary Zoo was the hook for an extended long-weekend trip that also happened to be our sixth honeymoon. I’m honestly loving that tradition. The corresponding anniversary gift this year would have been wood… I think a trip is better than that. We had planned a large part of one of our Calgary days for the zoo, but Mother Nature had other ideas and the morning’s biblical rains made me wonder if we’d see any animals at all. Seeing a possible break in the weather later in the day, we held off on our visit.
It seems like most of Calgary decided against the zoo and changed their day’s plans because once the clouds cleared mid afternoon, it felt like we had the place mostly to ourselves. How often, without waiting in a line, can you get extended, uninterrupted panda time?
Eating our way through Calgary
Any visit to a new to me city means I get excited during the trip planning for laying out an itinerary for my eating and craft beer exploits. And then when I arrive in that city, I am usually consumed with where to eat the next meal or have my next craft beer, even with a plate of food and a cold beer within arms reach and actively being devoured.
I got a lot of strange looks when I told people that this would be my first visit to Calgary. But soon after reminding people Calgary was a lot further away from Halifax than Saskatoon, those quizzical expressions turned into many, many helpful suggestions of places my wife and I should visit during an extended long weekend stay.
One of the most common recommendations was the Calgary’s Farmer’s Market. A pouring down raining Saturday morning made this a no brainer while we waited for the skies to clear for a later day visit to the zoo. Exceptional gluten-free doughnuts from Jelly Modern Doughnuts, a perfectly balanced sweet-spiced iced chai latte from Analog Coffee (as well as a pound of coffee beans to bring back to Saskatoon) and a delicious al pastor taco from Los Chilitos Taqueria made for a nice second breakfast that morning.
Just over this mountain
I live in a place with precious little change in elevation. The city landfill might be the highest point above sea level (crop level?) in Saskatoon. On the outskirts of the city, on clear days, it feels like if you stood on your tip toes, you might be able to see the Calgary Tower off in the distance. Granted, that’s hyperbole, but you get the picture.
For honeymoon number six, continuing a grand relationship tradition that has freed both of us from anniversary gift shopping, we choose to do a western Canadian road trip for our first ever visit to Calgary, and then a day trip onward up into the Rockies. Mountains, much like oceans, never get old to my eyes.
A day in Edmonton
What to do with a day in Edmonton? After arriving the afternoon before, having a meal, then heading to a Tragically Hip concert, our first ever full day in Edmonton was wide open for anything we wanted. My wife knew she’d be putting up with dinner in a craft beer bar that night, so to even the score, we started the day at a 100% gluten-free restaurant for breakfast. We had the GF Diner in the Strathcona neighbourhood all to ourselves and enjoyed a lovely and delicious breakfast. My wife’s french toast was outstanding, and my breakfast hit the spot. I even liked the gluten-free toast.
Bluenose Traveler 