The last few posts have had a somewhat doom and gloom outlook to them; or maybe its just me and how I'm feeling about this whole pandemic thing. Not this post though! Today I want to share something I'm very much looking forward to: VACATION! Now, Canada has a strict self quarantine policy for citizens travelling abroad and for visitors from outside of the country - 14 days. While an extra two weeks off work would be fabulous, being stuck in my house and not even being able to go and buy groceries just isn't my idea of a good time. Therefore, international travel is out of the question. Not even Hawaii, which I enjoyed visiting a few years ago and who's said Canadians can visit there without quarantine. Sorry, but 6 1/2 hours on a plane? I don't think so! To be honest, I don't even want to fly to Toronto (no offense to the T.O.). That doesn't leave a prairie girl with a lot of options. So... what do we do in the west when we can't jet off to warmer climes? We head to the mountains!
Jasper National Park is probably my favourite place in the world. Its less commercial than Banff and usually less crowded (although that doesn't mean much and chain restaurants are making inroads - booo!).The closer you get to the park gates, the more relaxed I feel. I'm sure most folks can understand when I say "I NEED this!". Its been 7 years (!) since I've been there. The last trip I took to the mountains was a girls' long weekend with Mommikins and the always fabulous Auntie B. Horseback riding, hiking and white water rafting were how we filled our days back then.
And no, we didn't coordinate our outfits. Not every day ...
This time around it will just be Mom and I but we'll raise a glass to Betty. We're going to be trying Becker's Chalets this time out. Its outside of the townsite and right along the Athabasca River so we'll feel like we're really "getting away from it all". As usual, being the super duper advanced planner that I am, we already have our activities booked. We didn't want to repeat what we've done previously (although we will be horseback riding again but in a different area of the park) so we're going to take advantage of a "local's discount" for Alberta residents and do a boat tour of Maligne Lake. And keeping the frigid fall water temps as our theme for this trip, we're taking a canoe trip!
This time around it will just be Mom and I but we'll raise a glass to Betty. We're going to be trying Becker's Chalets this time out. Its outside of the townsite and right along the Athabasca River so we'll feel like we're really "getting away from it all". As usual, being the super duper advanced planner that I am, we already have our activities booked. We didn't want to repeat what we've done previously (although we will be horseback riding again but in a different area of the park) so we're going to take advantage of a "local's discount" for Alberta residents and do a boat tour of Maligne Lake. And keeping the frigid fall water temps as our theme for this trip, we're taking a canoe trip!
I found Wild Current Outfitters while doing my research on things to do in Jasper. We've booked a full morning trip around Pyramid Lake. Sure it'll be late in the year and the water will probably be bitterly cold but we thought we would go for it. Out of everything surrounding this trip, this is what I'm most excited about. I've never been canoeing before so this'll be quite the adventure and a fun way to wrap up our latest trip. All of this is, of course, dependent on the Alberta's Covid-19 numbers remaining relatively low, neither of us getting sick and smaller crowds.
Fingers crossed...
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