Is that what I think it is?
Canada is big. We were reminded of just how big during our most recent trip back to the motherland, when we covered about 2,400 km / 24+ hours on the road traveling around Alberta. It was all worthwhile, however, as we got to see many friends and family that we hadn’t seen for a while, spent some quality time with the kids’ grandparents, met the kids’ new cousin Cameron, and celebrated cousin Ruby’s first birthday with her! All the while enjoying that cool, refreshing Canadian air, a welcome break from the summer heat here in Bermuda.
Jenn and the kids flew up a few days ahead of me – they met up with Grandma Boys to hang out, plus they all went out to Wainwright to see Great Grandma Lillian for a day. It sounded like they had fun before my arrival on Saturday. Everyone met me at the airport, we loaded up the rental minivan and went out to Fort Sask to see my parents for a few days.
Mountain hiking is the best
While staying in the Fort, we went on a few adventures – the first one being to Jurassic Forest, where the kids had fun spotting some cool animatronic dinos hiding in the forest (and figuring out where the motion sensors were placed that made them go!). The Fringe was also in Edmonton, so we took an afternoon for that as well. I managed to squeeze in a game of golf with my dad and his golfing buddies and we did a little catching up with our friend Leanne and her kids while in town too. Busy busy!
Mid-week, we convoyed with Dad up to see my Grandma Wilson in Mayerthorpe, and of course catch up with Aunt Susan and jolly ol’ Uncle Roy, who was in fine form! Grandma’s not as nimble as she used to be, we were very happy she was able come out to the farm to have lunch with everyone and to spend a few hours together. She was happy to see the kids again of course, even if they are a little rambunctious…!
From Mayerthorpe, we drove down to Red Deer to stay the night with friends Colleen & James. We were happy to finally meet their baby Reese as well as see how big Ryan has gotten! We didn’t get up to much here, it was fairly relaxing, just did some catching up and attempted to wear out the kids at a nearby park. Plus, Jenn couldn’t resist a little shopping on the way out of town (Jenn blew an hour at Old Navy while I got some road trip electronics for our feature-impaired van, plus a few other things at Best Buy)…
Aww… Cameron’s asleep
Eventually we were off to Canmore to finally see my sister Cass and her bf Kent in their new house, plus we met our nephew Cameron! He was a mere 10 weeks old when we were there, the kids (especially Ryley) had fun holding him – he’s pretty cute! The house is really nice, complete with fantastic views and location. It was a great place to do up some new Wilson family photos (Nana, Papa, & Uncle Kyle joined us after a day), plus it wasn’t far to go for a hike to Johnston Canyon or do a little shopping in Banff.
After our short but sweet visit with Cass and family in Canmore (plus my uncle Ray popped by, which was a nice surprise) it was back on the highway to Stettler. We got there just in time to literally drop the kids with Grandma & Grandpa and head to the Legion for Jenn’s 20-year high school reunion, which was very, um, high school-ey. After our traditional trip to the Stettler pool the following day we convoyed west with G&G to see how much the Athabasca Glacier has melted away since we were kids. (Turns out quite a bit.) Of course, while at the Columbia icefields we couldn’t leave without walking the Glacier Skywalk as well, which was pretty cool. It was weird to feel it bouncing a bit when out there (it’s designed to do that… I think!).
Mmm… s’mores coming up
Before the day was out, we convoyed a bit further up the road to Jasper. There, we had a great dinner at Villa Caruso (I had an amazing venison fillet… mmm…) and then bunked for the night at the Sawridge Inn. Our ultimate destination, and our reason for heading north, was to get to Grande Prairie, to see Jenn’s brother Andrew and gf Ashley.
Before hitting the highway for the 4.5+ hour trip to Grande Prairie from Jasper, we took a trip up the Jasper Skytram for one last look at the mountains from a fantastic vantage point. (Plus we saw some squirrels, much to the excitement of the kids…)
After several highway construction zones and an A&W pit stop (one of many on this trip), we made it to Grande Prairie in time for dinner on Tuesday. Wendy, Tim, and Ruby were there as well so it turned out to be a big ‘ol family shindig! Backyard campfires, Ruby’s first birthday, Costco, and the Eastlink Center were just some of the highlights from GP. Andrew & Ashley’s house was great, it fit all of us just right and we had a great visit with everyone.
Another triathlon in the books
The longest leg of our trip was the return trip from GP to Fort Sask, about a 5+ hour journey. It went surprisingly fast, as did all the other legs – for me it was just nice to get behind the wheel and go. The kids were actually really good in the van – between naps, snacks, iPads, and books, the kilometers zipped by!
We were back in the Fort for a few days at the end of our trip as Jenn was taking part in the World Triathlon Championships that were held in Hawrelak Park in Edmonton this year (very convenient)! There is more detail on the blog, but I’ll say that she and her tri buddies / team did great. Plus we managed to squeeze in one last set of visitors while there – friends Kirsty & Joe with daughter Annika came out to the Fort to see us, which was great.
That was about it! As is custom, there were a few photos taken along the way (see below!), plus I compiled a time-lapse video of all our highway travels… enjoy!
