the great canadian west coast road trip: calgary

The drive from Okanagan back to Calgary isn’t the greatest. Not till you get back onto Hwy 1, anyway. It starts with a half hour around Lake Okanagan, which actually, is wonderful; then through Kelowna, then you follow a bunch of one way deserted country streets which are perfect for late night body dumps. But seriously, we drove past a lot of “we couldn’t possibly spontaneously stop here (not that we were looking for somewhere to stop) because we are soooooooo gonna get Criminal Minds-like murdered and dumped in that lake.”

Any feel-good shows I should be watching instead? Maybe I should make more time for Carebears and Sesame Street.

Anyhoo – more mountains, snow capped this time. More beauty. I’m so mad at the beauty of the rockies. So mad I don’t get to wake up to the sun peeking over snow capped peaks. Instead I get the low rumble of a construction site on the edge of a medium sized University town. C’est la vie.

       

Oh Calgary! Thank you for being so beautiful. Warm and sunny and having delicious ice cream. For making a steak dinner seem more normal than Thanksgiving turkey, especially when the moo comes with a side of Hunter Pence & The Giants. Thank you for a perfect brunch, a photo shoot, and a walk-of-blog-related shame. And a few hours of working at Analog. And then I cried at the airport.

To sum it all up; 13 year old who has just found MySpace style:

We’re near the river and far from rich
But we have got each other and gas in the tank
We’re laughing all the way to the river bank

– Riverbank, Brad Paisley

Maybe I cry every time I hear the chorus of that song. It’s just kind of perfect for our roadie, eh sis?

 

ps: planning a trip? travelling soon? have you tried the app HotelTonight? We used it; so easy with decent choices in major cities and good prices. Wanna try it out? Use my code ABRIDGMAN for $25 off your first stay. (not sponsored, just awesome)

pps: planning that trip out West? reach out to @helloBC and/or @TravelAlberta on twitter (OMG and follow their insta – BC/AB – such beautiful photos); their tweeps are super awesome and super helpful if you’re looking for any recommendations

miss any of the recaps? roadtrippin’ with Ford – Vancouver – Victoria – Okanagan

the great canadian west coat road trip: okanagan

Enter the last bit of spontaneity. On our last night in Victoria we had to figure out if we drive straight back to Calgary or stop in Kelowna or Okanagan. With a recommendation from a friend of Laura’s and a good price on a hotel it was Victoria to Dirty Laundry winery in Summerland, just north of Okanagan.

We were a bit perplexed that the tours were over the week before Thanksgiving and not being a big wine connoisseur, the winery left a lot to be desired. The best part may have been the drive south to our hotel around Lake Okanagan…my, that lake is lovely. Just a few photos from our 18-ish hours in wine country.

    

And of course, flexed my creative muscle with a little casual lakeside photo shoot for sister. If you don’t already, follow her on instagram to see so many more of her #ootd posts from our travels.

 

ps: planning a trip? travelling soon? have you tried the app HotelTonight? We used it; so easy with decent choices in major cities and good prices. Wanna try it out? Use my code ABRIDGMAN for $25 off your first stay. (not sponsored, just awesome)

pps: planning that trip to BC? reach out to @helloBC on twitter (OMG and follow their insta, such beautiful photos); their tweeps are super awesome and super helpful if you’re looking for any recommendations

miss any of the recaps? roadtrippin’ with Ford – Vancouver – Victoria

the great canadian west coast road trip: victoria

I’ve wanted to go to Victoria for as long as I can remember. Maybe it was because of a light brown teddy bear my Dad bought me from the island – he was on a business trip there when my mom called and told him she was pregnant. Maybe it’s because my grandma goes on and on about how much she loves it (and spoiler, she is contemplating disowning me because we didn’t go to Butchart Gardens…y’all that place is expensive and I don’t appreciate flowers enough).

It wasn’t raining, which was a huge plus, but it was pretty foggy and mostly overcast. Still, enjoyable. I was a bit underwhelmed. It reminds me of Guelph (where I live) a bit….which, is fine, but I wouldn’t vacation here. I’m happy we decided to spend the extra day in Vancouver instead; Thursday morning – Saturday morning in Victoria was just enough.

Ferries and Goldstream Provincial Park (the 600+ year old redwoods are unbelievable) and RedFish BlueFish (so good! definitely my favourite thing in Victoria) and the rose garden at the Empress (for free) and a very cool building (thanks Katelyn for spotting it years ago) and wild roaming peacocks in Beacon Hill Park.

          

(the only reason my grandma hasn’t disowned me for not going to Butchart Gardens is because I took 15 photos of roses for her. The rose garden outside the Empress is beautiful; we indeed smelled ever variety, and like always, loved everything more than the red ones; so typical so boring)

    

 

 

ps: planning a trip? travelling soon? have you tried the app HotelTonight? We used it in Victoria and stayed at the Hotel Grand Pacific which was super fancy: the beds were so comfortable, they have the best smelling hand soap and cream, the nicest, sweetest cleaning staff, and my hair has never been softer after that shower. Wanna try it out? Use my code ABRIDGMAN for $25 off your first stay. (not sponsored, just awesome)

pps: planning that trip to BC? reach out to @helloBC on twitter (OMG and follow their insta, such beautiful photos); their tweeps are super awesome and super helpful if you’re looking for any recommendations

miss any of the other re-caps? catch up now: road tripping with Ford – Vancouver

the great canadian west coast road trip: vancouver

Against all my instincts I emailed sister with the subject “I know this sounds crazy, but…” and the body started with something like “….let’s just figure out what cities we want to go to and be spontaneous with when and how long we stay.”

I’m ms. planner. Day timers and plans and reservations and flights booked 9 months in advance are the kind of things that make me happy. Spontaneity makes my eye twitch. But you see, Vancouver was less than kind when I first visited in May 2012. It rained most of the time. I know, I know, it was VANCOUVER in the SPRING. And yet, I blamed my perpetual bad luck and sulked a bit. So this time, I wanted to be where the weather was nicest.

First stop: Vancouver.

    

The first person who says I have a wee addiction to taking sunrise/sunset photos gets a kick in the shins.

No, waaaaait. WAIT. Come back; let’s have coffee (THE.BEST.EVER…Timbertrain in Gastown) and Ice Cream (Earnet Ice Cream in East Van…and yes, 2 weeks since being home, I am sticking to the ice cream detox, go me.)

      

Salted caramel for both, with London fog for Laura and whiskey hazelnut for me. Yes. You must stop here if you’re in Vancouver.

Ok, back to exploring… Stanley Park and Brandywine Falls and a stroll through the Olympic Park in Whistler (get the tacos at Brew House)

       

The spontaneous part? The weather was great and leaving for Victoria Wednesday morning just seemed too soon and too rushed. So, we stayed another day in Vancouver to sufficiently explore Stanley Park and enjoy a last, totally dreamy sunset in Kitsilano. (and burgers and poutine at local. oh sigh. so good)

 

ps: planning a trip? travelling soon? have you tried the app HotelTonight? We used it; so easy with decent choices in major cities and good prices. Wanna try it out? Use my code ABRIDGMAN for $25 off your first stay. (not sponsored, just awesome)

pps: planning that trip to BC? reach out to @helloBC on twitter (OMG and follow their insta, such beautiful photos); their tweeps are super awesome and super helpful if you’re looking for any recommendations.

the great canadian west coast roadtrip

Last week I got back from my 5th trip to the West Coast (4 Canada, 1 US/Canada) in the last 3 years. And let me tell you, the West redeemed herself (I’m looking at you 2012…rain in Vancouver, snow in Calgary).

Over Christmas holidays last year, not quite ready to go back into the condo after seeing American Hustle (I’m sure we were the only 2 people that thought it sucked) sister and I leaned on the 3rd floor railing over looking the dark ocean talking about when she decided to move home we would first fly down to San Francisco, drive north up the coast then back to Calgary then pack up and come back to Ontario. Which morphed into let’s not wait and just go to San Fran and drive the coast this summer/fall. Which turned into let’s reach out to Ford Canada again and see if we can Canadian road trip in October.

Y’all remember Henry from last year, right?

Last summer, Henry chauffeured us to Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake, and Bow Lake. A true gentleman.

Ford said yes, I booked my plane ticket in less than 20 minutes (thank you WestJet seat sale) and counted down the days. For this road trip I had but one request: fuel efficient. Without further ado, meet Clara:

Yes, Clara Ford; a sleek 2014 Hybrid Fusion. Henry Ford’s wife. Get it? Get it! (all sis; she’s the true brains behind our car naming game). Clara, such a pretty girl, escorted us on the Trans Canada Highway through Alberta,

through BC,

and to beaches and an olympic village and islands and wine country and then back home.

 

Girl was tricked out: told us where to go (I know you all love that trait in a good woman), played our favourite tunes, let us make calls and brag about our sweet ride. She has a heated steering wheel and hot buns. I mean I have hot buns. I mean Clara has SEAT WARMERS…that also warm your back. She’s magnificent. And the one thing I wanted, she delivered. This baby is mega fuel efficient!

 

Thanks Ford Canada! And thank you Miss Clara (this is where you pet her and tell her she’s pretty…)

 

ps: more vacation things coming weekly – big long posts with lots and lots of pictures. cool? COOL! 

pps: yes, I wrote all those signs.