Stuff + Things,  Travel

Alberta Bound (and Arrived)

I am sitting in a beautiful house watching the Canucks kick the Oilers to the ground. I’m just outside Edmonton sitting my with Canucks jersey clad hubby and his Oilers jersey clad cousin Ward. And I’m feeling rather smug.

Why, you ask, are we in Alberta? Purpose: Operation Surprise Ward. Sean’s cousin and one of his best friends. He was best man at our wedding and his birthday is on Tuesday. We coordinated with his wife and he was so surprised and happy to see us. As were his adorable children. And the pets are thrilled to have new people to mooch food and affection from. There are few people in the world that I would brave the Alberta cold for and they are so worth it.

We hopped in the new VW last night to drive to St. Albert, AB. (Sean recently traded in his VW City Golf for a diesel Golf. It’s (for me) pretty and blue but is still a standard, so when I finally get my license, it won’t that be fun to learn how to drive. One step at a time I suppose…) We left at 10:30pm and Sean drove us through the Rockies and a couple of snow storms (that I am so happy I slept through). He slept the evening before and has been high on coffee since we left.

During my awake hours, the scenery was beautiful and Sean woke me up so I could see the sunrise. It was slightly cloudy, but it’s hard not to be impressed when you are surrounded by such majestic landscape. The Rockies (or Rocky Mountains) are gorgeous. Neither my camera phone nor my Canon did them any justice from inside the car. But I tried.

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We stopped in Jasper for breakfast on the way to St. Albert. Sean has made the drive to and from Edmonton quite a few times and there is a bakery that he loves called The Bear’s Paw (4 Cedar Ave, Jasper, AB). It is apparently world famous and has been featured in Oprah’s magazine. The baked goods are well worth the hype and the wait in line. Sean had a raspberry white chocolate scone and I had a fruit filled bran muffin.

Jasper is not quite a resort town. It’s a tourist town. It’s a ski town. But it’s not Whistler. Oh my gosh, I’m a West Coast snob…

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Upon walking back to the car, it was no longer beautiful and blue. The highway was not friendly – full of mud and slush. It had to happen sometime.

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Back on the road, we continued through Jasper National Park. And we saw a pack of moose on the side of the road. And then a deer. And then a mountain goat. They were beautiful. and I was beyond thrilled. Sean kept pointing them out and I could barely get my camera going fast enough. And then we got out of the park and all of a sudden, everything was flat. We were officially in the Prairies.

I’ve been watching the Canucks game and he ref just called no goal for what could have made the game 3-0 for Vancouver, but I’m not worried. Time for a soak in the hot tub and another glass of red. I’m willing to brave the cold for 10 seconds for a chance to soak my travel weary muscles.

Drifter = love

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