Thursday, January 28, 2016

Alberta (and BC) Bound!

Last summer Lee and I took an epic 3 week road trip, driving from home (near Ottawa, On) to Victoria, BC and back. We car camped and couch hopped. The event being surrounded by the trip was our friend Leslie and his wife April's wedding, in which Lee was the Best Man. It was something I had always wanted to do and was seriously the best vacation ever.

Being that we're a homeschooling family, it was also a great geography lesson for the girls who "followed" us from home. We talked to them each night over Skype and sent postcards through the mail.

The kids trying to stow-away on our van-bed the morning we left


Giant Nickel in Sudbury, Ontario

Heading into the mountains of western Ontario

Lake Superior 

A wolf wanted to check us out outside of Wawa, Ontario

Terrance Bay, Ontario

The Terry Fox Memorial outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario
                                       
Time Travellers!

Finally got out of Ontario!

The flat lands of the prairies

As the speed limit increases (68.5mph)

Meeting up with my Kindergarten best friend, Holly, after 20 years

Fog line over the Assiniboine River in Manitoba

Saskatchewan!

Meeting up with fellow homeschoolers, Carla and David in Saskatchewan

Sitting on the Alberta/Saskatchewan boarder in Lloydminster, Ab/Sk (pardon the face, it was very bright)

Back in Alberta after 17 years!

Our friends had an awesome 80's/candy themed wedding in Edmonton, Ab (also where I was born and raised)

I was the wedding organizer, which meant I got to slave labour the other wedding party members

The Groom and his Best Man

Bride, Groom, Man of Honour and Best Man

Lee's Best Man speech was a tear jerker

My second mom growing up, Ana, in Edmonton, Ab

Outside of the wedding, Lee's goal for this trip was to go to West Edmonton Mall

Another homeschooler, Allison, in Edmonton, Ab

My best friend from high school, Steve, in Edmonton, Ab

First views of the Rocky Mountains (in the height of forest fire season)

A beautiful shallow lake outside Jasper, Ab

Glacial fed river in Jasper National Park

Finally, British Columbia

We had fun buying lottery tickets in each province

The Rockies get clearer, and bigger.

Speed limits increase again (74.5 mph)

Seeing my now 17 yr old brother, Theo, for the first time since he was 10. And my step-mom, Norma, in Surrey, BC

On the ferry to Vancouver Island

The redwoods of Vancouver Island, Sooke, BC

My Grandpa Tim and my Aunt Nikki, in Sooke, BC


Stepping into the Pacific Ocean, in Sooke, BC

One of the scary things about driving in the mountains, rock slides. This one was an older one and thankfully very small

Amazing animal crossing bridges in Banff National Park


Beautiful Badlands of Alberta, near Drumheller, Ab

At the Royal Tyrell Museum, near Drumheller, Ab

Hoodoos, near Drumheller, Ab

Lee's favorite part of the drive, huge prairie farms

The saline lakes of Chaplin, Sk. One of the largest bodies of salt water that is no where near a coast, in the world. 6-7 times more salty than the ocean!


Back in Ontario!

At the Panorama Amethyst Mine, the largest amethyst mine in Canada, north of Thunder Bay, On

Our haul from the mine

10,000 kilometers! (6,200 miles)

HOME!

Our complete route

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