Canadian/US Western loop

Birthday dinner for Oscar at Wacky Wings. We meet with Bobbie and Henry to drop off Milo for his 6 week stay at the Dacosta residence. He seemed indifferent when saying goodbye and quite excited to lay down and sleep for the trip to Timmins.

Quick stop in North Bay before we leave to pick up Riley and Jacksen and to say goodbye to the Larouche’s before our adventure! Always good to see them :)

It was a long drive from the Soo to Thunder Bay but we made it in safely and set up quickly. The campsite was nice, the falls was really beautiful. We had planned to stay for two nights but between our camper fridge needing service and the sever thunderstorm we decided to pack up early and head west.

Spent the day at the beach at Birds Hill Provincial Park then travelled to Winnipeg to check out The Forks Market. This is the kind of permanent market that we are trying to bring to Barrie. Very cool spot :)

It was another long day on the road but we made it in safely and just in time to Tillebrooke Provincial Park before another thunderstorm hit our campground.

The drive from Saskatchewan to Alberta was beautiful. I wasn’t looking forward to the drive through the prairies based on my first experience in my early 20’s, but this time was different. I guess I’ve learned to see and understand the beauty in the prairies as of I’ve gotten older… or Yellowstone has turned me into a city cowboy :)

Visited Dinosaur Provincial park today. We did a short 3 km walk. The views were spectacular! I don't think that any of us were expecting or prepared for the breath taking landscape

We took a drive into the city to explore the Calgary Zoo and the downtown. The kids really enjoyed the zoo and walking Stephens Ave downtown...maybe not the walking part so much 😄

Jacksen’s goal is to visit NHL arenas. Here’s the saddledome :)

Banff National park - Tunnel Mountain Set up camp in Banff today. We had tickets for the Gondola in the afternoon. Spent the rest of the day walking around the village shopping and finishing with a bite to eat at the Crown and Rose.

We took a ride up to Lake Louise. The amount of tourists was quite surprising. Parking was unavailable and needed to be pre paid and booked so a shuttle could take tourists from the Ski Hill to Lake Louise. Thankfully we found a parking spot heading to the Fairmount. It was a short enough walk up to the lake. We walked the base as it was too hot and busy to hike the mountain trails. The views were spectacular! I would suggest booking at the Fairmount to really make the most of it.

Woke up early to climb Tunnel Mountain. Riley and Jacksen weren’t up for it so the three of us headed up on our own. It was a beautiful hike and took approximately an hour to climb and descend. Glad we did the hike early as it was already starting to warm up on the way down.

Whitewater rafting! Spent the morning on the Kanaskasis river with an excellent guide, Rachel from New Zealand. We shared the raft with a lovely couple from Germany. They were here with their kids picking up their one daughter after a 10 month long school exchange.

We worked hard, got soaked, and had a blast! Everyone agreed that whitewater rafting is worth doing again!

Detour Day 2 - the last minute campsite that we booked was a bust. We drove 5kms up a super sketchy logging road with the trailer (Karine was not impressed). I booked a “glamping” school bus, which turned out to be just a school bus with cots in it. It was hot and gave off a hippie communion vibe so we hiked back down the mountain….truck and trailer are filthy again -__-

We made our way into Kelowna and found a Brewery/Pizza shop (Bad Tattoo) and found another AirBnB! The place was downtown and within walking distance of Bernard Ave., and a ton of beaches. We had fun exploring the city and the kids enjoyed swimming at the waterfront.

We drove into Kamloops to visit with Barry, Michelle, and Grayson (Uncle, Aunt, & cousin). It was so good to see them, we haven’t been to their place since 2005 when Grayson was 2 weeks old…he’s now 16 and towers over me!

It was so much fun to see them again :) Unfortunately we completely forgot to take a picture!!!

Back on track again! Pulled into the Rock & River Rustic Resort…emphasis on the rustic part :)

Tammy welcomed us to the park, which we had to ourselves! We had our pick of the lots next to the Thompson river.

We booked a one night stay at Sunnyside campground. It was well organized, clean and on beautiful lake. It was a short stay, wish would have booked a couple more nights :)

We had a nice BBQ dinner, including fresh Chilliwack corn on the cob cooked on the BBQ. Karine says it’s the best corn she ever had. We played UNO with the kids and planned a hiking trip for the next morning….so early bedtimes

We made it to Vancouver! It’s definite city camping here. We’re tucked in under the Lion’s Gate bridge next to the Royal Park mall, right beside the highway…thankfully our camper has a loud and noisy fan/AC that drones out the outside! It’s clean, friendly, has a pool, hot tub and lounge for the kids to keep busy.

Jacksen got his lick of restaurants, he chose this one because they had the Jays game on. (They lost in the 10th inning). Great food and service…our server was from Hamilton.

Aquarium! The sea lions stole the show today! It was a lot of fun to see all the different exhibits

Hiked the Tree top adventure at the Capilano suspension bridge. It’s changed since Karine and I were there last in 2005. They now have a cliff hike that takes over the gorge. We booked early before the big rush

Goats on a roof! Quick detour to Coombs while making our way to Victoria. They have goats on a roof there :)

Walked around downtown Victoria with Tony (brother) and the kids. We stopped by an old school arcade with a bunch of games from when we were kids. Victoria is a great city to just walk around, plenty of shops and great waterfront.

We went down to Fisherman dwarf with uncle Tony and we had a blast there were so much to see, we got ice cream and we got to meet nice people and nice dogs (pets) as well as some deer on the way there. The ice cream shop is called Jackson’s ice cream. We walked on the docks among the floating houses and were super cool they were all full of colours and life with lots of fish and water taxis. - Ava

We took a nice walk around the park with Tony and the kids.

After a great couple days in Victoria we’re off again…heading back to our campsite in Vancouver.

We’ve started our journey home. We headed south towards Seattle, short drive from Vancouver to Washington (even with the 45 minute wait at the border). Karine and the kids were a little nervous at the border and thought we’d be given a hard time. The border agent was great! She’s only been posted there for 3 weeks, prior to that she was living in Oakville for 6 years. She let us through with no trouble at all.

Took in a unique perspective of Seattle via their Underground tour; City below the city, recommended by Tom and Shannon from Reno Nevada, a couple we met in Vancouver. Glass ceilings which, in time, the glass has turned into various colours over the century due to the UV from the sun. Ava saw a dead rat.

Had a great time at the Walabee Ranch, hosted by the eccentric and somewhat unusual character by the name of Rex. We learned a lot about the Walabees and had a chance to pet and kiss the animals. Rex’s Ranch was showcased on National Geographics a few years ago. The Ranch was recommended to us by Tom and Shannon, a couple we met in Vancouver.

Checked out downtown Spokane; Washington’s best kept secret. Very beautiful and clean city.

Had the best meal of our trip by far at Anthony’s in Spokane. Indulged in great seafood and the mouth-watering artichoke and crab dip which was amazing.

Stopped in for a photo-op at the Dutton Ranch, a Ranch showcase on the Yelllowstone series. Security was stationed at the gate as filming was in progress but we were able to stop at the side of the road and snap a few pictures.

Spent the afternoon riding some trails on a couple of side-by-side in the mountains of Whitewall, Montana. Ava got to ride her first ATV. We saw cows and climbed the Ringing Rocks. The whole family had a blast.

Stayed two nights in Cody, Wyoming. Kids enjoyed the pool and the activities available at the park while mom & dad had a chance to work. We took in the city in the evening and had a bite at one of the brewers in town before heading to the Cody Rodeo.

Took the scenic route to our next campground. The views were absolutely spectacular. Stopped in on the side of the road to check out Shell Falls.

Drove by Mount Rushmore on the way to our next site in Rapid City. Met up with Sue and Paul Disley, relatives of friends of Rick from Kapuskasing. Sue and Paul currently live in Timmins. Rick and Karine went out for a diner date at Longhorn Steakhouse while the kids played at the pool with some friends, Dylan and Dustin from Massachusetts.

Visited the Field of dreams movie site. Brought our baseball gear and threw the ball on the baseball diamond and ventured into the corn field adjacent to the baseball diamond. Picked up some memorabilia from the movie. Met a family from Brampton, ON. Definitely a highlight from our trip. The movie came out 33 years ago and over 65,000 visitor still visit the movie site on average per year.

The kid’s first concert! Imagine Dragons, Macklemore and King’s Elliot were amazing to watch. There were over 25k people in attendance. We had a great time!

We never made it officially to Millennium Park but we’re able to capture a picture on our walk by. The lineup was too long and we had to make it back to the hotel to get ready for Chicago White Sox’s game that night.

We stayed in Ann Arbor for our final night of the trip, stopping in the city on our way to the site. We had supper at Jolly Pumpkin with Neil Negafok and his six year old daughter Eliana (Eli). Rick grew up in Kapuskasing with Neil and they hadn’t seen each other for over 20 years! Walked the city after dinner and took some ice cream. Had a great time!