A couple of months ago, Jason and I started talking about a summer vacation. Since Jason was in school, we were looking forward to having time as a family--and I really wanted to go somewhere I hadn't been before.
We looked at lots of possibilities, and finally decided we'd take the kids to Jasper National Park in Alberta, where we would camp for three nights.
This year Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday, so we thought it would be a nice opportunity to see more of the country.
I have to be clear about one thing, though: I am not a camper. The thought of being the mom on a camping trip terrified me--and I wasn't sure if I could pull it off.
But, I knew it would be an adventure, and I started looking up camping recipes and tips on Pinterest, planning our four days away.
Two weeks before we'd be leaving, however, we changed our plans to include two more days of camping in Banff. We'd heard repeatedly about the beautiful drive from Banff to Jasper--and all the amazing sights along the way--and I was thinking about the 8 hour drive to and from Jasper . . . and wondering about doing it twice with only two days in between.
So, we booked the last available site at the Lake Louise campground and started to plan for five nights of roughing it in the bush (or at least in a national park campground).
After I'd already booked the site, I started reading reviews and learning that people didn't have very nice things to say about it. I thought about backing out, but Jason and the kids thought it would be fine . . . so we decided to just go with it.
Saturday morning we started early (7:30 a.m.). The drive went better than I could have imagined, the kids in good spirits, and the time seeming to fly by.
TEN hours later, we arrived at Lake Louise, staying in site C-3 (as in C-3PO for all the Star Wars fans). Jason and four enthusiastic kids set up the tent in no time, and we explored the area.
(Eric is not big on public restrooms, so luckily he brought his own potty along!)
The campground was surrounded by an electric fence to keep out the bears, but we ventured beyond that to a trail that led alongside a beautiful blue stream.
We knew we'd made the right choice in extending our trip. The campground had an alcohol ban for the long weekend and was very family-oriented. It had clean restrooms close to our campsite, individual showers with lots of hot water, and--as I mentioned--an electric fence to keep out the bears.
The next morning we drove up to the actual Lake Louise and were blown away by the light turquoise blue water. The lake was so calm and quiet, even though there were lots of canoes paddling along, and tourists everywhere.
We hiked to a lookout point above the lake, and then had to go back down for another look and more pictures.
We only had one day to see the area, so after the lake we drove south to Banff. We started at Surprise Corner, where we saw the Banff Springs Hotel, built in the late 1800s. Later we drove down and saw the hotel close up--we also read some ghost stories that had been recorded there over the years.
Just past the hotel lookout point was a hike on Tunnel Mountain, so we gave that a try.
Eric fell asleep on Jason's shoulders and missed seeing the view from the peak. Luckily he woke up on the way down so we didn't have to carry him the entire way!
That night the kids roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.
They loved sleeping in the tent, and did really well this second night.
Then the next morning we packed up and headed north to Jasper. The drive did not disappoint--the Rocky Mountains were incredible, another amazing sight after every turn of the road.
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