After the easiest border-crossing we have ever gone through, we headed north to Calgary, a new city for the both of us. Our first night was at a campground, but then we spent the remainder of our nights in several locals’ driveways as part of the Boondocker’s Welcome program. Tony and I immediately connected with Calgary as we found it easy to navigate, lots and lots and lots of biking and walking paths connecting all parts of the city, more parks than we have ever seen in a city, lovely river and mountain views, adjacent to Banff National Park, great organic and co-op grocery stores, a surprising number of vegan restaurants, cool temperatures, super clean streets and neighborhoods and a pleasant blend of modern and traditional architecture. We liked Calgary so much we put in an offer on a small townhouse, but sadly we were outbid so it was not meant to be. Although some of the other properties we toured could have worked, they just did not feel right to either of us and the property we are outbid on has still not closed, so we continue to hope that it comes back on the market so we can swoop in.

Temperatures started to dip into the territory where overnight heat was needed inside the van at the same time we learned our newly installed (by the professionals, not us!) Webasto heater was not working. The heater would not ignite a flame and we kept getting error messages and only cold air would blow. Tony found a Webasto service center but they were not comfortable working on our van and heater as their experience is on semi-truck installations although they did attempt to troubleshoot. Luckily, we called Webasto Tech Support the next morning (it was 46 degrees inside the van at this point) and they were fantastic. In under 10 minutes, they diagnosed the problem over the phone, had Tony make a couple of setting changes and we had heat again. We are super happy with Webasto Tech Support and the heater has continued to work flawlessly since that time.

After a week in Calgary, we ventured on north to the Canmore and Banff areas. Canmore was another lovely mountain town which tends to be our vibe. We err on the side of heavy COVID-19 precautions and rarely ever even get take-out, but we let our guard down just a little and had absolutely fabulous take-out twice from CommuniTea in Canmore and ate outside on the completely empty outdoor patio (our first dining out experience since COVID-19) at Nourish Bistro in Banff. Baby steps.

Since it was shoulder season, there were very few people and campsites were aplenty. Near Banff, we hiked the Hoodoos trail and also toured around the city on our Bromptons. These tiny, folding bikes might be a contender for our best purchase. We use them almost every day for errands and commuting, yet they are small enough to carry on a bus like we did in Banff. They are also conversation starters and people ask about them constantly and seem to enjoy watching us fold and unfold them. Tony was able to do several long bike rides with some of his beloved long hill climbs into the mountains.

From Banff, we pushed onwards with a short scenic drive to Lake Louise with Tony biking the last 35 miles while I drove ahead. I easily found a campsite in the National Park close to town. The weather was turning a bit cooler and the rain greatly diminished our hiking opportunities. We saw Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep one day and Tony squeezed in a few shorter bike rides between the rainstorms, but overall the weather was pretty abysmal. On our last full day, I was determined to see some of the most notable sites regardless of the weather. We departed at 5 AM to drive to Lake Moraine to watch the sunrise and it did not disappoint even though it was drizzling, and we had to don raingear. As the sun rose, the mountains were aglow with a warm orange sunlight that softly reflected off of the completely still lake. It was breathtaking. We were a bit surprised to find the parking lot almost completely full upon our arrival and we can only imagine what it must be like during the daytime, but regardless it was worth the effort especially since we hiked down the beach where there were no other people and just pretended we were alone. After leaving Lake Moraine, we did a quick early morning hike at Lake Louise where there were few people present, the rain was barely a drizzle and the sun barely risen. It was a spectacular hike/stroll and a great way to start the morning.

We continued to push further north with our sights set on Jasper taking the 141-mile Ice Fields Parkway (Hwy 93) which is consistently ranked as one of the top scenic drives in the world. Words and pictures do not accurately describe the vast beauty of this place which is filled with snow-capped mountains, evergreens interdispersed with trees whose leaves have already changed to bright yellow, orange and red colors. There is a roaring river, glaciers and more waterfalls than I could count. The 3-hour drive took almost 7 ½ hours as we stopped to hike, take photographs and have a roadside picnic along the way. A recommended bucket-list item for anyone coming to this area.

We arrived in Jasper and found a much larger mountain town than we expected. Many of the businesses were in the process of closing down for the season and the construction crews were working non-stop to get in just a bit more progress before the weather really turned. We easily secured a spot at the newly remodeled Whistlers National Park campground which also had brand new shower rooms with super hot showers. Vanlife score!

The weather held out, albeit it was a bit chilly but we were able to get in several hikes and a few bike rides for Tony. We purchased tickets to take the SkyTram but probably wouldn’t do this again in COVID-19 times. The website said the trams were running at 50% capacity and masks were mandatory, but when we got there they were cramming 25 people into each tram. Tony and I both unapologetically wore N95 masks on the tram although we did get many strange looks as we have not seen anybody else wear anything but cloth masks while in Canada. The tram took us part of the way up the mountain but we hiked the Whistlers Summit Trail from there which is 1000 feet of elevation gain in a little over 1 mile. The temperature was also 36 degrees at the summit and it was raining and very windy, so we took a few quick photos to mark the experience and quickly descended back to the tram and then the van for some deserved hot beverages. We did complete several other easier hikes in the area and saw a giant male wapiti (elk). They’re HUGE!

As the weather started getting even colder, we decided to begin to head west and south towards Pemberton, British Columbia. We took a scenic route which followed the construction project involving the dismantling of the incomplete Keystone XL pipeline. We also saw small Mobile First Aid trucks (4×4 trucks with small pick-up campers) periodically on this route but we can’t seem to find out what these are for? Part of the pipeline dismantling safety team?

We pushed on with planned stops in Pemberton, Whistler, Squamish, Vancouver and finally Vancouver Island. Overall, a great road trip so far. We are 3 ½ weeks into our 7-week trip with more adventures yet to come.