ℍ𝕠𝕝𝕞𝕖𝕤🧭ℝ𝕠𝕒𝕞𝕤

It didn’t take long for us to figure out that now, as Albertans, one of Canada’s treasures was at our doorstep and it was time to experience it! So on December 29, 2009 following our first Christmas in Alberta, off to Jasper we went for our first encounter with the Rockies. The nearly 4 hour drive was just a short one in comparison to the drive from Ontario, so we were ready to hit the road. From the soft rolling foothills just passed Hinton, to the grandiose jagged rocks that make up the Canadian Rockies, the drive was nothing short of spectacular and had our heads turning in every direction to take it all in.

As if the the rock gods surrounding us with their beautiful snow caps, glaciers, turquoise lakes and waterfalls weren’t enough, nature turned up the volume and brought out the wildlife! Mountain sheep, Longhorn Sheep, a fox…things we had never seen before our whole lives in Ontario (other than in a zoo), were now so up close and personal as we watched them in their natural habitat. It was like being part of a National Geographic episode and the connection to nature was paramount. This experience forever changed us and continued to feed the seed growing inside for travel, exploration and nature. We would come back here several times more during the 3 years we lived in Alberta. Jasper will forever hold a special place in our travel experiences.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

In January 2009, my husband took on a position with Coram Construction to work on the University of Alberta project in Edmonton, Alberta. The goal was to feel out the Commercial Building Industry out west to see if it would be a good career move for him and a positive financial move for our family. By the end of January, we made the decision to move west in June, at the end of the school year. There were lots of hugs and tears as we said our goodbyes to family and friends. On June 27, we watched our whole life get packed up into a moving truck, set to meet us at our new home in Edmonton, while we drove across 3 Provinces with our dog Buster, our cat Quinny, and whatever necessities we could fit into our little Saturn ION for the long drive; An adventure that would later lead to our love for road tripping. Driving out of Ontario took almost as long as it did to drive across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. We had rainbows see us out in Sudbury, sunny skies driving around Lake Superior and amazing views driving through the Great Canadian Shield as we left our home Province of Ontario behind. We took our time stopping at points of interest in different cities in each Province taking in more of our beautiful country as we continued west. I must say, the most exciting thing was driving through a tornado in North Battleford Saskatchewan. As a storm junkie, it was scary and amazing all at once for me! Sunny skies met us at the bordering city of Llyodminster as we crossed into Alberta and finally, after 5 days on the road, pulling up to our home in Edmonton.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Well I guess the best place to start is from the beginning. We were still living in Ontario and the nature bug hit us hard when my husband introduced us to his favourite childhood pastime, his summers spent in Muskoka. This is something he was adamant that “his girls”, experience. So began our tradition of summers in Muskoka and our love for nature and the outdoors.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I am so new at this so I’m slowly but surely getting this page ready to add some amazing adventures and places we’ve experienced onto it. Its been a process learning to navigate in here but we’ll be “roaming” soon.