Join Pat Williams on a road trip through the Canadian Rockies, where breathtaking landscapes and wild encounters await. From the turquoise lakes to the imposing mountains, every moment is a testament to the beauty of nature. But the unexpected twist will leave you breathless, etching an indelible mark in your memory. Get ready for a journey filled with wonder, adventure, and a thrilling encounter that will leave you longing for more. Can you guess what awaits on this mesmerizing road trip? Let’s Roam!

Pat is the founder of CyberCletch, which helps its clients build reliable and trustworthy websites. In addition, she travels full-time in North America in her truck camper and flies overseas once or twice a year.

Connect with Pat:

Website: https://realhomesense.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pat_cletch/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cybercletch

In this episode, you will:

• Navigate through an unforgettable journey across the scenic Canadian Rockies.
• Dive into the essential sights and activities for your bucket list in Vancouver.
• Learn more about Whistler’s unparalleled skiing and hiking experiences.
• Delve into the historical allure of Jasper town coupled with its wildlife sightings and camping opportunities.
• Identify the must-see sights and attractions in the mesmerizing Banff and Lake Louise.

The resources mentioned in this episode are:

• Rent a bike and ride around Stanley Park in Vancouver.
• Visit the Britannia Mining Museum on the way to Whistler.
• Explore the town of Whistler and enjoy the restaurants and hotels.
• Take a tram up to the top of Whistler for stunning views and photo opportunities.
• Hike the trail around the back of Whistler Mountain for a once-in-a-lifetime view of Chicamus Lake.
• Stop at Mount Robson Provincial Park to see the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies and potentially spot wildlife like bears.
• Explore the town of Jasper, visit the historic buildings, and dine at the restaurants.
• Stay in a campground or hotel in Jasper National Park and take in the beautiful surroundings.
• Drive along Medicine Lake and look for wildlife, including bald eagles and their nests.
• Visit Maligne Canyon and take a guided tour to explore the stunning rock formations and waterfalls.
• Take a boat tour of Maligne Lake and enjoy the breathtaking scenery.
• Drive the Icefields Parkway and stop at popular viewpoints like Athabasca Falls and the Columbia Icefield.
• Take a guided tour of the Athabasca Glacier and experience.

Transcript

Here is a transcript of the podcast. Please remember this was done via AI, so there are typos and mistakes.

Beth 0:08
Welcome to the rooming Yeti podcast where we share stories and tips to inspire you to room, your neighborhood and the world. I’m your host and head Yeti Beth Schillaci. In today’s episode, I speak with Pat Williams about her road trip through the Canadian Rockies. Pat is the founder of cyber clutch, which helps his clients build reliable and trustworthy websites. In addition, she travels full time in North America in her truck camper and flies over see once or twice a year. Are you ready? Let’s Roam. Welcome back, everyone to the roaming Yeti podcast today. I am so excited to have Pat with me. We’re traveling to the Far North. We’re going to road trip through the Canadian Rockies. Pat, thanks for joining me today. Hi, Beth.

Pat 0:53
Thanks for inviting me my favorite place on Earth.

Beth 0:56
Is it okay. I’m really this is very interesting to me. Your first Canadian trip that we’ve talked to tell me a little bit about that. About the route you took.

Pat 1:10
The route I took, well, I travelled full time. So it was part of a route but I actually started traveling through the Canadian Rockies when I was six years old. Oh wow. My parents are originally from Vancouver Island, and had had I grew up in Ontario. So we went back to visit family quite often. And I have done I’ve done this route many many times and seen the changes over the years. So for today we’re going to talk about Vancouver, up through Whistler to Jasper Banff ending up in Calgary.

Beth 1:49
Now I’m gonna assume you did this in the summer.

Pat 1:52
Yes, the summer is the best time to do it. You wouldn’t want to take some of those mountain passes in the winter.

Beth 1:59
So what what inspired you to decide to take this this trip or this route? I actually

Pat 2:06
what had travelled through the states up the Pacific coast and I was visiting my father in who lives in chumminess on Vancouver Island. And my fiancee flew in and I wanted to show him my favorite places. And the Canadian Rockies there are places where you can be all alone, unlike so many of the national parks here so it’s really nice and very romantic to go out and being in the wilderness. So that’s why I chose it and did it last year. Well, that’s

Beth 2:43
nice to note because I have been seeing so many pictures of the national parks in the US and I just It looks awful. It does not look enjoyable with all the people so it’s it’s nice to know that there we go a little further north we can get out of the crowds maybe.

Pat 3:00
Yeah, I’m further north now than been 20 years ago. Still now. Jasper is is less busy than Banff is

Beth 3:13
okay. And Jasper is in is outside Vancouver, right? Getting to get my geography all straight. It’s

Pat 3:21
closer to Edmonton say okay, Alberta. Okay.

Beth 3:25
And how what’s the distance on that of this that

Pat 3:30
you I did not look that I

Beth 3:32
know I just realized I forgot. Well, I guess I mean, how many days did it take you?

Pat 3:39
I it took us probably a week to two weeks. And but we did it fairly quickly. If you have more time if you have unlimited time. You can even start in Seattle and take a ferry to Victoria taken Victoria take a ferry to Vancouver and then start this trip. Oh wow. And when you end in Calgary, something I’ve never done but it’s a bucket list item for me is to take the train from Calgary back to Vancouver through the mountains. I hear it’s like a once in a lifetime trip and knowing some of the places that I stopped to see the trains on the way it definitely would be worthwhile.

Beth 4:29
Okay, so you can you can make it around around camp and see different things. That’s very cool. And you went in your arm. Were you in your RV the whole time?

Pat 4:39
Yeah, I was in my truck camper. Yeah, so I I’m I’m a camper. I’m also a boon Docker I prefer to just kind of pull off and and camp for the night. Okay. And it’s a little more challenging in Canada, but it can be done with some preparation

Beth 4:59
and Okay, so can you explain boondocking for me a little

Pat 5:03
docking boondocking is when you kind of stay out in the wild and you have no hookups. So you’re not connected to electricity or water. wild camping?

Beth 5:15
Yeah, I guess that would take a little more, more preparation. And I’m assuming that Canada and probably there’s certain rules of where you can, can do that.

Pat 5:27
Exactly. And in Canada, you have to get permits to do it. If you’re going to do it.

Beth 5:33
I like to be prepared so no one goes out and does them. No, no, anyone breaking the law on my behalf. Thank you.

Pat 5:41
Well, and especially if you’re camping in a tent, you don’t want to head out into the mountains and camp in a tent. Without knowing whether it’s a safe place to camp. Like for example, in Bamp, there are organized campgrounds and the one that is for tent campers or pop up campers. It actually has a fence around it and electric fence just because of the bears. Right.

Beth 6:13
That’s good to know. You definitely do. Definitely do not want to visit

Pat 6:17
a sighted camper if you’re gonna do that. Exactly.

Beth 6:22
So with this trip, it’s it’s definitely a long distance. You know what, what are some stops that people should definitely, definitely stop and take in on that trip.

Pat 6:34
Well, if if you’re starting off in Vancouver, there are you. You need to spend some time there. But definitely one of my favorite thing to do whenever I’m in Vancouver is to rent a bike and ride around Stanley Park. It’s a Park in downtown Vancouver huge surrounded by water on three sides. And you just do that route all the way around. And of course there’s other things right in that park. There’s an aquarium I saw my first beluga whales there as a kid. Oh wow. There is capsula know the bridge there that that’s and then there’s totem poles of course that you can see they’re also downtown. There’s Granville Island, which is some awesome eateries and shopping and buskers. There’s gas town which is famous, it’s in his an historic area. And also Grouse Mountain is a ski resort in the winter that overlooks downtown Vancouver but in the summer it’s just beautiful to go to the top and see the city from there. And also taking water taxis in downtown is fun. A Vancouver is a very bikable city and a very walkable city. So there’s lots to do there. So I would do that first and then when I start the trip, I’d head up to Whistler, okay. And Whistler again. Is is a ski resort on the way there actually there is a Mining Museum. Pretend you Britannia Mining Museum, and it doesn’t look like much I passed it many times. This time we decided to stop it’s actually a worthwhile stop. If you’re into mining you actually get into the mountain and feel what it was like. And then there’s a lot of really interesting things to look at to see what the mining was like in the area. And it also talks a lot about the pollution from mining and how they recovered it. Alright, nice. It was a an an actual mine at one time. And then yeah, Whistler Whistler is a world class ski resort. You’ll probably notice Whistler black home. It is fantastic to go the town of Whistler has a lot of really great restaurants and some nice hotels there too to stay in any of these places. If you’re going you pretty much have to book ahead, stay they get they get filled up quick, and it’s not an inexpensive trip. But if you’re coming from the United States and the the American dollar is strong, that helps a lot. Right. I would hi if you’re hikers I would highly recommend taking the tram up to the top of Whistler they’ve got an up shocks up there which are really interesting you know that that people made out of stone so photo up with with the countryside below you. There’s a bar up there and restaurants and There’s a suspension bridge up there, which is another good photo op thing. But what I loved best was there’s a hike from the top that takes you around the back of the mountain. And you overlook it’s a big hike. I think it was five to seven miles maybe return. But the view of cheekiness lake up there with all the mountain peaks behind it is just one of those once in a lifetime views. It’s incredible.

Beth 10:33
So now now, I’m sad. We don’t have like video running of all these pictures. Yeah.

Pat 10:40
Yeah, we actually blew that up and put it over our fireplace. Oh, it’s incredible. I could have sat there all day. But then you have to keep going to get back before dark. Yeah, it was it was lovely. So from there I been you start to work your way towards Jasper. And I won’t give you the the names of the the roadways because there aren’t that many that goes straight through. So because of because of the mountains. So if you just use Google Maps, it’ll take you the right direction when I mentioned these places, gotcha. And anywhere through the Canadian Rockies, it’s like coming up the coast of California. It doesn’t matter where you stop, there’s a view. It’s incredible. So take a picnic lunch rather than going into a restaurant just stop and take some chairs and pull up the side of the road and, and eat your lunch there. There’s nothing better than that, in my opinion. That’s why I take my camper with me and then you’ll work you’ll eventually get to a place called Oh, I’m having a there’s a there’s a provincial park just before you get to Jasper. Now Robson. Sorry, it took me a minute Mount Robson, I think of the mountain. And it is the most striking mountain I have ever seen. Like, it’s just when I saw it in July. Everything was covered in snow. And it is considered the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. So the highest so that’s why and it is imposing that just on the skyline. And that was just I saw that from a rest stop where we spent the night actually woke up to this view in the morning and it was incredible. And actually we were in in that provincial park when we saw our first bear. Oh, um, along the side of the road got some great pictures. It was yeah, the cars didn’t seem to going by didn’t seem to bother it so we just pulled over and watched it for a while foraging through the flowers so it was quite an experience. Very nice. And then you’re in Jasper

Beth 13:24
and then Jasper. Okay, so Jasper is a national park. is are there any like highlights or is it just beautiful views or

Pat 13:34
there are many highlights. You obviously like the national parks here you have to purchase a ticket to get into it. You can purchase I think a week at a time or a national an annual pass and it makes more sense than paying it daily. But Jasper is there’s there’s a small town of Jasper which is historic there’s there’s a lot of lovely buildings there great restaurants you’ve got a huge selection stores for shopping for souvenirs, expect to see elk everywhere. You know, they’re all over the National Park and herds of them. Which is so if you see any cars pulled over chances are it’s elk. They’re watching. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. And so from Jasper there’s places to stay there if you’re and then there’s campgrounds in the national park too. If you want to stay in a campground with hookups book it ahead of time, right far ahead of time as possible. There are what we discovered when we were there. There’s something called overflow camping. So if you don’t have reservations, there was still quite a few spots available. In the overflow, but there are no hookups. And you can’t and it’s very pretty. I actually I backed in and I opened, I have a door at the back of my camper. I opened the windows, the curtains there, because it was I was just back to trees and wilderness. And I woke up to use the facilities in the middle of the night and caught, I think a grizzly head that was at the back of my camper. And when he saw me, he took off, so I didn’t get a really good look. But the moon was out that night, and it was definitely a bear of some sort. It was a big one.

Beth 15:41
So that brings up a question. Yeah. For the non camping types like myself. Are there hotels that that you can, you know, people can stay at in the different cities that they can still visit the parks and then go back to their hotel? Yes. Okay. Yeah. So it’s not it doesn’t have to be a camping adventure. No, no,

Pat 15:59
no. There are lots of small hotels, boutique hotels, and then there are the larger Park type hotels, typically, in some places, they’re known as the CN hotels, the Canadian National hotels. I didn’t see the one in Jasper, but I’m pretty sure there’s one there. But I’ll talk about those when we get further in on the trip. There’s lots of choices. But again, book it ahead of time, expect to pay more, what seems to be more than what you would pay in the United States, because the cost of living is higher in Canada. And then they also have taxes on top of that.

Beth 16:48
That’s yeah, that was just no, we’ll talk about more, but I just want everyone to be like, I don’t really camp. Can I still do this? Yeah, yes, yes,

Pat 16:57
there are hotels and motels and they’re, they’re riding the park. So you’re convenient to everything great, you’re going to pay more to stay in the park outside but the parks are so big. You would want to stay in the park if you can, right. That makes sense. And there’s really not a lot outside of the parks either because especially Jasper it truly is in the wilderness and you can go and hike and not see another person there are some main places to go and visit there that so for example, there’s Medicine Lake, which is very pretty like that you can drive along and take pictures they had a fire on one side a couple of years ago so the trees aren’t there aren’t as many trees on one side. But while we were there, there was an eagle’s nest a bald eagle nest and the bald eagle was there and it had a little eagle in the nest and we got to see that and it was fairly close so somebody with a good lens on their camera can take could have taken excellent pictures which we did and then if you go further along there is another lake and I can never I want to call it malign but that’s not the way pronounce it I think it’s Moline is pronounced the lake and you can get out on on on a boat and explore the lake it’s beautiful there’s a restaurant there very good food drinks of course a souvenir shop as well there’s lots of hikes from there too which are very nice. And also in Jasper is a hot springs in another direction you could I think there’s three or four sections of Jasper that you could literally take a day in each section and and explore and hike and something I learned actually in Colorado but in the hot springs most people go into these big pool hot springs and sit for the for the healing properties of the hot springs are what I’ve learned is that you shouldn’t shower after them. We all do that. Right? We have a shower and we leave apparently if you want the benefits of the minerals and the hot springs do you should wait 24 hours for a shower.

Beth 19:25
Interesting. Yeah, let that all absorb in.

Pat 19:28
Yeah, yeah.

Beth 19:30
There’s no

Pat 19:32
soy from Jasper and we love Jasper because they’re just it’s not as busy it’s further away so if you really want to get away from people that’s the place to go and and have incredible scenery that’s definitely in the route from Jasper to Banff is along the Columbia Icefield Parkway and that It is just non stop incredible scenery. I’d compare it to like a Marvel action movie. It just never stops. Just never stops, it’s, it’s even the even the rest stops or I stopped at every single one along the way, because there was always something incredible to look at. Let’s see what’s there. There’s glaciers, there’s turquoise lakes, the color of the lakes up there is unlike anything you’ve ever seen, because it’s, it’s from the glacial runoff. Okay. And then of course, the mountains are really rugged. So some of the amazing stops Athabasca Falls. Oh, the icefield itself. Columbia, what it’s named for Columbia Icefield. That is an interesting stop. It’s now I think a four story Visitor Center. Oh, wow, that has restaurants and stores, of course. But it’s also where you buy your tickets to get out on the ice field. And these machines that take you out there are in interesting in and of itself the angle that it can drive up and down to get onto the ice field. If you stand beside it, the tires are taller than you. Yeah, it’s pretty incredible. But you can also if you hang out there a bit you can also do a hike out on the glacier, which was new from when I’ve been there in past years. So they’re taking people up to walk the glaze here, which is kind of scary because they have crevices that Oh, down to legs. So don’t do it. I wouldn’t do it independently. I definitely look into her. But you can get out and walk around on when you take the bus tour to and they’ve also built a glass walkway further up the road in a valley terrify me. You know I’ve never had any interest in them. You know, the Grand Canyon any of those places. I’ve never done them. But I and I was kind of irritated to be honest because they forced us to do it. Oh, I am so glad they did. It was incredible. Yeah, it was definitely worth it to just stand on this glass walkway and you look down and there’s waterfall after waterfall after waterfall it’s just yeah and then you can also see the glaciers from there to was just another view. I yeah, I was really glad I did. Surprisingly enough. Let’s see what else Oh further along after after and definitely do the glacier like you’d have to do it if you do this trip. Further along you’ll see a stop for peyto lake which is glazier fed Lake and it is it’s a bit of a hike up to it uphill if I remember correctly. You could definitely push a stroller though. It’s all paved. Oh it’s an incredible view. Definitely an Instagram worthy shot

Beth 23:40
definitely pack the good camera for this trip, right?

Pat 23:43
Oh definitely, definitely or just make sure your phone’s up to date so that because phones now take such good pictures actually. And then eventually you’ll come to Lake Louise which is a pretty famous place it’s well known. Also a ski area and winter. In the summer it’s known for its hiking actually there’s a hike from this is where the campgrounds are that I was talking about where they have one for RVs and then one for towns and we were fortunate to get into the RV campground. That area has gotten so busy that it is nearly impossible to get in to see the sights, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. So you have to be up. I think we were up at six and we never did get into see marine lake on this visit we could not get in. But they now have shuttles so if you are organized and book a shuttle you’ll get in without any problem to both of those places, we were able to drive into Lake Louise, which worked really well for us. Because there is a hotel at the bottom of the lake. So there’s a glacier at one end of the lake and a hotel at the other. The hotel is it used to be called Chateau Lake Louise. And now it is it’s a it’s a hotel chain, I can’t remember what the what the chain is. It used to be a cn Hotel. So these, these are old hotels, they’re built across Canada. And there’s one in Lake Louise one in Banff. Not sure if there’s one in Calgary, Ottawa in Quebec, and they are beautiful old historic hotels. And you know, built at a time when there were no roads, you could just get to them by train right through the mountains. So it’s it’s quite impressive. And the view to have dinner or lunch there at in the hotel is is worth it. Whether you stay there or not. I think the rooms started at 400 at night. But often, few times that I’ve tried to book I haven’t been able to get in anyway. Getting into the restaurant, the Fairview restaurant is nearly impossible to this visit, we got the final seating, which I think was 830 at night, and the food. It’s phenomenal. I have a lot of really weird food challenges, sensitivities. And they take it seriously, unlike so many other restaurants, right? They took what I was interested in and created it just for me. And it was delicious, really, really good. So I highly recommend that they also have a more casual bar sort of appetizer area, which is also equally nice. And then they also have a at sunset or just before sunset dusk, they there is an outside bar area where you can sit around a fire and there’s usually entertainment, somebody singing, playing the guitar or whatever. And with the view of Lake Louise, it’s just one of those happy moments in your life where you just sit and look and can’t believe your good fortune of being there. Nice. So the nice thing about the late dinner seating was and having a car was that when we came out. The hordes of people that are usually they’re walking around the lake, and actually there’s a there’s a well known hike to a tea room on the lake that you you obviously have to do earlier in the day that you can hike up I think it might be four miles return. And you can go and have tea at another lake up in the mountains. I did not get to do it on this on. I haven’t done it yet, actually. But it’s on the list next time I go back. So when we came out of dinner, it was dark. And we sat with nobody there not a soul and took pictures of the stars and the glacier in the background. And then went back to our campground was lovely.

Beth 28:47
Oh, sounds beautiful. What away there in the night.

Pat 28:50
It was incredible. Yeah. And then we drove into bath where I actually ate salad and got sick from a food sensitivity. So my guy booked a hotel in downtown vamps so that I could recover. And it was very nice to stay in the city. And well it’s not a city, a town in the town. It’s incredibly busy, very busy. But there is a huge selection of restaurants. Anything from vegan to fast food, you can get it all quality food. There was a nice market going on at the time, which was enjoyable to walk through. There’s a lot to do in the town of Vamp and around Banff as well.

Beth 29:46
And there’s a film festival there right at some point in each year. Oh,

Pat 29:51
I wouldn’t surprise me. Yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me if there was it’s definitely the place to be. Banff is a lot busier because if you were traveling Between Calgary and Vancouver, Banff is in the in the way. Okay, so Jasper is out of the way but Bamp so it has changed significantly since my first visit there it’s gotten very busy it’s it’s much like the towns outside the national parks in the States is a busy lots of people.

Beth 30:25
So plan ahead on Well, I mean, it sounds like the whole trip you have to plan ahead and

Pat 30:28
you do really book. Yeah, I would highly recommend it to get the places that are closest to what you want to see. in Banff, there are surrounding bands, there’s a lot to do, I would highly recommend taking the gondola up silver mountain. It’s a view from the top that overlooks the valley that Banff is in you can see quite a bit it they’ve built again a huge Visitor Center at the top. There are boardwalks that go along the peaks. And you can see an old weather station and research facility that’s there as well as just the incredible views. We ended that day. At the very top of the visitor center is an open air bar. Oh, nice. And we sat there unfortunately, no kids to that part because it is a bar. But we sat there around you know, the gas fires listening to music with the landscape in front of us, which is you know that that’s enjoyable too. And then what else did we do in Banff? Ah, there is a loop two minute. Forgive me if I if I pronounced this wrong Minnewanka lake

Beth 31:53
as I say I pronounce things wrong. All the time. Yeah, but don’t feel bad.

Pat 31:57
Yeah, I think it’s Minnewanka lake. And there’s lots to do along the route to you know, little walks here or hikes there. Definitely could bike it as well. It’s a one way loop. And when you get to the lake you there’s boat rides, you can kayak there’s hikes there’s, I’m sure you can swim. There’s lots to do. And there’s also Johnston Canyon, which is a well known we didn’t see it this trip. But it’s I’ve done it before and it is a fairly simple hike up a canyon. In the winter. If you’re there in the winter. You can put on ice cleats and hiking too. Yeah, that’s that would be an interesting and interesting trip. Yeah.

Beth 32:47
I feel like that whole trip would be very different in the winter.

Pat 32:51
Yes, yes. Yeah, I can’t imagine doing it in the winter. Some of those passes. You probably can’t. The roads are closed, I’m sure

Pat 32:59
a lot of the time.

Pat 33:02
And then and then the next portion of the trip is from Banff into Calgary which is not too far. I think it’s about it’s under two hours between going to from Banff to Calgary and, and there’s a lovely little town along the way. I haven’t spent enough time there but I know that a lot of people from Calgary vacation in Canmore. We did stop lovely bakery had some delicious treats and coffee on the way. And then in Calgary. I honestly have not done a lot of tourism stuff because my brothers live there, though I tend to hang at their houses. But Calgary is known for the Calgary Stampede. And there’s a nice park along the Bow River. There’s Calgary tower which you can go up and view and honestly my favorite Canadian restaurant is a semi fast food place called Swiss chalet. Oh, so I would always stop at Swiss chalet if I were there.

Beth 34:11
And what kind of food do they have

Pat 34:14
it some rotisserie chicken and fries. Oh, yeah. Yeah, just a quarter chicken white meat with fries and the chalet sauce. That’s the That’s my go to meal whenever I hit Canada

Beth 34:32
sounds good. Yeah, I can see why why that would be. Be your go to place.

Pat 34:41
Yeah, so I just kind of did the whole thing there for you. And

Beth 34:48
it’s quite a trip and like I said, I’m you know, this was sort of a new new route to me, so I didn’t realize how much it was like it’s very

Pat 34:59
low. On, but it’s all easily accessible. It’s not, you’re not having to drive hours and hours out of your way. Everything is basically along the road. Unless you’re in the national park itself. And then you might want to take a day for each section of the park.

Beth 35:20
Right? That makes sense. Do you have? Did you have a favorite stop? I mean, there sound like a lot of amazing stops. Can you even pinpoint a favorite?

Pat 35:29
Jasper? Because I am I am. I do not enjoy the hordes of people. So I enjoy the privacy. i There’s something spiritual about sitting and looking at an incredible view and not hearing anything except sounds of nature. And Jasper is still good for that. That’s nice. Yeah. So that would have to be my favorite. Yeah, I would have probably said banse before, but it’s just too crazy busy for me now.

Beth 36:03
And did you I know you’ve taken the trip multiple times. But like on that few when you take these trips? What do you learn about yourself? Like, do you come away with a with a new feeling or a new belief or something that you, you sort of meld with nature?

Pat 36:21
Yeah, I would say, every time I get time alone in nature, it reinforces the fact that it feeds my soul. But this trip was more about I’m used to traveling solo. And so my fiance was with me on this trip. And I learned that EA can travel with him on a trip like this. So that keeps promising.

Pat 36:53
I was promising.

Beth 36:54
I mean, that’s a that’s a big deal. Like that’s a big trip to travel that you’re used to doing by yourself all your trips, and now, you know, to get through that one together. So I feel like kudos to both of you.

Pat 37:08
Yeah, and it was nice to be spoiled. You know, if I’d been by myself and gotten that sick as I didn’t bounce. I don’t know what I would have done because I just don’t know it was too hot to stay in the camper without air conditioning that day. And you know, he he rescued me, which was just very romantic.

Beth 37:29
It is very romantic. See, romance is not always flowers.

Pat 37:33
No, no, it’s taking care of somebody when they need being taken care of.

Beth 37:39
Exactly. And when you take these kinds of trips like how how do you how did you prepare for the trip?

Pat 37:48
Well, I’m telling everybody here that they should book in advance right? Because I don’t follow my own I fly by the seat of my pants and

Pat 38:04
I did

Pat 38:07
I did do a little bit of booking but not nearly far enough in advance. And I but that’s the way I travel because not because I’m disorganized but because I don’t know when I’m working how long it will take to finish a job before I can so I’m not sure how far I will get ahead in a day or a week or a month when I’m traveling so I can’t book add so yeah, I would say I would I would say that’s that’s my fault I’m sorry what was your question?

Beth 38:40
No just how to prepare prepare for the

Pat 38:43
air so I wasn’t as prepared as I was I should have been for this it still turned out wonderfully and the best evening we spent was in what we thought was the overflow camping found out that it wasn’t it was a day use area explained why there was nobody else staying there that night. But we could have gotten in trouble for that had the Ranger not being kind and given us a break. Yeah. And that’s how we found the overflow camping.

Beth 39:17
So the the booking in advance is is there a did you have to do that park by park like you have to go to the park website there’s not like a I always think there should be like a central

Pat 39:29
there might be there might be for the national parks in there for Banff and Jasper because they are I’d I don’t remember off the top of my head I’m sorry because I

Beth 39:39
know that’s fine. It’s so much.

Pat 39:43
Also that there was a i i bought a permit as a backup. Alberta. Alberta wildlife Association, maybe it was for boondocking along the East side of Jasper and Banff. And you had to book those separately, which was a bit there’s another national park in there called. I think it’s canon ascus. That’s another beautiful one. If you have time to add that on and tour through there, that will take you down into if I’m remembering correctly, that will take you down into the National Park. State side with going to the Sun road.

Pat 40:35
Which ones that

Pat 40:38
I can’t remember off the top of my head is we’re going to the Sun road is okay.

Beth 40:44
That makes sense.

Pat 40:45
Montana, I think

Beth 40:48
we talked about that there are there are hotel and other kinds of camping options, options. Yes, yeah. For those of us who don’t have an RV.

Pat 40:58
The AMF is very expensive. There’s also the Bamp hotel there, which is another cn original cn Hotel, which is beautiful. I’ve not been through it. I tried to go through it this time, but they had these archways to the parking and my camper was not going to fit under them. There was no and there. It’s hard to get parking spots downtown as well. So if you have a hotel, I’m sure that they have parking set for you. Fortunately, my guy he had to pay extra for the parking to park my rig but we found somewhere in a backout alleyway behind the hotel. We were staying at

Beth 41:40
Osgood. And we talked a little bit about food and what are you sort of some of the like, if you’re up there? What What should we be eating?

Pat 41:53
Oh, oh, there’s so much good food. Okay, so sweet tooths.

Pat 41:59
If you have a sweet tooth, you absolutely have to have a butter tart. And you can usually find them in. You can get them in grocery stores, but they’re not nearly as good as proper bakery. And you can get them sometimes with walnuts on them sometimes with raisins, sometimes without their good butter tart is definitely worth eating. It’s kind of similar to a pecan pie without the pecans. Oh, but it’s a tart as opposed to a pie. Gotcha. And then Nymo bar, a what bar and Nanaimo bar Nymo. But another sweet thing that has to it. This has coconut in it. So if you’re not a coconut lover, it might not be for you. It’s a crust with coconut and chocolate. And then a custard. Firm custard topped with chocolate glazed chocolate. It’s totally decadent. And definitely if you’re watching your calories, they’ll be blown but it’s something you should try. And of course there’s you know poutine that’s a French Canadian thing but it’s all over Canada the maple syrup definitely worth it anything let’s see what else and chicken

Pat 43:32
oh yes Swiss chalet.

Pat 43:36
Harvey’s if you’re if you’re a hamburger lover, I don’t know how many of them are left and I’m not sure if it’s still good. But once upon a time, Harvey’s was the best hamburger and fries. In Canada. That’s,

Beth 43:52
that’s good to know. You gotta have a hamburger every once in a while.

Pat 43:55
Yes, yes. And, you know, there’s beaver tails and that sort of thing. Oh, maple sugar. Something I haven’t seen in the States. We had you know, there’s there’s maple syrup here. But what I haven’t seen here is the maple sugar candies. And that is basically I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s like crystallized maple syrup that’s formed usually into a maple leaf.

Beth 44:29
My husband has a co worker who makes those every once in a while we get some at Christmas from her and they are so

Pat 44:35
yeah, yeah. Very, very good.

Beth 44:39
It’s like, yeah, it’s like a brown. It’s almost like just a hunk of brown sugar. But yes, but it’s maple instead of molasses. And it just Yes, it’s so good.

Pat 44:50
Oh, and maple cookies too. If you’re in the grocery store, they’re good. Ketchup chips. Yeah, there’s Smarties, Smarties, or they’re like m&ms, but

Beth 45:05
I was gonna say do you is it the? No, these are the really good.

Pat 45:10
Really good, like, like, m&ms but bigger,

Beth 45:14
bigger. There’s so many colors. We bought someone we were in Paris and they’re so good. Yes, I enjoy them much more than

Pat 45:26
Oh, an arrow bars. That’s another bars, arrow bars, a E R O, their chocolate bars, milk chocolate, and they have bubbles in them. Back. I don’t know why those bubbles make it taste better. But it does.

Beth 45:41
Nice. I love it. What, what do you wish you would have known? I guess? We’ve talked about planning ahead. But what other things would you want people to know before they go on a trip like this? That you’ve either learned the hard way or just by observing and doing like, you know, usually I phrase it of what would you? What? What do you wish you knew before you went but in that way, sort of what any words of wisdom for us.

Pat 46:16
This is a once in a lifetime trip, especially if you’re coming from somewhere else. Because I’m Canadian, I can go back anytime. And often go back, I have family there. But if you’re coming from somewhere else, and you don’t know anybody, plan it, take the time and plan it and build in times to your schedule. Ideally, to take a chair and just sit with an incredible view. And take it in like it’s just yeah, that just take the time that if you can, if you can’t you know we all rush through. I’ve got another vacation coming up starting Friday the east coast and in order to see everything you know, I’ve got it all lined up to is there probably won’t be a day to rest. If you can take that day to just sit and enjoy the scenery. Oh and expect something I didn’t cover as expect to see lots of wildlife. Expect to see bears expect to see you know birds expect to see elk moose if you’re lucky. Yeah, lots of wildlife. Be safe. Yes, please. Oh,

Beth 47:43
don’t worry that person and and up on the news. Just leave the animals alone take pictures from afar.

Pat 47:50
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, the moose and the bears. You’re lucky if you see those, but you will pretty much see elk, bighorn sheep, that sort of thing.

Beth 48:03
Very cool. And I’m sorry, was that Did I interrupt? Were you about to say something? One other thing? No. This information is super great. And, you know, I it’s not again, it was a trip that I wasn’t familiar with. But now I’m very much putting it on a a to do list. I’m not a big bucket list person. So but it’s it’s definitely going in the in the one to do list. So I really appreciate all this information.

Pat 48:39
Highly recommended. Vancouver is my favorite city I’ve ever seen. Yeah. Well, and then the mountains. The United States has some beautiful mountains, Mount Rainier, you know. And all of those are our incredible. This is like more rugged versions of those over and many of them,

Beth 49:04
right. Yeah, it sounds it sounds amazing. So and I know you’ve listened to some episodes so you know what’s what’s coming up,

Pat 49:15
but I do I do.

Beth 49:19
I have my little pop pop quiz questions that I do not send over ahead of time. But the savvy guest always listen and know what’s coming.

Pat 49:29
Oh, yeah, to be prepared, but I do enjoy your poker podcast.

Beth 49:33
Thank you. What is your favorite road trip snack.

Pat 49:41
My favorite road trip snack. Because I have so many food sensitivities. I can’t eat a lot of than the normal snacky stuff. So I’ve got to be a little more creative. When I have my camper. If I just pull over and make myself in the back of something I can activate camper but occasionally if I’m pulling a lot of miles to get somewhere I will have something in the cab and that’s typically dried apples nuts and dark chocolate combination without any dairy and it just dark chocolate and that’s really good and and Miss Vickie’s chips when I went to a salt fix, they’re hard to find so I don’t always have

Beth 50:36
well, I know you have a planned trip your your what is your next trip that’s coming up this weekend, right?

Pat 50:43
This weekend I leave Friday and we’re heading to this is something from my fiance’s childhood Ricketts Glen State Park in Pennsylvania. There’s waterfalls there, he wants to photograph. So we’re going there first, and then we’re cutting across to just south of Boston about an hour south of Boston. So we’ll be kind of in the middle of Cape Cod. Fairly close to Plymouth. I will take in Boston. My fiancee son is going to fly in for the week while we’re there. We’ll tour Boston and see Salem. And then after nine days there, we’ll go north to the Bar Harbor area and check out a Katy and National Park. fiance will fly back and I’ll start working again and slowly work my way back here.

Beth 51:41
I love that. Um, who is on your travel playlist. Your road trip?

Pat 51:47
Oh, you know, I I I

Pat 51:55
used to have a playlist that I listened to all the time on my phone. And you know, it’s, it’s all the typical things like prints the doors. Pat Benatar. But my favorites that I go back to go back to my younger years, and they are Canadian artists. Tragically Hip. I went to school high school with a few of those band members. So I listened to them before they became the hip. And then I continued to listen to them now. Wheat kings is probably one of my favorite songs. And then crash test dummies. Of course, should I explain? Swing? You know, you got to listen to those. Those are my, my go to road trip. Music.

Beth 53:01
Nice. Yeah. Very good. Now it’s Spotify. Yeah, whatever you can throw in on Spotify for sure. Yeah. Again, thank you so much for your time and this information and I hope people decide to head up north for their next road trip.

Pat 53:19
Definitely, definitely head up North and just plan it way in advance and make sure you have enough time to do and if you can, like start in Seattle and hit Vancouver Island first, like just go for half a year. Just here. Um, take that train from Calgary back to Vancouver. That to me would be the ultimate road trip.

Beth 53:42
Yeah, that sounds amazing. Yeah. Cool. Well, thank you so much.

Pat 53:46
Thank you, Beth. This was fun.

Beth 53:49
Thanks again to Pat for all the great information about traveling through the Canadian Rockies. Be sure to check out our show notes to see how to follow Pat’s adventures and stay connected with her. And thank you for listening. I hope these episodes inspire you to get out and roam even in your own neighborhood. Please subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes. And if you like what we’re doing here, please leave a review and a rating. Also to help support us please head to Yeti to shop.com to pick up some roaming Yeti merch. Talk to you soon and keep roaming.