Welcome to the 1st edition of the Travel Bucket List Series. Our first stop, the Canadian Rockies. I chose to highlight the Rockies first, as this is our big family trip this year.
We chose the Canadian Rockies for a couple of reasons. First, we fell in love with Canada when we explored Vancouver and the Yukon a couple of years ago. Second, our kids are not fans of extreme heat. The last big trip we did as a family was the Mediterranean in July. Can you say HOT?? We knew we wanted something a tad cooler and a bit closer to home. Lastly, Adventures by Disney offers a trip to the Rockies. We have loved the last two trips we took with ABD, so it made sense to book this trip through them. The Rockies seem like the logical choice.
Calgary and Surrounding Area
Our journey will begin in Calgary. Calgary is located 150 miles north of the US/Canadian border. Located in the province of Alberta, Calgary is the largest city in all of western Canada. For three nights, we will be staying at the Fairmont Palliser.
Calgary’s premier hotel, The Fairmont Palliser, is located in the heart of the city. It is within walking distance to the city’s retail shopping, museums, and entertainment venues. It is a historical landmark offering distinctive accommodations in elegant surroundings.
The hotel has 407 newly renovated rooms that include high speed internet and entertainment, such as in-room movies. There are three categories of rooms, as well as suites. Want to be treated like a queen? Stay in the Royal Suite when Queen Elizabeth II stayed while visiting Canada in 1990. The hotel has one restaurant, the Hawthorn Dining Room and Bar. It offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a Sunday brunch. Afternoon tea is held on Saturday and Sunday. I have heard it is fantastic and I think we may give it a try.
The hotel has a fully equipped health club and a unique guest service hotline called Royal Service. The Royal Service is a dedicated team on hand to assist with your every need.
We plan to arrive a day early and we will have some free time to explore the city on our own. The two
Heritage Park is a living historical village that spans Western Canadian history from the 1860s to 1950s, and is broken out into four time periods:
- 1860s Fur Trading Fort and First Nations Encampment
- 1880s Pre-railway Settlement
- c.1910 Prairie Railway Town
- 1930s, ’40s and ’50s Gasoline Alley Museum and Heritage Town Square
There are over 100 exhibits. The exhibits include an aboriginal encampment representing the First Peoples in southern Alberta in the 19th century. There is a working smithy, bakery, hotel, and several shops and restaurants. Horse-drawn wagons are all around. For those that love the rails or transportation of any kind, check out the streetcar from the Calgary Street Railway, or a re-creation the paddle steamer, S.S Moyie. Open year-round is the Gasoline Alley Museum. This museum houses the park’s extensive collection of antique cars and memorabilia.
Another must-do on our list is the Calgary Zoo. We love a good zoo. My kids are
While in Calgary, we will not be limiting ourselves to the city. We are in the wild, wild west, and it would only seem right that we spend the day along The Cowboy Trail. The Cowboy Trail is a scenic route through the Canadian Rockies. Nestled between the Canadian Rocky Mountain foothills and the Canadian Praire, it features horseback trail rides, ranches, western-themed attractions, historical sites, and more. Our first stop will be the Canadian Rocky Mountain Ranch.
The Canadian Rocky Mountain Ranch is a 540-acre ranch home to bison and elk. Here we will tour the ranch and get an up-close and personal visit with these magnificent animals. Next on our list, Saskatoon Farm.
One of the region’s signature food is the Saskatoon Berry. Though it resembles a blueberry, this delicious berry is more closely related to the apple family. After a tour of the farm, we will be treated a delightful lunch and get to try one of the tantalizing desserts made with these berries.
Our final stop of the day will be the Chinook Honey Company. We will learn and taste some honey wine. Afterward, we will have the opportunity to see the inner workings of a honeybee colony.
Dinner will be on our own. Though there will be some suggestions from our guides, I have taken upon myself to research a couple of places. So far Starbelly, Sky 360, CIBO and River Café has caught our attention. I will let you know what we pick after our trip.
Banff & Surrounding Areas
For the second part of this trip, we head to Banff. We are staying at the Fairmont Banff Springs. Another gorgeous hotel that has been called Canada’s Castle in the Rockies. The hotel is located in the heart of Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Open year-round; it has a championship golf course, winter skiing, and an award-winning spa. The hotel has over 700 guest rooms, including suites with rooms to accommodate everyone’s needs. It is also pet-friendly!
We will spend two full days discovering what Banff has to offer. First, a float trip down the Bow River. Starting in the picturesque town of Canmore, we will float down the Bow River and take in the majestic mountain views. After, we will have some free time to explore the town of Canmore. Canmore consists of just over 13,000 residents. Though small in population, the town is spread out due to wildlife corridors, railway highway, and the Bow River. There are plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy, though I am not entirely sure how much time we have on our own. I prefer to walk the downtown area and get some lunch. The Wood Restaurant and Lounge has an excellent menu that would please all the picky eaters in my family, plus it boasts the best patio in the Rockies.
For our second full day in Banff, we have planned a jammed packed day. First up, a bike ride along the Bow River. Here we will stop and hike to see Bow Falls.
Next is a gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain. At the top of the mountain is hiking trails, restaurants, cafes and a new Interpretive Center. It offers observations and hands-on experiences for the whole family. There is a rooftop observation deck that looks amazing. It looks down at the town of Banff and six mountain ranges. While up at the top, we will be eating lunch at the Northern Café, taking in these views.
Later that day, we will have dinner on our own in Banff. I am excited to check out this picturesque town.
Lake Louise and the Surrounding Area
The last couple of days we will spend at Lake Louise, Alberta. Again , we will have the pleasure of staying at a Fairmont Hotel. We get to rest our weary heads at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. This gorgeous hotel is a luxury mountain resort open all year. It has world-class skiing, snowshoeing, and ice skating in the winter, hiking, fishing, and canoeing in the summer, a kid’s camp, spa, and award-winning dining. There is something here for everyone. I am looking forward to checking out the spa!
For our first day in Lake Louise, we will venture out to the Columbia Icefield, located in Jasper, Alberta. This is the largest icefield in the Rocky Mountains. It feeds eight major glaciers. We will walk on the icefield and drink from the Athabasca Glacier. Also, if we dare, take a walk along with the glass-floored Skywalk at the cliff’s edge. After our tour, we will have lunch at the icefield. (Though we will be warm in cozy in a restaurant). Dinner that night will be at the hotels Laga Italian Kitchen.
Our last full day will take us to Moraine Lake.
Moraine Lake is at an elevation of 6,183 feet. It is a glacier-fed lake; hence the brilliant blue-green color that it is a result of light refracting off the small particles of rock. Due to the elevation, the lake does not begin to melt until June. The color and water levels are at its peak in late June. Just in time for our visit! While at the lake, we will hike and take in this beautiful scenery. I have heard from friends that have been; the color is just a vibrant in real life as it is in the photos.
Later in the day, we head back to Lake Louise to have a picnic lunch. After lunch, we have various options. We could canoe on the lake, go horseback riding, biking or hiking on your own, hang back at the hotel and take advantage of everything it has to offer or take a hike to Lake Agnes Tea House. We plan on hiking to Lake Agnes Tea House.
The Tea House is on the shores of Lake Agnes, at an altitude of 7,005 ft. The hike is approximately 2 miles long, with an elevation gain of 1,300 ft. It is a family-run tea house that serves homemade sandwiches, hearty soups, baked goods, and more than 100 varieties of tea! Our evening will consist of our farewell dinner and soaking up our beautiful surroundings for one last night.
Stay tuned for the second edition of the Travel Bucket List Series, where I will highlight a U.S destination. Until then, happy travels!
Before the start of our Alaskan cruise, we spent two days in Vancouver, BC, exploring. One of the things on our to-do list was a whale watch. We went back and forth on whether to do one in Vancouver or wait until we were in one of the Alaskan ports. We ultimately decided on Vancouver.
I booked the trip through Viator.com. Viator is a marketplace for tours. We used them for a couple of other tours with great success. The cost of the tour was roughly $100.00 per person. It included pick up and drop off at our hotel, bottled water, and snacks. The whale watch itself was to last anywhere between 3-5 hours, depending on the whales.
The tour left from Steveston, a little fishing village, 40 minutes away in the city of Richmond.
In addition to being a little fishing village, Steveston has been the site for various television shows and movies, such as The X-files, Godzilla, and Power Rangers. You may also know it by its other name, Storybrooke. Yes, this was the onsite location for Disney’s hit show Once Upon a Time.
We arrived in this quaint village, checked into our tour and was given some whale watching gear to put on. I must admit, I felt like Gorton the Fisherman!
The boat was a high-speed zodiac vessel. Let me tell you, this boat could move! After we went over a safety drill, we were off. As we were leaving the harbor, we saw this beauty.
The boat took us through the Strait of Georgia all the way down to the San Juan island, which are part of the State of Washington back in the United States. We spent a fair amount of time sailing the strait. Here we saw seals, beautiful scenery and a humpback whale.
After seeing the humpbacks, our guide received a call that there was a pod of Orcas further south. He sped the boat along and we were cruising at a pretty good clip. Soon we were back in the good old USA, off the coast of Bellingham, WA. Here we saw, what we all had been waiting for, Orcas.
Unfortunately, the whales did not breach, so this is all we saw. The photos do not do these creatures justice. I was mesmerized watching them swim across the water.
Our ride back to the port was just as pretty. We continued to see the stunning coastline and islands that make up this beautiful area of the world.
When all was said and done, the tour was about 5 hours. It was a great place to do a whale watch and I would recommend it. I wished we had spent a little more time in town, but we had dinner reservations and tickets to a show over at Canada Place. Next time we will know better.
Prior to our Alaskan cruise, we spent a couple of days in Vancouver, BC. Vancouver is a beautiful city, rich in culture with plenty to do. The morning of our cruise we ventured out to Grouse Mountain and had breakfast with the bears.
Grouse Mountain is located 15 mins from downtown Vancouver. It overlooks this beautiful city. In the summertime, there are numerous activities for people of all ages to do. The mountain offers zip lining, hiking, heli-tours, tandem paragliding, mountain biking and more. For the less adventurous, there are ranger talks, a sky ride to the top, world famous lumberjack show, birds in motion show, an owl show, guided hikes, fine dining, and the ever favorite Breakfast with the Bears.
Honestly, when I booked the breakfast, I did not take the time to research what else there was to do on the mountain I wish I had. There is so much to do, and I wish we had saved it for after our cruise. The day we went, we only had enough time for breakfast.
We started the morning by taking the Skyride 2800 feet up toward the top of the mountain. The mountain is just over 4,000 feet, so about three-quarters of the way up, is where the bear habitat and other activities can be found.
When we arrived, we followed the bear paws toward the bear habitat.
Along the way, we saw these wood sculptures. There are 31 of these sculptures in all. Each was carved from dead standing trees found in British Columbia. The 31 carvings are called the Tribute to the Forest. They are quite stunning.
As we headed toward the bear habitat, we met up with our ranger. He took us over and introduced us to Grinder and Coola.
Both bears are orphans. Grinder was found roaming the roads back in 2001. His mother was nowhere to be seen and he was clearly malnourished. Coola was only one of three cubs that survived after his mother was hit and killed by a truck. The bears were brought to Grouse Mountain, where they are safe and secure.
After learning the history of the bears, how they spend their days and had the opportunity to ask questions, it was off to the Grizzly Lookout Cafe for a “beary” good breakfast.
Photo Courtesy of Grouse Mountain 
Photo Courtesy of Grouse Mountain 
Photo Courtesy of Grouse Mountain
Nicholas eating his breakfast with his bear ears.
The cafe overlooked the bear habitat. The menu had both cold and hot options. There was Candied and Smoked Salmon, Red Onions, Capers, Crème fraîche Brown, White, Multigrain and Gluten Free Breads, Assorted Muffins & Pastries – including Bear Claws Assorted Cereals and Granola“Beary” Yogurt, Milk and Honey Forest Apple Crumble, Fresh Cut Fruit Salad and Coastal “Bearies”. As for hot food, the menu included Coola Pancakes, Honey Butter, Grouse Mountain Syrup ,Grinder ,“Bearioche” French Toast, West Coast “Bluebeary” Preserve, Scrambled Eggs, Braised Beef and Root Vegetable Hash, Bratwurst and Smoked Bacon Hash Browns. There was plenty of coffee, tea, milk, and juice. The food was delicious and the visit with the bears was even better. If you are ever in the Vancouver area, I highly recommend it. I know when we go back, we plan on taking advantage of everything the mountain has to offer.
