School for us ended June 23rd and S and I were on the road June 25th. We didn't really give ourselves much time to unwind, but when seat sales happen you do kind of just have to work around it. We had a 3 week half road trip half flying vacation planned and were beyond excited to start. It crept up so quickly!!
I hope you're all ready for a really long post about my summer trip across Canada!
Day 1:
So we left our apartment in Goose Bay, Labrador and drove 12 hours that day to Baie-Comeau in Northern Quebec. The first part of the drive wasn't bad as it's all paved. After Labrador City however, for the first 100km of the highway it's dirt road and has a lot of turns. But the road was in good condition so it wasn't so bad. We did have to wait for a huge train to pass and you end up going over the train tracks a bunch of times so there was a lot of waiting. For the next 250km it was all paved, then we hit dirt road again until we got to this HUGE dam called Manic 5. It's pretty impressive:
Then for another 200km you drive down super curvy roads where you definitely feel like you're going to puke at any moment. Luckily neither of us did and we managed to get to our hotel safe and sound.
Day 2:
Today we had to drive approx. 9 hours to get from Baie-Comeau to Ottawa. This drive wasn't terrible because it was paved the whole way and the scenery coming down through Quebec it STUNNING. I would share some pictures but I didn't take any. Whoops.
Day 3:
We just hung around Ottawa and did some shopping and spent time with S's brother and sister-in law. We tried the new Playstation Virtual Reality game and it was so cool. I also spent way too much money at Vero Moda and Simons but hey, that's what you do on vacation right?
Day 4 - 8:
This was the day we were finally flying out west. We flew Ottawa to Calgary and stayed with my cousins for a few days. We hung out with some of my friends and saw some of S's family as well, went to the zoo, went floating down the Bow River on Canada day, saw Tegan and Sara. It was a great couple of days spent in that city. I would like go back for a bit longer and see some more local places and that kind of stuff.
Most importantly, we saw Red Pandas at the zoo.
Day 10:
We rented a car and drove to Banff for a night. Only staying one night was mistake on our part because it is so beautiful and you could easily spend 3 or 4 days exploring and doing different activities in the actual Town of Banff and in the mountains. I had never seen the Rockies before so it was mind blowing to see how beautiful they were.
View from our hotel room
The pictures definitely don't do them justice. They were AMAZING.
Days 11-12:
We drove from Banff to Kelowna to overnight there, then the next day drove to Vancouver flew over to Victoria on Vancouver Island.
Necessary airport selfie, duh:
Days 12-15:
If you asked me where I would want to move in Canada, Victoria would be my answer, hands down. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It's not a huge city but it has so much culture and is so vibrant. It's honestly the perfect size city for me, I'm not a huge big city person. We went to Fisherman's Warf, to the Empress, all around downtown, Moss Rock. Pretty much everywhere, it was a great time. S got to see one of his good friends who got married in the Spring and he and his wife were outstanding tour guides.
Of course we had to dip our toes in the Pacific, since we were born and raised next to the Atlantic!
Days 15-17:
We left Victoria and flew back to Vancouver for a few days. I will say, I was pretty disappointed by Vancouver. It is a nice city but it just feels really dirt and grimey. The people were really friendly but I guess I felt uneasy about it. That would probably change if I stayed a bit longer. It was really beautiful though and I got to see some friends which is always nice!
Olympic Village, where all the athletes stayed in 2010
After Vancouver we flew back to Ottawa, went to Blues fest then drove to Quebec City for a few days. We saw The Who, Danny Brown and the Gorillaz at Festival d'Été. Then we headed to Amherst in Nova Scotia for 3 nights and finally took the ferry back to Newfoundland. It was whirlwind trip and really busy but it was a great experience! I think I'll just pick one province next time.
