Way up in the northland we crossed the border and I learned several valuable lessons:

#1: July 1 is Canada Day which means that the entire western Canada population heads to the nearest national park a.k.a. Lake Louise. The extra bonus was that entrance into all national parks in Canada are free this year. Happy 150th Birthday!

We caught the free shuttle to the Lake Louise and watched the rain move in. Then we stood in the line that snaked way across the parking lot-in the rain- and caught the return shuttle. 

The sun came out and we enjoyed the brilliant colors of Lake Morraine.

#2: We weren’t sure if it was worth it to add all the extra paperwork of a border crossing to our trip. I asked a lot of different people. Thanks to those of you who encouraged us to pursue it. And to those of you who said “it’s nothing that incredible” I shake my head. 

The turquoise water in the lakes and rivers reflected the silent towering rugged peaks and the beauty was almost overwhelming. We rode in silence. for miles. Drinking it in.

We took a tour of the Columbian Icefields and roared up onto the glacier in a 6wheel drive monster bus. 

The girls were all freaked out and declared this “the most dangerous thing we’ve done yet” after our driver explained that shifts in the glacier can open up ravines big enough to swallow our bus. I thought they were over reacting. Until one of the men suddenly had his foot disappear into a wet hole and after retrieving it he stuck his selfie stick into the cavern and never found the bottom of the hole 🤔. 

Regardless, we drank the clear water, and took pictures and Deborah regretted wearing flip flops.

The other part of the glacier adventure I didn’t enjoy quite as much. 🙈 I hate to admit this, but I’m scared of heights. I did walk the entire way around the skywalk and I peered nervously at the ground 914 feet below us. And I managed to smile for the camera. But you can’t accuse me of spending too much time on the glass surface.

#4: My Heavenly Father takes perfect care of me. I’ve promised myself that I will never run out of gas if the gauge works. There’s no reason to let the tank get that low. But somehow we found ourselves in the British Columbia boondocks with no cell service and we didn’t go through the town I thought we were going to… And we rolled into the ONLY gas station for miles around with “4 miles til empty” blinking on my dash. Wow. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you!

#5: Canada has an impressive line up of wild animals. We added quite a few to our list including this mountain man:

And da dum da da: the Farren Foto of the day (because it was taken through her windshield) a young grizzly heading across the road after a morning fishing… Isn’t he lovely?

Yes Canada, I hope I get to fight the crowds in your fair land again someday. 

See you down the trail,

Kendra