AB Archives - Wander Wonder Wonton

Alberta Roadie – Vancouver Bound

June 21, 2013

We checked back into the hostel after a long leisurely boozy lunch at a Greek restaurant presuming we wouldn’t be able to get home last night. Little did we know!

The weather had been terrible – nearly as much rain in 24hours as they have in a year. Plus the snow was melting. Not only was it flooding but there were mudslides. The town 20mins east of us was evacuated and so was Calgary. Pretty full on. They aren’t expecting the highway east to open for at least a few days, west (Vancouver) maybe a day or so. The hotels and hostels were full with stranded tourists. Supermarket was empty – everyone stocking up.

The roads opened at 8pm and with a 10hour drive ahead we settled in for an hour nap. I was exhausted and quite keen to stay in Banff to wait out the weather however the girls wanted to hit the road so as to not miss work.

We were turned away at one exit – the massive river flowing straight across the highway but found another one. Following the river – flooded in the forest right beside us was pretty nerve wrecking. Plus we were chasing the dark.

After about 2-3 hours we were through the worst of it. I’m really glad we got out then as the roads have potentially closed again. Plus we got a refund on our accom – winning!

We’ve stopped for 2 naps to keep us going and are only 2.5 hours from Van now. Can not wait to hop in bed and close my eyes!

For now I have to get back to playing car DJ. ✌

Alberta Roadie – Vancouver Bound (rachaelscrazyworld.com)
Alberta Roadie – stuck in Banff (rachaelscrazyworld.com)
Alberta Roadie Day 2 (rachaelscrazyworld.com)

Alberta Roadie – Stuck in Banff

June 20, 2013

Woke up in Calgary and quizzed the front desk as to what to what to check out. His answer: ‘Stampede.’ Considering that’s not on right now you understand there isn’t that much to do.

We found a bridge to take pics of, a building and then cruised to the mall to get some bikinis for Vanessa so we could hit the Banff hot springs.

Vanessa bought me a Sweet Georgia Brown from Purdy’s to try – it was amazing!

I slept all the way to Banff – I have a habit of not being able to keep my eyes open in transportation at the moment. We hit the hot springs and the girls were disappointed to find they weren’t holes in the ground but a swimming pool. At 39degrees it was beautifully warm with the contrast of the freezing cold and surrounding snowy mountains.

Checked into our hostel (after Merica got us lost) and headed out for dinner. Went to Earls and I had the most delicious meal! A chicken and brie focaccia with fig jam and roasted apple – so delicious. Pomegranate vanilla mojito was just as good.

Hit up the fudge store and ended up with a big block of dark choc fudge. I’ve eaten half of it already!

Heard some huge lightening and thunder last night. Woke up this morning to find that we are stuck in Banff. All highways out closed due to flash flooding and mudslides.

We are hanging out in the lobby using wifi and hoping that it will open soon so we can start our 11 hour journey home. That’s if they open. Otherwise we may be stuck here until tomorrow sometime.

Stay tuned!

Alberta Roadie Day 2 (rachaelscrazyworld.com)
Alberta Roadie – stuck in Banff (rachaelscrazyworld.com)
Alberta Roadie – Vancouver Bound (rachaelscrazyworld.com)

Alberta Roadie – Lake Louise

June 19, 2013

It felt like it took forever to get there. Somewhere between waking up at 3am after going to bed at midnight and stopping all the time for poor Vanessa to vomit we finally made it.

Our hostel was very cute – a log cabin. We went straight to sleep on arrival. Actually first we went next door to the pub for a shitty meal. It’s better to be forgotten.

When revived again we drive to Lake Louise for a looksie. I’d heard it was beautiful but it was really breathtaking. The higher up you get the more turquoise the lake is. Simply stunning, my pictures don’t do it justice yet say more than I can.

A hilarious impromptu photo shoot ensued, Merica acting like a supermodel – multiple poses in each location. I think Vanessa thought we were crazy with all our photos we wanted!

We were even lucky enough to see a porcupine! It didn’t care we were around – happy as looking for food.

It’s light until about 11pm in Lake Louise so we stayed playing around at the lake until about 9, only to find upon arrival back in ‘town’ that nothing was open for dinner! 3 restaurants later we had almost given up. A fourth was recommended and thankfully we made their last serving. Or maybe not thankfully. Food was shit yet again. I ordered bruschetta, I just wanted something light and fresh but I ended up with pizza bread. It was just thick garlic bread with tomato pasta sauce on it and cheese. Yuck. So much for fresh. Feeling unsatisfied we retired to bed.