This blogpost is a tad late, as we were in Canada in June and July of 2012, and I haven’t really been feeling like updating the notes that I had into a blogpost.
However, I have been working on the post for a number of days now, and it should be ok, so I hope you will all enjoy it :).

June 2012

Monday 11

The day of departure. The flight to Canada was scheduled to leave at 09:35, but due to an emergency lighting problem in the Airbus A330, we had a 5 hour delay. The plane was replaced with a  Boeing 747, which is a lot bigger and so we had lots of room in the plane. All in all, it was a comfortable flight.
When we finally arrived, it was already late in the afternoon, so Sandy took us straight back to her house. We had a nice evening with Jack, Sandy, Leanne, Craig, Katherine, and Belinda and we went to bed early.

Tuesday 12

Basically just a relaxing day.
Picked up a rental car, drove around St. Catharines, to show Evelien around. Went to the Pen Centre and walked around there for a bit.
Got back early to the house.

Wednesday 13

We went to Niagara Falls, walked around, and, naturally, we went on the Maid of the Mist.
Whilst there, we met Jana for lunch, and had a nice bit of catching up.
As the European Soccer Championship was being held, we watched a bit of soccer at TGI Friday’s.
Afterwards, we went to Niagara-on-the-Lake to have dinner with Chuck and Lane.

Thursday 14

We went over the river to go shopping in Niagara Falls USA outlet. Pretty much it was Evelien on a spending spree ;-).
In the evening, we went to Fonthill to have dinner with Michael and Riki. After dinner we went for a nice little walk and then went back to “our” house again.

Friday 15

Went to Niagara-on-the-Lake, and walked around a bit, and had a nice lunch there.
Evelien went for pedicure and manicure, which was her early birthday present. Meanwhile, I relaxed at the pool.
Had a nice and relaxing evening.

Saturday 16

We went out for breakfast at MJ’s, where we ran into Leanne and Lauren. Decided then and there that we would go for a hike at the gorge.
Afterwards, we went to Niagara Falls for Dippin Dots, according to Lauren, it is something you have to have had.
Then we headed over to Fort Erie to see new house of Jim and Mary. I got to drive along in an old Corvette.
Went to Leanne’s for an evening in the garden with a fire.

Sunday 17

Easy day. Went to Leanne’s store to see her flowers that she got a good deal on. Went to LCBO to get Jack a Father’s day gift.
Also: Sunday night supper! Everyone was there. Evelien got a chocolate birthday cake. Very nice evening.

Monday 18

Evelien’s birthday! Drove to Port Dalhousie for carousel ride. Went to Leanne’s store to pick up flowers for Sandy & Jack. NotL for chocolate. Lunch at MJ’s: poutine and onion rings. Back to the house. Brought rental car back. Relaxed at the pool, went for short swim. Had dinner at Spicy Thai. Over to Leanne’s for goodbye drink.

Tuesday 19

Travel day.
Arrived in Calgary without any flight delay. Had a slight delay in getting our car, but were compensated with a bigger one (Class F instead of Class C), so now driving a Dodge Avenger. Got moved to a better room at the hotel, so to have a better view. Standing outside the hotel, looking at the map, a guy comes up to us and asks if we’re going to Banff. When we say yes, he gives us access cards to the National Parks, which are valid until next year, so that saves. Last, but very not least, we also found our wedding bands…

Wednesday 20

Picked up a cooler and some water. Went to Calgary Olympic Park. Drove to Canmore. Lively town. Had lunch at Bagel Co. Went to Stella Alpine B&B. Very nice B&B. Nice room. Went for a hike up to Grassi Lake. About 1.5km one way. Very nice view. Had dinner at Grizzly Paw. Good burger. Went to the river and sat there.

Thursday 21

Very good breakfast at Stella Alpine. Drove to Banff Springs hotel. From there to Marble Canyon. Amazing to see what water can do. Hiked about 1km.
Went to Johnston Canyon. Hiked up to, what we thought, Upper Falls. Apparently a bit short. Still 2.2km one way.
Went back to Banff to go to the hot springs pool. Relaxed there for a bit.
Drove up to a viewing point, which looks out over Banff.
Headed back to Canmore. Did groceries for supper. Night in at Stella Alpine.

Friday 22

Went to Lake Louise. Hiked up all the way to the tea house. 3.4km one way and about 350m up. Difficult hike, due to steep climb and snow and ice at the top. Very nice once you get up there.
Could only pay cash at the tea house, which we didn’t have enough of, so we both had a chocolate chip cookie.
Went down again. Total time about 2.5 hrs. Which is not too bad.
Drove to Golden, Goldenwood Lodge. First night will he sleeping in teepee. Weather was good when arrived. Started to pour just before supper. Lasted about two hours. Went to teepee and started a nice campfire. Did some reading and talking. Went to bed at eleven.

Saturday 23

Woke up in teepee. Rough night. Bed a tad to small and a bit too soft for my liking. Taking it easy today. Sore muscles from hike at Lake Louise. Headed to Kicking Horse Resort to see grizzly (Boo) they have there.
First went up with gondola to top of the mountain. 7,700 foot high from 3,900 foot. Bit chilly up there.
Went to see Boo. Very big bear, awesome to see. Lots of mosquitoes, of course forgot bug spray.
Went back down and back to Lodge. Had supper and went to bed early, because of early day tomorrow.

Sunday 24

Got up early due to appointment for helicopter ride. Appointment was at 11:30, but we arrived early, around 10:00. Luckily, the weather was good, so it didn’t get cancelled. Additionally, we were also able to go up without waiting too long.
The ride itself was awesome. Very cool to do and to have a different perspective on the mountains. Thanks Evelien for this awesome birthday gift!
Afterwards, we went to the Columbia Icefields, to have a look. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain, so we didn’t go up the icefield itself, but just looked from the restaurant.
Then off to Jasper. Arrived at Becker’s Chalets. Very nice area, very well kept houses and studios. Went into Jasper quickly for some groceries and then back to chalet. Relaxed a bit and then decided to get some pizza. Ate in and watched some tv.

Monday 25

Took it really easy. Woke up relaxed, had a nice breakfast and did the laundry. Sat outside in the sun, whilst waiting for it to complete.
Had some lunch, then got in the car to go to Maligne Canyon. Did a short walk there. Drove further to Maligne Lake and walked around there. Back to the chalet for a bit more relaxing. Went into Jasper to have dinner, at Kimchi House, a Korean restaurant. Bought a special beer at the beer store and went back to the chalet to enjoy it.

Tuesday 26

Packing up and get ready for a long drive. Heading to Clearwater. First stop is to pick up coffee at Tim Horton’s. Then a lot of driving.
Had lunch on the water, at a location where they also do river safaris. We just had lunch there.
Arrived in Clearwater around 1400 local time. Unpacked and relaxed shortly, before going to the grocery store to get some supper. Then to the information center for Wells Gray Park to get some information on the hikes there. Also bought 2 hoodies, and one for Sophie.
Back to the chalet and did some reading in the sun. Had supper and relaxed the rest of the night.

Wednesday 27

Stayed in bed a bit longer. Very noisy chalet. Took our time getting up.
Drove into Wells Gray Park. First to Spahats Falls. Then to Moul Falls. Nice hike, not too long, about 1km one way. Then off to Dawson Falls. Really nice to see. Small walk, nothing too fancy.
Drove up all the way to Clearwater Lake. Had a cup of coffee and then went back down to the chalet again.
Had dinner in and relaxed.

Thursday 28

Woke up early. Long drive ahead of us today. 422km to get to Whistler. Got coffee and breakfast first. Then started driving. Really nice route, a lot to see, but a bit tiring, due to small mountain roads. Had lunch at A&W in Lilooet.
Went on for the last part of the drive, more mountain roads.
Arrived in Whistler at 1500. Checked in and relaxed for a bit. Took a walk around the village.
Had dinner at Bavaria, we had Swiss (cheese) fondue. Went back to the room and had an easy night.

Friday 29

Really lazy day today. Stayed in bed until 1030, had breakfast in bed. Massage booked at noon, so went there. Really nice and relaxing. Felt really good.
Walked around outside for a while and just took it easy. Had dinner at the Mongolie Grill. Went back to the room to relax there.
Off to Victoria tomorrow. Only 5 more days.

Saturday 30

Woke up early. Driving to Victoria today, not too far, but also a trip with the ferry, which makes the total travel time longer.
Was raining all the way to Vancouver, and lots of low clouds in the mountains. Luckily, the sun started to come out as we got closer to the ferry.
Ferry ride was uneventful. Evelien got a little free makeover before we got on though.
Drove to Victoria and checked in to the hotel. Pretty nice hotel. Really nice to have valet service and your suitcases brought up.
Relaxed a bit and then went into downtown Victoria, which is right down the street, basically.
Walked around a bit and wondered what we wanted to eat. Ended up in Darcy’s Pub. Really nice pub. Went back to the hotel and relaxed there and went to sleep.

July 2012

Sunday 1

Canada Day! Slept in and had breakfast at West Coast Waffle. Walked around Downtown and looked at all the stalls there. Decided to go on a whale watching tour.
Went to the underwater museum first, to kill some time and watched the show with the diver.
Then back to the Prince of Whales, to get suited up and ready for the 3 hour whale watching trip.
Ride out wasn’t too bad, a bit long, due to the fact that the whales were all the way out at the other end of the island. We first stopped out to see some bald eagles and seals.
Got to see a lot of whales and took a lot of pictures.
Ride back was a lot more bumpy, but not too bad.
Went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, before going back out to eat and to see the fireworks.
When waiting for the fireworks, we saw that the battery of the camera was empty. Luckily, we still had some time to go back to the hotel to charge it a bit.
Back out to see the fireworks, which was really nice. Really awesome to see.
Back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Monday 2

Got up in time, because we had to check out and we wanted to go to Butchart Gardens. Very nice to walk around in and look at the amazing amount of flowers.
Took the ferry to Vancouver and to our hotel there.
Then went off to the shopping centre to get our wedding bands, which had been sent there. Fortunately, everything was the right size and fit, so we could take them with us without a problem.
Then back to the center of Vancouver, to find a place to eat. We ended up in a All-You-Can-Eat Sushi place, which was really good, and not too expensive.
Walked back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Tuesday 3

Relaxing day. We walked around Vancouver for a bit and just took it easy. Nothing special to report here.

Wednesday 4

This was our departure day. So, basically, we went to the airport, handed in our car, got some tax-free stuff and got on the plane.
This time, there were no delays, so all was good.

Thursday 5

Arrived back home. Got picked up by my parents and they drove us to their place.
Picked up the car and went home.

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