The Trip The Changed My Life

I recently drove across Canada with my husband, in the summer of 2020. Yes, during a time where there was a pandemic, and lots of political noise. We wanted to get away from it all, get out of the city and start somewhere else. I’ve never been religious by any means, but I do believe when I say that there must be someone looking out for me and my beautiful family. Because we were given the perfect opportunity to move all the way to the other coast. It sometimes pays to marry a Military man, allows you to pick up everything and just kick yourself in gear and hop to the other side of the country.

I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was scared shitless. But, part of me was 100% ready to take the leap. With our little basement suite in Victoria BC all packed up, my ride or die and fluffy companion are all packed up and ready to go. August 1st. I made it a goal of mine to capture as many photos of this journey, try to take everything with a grain of salt, and by goly at least see one moose! Just one, that’s all I ask.

We had a long list of places we wanted to visit and see on the way out East. Before we can get to any of that, our first stop was a stop to see my brother and sister in law. With their adorable son, who I’ve had the pleasure watching grow in the passing years. As a health conscience person, I struck up the conversation about staying healthy in this day and age, where we can’t go to the gym, and fast food has become a greater stress eating outlet for some. I won’t go into detail here, but if interested you can go read my piece about “Living through a pandemic, and how I kept my cool”. Seeing as how my sister in law was a professional in the field of everything health. It was an insightful discussion to have. One of the main topics that I have noticed that reoccur for those struggling is a lack of direction and motivation (I for one am guilty of such things), this is either for cooking a healthy meal for just yourself, going out for a run, or putting on a workout video. In her line of work she has noticed how the online industry has picked up in a different way, and it has became possible to bring the physicality of a business, such as a fitness coach, to an online platform. In the 20+ years of being a human, and alive during this day and age, I have noticed a change in terms of what is possible. In 2005 you wouldn’t dream about going online an searching for free fitness videos on YouTube, like you can now. You’d have to go to the gym, or pay for a program cassette and follow that way. Sometimes it’s a wonder what we can pull off. While finishing our final words over dinner it was time for the next part of our trip.

The next day we ventured over to the Okanagan, wine country in BC, to visit my one and only sister, her husband, and beautiful children. I’ve gotta say, if you ever are in Canada’s west, go to the Okanagan, if only for a night or two. Their beaches are a beautiful yellow sand, with water that is incredible to swim, sail, boat, fish or another water sport on. The town or Kelowna is also very quaint, it’s got everything you could want, from food, to fashion, and its funky wine culture. Sadly, we didn’t stay long. We had a date with our family, which is where our allegiance lied, although all of the wine tastings did tempt me, if it weren’t for the couple hundred COVID cases that were recently reported in the area, we would have stopped at least once. Upon arriving, we were greeted by three huge dogs, that were all too happy to guard their family, but also say hi. The kids came running out of the bush, trying to scare us with their little shenanigans. This trip really got me in the family mood, all these cute and rumbustious kids running around, really made me laugh. Especially when they come barrelling over a grassy hill on an electric jeep at full speed, singing their lungs out for the whole valley to hear. It was magical in its own way. With the 35 degree weather fading away with the beautiful sun casing the moon up, it was time for us to make our way through the Rockies. There is nothing more magical than driving through the Rocky Mountains, going through town after town. In each valley there was at least one lake, with at least one community on it. Our stop that night was Revelstoke, this is where we made our first mistake of not booking a room until we got there. Initially we planned to stay with family, but because of dog complications we decided to continue on the track. Because of our little mistake and the 9 hours of driving that we already did that day, it was around 1 am before we got a room that allowed a dog. It was dark when we got in that night, so my husband didn’t get to see the decent into Revelstoke. I’ve been there many times as a kid, but it was his first time. In the morning he was amazed by the small town and community of it all. Huge mountains towering on either side of a aqua coloured river that runs right along side this beautiful town, which without a doubt in my mind has quite an active winter with all of their sports and hiking in the summer. The history through the areas of the Rockies was phenomenal, gold rush towns, the last spike, ghost towns which we almost stayed in, if only they weren’t full. A must to drive for every Canadian in my opinion, its freeing the stand on top a mountain and just feel as though you are floating on the thin air, towering above the trees and rivers below. We loved all of the small towns that we had the opportunity to stay in, keep in mind, during a pandemic, things were a little different than usual. In each town we explored within the vehicle, or at a distance with masks on. We made a stop in Banff, were we experienced the first time change in the trip, and all of the beauty that Banff had to offer. For one, again a must visit. Lake Louis was beautiful, busy, but beautiful, we didn’t stay long as it was fairly crowded. The town of Banff was so quaint and adorable. It had so much history, and such a cozy atmosphere. The architecture in the area was quite modern and western, most of the buildings looked well maintained and most looked refurbished. The town was packed with people either camping in the area (like us) or staying in a hotel. After we got our dinner and supplies for the rest of the trip we packed into the national park, where we camped for the night. The grounds were incredibly nice for a group site, they were spaced out, clean facilities and firewood was provided! What more could a girl with pyromaniac tendencies want? With the crackling of the fire settling down we snuggled into out tent and dozed off to the sound of the crickets.

The next day we ventured out further into Alberta, where the mountains submerged into the ground and farmland popped up in their place. We stopped in Red Deer for the night, for our last family visit, my brother. Making the most of the company we went out to a patio bar, where we shared a beer over dinner and pleasant conversation. The night went on, and the dog was grateful for the yard that she got to wander and stretch her legs in. So far so good, the next stop was Saskatoon. Needless to say, we were dreading the next leg of the trip. As the tails of the flat land travels Canada for Saskachtawan and Manitoba, they are true! But, what they don’t tell you, is how down right beautiful the provinces are. At least at the time of year we went. Wild flowers were all in bloom, golden fields with pockets of purple, white, yellow, and the occasional small lake/pond. The temperature rose to about 38 degrees and mostly stayed there until we made it past Manitoba. Other than just driving, documenting, and trying to not get COVID, we had to get everything sorted out on the other end. Which included heat, electricity, and internet. Let me tell you, by the end of our 14 day trip I learnt our address and postal code before arriving, which usually takes me a good month before its actually ingrained into my memory. The hotels along the way were nothing to really talk about, until we got to Thunderbay, Ontario, boy oh boy, what a nightmare. The smell in the place alone was enough to not want to stay, ceilings falling due to water damage, stained floors, and after the 3rd room switch we finally settled down but still questioned how they ran their business. If it weren’t for everywhere else to be full, or not dog friendly we would have easily left. Finding a dog friendly hotel is just as hard as finding a needle in a haystack. Especially one that is at least one that is also human friendly in its sanitary conditions. I feel like after this trip I can write a book about the conditions of the places we’ve stayed at. Once the nightmare ended we packed up early and left towards a small town that we just hunkered down in for the night. At this point we were exhausted from driving, and since we left Alberta, the human population in some areas were incredibly sparse, we had to watch our fuel gage pretty carefully. The lakes of Ontario were beautiful as was the trees and various vegetation that we got excited to see after the two straight farm land provinces. The one unique tidbit we noticed on the way through Ontario was the sheer abundance of rock balancing there was, just on the side of the road ways. In every ridge as it seemed, there was a unique rock sculpture that was balanced. We weren’t sure if it was a cultural thing to do in the area, but it was something nice to marvel at while driving through the country side.

The main dead give-away for us entering Quebec was, not the moose warning signs changing again (which they have for every province), no not the French everywhere, not the Welcome sign, nor was it the licence plates, the first tell was the road conditions. I kid you not, you could tell based on the road and how it was built, or maintained if at all. I think Quebec was my least favourite place to drive, if only because you had to go through Montreal which is one of the biggest populated areas in Canada aside from Toronto, and it was just a nightmare to navigate. Thank god I was not behind the wheel on this one, cause I was having full panic attacks in the passenger seat while my husband was remaining calm and asked for directions to the hotel we stayed at. Needless to say we needed a rest from the stress of it all. Not to even mention the hotel nightmare we had, this time we actually left the afore booked hotel for another that was only a 15 minute drive away. For this we stayed two nights in Montreal, and the only time we left the room was to take the dog to the bathroom and pick up room service. We were drained. If there was one thing that was pushing us forward, it was the sheer fact that we were over 2/3’s of the way there. Don’t get me wrong, Montreal QC, is a beautiful place, when you are not driving… The city of Montreal and Quebec City is gorgeous. It has so much architectural history, the roads of the downtown look as if you took a chunk of Europe and plopped it in Canada. Cobblestone sidewalks right on the river, amazing art museums for you to view, and when you’re done, stroll down to pick up a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream from the Ben and Jerry’s corner parlour. The two are great to visit, in the winter or summer. They have amazing things to do in the winter, like taffy pulls, Bon Homme de Neige in the winter, and ice sculpting. Its a wonderland of a place. Just not this trip. I’d highly recommend going, just think about if driving is really necessary, and plan your route. After our two night stay we ventured off the the country side of Quebec, this was gorgeous. The similar pockets of golden wheat fields and flowers along the road followed us to our last hotel. It was in a very small town that was off the beaten path, but the culture was something to be desired, small feel, where everyone knew everyone and there were small shops that were just on people’s property. The hotel we stayed at wasn’t a five star by any means, but the scenery of the rolling hills, with farm land and grain silos popping up was something to see, especially when the sun was setting. They had a plot of land big enough for an RV or two, and a couple tents. In fact I might have preferred to stay there in a tent or RV, as the rooms were blah and did not have AC. Not to mention the mysterious room I walked past that was the size of three bedrooms, but only had one bed, two couches, and a table. Upon that table lay an abundance of Mary Jane paraphernalia, I was in awe. I giggled and didn’t mention anything of it. But I found it odd, especially since it was in the basement of this hotel. That being said, we left early that next day. To finally make our way to our new home in New Brunswick.

Upon entering, all we wanted to do was get to our hotel room and begin our 14 day quarantine, but before any of that can happen we had to go through the COVID check point, the only one that we’ve had to go through! Had to register on the government website and give proof of residence and reason for travel. Two people with BC licence plates coming into NB was pretty suspicious, thankfully military moves are well known around the area, so it wasn’t too big of a hassle. Just an extra half hour wait to be approved and screened. Then we were in! We checked into our hotel that we were staying in for 5 nights, because we were still waiting for our furniture to arrive, and camping in our own home didn’t appeal to us very much. Thank god for this hotel, it was our salvation and where we just went brain dead for those 5 days. When we got the chance to go and check out our home that we only got to see pictures and videos of we became giddy. The drive from the hotel to the house was about half an hour, the road was windy, but compared to what we’ve gone through it was quick and easy commute. When we pulled up to the drive way I was star struck and was in tears, it was perfect! Old, but exactly what we needed for this next chapter of our lives.

In the end, we got to move in at the end of those wonderful 5 days in the hotel, the quarantine finished with no problems. But there was still one thing that I was glum about… I still did not get to see a single god foresaken moose.