Annie here!
One thing about me, I love planning trips!
One of my favorite spare-time hobbies has been to plan vacations. I love everything about it! I love researching the culture, cuisine, and attractions of new places. I love looking through potential destinations and imagining which place and what activities my family would love to do. Ever since high school, I dreamt of seeing the world. My first big trip was to Costa Rica in 2017 and I loved it! While there I felt like my eyes had been opened to new ways of life and it made the world seem a whole lot bigger. I wanted to share that feeling with my family and so in 2019, I brought them to Alaska! Alaska was amazing and I have it on my list to go back there, mainly for the fact that you can see brown bears and the ocean all in the same place! After Alaska, they still were not so sure of my worldly travel ideas so they challenged me to plan more local travels and a trip to Nashville first. Easy! I did it and everyone loved it, so I challenged them to be brave enough to go to Iceland! To my surprise, they did go to Iceland and it was a total dream come true for me. Read more about that trip in the link here. Iceland was more my speed, but my family grew up land-locked so mountains, wildlife, adventure, and comfort are more their style. I couldn't think of a better next trip to bring everyone on than Banff. After telling them that Banff is a part of the Rocky Mountains, and after showing them just a few pictures, I think they were on board. So I started planning. Below you will see everything we did, and some things we thought about doing or had planned, but didn't do.
Day One:
Fly Into Calgary and Explore the City
Did you know that Alberta is directly North of Montana? It is within driving distance from Utah. We considered driving but ultimately decided that the flight was less than 3 hours and that would buy us more time to explore together. On Sunday, July 7th, 2024 we woke up early, headed to the airport with luggage in tow, and began the process of getting to our flight.
Side note - if you are flying out of SLC airport and you plan to leave the country, I would recommend choosing Delta. As of now, if you fly with any other airline you you have to walk a very long distance from TSA to your terminal. On our way to Iceland, we were minutes away from missing our flight because it took longer for the check-in process with our passports. Take it from our experience, either arrive 3 and a half hours at the SLC airport for international flights, or choose Delta and arrive 2 and a half hours early. Hopefully, this will not be such an issue in the future.
Once we landed in Calgary and we got our luggage, it was time to rent a car. Because we were arriving at the same time that the Calgary Stampede was going on, it took quite a while for them to get our car ready. We waited in a packed rental lobby, sat on our luggage, people-watching, playing on our phones, and researching a good place for lunch. Once the car was ready we loaded in it, Roy hopped in the driver's seat (that is typically his job, is to drive us around lol) and he took us to a restaurant that he found. Upon arriving I was so skeptical! It was a dive bar. I had very little hope for this food, but to my surprise it was amazing! I ordered a beef dip, which I thought was a funny name because in America this would be called a "French dip". My brother and his friend ordered poutine. I had always heard of this, but never tried it. Dayton explained to me that it is a classic Canadian meal made of french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. Very unhealthy, but so delicious!
After lunch, we headed over to the house that we rented to unpack and take a breather. This is where we ran into the infamous travel mistake. I say this because I am starting to believe that no matter how well I think I research an area, there are always things that pop up that I was not expecting or didn't even think to research. For this trip, it was air conditioning. You see, I grew up with air conditioning everywhere I went. It gets very hot in the majority of Wyoming and in all of Utah and air conditioning is something that I have come to expect. However, Alberta temperatures do not get that high, and actually, through most of the travel blogs I read, we were advised to bring jackets, but during the week that we went they were having an excessive heat wave! Temperatures were reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit our rental house had no AC and only a few of the windows actually opened up. So here's a travel note for you - if you are going somewhere hot and the listing says "cooling system" and not "central air conditioning" know that you will sweat your booty off!
That evening Dayton did a little research on his phone and found a highly-rated restaurant that he wanted to try. We parked in a parking lot, crossed the Bow River, and found ourselves on walking paths going through Prince Island Park. It was beautiful! We wound up at River Cafe, the restaurant that Dayton chose and it was delicious! You know we are a family of foodies, especially after Dayton went to culinary school so I will have to tell you what we ordered because even the description from the menu makes me want to go back again! Amongst the table, we ordered and shared:
Fish & Game Board
Selection of Cured Meats, Seasonal Potted Seafood, Smoked Salmon, River Café Pickles, Preserves & Crackers
Rangeland Bison Striploin
Edgar Farms Asparagus, Alberta Emmer Wheat Fraser Valley Hazelnut & Bone Marrow Jus
Top Grass Beef Tenderloin
Trafford Farms Lions Mane Mushroom, Poplar Bluff Potato Aligot, Southern Skies Kale Chip Sunrise Saskatoon Berries, Madeira Jus Gras
Haida Gwaii Halibut
Leek & Potato Vichyssoise, Southern Skies Radish, Foothills Brown Butter, Butter Leaf Lettuce, Tarragon
Day Two:
Calgary Stampede
Rodeo-lovers come from all over the world to visit the Calgary Stampede every year in July and let me tell you, it was so much fun! This was our first full day in Calgary and it couldn't have been better! We arrived at the rodeo a little early so that we could assess the situation and we lucked out and got parking in the closest parking area. We were not quite sure what to expect, but wow! It was a huge event in the middle of a city! I have never experienced a rodeo with skyline views. Think of Cheyenne Frontier Days x5! There were so many rides that we couldn't even see them all, there were rows of smoked meat and carnival food (although they did not have my favorite carnival food - the funnel cake), and there were tons of exhibits and shops full of art and clothes and homemade objects. The Calgary Stampede is where we all realized that food in Canada in general is better than food in the US. Maybe they have more strict guidelines that make the food healthier in general? I am not sure, but even the hot dogs were less greasy and tasted amazing.
It was another very hot day and we were happy when the sun went behind the grandstands so that we were no longer sitting in the sun. The rodeo was amazing! They had some of the best competitors in the world there and we all had a lot of fun.
Calgary Stampede Night Show
We were told by friends and family who had been to the night show that we had to purchase a ticket for that as well, but we were not sure what to expect. The website did not have a lot of information and people said, "Oh they have a couple of different things including chuck wagon races, I can't remember, but you gotta go!" So my mom bought the tickets thinking they were a little expensive for chuck wagon races and another event or two... but wow! Those tickets were worth it and we were not prepared for what we witnessed at the night show!!
It started out with the wagon races, which was amazing! The announcer explained how it worked and what the rules were to everyone so we would know what was going on and then they had groups of 3 come out to race. After each race they would put the time up on the board and other wagon teams were racing against each other, but mostly against the top speed of the night. We had fun watching the teams ride out to the arena and taking guesses amongst ourselves about who would win. See the video below to check out what it all looked like!
After the chuck wagon races, there were other competitions, including a relay race, which was my personal favorite part of the whole night. A rider would come out with three horses, and he would ride the horse all the way around the arena bareback as fast as the horse could go, jump off the horse, and onto another horse in one solid movement. It was amazing!!! After the wagons, relay races, and other cowboy-related events, we thought the night show was over. We were all saying, "Wow that was so much fun!" and, "Wow! What an amazing day!" but then, the announcer said, "We are going to take a break, but make sure you stay seated for the next performance!" They had mentioned some kind of Canadian country band and they had also mentioned a group called the Young Canadian Dancers. We were not familiar with either of these, so as a group, we decided, "Okay, let's just see the first part and decide if we want to stay for the whole performance," but immediately we were hooked! A crew rolled out a stage with multiple parts to it. Tons of dancers came out, two different bands came out, they had someone dancing with fire, people riding motorcycles around what they called 'the globe of death', and a trapeze act! But that wasn't even the half of it! They had a drone light performance, which I had never seen before, but it was amazing! They had the creepiest robot dogs dancing - we all hated that part, and then they had the largest fireworks show that we have ever seen in our lives. It was actually so insane! There was so much going on and it lasted over an hour and a half. Everywhere you looked there was something incredible happening and wow! Yeah, the night show was well worth it!
Day Three:
Drive to Canmore and Explore the Town
The next morning we were very happy to get out of the heat. Our rental house was very nice, but we all struggled to sleep in the heat and even though it was in the 80s at night, we were going outside to cool down! We packed up the car again, ate one last time in Calgary, and hit the road. This is where we noticed that Canadians drive much slower than Americans. The speed limit was approximately 65mph on the highways which was odd, but we could see the mountains of the national parks in the distance. Calgary is very flat so it was an interesting experience to watch the mountains come into view and then suddenly be completely surrounded by huge mountains on every side. Canmore is a 1 hour and 10 minute drive from Calgary. We decided to stay in Calgary instead of 20 minutes away in Banff because of two reasons. The first is that you have to book your Banff stay 6 months or more in advance to make sure that you can secure a stay that you like and we were not exactly sure of our travel dates with Dayton, Roy, and I's schedule until we got closer to the trip. The second reason is that we found the most perfect Airbnb for us in downtown Canmore. Once we got to Canmore, we checked into our Airbnb, dropped off our stuff, unpacked a little, and then drove to Safeway for some necessities.
Our Airbnb was a highlight of the trip! It had 3 rooms, a primary room with a nice ensuite bathroom for my parents, a large room for Roy and me to unpack our photography equipment, and then a third room with queen size bunk beds for Dayton and his friend, Sage, who got to come on our trip with us. It also had a balcony with the most beautiful mountain views, a nice living room where we spent playing Jackbox, a big dining room table, and kitchen where Dayton cooked us two amazing meals, and a private hot tub that we relaxed in every night! We have found that having a nice place to come hang out at night that allows us to be together as a family is a must on these trips. We all have opposite schedules so family vacations are not only fun and exciting, but they are also one of the few times that we all get to spend quality time together as a family. It was nice to just lounge around and play games and catch up together so that is exactly what we did for the majority of day three.
Day Four:
Ride the Banff Gondola and Take an Open Top Car Tour
By day four we were finally getting to experience Banff National Park! It is so beautiful and green there! In all the blogs that we read, I was not sure about two things. The first was how to get into the national parks of Canada and the second was the parking in Banff and the surrounding areas. Everywhere told me to buy a bus ticket from Canmore to Banff, but after assessing the situation, I felt better about trying to go find a parking spot than riding the bus. We are Americans after all and we can handle busy national parks, but we aren't so sure how to handle public transportation lol! So we risked it and we thought positive thoughts (at least I did) and we lucked out! It seemed like throughout the whole trip we got not only the last spot but front row parking! Like I try to tell my dad and Roy all the time, positivity will always work out for us, and if it doesn't and you still have a positive mindset, we'll end up finding the good in the situation. And for the passes into the national parks, it is just like in America. They have checkpoints where you pull your car through and purchase the ticket upon entering the park.
Our first event of the day was to ride the Banff gondola up the mountain. When purchasing the gondola tickets, you have to specify when you want to go up and when you are going to come down. It really is that busy, but because of the schedule, it didn't feel too packed at the top of the mountain. We had originally planned on eating at the Sky Bistro on top of the mountain and we had even attempted to make reservations the night before, but it was completely booked out days in advance. Although we had already purchased our tickets with plans to stay up there for almost three hours, we were a bit worried that we allocated too much time now that we wouldn't be able to have lunch, however, the views were so stunning and we did not mind spending that much time up there. The building that the gondola drops you off at has a gift shop, a walk-through informational center, multiple viewing decks, and hiking paths around the area. We took photos, lounged on the decks, and explored the hiking paths. The ride up and down the gondola, as well as spending time at the top was well worth it, we would all recommend adding that to your own itinerary if you go to Banff!
Once we came down the gondola we were all starving and ready for lunch! This is where we got to eat at another one of our top favorite restaurants on the trip! The Three Bears Brewery not only had some of the best pizza and drinks we have ever had but it was also such a neat atmosphere. The restaurant was architecturally beautiful. We sat in an area where practically the whole wall opened up like one big window, letting in the fresh mountain air and breeze.
The last event of day four was an open-top car tour. We climbed aboard a vintage-inspired bus-like vehicle that had the look and feel of the 1930s. As promised the top was open, giving us great views as we drove around the town of Banff and the surrounding areas, hearing information from our guide. It was fun, interesting, relaxing, and allowed us to hear some facts that we might otherwise not have known without taking the tour!
Day Five:
Take a Drive Around Smith Doreen's Loop
As a family growing up in Wyoming, we spent a lot of time in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and the Big Horn mountains, so we are lovers of sightseeing and animal spotting on drives. We were hopeful to find wildlife on this drive. Although we did spot a few groups of big horn sheep, we never saw any bears or other wildlife. The drive was totally worth it though! The views were amazing and we had so many great photo opportunities! We saw several hiking paths and locals out fishing. It was a beautiful drive and we would definitely recommend this to anyone with a car!
We also had a plan to go on a walk on Policeman’s Creek Boardwalk. It’s a 2.4-mile scenic, easy walk in Canmore, but ultimately we decided to just take it easy that day and stop along the Smith Doreen's Loop to get out and walk. We did see the Policeman's Creek Boardwalk and we would definitely recommend that people walk there if you have the time. It looked so peaceful and beautiful!
After our drive and grabbing some food, we got dressed up and took family photos! This location was absolutely gorgeous and I am so happy we took our photos here. The Three Sisters Mountains are iconic to Canmore and I felt like we had the most beautiful view of them at Quarry Lake. Originally, I had searched far and wide for a family photographer. I was very disappointed to find out that all the photographers I inquired with were either unavailable or just did not want to take photos of an adult family. Because I absolutely couldn't find anyone, I decided that I would have to take our photos on my own. I taught Sage the basics of my camera and he took some of our group photos, I took some of the photos, and we set up a tripod for others. I think they turned out to be so beautiful! See our full family gallery with the link here!
Day Six:
Helicopter Tour and Wild Life Distillery Tour
Day six was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! We got to take a private helicopter tour over Canmore! Now the story of how we did this was kind of funny. Roy and I love purchasing experiences for my parents as gifts. This year, for my dad's birthday we bought him a helicopter tour through Alpine Tours. He loved it so much that he insisted that we all go on it later in the afternoon. He called them and they actually did still have another tour so he booked it for us. Wow! It was such an amazing experience. None of us had ever been in a helicopter before this ride, so it was a completely new thing. Flying over and right up close to the mountains was amazing. Everyone loved our pilot Pete, and he told us some great stories and information about the area! I thought that we might be going up with other people, but it was just us, which was really neat!
After we got off the helicopter we raced over to the Wildlife Distillery. I was super worried because we were a little late after the helicopter tour, but again, it was just us. Our guide was so kind and she waited patiently for us to get there. She gave us an awesome tour! We got to taste their vodka, gin, and whiskey. All of us agreed that we like vodka in cocktails, but would never drink it neat. This vodka was creamy and had a vanilla taste. It was so good, even in just a tasting glass. No one in my family had ever tried much gin, but after this trip, my mom and I have been converted to gin drinkers! And of course, we all love whiskey! I especially loved their rye whiskey and it became one of my top favorites. Unfortunately, we live in Utah, so of course it is not available here, but we were able to get a few bottles back home in our luggage!
Day Seven:
Explore the Lakes in Banff National Park
This was the day I was most looking forward to! It has been on my bucket list for years to canoe in Banff National Park and to swim in a glacier lake. On day seven I got to do both! There are tons of visitors who come to see Banff National Park lakes, and as I stated before, the week we traveled here was completely packed, even more than normal. The problem with that is that they do not have a lot of parking in most places. We had been lucky so far with the parking so we decided that we were going to skip the public transit and try to drive again. We went into the day knowing that the parking lots fill up quickly and if there is no parking the rangers wouldn't let us in the area. Roy and I being type A personalities, had to approach the day with a plan A-Z. When we arrived at Lake Louise we were not surprised to find that the parking was full and they were turning cars away, but we were surprised when they wouldn't even let us drive by the lake. So we turned around and drove to the Lake Louise gondola area where you can park and purchase a bus ticket back into the lake. We were hoping to see the iconic lake but once we got parked and went to purchase a ticket, all of the tickets for the whole day were already sold out. That was a bummer, but we decided to get back in the car and approach our next plan of action, which was Emerald Lake. Emerald Lake was absolutely breathtaking, even though we did not get to see Lake Louise in person, I cannot imagine how it could have been any more gorgeous (even though people say it is)!
Emerald Lake was also packed full of people but we were able to find parking. We went straight up to the canoe rentals and they had multiple available! Dayton and Sage rented one canoe and then Roy and I rented one. My parents decided to watch from the banks as we canoed through the whole lake. The water was an iconic turquoise color and the mountains rose up tall from the lake. It truly felt like heaven on earth! We canoed the whole length of the lake and almost the whole width before we had to start turning around to return the canoes in time. The wind picked up and it was difficult to get back. I was laughing the whole time because Roy's arms were so sore, but we had to keep going! We made it back in time and then I convinced everyone to walk over to the bank with me and jump in. Roy said the cold water was a shock to his lungs. My body eventually went numb and then it was enjoyable. We soaked in the water and swam around for about 30 minutes and then we all agreed we were starving. After changing out of our wet swimsuits, we started driving up the road with hopes of finding cell service to google a nearby restaurant.
The Truffle Pigs Bistro was where we decided to eat. The views from the restaurant were incredible and when they brought out our food we were shocked by the presentation! I am typically not very brave at all with my food, but recently I have had the urge to try new things. Even though I do not like mushrooms at all (it's a texture thing) I decided to try their Pappardelle! It is a pappardelle pasta tossed in a roquefort and mushroom cream with shredded tender beef, chimichurri, and shaved padano. It was quite delicious, but after eating it I felt like I couldn't get the mushroom aftertaste out of my mouth, but hey! If you like mushrooms, you would have loved that. My mom and Roy ordered the Pork Belly Nachos which were amazing!! The description read, "Sticky braised pork belly, organic tortilla chips, shredded aged cheddar, peppers, onion, jalapeno guacamole, corn salsa, cilantro, chipotle sour cream."
After all of that, we drove back to the Airbnb, relaxed in the hot tub, played Jackbox games, and chatted about the trip.
Day Eight:
Lake Minnewanka Boat Tour
For our last day, we had planned to drive 45 minutes up to Johnston Canyon and hike in that area. I had seen the photos and heard that it would be absolutely gorgeous. Per usual, we were all getting pretty worn out and we had done and seen so many amazing things. We all decided to just sleep in, hang out, and explore the town of Canmore.
When booking the boat tour through Banffjaspercollection.com we had a few options we could have chosen from. There was a normal cruise and a 'beer voyage'. Most people in my family enjoy beer so we totally had to do that and it was amazing! Our guide was fantastic as telling us about the lake while also introducing us to a flight of local beers! Each beer had some unique taste to it and it was actually pretty neat to learn more about beer and the different ways they can be flavored. One of the beers was made with a local plant called 'fireweed'. It gave the beer a little bit of a sweet and smoky flavor that we all enjoyed! Our guide told us about the indigenous people who lived in the area and how they viewed the lake as a gateway to the rockies. It's a gap in the mountains that you can walk from the flat prairies of Alberta right into the Canadian Rockies. It was so neat to see such a piece of history like that.
Lake Minnewanka is also the largest and deepest lake in the area at over 600 ft deep! Our guide had us all enjoy a moment of silence to hear nature and the waves of the lake on the water. It was quite pleasant and something we won't soon forget. We then had the rest of our beers on the way back. It was actually a lot of beer. It was 32oz or 2 pints per person and needless to say, by the end of the tour we all were a little tipsy and really really needing to pee lol.
This tour really was a great last activity to enjoy on our Canadian vacation and was a big hit and highlight for everyone.
Fly Home
The following morning we had to pack up and head a little over an hour back toward the airport. Being the stampede, the airport was extremely busy and we were glad we got there early. Not only was security a long excursion for us, but we went through US customs right after. That was not something we expected. Usually you don't go through customs until you arrive to country you are traveling too. But once we got to our gate and boarded the plane, it was a quick 2.5 hour flight and we were home just in time to pick up our doggies and enjoy our evening relaxing from all the travel.
Overall, This was vacation was one for the books. Alberta had the perfect combination of adventure and luxury. We always had great food, amenities and luxuries accessible but adventure was literally all around. It's a place we will surely return too and do even more new and exciting things!