Road Trip 2012

Jasper, Alberta, Canada

Summer is almost over, the kids are all back in school and, hopefully, the holiday traffic on the highways should be somewhat diminished.  With this in mind, we hopped into our trusty new, old, 2005 Ford Escape and started an escape of our own.

With an early start this morning from Edmonton (maybe 10:30 AM), we topped up with fuel and headed west towards the mountain parks.  Some 75 kms later we discovered all the things we had forgotten to bring with us and promptly drove the 75 kms back to Edmonton.

After again stopping for fuel, the second attempt was much more successful.  By late afternoon we were enjoying an on again/off again sunny/rainy drive through Jasper National park.  For wildlife, we saw only one poor, soggy, bedraggled mountain sheep standing on the road, and a fleeting glimpse of a deer darting across the highway about 1/4 km ahead of us.

We ended the largely uneventful drive by finding an enormously overpriced room at the Marmot Lodge in the town of Jasper.  We treated ourselves to a great meal at our favorite Greek restaurant and took a major hike around the town - the rain has stopped and the sun is shining brightly, promising better days to come.

It is still pretty busy in Jasper of course, but it is really starting to feel like autumn.  I think this incredibly depressing sign says it all...

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