Road Trip!

This past summer my boyfriend and I decided to take a quick road trip to visit his brother in Red Deer, Alberta. We let on a Friday evening after work and figured we would be able to drive straight through to Calgary, and I would be ready to shop first thing Saturday morning! My step dad suggested we take our time and enjoy the scenery instead of rushing and saving shopping for another time. I am SO happy we took his advice and spent the night in Jasper at the Astoria Hotel.

We left Saturday morning and continued on our drive to Calgary. I kept bugging him to stop at the ice fields so we could get a picture, since I hadn't been there since I was a baby, and he had never been. The lady at the toll booth told us they were only about an hour away, well, it took us over 2 hours to drive 100km. I had forgotten how beautiful Canada really is, and make him stop at every single rest spot, scenic point, and pull off, along the highway so I could take a couple 'quick' pictures. I wanted to ensure we both had the chance to witness some of Canada's best scenery and remember it.

We drove alongside the emerald coloured lakes, snowy mountaintops, and literally hundreds of tourists until we reached Banff. Matt made sure to ask me if I wanted to stop anywhere and take dozens more pictures while we were here. Unfortunately, I declined. I didn't want to lose any valuable shopping time, and besides, we would drive through Banff once again on our way back home, we could stop then.

After a fun weekend of shopping, visiting with family, and lots of pictures we began the drive back home. I was so tired that I slept through the entire drive home. Matt offered to stop in Banff once again so we could check out the famous National Park that everyone always talks about, but I just wanted to get home and see my dog and fall asleep. Once we got home I immediately regretted my decision.

A coworker of Matt's wanted us to stop and take pictures for him since he had never left Kamloops before, and I was in too much of a rush to shop and sleep to stop and enjoy one of Canada's finest offerings. Too many of us take these things for granted, expecting everything to remain in tact until we find time in our hectic schedules to go back and enjoy the scenery. Reality is, these parks won't be here forever. The Canadian government has spared this land for now, but do you really think it will be around for our future generations to enjoy just as it is today? We must begin to work together to preserve this land, and stop taking it for granted. Make sure you stop to smell the roses! And take pictures while you're at it :)