Day 5
Border Crossing
We crossed into Canada today. It was super uneventful! Yay! Totally different from the last time I crossed into Canada with my kids. Last time I drive to Alaska with my kiddos, I wanted to be prepared since I had never left the country with them before. On the Canadian travel website (their governmental one). it said all I needed was passports. FALSE! I found out (through crossing into Alberta, Canada on my way up to Alaska, and then when I crossed into Yukon, Canada on my way back down to Utah) that I need much more: passports, birth certificates, and a Travel Consent form signed by my husband. Basically, I was woefully misinformed and unprepared the first time. Both border guards asked questions of my kids and said, since they were not in distress and I did not show any markers for being dishonest, they would let me pass. It was very unnerving on the way back (since I did have my travel consent form this time but not the birth certificates).
This time though, I was completely prepared and had EVERYTHING! I had:
Our passports
Travel Consent form signed AND notarized
Copies of my husbands drivers license
Birth certificates (this shows that my kids are connected to me and my husband legally)
MY birth certificate (since we are traveling with my dad and that shows my connection to him which means my kids are his grandkids - genealogy matters! 😆)
Copy of our marriage certificate to show that my husband and I are legally married
Extra copies of all of the above because I was paranoid.
The border guard only asked for passports and the Travel Consent form. 😂 If I didn't have all that documentation, I would have needed it. Since I brought it, they didn't need it. haha! Oh well. Glad I was prepared regardless.
Ja vois des ours noirs!
(I see black bears!)
It’s really fun having signs in English and French. I’m realizing how poorly I sound out French words. I need to practice my French pronunciation.
We saw black bears within 30 minutes of crossing into Canada! I’ve driven up to Alaska a half dozen times and I’ve never seen them that fast! It was awesome. A mom and two cubs that looked almost ready to go off on their own. I’ve seen them quickly when I drive from Alaska down but not up. It was pretty cool! I didn’t get a picture because it was so fast. No biggie - there will be lots of chances to see bears. When I saw these ones though, all I could hear in my head was Jim Halpert from The Office (dressed like Dwight Schrute) saying, “Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.” 😂🤣
Now. Where are the moose? 😆
There are these small tunnels along the roads that are wavy on top. They look like giant binoculars that are half-buried in the ground. Near as my dad and I can tell, they are animal crossing points. Less roadkill and less accidents.
Canadian National Parks
We ended up going through three National Parks in Canada. I feel like it made up for not being able to go through Glacier National Park in Montana. 😊 We went through Kootenay, Banff, and Jasper. Stunning! I am a total sucker for gorgeous scenery!
(Ignore the ocassional smudge on the picture - a lot of them are captured through car windows. And when you go on a long road trip, you hit a lot of bugs. I'll show a picture of our front grill later - I think there's even a full cricket underneath one of the headlights.)
Glacier Water
I wish some of the vivid colors could be translated better in my phone pictures. For example, there was a river between Banff National Park and Jasper National Park that I’m positive is a glacier-fed river. There is something so vivid and just aqua pristine cool blue about glacier water. It’s so gorgeous.
Photography-itis: desire to photograph EVERYTHING for posterity's sake.
Crowfoot Glacier - we stopped for a bite to eat from our portable cafe. (I should have made a sign “Workman Cafe.”) And we stopped for a picture. We can’t not. Much to the chagrin of my children. I can’t wait till they are grown and they fall prey to photography-itis! 🤣
Jasper National Park
There is this one spot along the drive in Jasper National Park where you can stop and hike up this waterfall. Although we didn't have time today to stop and hike up, I HAD to take a picture. I remember hiking up these falls 21 years ago when I first drove down the Alcan! (Colby, Austin, Chantel - remember that trip?!? It was such a blast!)
Moutain Goats
Can you see them? lol - They REALLY blend into the side. The animals are more active at dusk and dawn. I was surprised at how close to the road these goats were. It was pretty awesome.
True North
This is random but I thought it was so cool. I opened up my compass app to see what our elevation was (only 3,310 feet - not as high as I thought) and I noticed that we were literally driving true North. I had to screen shot it and share. I'm completely comfortable in my nerd zone. 🤣
Exercise
Our hotel looks like it's from the 70's. They had a gym and I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice it was. Lots of space and lots of equipment. I just wanted to walk on the treadmill since we had been in the car all day. Skyler wanted to come down with me. Look how absolutely ADORABLE he is working out! I mean manly. Pre-manly since he's 11? lol - Whatever the case he was an awesome workout partner!