Alberta, Canada Road Trip: Day 1 (Edmonton to Calgary)

In early June (June 4-9), my husband and I went on a road trip to Alberta hitting Edmonton, Calgary, and Banff NP and Jasper NP with 2 other couples we met on previous trips (Morocco & Egypt). How did this trip materialize? Let me tell you a short backgrounder - my husband and I were supposed to travel with these 2 couples to Turkey in April of 2020, but you know what happened midway through March of that year, right? We were all so heartbroken that the trip got cancelled, but you know if you have itchy feet and wanderlust souls you find it hard to just sit still at home. By the beginning of 2022, we were chatting about future trips we might take given that we have vouchers to use from the cancelled Turkey trip (it was a guided tour). We were all hoping that we could still use the vouchers for Turkey, however, one couple was not ready to travel pre-pandemic style. So a ton of chats/messages were exchanged and I made the suggestion that since both of the couples are from Canada and one of my very first bucket list items is a trip to Banff/Jasper, perhaps we all could do it together, so I could finally tick it off my list. Needless to say, the suggestion was met with enthusiasm, so much so that one of the couples took it upon themselves to do all the research and make out an itinerary for us. Believe me, she can write out an itinerary that can pass for a guided trip. It was incredible. And because of my husband's job timetable, we could only do June 4-9, while both couples stayed longer.

We flew in to Vancouver, from Vancouver to Edmonton, then drove 3 hours to Calgary where we will start this road trip. Why fly into Edmonton you say when we could fly straight to Calgary? We were hoping to meet up with my elementary school buddy who lives in Edmonton on the last day of this road trip that's why we would be flying out of Edmonton as well.

Anyway, we've traveled by plane before this on a long weekender to Cancun, remember? Plane travel is not smooth as you know and there are delays upon delays, but thankfully we managed to push through and arrived in Edmonton safe and sound, a tad hungry but we're good. We even managed to stop by Costco for some supplies before driving to Calgary.

The long drive to Calgary was eye-opening. Everything is so green and lush and flat. I like road trips and long drives so I don't get bored. I just take photos.

It's flat.

Rushing to get out to go to the car rental place.

My husband loves Costco (as do I) so we find Costco everywhere we go.

Finally, Calgary.

We stayed in Hilton Garden Inn located in downtown for this night. All of us were in Calgary on this day, one couple is with us in the hotel, while the other was visiting relatives. The couple that was staying in the same hotel was supposed to get dinner with us; however due to flight delays we arrived late and we asked them to go ahed and get dinner and we'll get dinner from the hotel once we arrived. However, the kitchen was already closed when we arrived. We could have a vending machine dinner, but we thought we could do better. And since we were not tired yet, we all decided to take a walk around downtown with the other couple. Everything is so close, within walking distance. It was chilly though and drizzly, but nothing was going to bother us. We are traveling!!!!

Happy to be reunited.

The architecture style of Calgary I thought was all over the place, but I found that charming.

Just behind the hotel is the public library. I wish we arrived early to visit it.

The Calgary Tower. Was hoping we could go up to see the surrounding area, but someone said what to see, nothing but flatlands. We didn't have time to try it.

While there were people out, it didn't have a hoppening vibe, you know. We kept walking until we reached some eateries. We couldn't decide on what to eat, until we saw a sign for Thai food, but it was already closed, we were too late. Then rain poured down just in time we found ourselves in front of an Irish pub which was open. So we had our first meal of fish and chips and beer for the boys and cider for the gals and unceasing chatting throughout. By the time we reach the hotel that night, we were all beat.

I am going to serve this road trip in delectable bite size posts, like I'm wont to do. Let me tell you this up front, this is one of the most incredible trips I've been too. The natural beauty is beyond words. Just wait and see.