calming down in Jasper

Jont giving the boys a maths lesson in the kitchen.
see all photos »

After our momentous drive we were very happy to arrive in Jasper (despite the lack of large mammals on the way). Jasper is much smaller, quieter and more like a village than Banff - it seems less centred around tourists which gives it a very relaxed feel (although of course it’s much less lively).

This suited us, feeling a bit worn out after our exertions and we were very lucky to be booked in to the Bear’s Den in the middle of Jasper. It’s not really a B&B as they don’t do breakfast, more like a B - but what a great B! We stayed in the Whistler Suite which is really like a small and impeccably furnished flat, with a great kitchen stocked with basic ingredients, drinks and everything for cooking you could require. It seemed luxurious after so many ho/motels to be able to shop and cook simple food, and we all just chilled there.

it dawned on us that we were actually traveling rather than vacationing

A Bighorn sheep. Yep, there it is.
see all photos »

There was a wicked DVD library too which kept us all happy, and the boys had a bedroom to themselves whilst we stretched out on the sofa bed. The local liquor store bizarrely sold our favourite wine in the whole world (it’s a New Zealand wine from a small estate which is quite hard to get at home) and then turned out to be personal friends of the winemakers! So we now have an intro when we go to Marlborough, which is very cool.

Anyway, were were feeble adventurers in Jasper, but we did make it to Pyramid Lake, and Pyramid Island, from which we saw Pyramid Mountain. We also hiked the Old Fort trail which was beautiful, through groves of autumn colour and ghostly larch trunks with strange papery moths everywhere until we came out at the top and had the most amazing view. We also saw loads of Bighorn Sheep, which was a thrill for as long as it took to marvel at the massive horns, then it dawned in us that they really were just sheep.

Jonty being a non-chirpy, non-cockney chappie. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
see all photos »

Apart from that we caught up with washing (ah yes), e-mails, school lessons and sleep, together with hot chocolate, good wine and home cooked food. I think that our time in Jasper was when it dawned on us that we were actually traveling rather than vacationing;  it wasn’t a traumatic revelation but we kind of relaxed into it.

Then we packed up, all clean and happy and well rested, called into the Bear’s Paw Bakery (great bread and cookies) for supplies and got on the road back to the west coast. And, guess what, at 7 am on the road out of Jasper we saw a small herd of Elk grazing on the side of the road in the morning half light. Magic.