Fall time fun

Fall is my favourite season and I know I'm not alone in that. The beautiful colours, crisp air and the crunching sound beneath my feet is so stimulating. It makes me want to get outside, go for walks and do some exploring. So that's what I have been doing. 

On a really lovely warm afternoon last week R and I went for a walk in the river valley. Everything was so perfect and picturesque. We strolled through parks, over bridges and on both sides of the river. If every day was like that, I'd be a very happy girl. 

On an entirely different walk in a different River valley we did some more walking. We took more pictures and found some really lovely areas. 

On yet another day I took R to Prairie Gardens and Adventure Farm. It's not far from Edmonton and makes a really awesome Fall outing. 

We didn't go into the actual farm part though, just to the pumpkin patch. We took our time picking out the pumpkins we wanted based on size and shape and colour. I really like white pumpkins and had every intention of getting one until this big beautiful Cinderella pumpkin caught my eye. 

Next to the pumpkin patch is an area where you can build your own scarecrow. I didn't plan this part but I can honestly say it was so much fun! 

We named our little beauty Matilda and if she isn't the loveliest scarecrow you've ever seen then you're lying to yourself. 💋

So much sass in one lady!

R picked out his green pumpkin and we made a joint decision about the little orange one. 

They're both perfectly round and charming. 

When it came down to carving the pumpkins neither of us knew what we wanted. It took a bit of Internet research to help us make the decision. 

This is R's very smiley cyclops with sharp teeth. 

My lovely little Volkswagen camper van and my very bizarre looking frog monster.. thing...

I actually had a specific idea of what I wanted, it just didn't go quite that way. That's half the fun though, isn't it?!

And just as importantly we got a ridiculous amount of seeds from our pumpkins and they roasted up really well!

Using other pumpkins I also made more pie this year! 3 pies and 48 tarts to be specific!!! I used the same recipe as last year but they were even better this time!

Enjoy Fall while you can!

Jasper 2.2 - Canoe and Hike

As is always the case, the last day of any trip is never a full day. There is always driving or check-outs or waiting for planes. 

Today we had to get up early, unset our camp and make the most of our afternoon before driving home. 

Our number one plan for this trip to Jasper was canoeing. I told R that I wouldn't get back in the car to go home unless that happened, and I meant it!

We had looked up a few places that offer canoe rentals before we came so we could check prices and locations. Our first choice was Maligne Lake but since that didn't happen we settled for Pyramid Lake. 

To be clear, Pyramid Lake is by no means a 'settlement.' It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful lakes in the park and I'm really pleased that this is where we ended up going. 

When we arrived the rental desk told us we would need to wait for someone to return a canoe so we could take it, but first-come-first-served so don't go far. 

It was only about 15 minutes before we were suiting up in our life jackets and getting in the water. 

$35 got us 1 hour in the canoe. 1 perfect blissful hour of paddling in the sunshine and appreciating the mountains towering above us. We had so much fun exploring the area from a different vantage point. 

I could have happily stayed out there for several more hours, though my fair skin would pay the consequences. 

When our time was up and the canoe returned we made the short drive to the next lake over. Patricia Lake is cold, like all the other mountain lakes, but it made for a nice swim anyways. 

Our friends were already at the lake so we joined them for some fun. Somebody brought blow-up boats and almost everyone took a turn in them. The boys took them out to float in the middle of the lake, I pulled the little ones around near the shore and then I took my turn to get pulled around by R. 

During my ride a bee was flying around and my natural instinct is to lose my cool. I just freak out. Anyway, it landed on me so I freaked out more and when R brushed it off me it fell into the little bit of water in the bottom and went under my foot where it proceeded to sting me. 

Let me just say, I haven't been stung in years but it still hurts like hell, just like I remember it. 

Partly because it really hurt and partly because I was flailing around anyways, I ended up falling out of the boat and into the freezing water. As it turns out, that water was also very shallow and I hit my knee on a big rock at the bottom. Not a great moment for me, but I'm sure it was amusing for other people to watch. 

After I scooped my dignity up out of the water and made it to the beach I had to get R to go find my Benadryl. I'm extremely paranoid that I might be allergic to stings, even though there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. 

Anyway, I wasn't in much of a swimming mood anymore so we dried off, said good-bye to everyone and headed in the direction of the weekends final adventure. 

Just like canoeing was a must do, hiking was necessary as well. 

We found a few trails online but they were all too far in the wrong direction, we didn't want to make our drive home any longer than necessary. 

In the end we decided on Maligne Canyon. I've been there twice before, once with R in the winter and once with my family last summer but this time was different than both of those. In the winter we only made it 5 minutes down the trail before we had to turn around because it was pure ice and in the summer I had a 4 year old with me so we did one of the shorter loops. 

I'm not sure how long the longest loop is but I know that it would take several hours. We didn't really plan anything, just to go until we didn't want to anymore. I was secretly taking R as far as possible before he quit though. He said he nearly died, but in all fairness it was scorching hot outside. 

We guesstimate that we were out for around 2 hours and probably went around 8km. 

Some points had us way high up looking into a deep narrow canyon and other areas are low enough that we could put our hands and hats in the water to cool off. 

The canyon is such a beautiful place to hike, I highly recommend it to anyone. The trail has challenging parts, but it also has a clear path the whole way and hand rails for a good amount so it is pretty friendly to any level. 

Having survived the whole round trip we made our way to the car, air conditioning and eventually home. 

Jasper 2.1 - Lake life

There is something about sleeping in a tent that I just love. The hard ground doesn't bother me at all and I have the best strategy to stay warm. Sleep naked. No one believes me when I tell them it's the best way to go but your own body heat will keep you warmer than clothes. I promise. 

Beyond that, the crisp air in the morning and the dew that has settled on ever surface, the sounds of nature and the lingering smell of camp fire. I can't get enough. 

The group got together again in the morning to make breakfast in one site. Oatmeal, coffee, sausage, eggs, bacon.. All the good stuff. 

Having finished eating and cleaning the dishes we set off for our first lake of the day. 

Lake Annette is a small freshwater body near Jasper Park Lodge, not far from the town of Jasper. As we would soon discover, the water is absolutely freezing even on a beautiful hot day. 

Most of the adults went in the water to some degree. A bit of swimming, some floating on inflatable boats and a lot of standing around while our bodies adjusted to the temperature, inch by frigid inch. In the end R and I both dunked ourselves and lived to tell the tale. 

The little ones splashed around in the shallows for a bit but mostly spent their time on the shore making sand castles. 

When we had enough of the icy lake and the scorching sun we took our leave from the group again and headed for another lake. 

From Lake Annette to Maligne lake is only approximately 45km, but it takes quite a while to get there. Narrow winding roads keep the speed limit fairly low. And as lovely as the scenery is there was nothing I could do to keep my eyes open. I have vague memories of doing the horrible vehicle-sleeping head bob, but after a while even that faded out and I was dead to the world. I guess it took all my energy to reheat my body after getting out of the lake. 

As it would turn out, the reason my head stopped bobbing was because R was holding my face with one hand and driving with the other. 

Seemingly 100 years later we finally made it to our destination. We got ourselves all ready and walked down to the water in search of the canoe rentals. They weren't hard to find. 

We probably should have expected it going in, but it was absolutely crazy in the boathouse. Packed wall-to-wall with families of tourists wanting to explore the lake and capture the perfect photos. 

It took us about 1 minute to decide that we weren't willing to wait in the madness and then we left. I was a bit disappointed considering that was the whole reason we came and we both really wanted to canoe. 

Aiming to make the best of the situation we decided to explore the area. Maligne Lake is a really beautiful place, the little sister of Lake Louise in Banff National Park. Both have stunning views and hoards of tourists. 

On the first trail we took a deer walked right out in front of us and couldn't have cared less that we were there. She went about her business of frolicking and munching and very kindly stuck around for some pictures. 

We explored a little ways around the lake but didn't go terribly far because our friends would be wanting supper before to long and we still needed to drive at least an hour to get back to the camp. 

It turns out that the drive is really lovely, I stayed awake for the whole way back. We got to see where a large forest fire had recently been put out and it was a pretty bizarre sight, not something you come across everyday. 

Back at the camp, fire-grilled kabobs in hand and ready to relax for the evening. The fire masters got a big blaze going to sit around and chat and when everyone finished eating we played games too. 

We have one afternoon left before returning home and we will make the very most of it!