Squamish Bound

It seems that all of my recent blogs (the term 'recent' obviously being used loosely) begin in the same manner, with a realization of how long it has been since the last time I had the discipline to sit down and write and with my wondering how I am ever going to write about all that has happened during said time. I hope that the lack of frequency in my posts only goes to highlight how great a time we are having on our trip, in that we rarely find a moment of non-excitement to sit and reflect. That said it is in this reflection time that we are able to truly appreciate all that has come to pass. Josh and I had a wonderful time in Europe and the UK after Magic Wood, however I am hoping to come back to the end of our Europe trip at another time, in another post, for now let's fast forward to New York City and the beginning of our America and Canada trip.

Dinner at Grand Central Station with my bro

The only exciting thing to come of our 4 day bus trip

It could be said that Josh and I took the scenic route from London to Edmonton, but before you judge it we managed to do it for AU$250 each!!! After arriving into NYC from London in the afternoon we met up with my brother for a VERY quick tour of downtown New York. It was great to see my brother again and to see how well he had settled into this amazing city. It was also great to get back to NYC and to have a chance to show Josh some of the sights. After the brief tour it was off to dinner at Grand Central Station, my favorite building in New York. After dinner it was to the Greyhound station and time for Josh and I to board our FOUR day bus ride to Edmonton. I wish I could say that the ride was quick, that we had plenty to do and that the scenery made up for the length of the journey, unfortunately that was not the case! The ride was heinous. We boarded our first bus from New York at about 10pm, it was everything Greyhound promises, WIFI, power sockets and comfy seats, thinking this would continue for the entire journey we closed our eyes for the night. When we woke up from our restless sleeps it was morning, we were in Toronto and it was time for a few hour stopover, then onto the next bus. The next bus was to take us to Winnipeg. Now that we had slept it was time to take advantage of the WIFI and plugs, but this bus did not have any, nor did any of the buses we caught for the next three days. Over the next three days two exciting things happened...Josh's feet swelled to the size of his thighs and....no, actually I was wrong nothing else exciting happened haha.

Canada Day Celebrations with Jaye

Eventually we reached Edmonton and once we arrived the trauma of the previous few days vanished! I have said before, and I will say again, it truly is the people we are meeting that makes this journey so unforgettable. While we were in Edmonton we were hosted by friends of my aunt and uncle on their old street; never has their been a street of more wonderful people! To Val and David, Harvey and Jaye and Lisa and Leeroy thank you! Thank you for being such wonderful hosts to us, for your AMAZING generosity and for showing us such a good time! Josh and I are blessed to have met you all! Our time in Edmonton went far too quickly but it was certainly packed full of highlights! Amazing meals with our hosts, buying our Van, trips to Edmonton Mall and soo many more.

After buying "Van Helsing" (our van, who sometimes give us hell) we headed out with Jaye to get all we needed to camperize him. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this conversion, you know who you are, we couldn't have done it without you.

Setting up the kitchen, stocked with food from the family!

Once Josh had finished cleverly knocking together a bed frame it was time to think about making tracks, but not without first making one last stop at Edmonton Mall. Thanks to Brad and Ashley, who gave us tickets to the theme park and water park within the mall, we were able to spend one EPIC day riding roller coasters and the craziest water-slides in the world. Seriously, let me tell you about just one of them. You are locked into an entry chute, basically a perspex coffin, then the countdown begins...."Launching in....3......2.....1.........then.....the floor disappears and you free fall 12 stories before making a loop upside down and dropping again. As I said EPIC!
All good things must come to an end and with that our time in Edmonton drew to a close. Farewells were said reluctantly and Josh and I began looking forward towards our next adventure.

First glimpse of the roller coasters at Edmonton Mall

And so the road trip began...we were Squamish bound! The drive from Edmonton to Squamish was the most beautiful drive of my life. From Edmonton we made our way through Jasper National Park to Mt Robson Park. As we neared the parks the landscape was transformed, mountains appeared bursting out before our eyes; soon the streams and lakes took on an icy glacial blue and we were met on the road by Mountain Goats, Deer and Bear!

Jasper National Park

Mount Robson - the largest Mountain in the Canadian Rockies

After Mount Robson we made one last detour heading south into the Okanagan Valley. Once again the landscape transformed before our eyes as glacial waters were, once again, replaced by deep blue, still, inviting water. Snow capped mountains were replaced with mountains abundant in life. We had entered a beach side paradise! We picked sweet cherries from trees and enjoyed the water in Lake Country before setting off again.

In a mere few hours we were heading north out of Vancouver along the stunning Hwy 99, the mesmerizing Howe Sound signalling that we had made it. We turned into the Chief car park and looked up at its might. We had arrived, we were home!

Looking over the Howe Sound from the Chief car park