The last six months have been absolutely wild with so many more changes in my life than I could have imagined! Aiden and I had a spare week in our schedule and we decided it was about time we stepped away from everything in life and have a little time for just the two of us.....well almost. Athena always comes with us. (We like to joke that we are her emotional support humans!)
We were very spontaneous with this trip. We had originally planned to road trip B.C but after checking the weather forecast while on the ferry we decided to go off to the next-door province Alberta where there was a promise of sunshine!
We converted our van into a make-shift camper with a shelf, counter, and queen-sized bed in the back. Diesel was a lot cheaper in Alberta so overall, it was a fairly affordable trip. We brought most of our own food in the cooler and only stopped at a resturant in Jasper called Coco's Cafe that served really delicious gluten free food!
The wildlife in Jasper was plentiful! We drove down Maligne road to Maligne lake which is where we spotted the majority of animals.
I worked up the courage to swim in one of the glacier lakes (With a little helpful shove from Aiden!) It was freezing but very worthwhile.
In the evenings we parked our van at a rest stop in the park at the foot of one of the mountains. It was great to wake up in the morning to see elk grazing in the nearby field.
After about a couple days in Jasper, we drove on to Big Valley and stayed the majority of the trip at a Buffalo ranch. The rancher was a friend of Aiden's buddy and he showed us how he cares for the buffalo on his large ranch as well as took us around to view some property that might come up for sale in the future. He realized that Aiden and I have a strong passion for farming so he encouraged us to look into moving to Alberta which offers a lot of support for young farmers. We are seriously considering this prospect because we could see ourselves thriving out there, especially with the local support. It may not be a possiblity for several years to come because of Aiden's son and our fifty percent custody, but we are both opportunist so we have our eyes set on this opportunity in the future. Everything happens for a reason and we don't believe that us spontaneously ending up at his ranch was a coincidence.
Since we were so close, we also made a stop at Drumheller and Horseshoe Canyons. It had been on my bucket list to view this part of Canada. It was not disapointing in the least although the super hot temperatures did get the better of me by the end of the day. (Alberta was in the middle of a heat wave during our visit!)
Overall, I am so happy we did this trip! I found I was getting caught up in the day-to-day drama, and getting lost in my stress. The trip helped the two of us step outside of it and realize what really matters to us. We listened to this country-western song on our drive and the theme of it really stood out to me. This is what Aiden and I are striving to do. "Trying to make a Life, not a living." We don't know what tomorrow holds so we are not going to wait till retirement to live. We are going to live and take hold and appreciate our life today. Making plans is good, but being flexible is important. If we are too rigid with our plans we can miss opportunities and not be willing to go where God is calling us to be.
