Banff National Park

We left our Airbnb around 6am and stopped to get donuts, coffee for Caleb, and hot chocolate for the rest of us at Timmy’s (the Dunkin of Canada, but better than Dunkin). After around 1-1.5 hours of driving, we made it to Banff National Park. It has the biggest mountains and the bluest/turquoisest lakes you could imagine! It was beautiful, but peopley. We had intended to go on a hike in a less peopley region (Moose Meadows), however the road was closed due to bear activity. So we made our way up to Lake Louisa and were lucky to get a parking spot (spaces were very limited). Note to self, if ever going to Banff again, schedule it for after July (because most of the trails aren’t open until then), and also plan ahead (adhd strikes again!) because many of the places require a shuttle to get to which has to be booked well in advance. We ended up doing a hike up to mirror lake, and somehow Jon convinced me to keep going up further to the tea house (though, likely because going up more meant I could get to a bathroom sooner). Sadly, the line for the tea house was too long, so we opted to pee and head back down the mountain. The kids loved the hike up (it was pretty, and it snowed!), however, by halfway back down the mountain Sam was complaining that his body hurt (but this somehow didn’t stop him from being very loud, randomly dancing down the trail, and tripping over himself many times). We were all ready to be done by the time we got back to the lake, and rain had started, but I did have to make a quick stop to buy a magnet for my growing collection at the visitor center. Might add a second section of pictures, as 20 pictures does not seem enough for the vastness that is Banff (Glacier on steroids). Highly recommend, but plan ahead and stay an hour away in Cochrane to save $$$$$.Read more