Honey to the moon and back

Reporting from our half year sabbatical and honeymoon to America with our converted van Ruedi... Since Colombia backpacking 🎒 Czytaj więcej

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Honey to the moon and back
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Toronto
30 września 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
A very uneasy night for me ended at 05:30 to get on a 11km loop trail. My sleeping bag has the same comfort temperature as Julia's but is designed for an integrated sleeping pad which mine isn't fitted for and still leaves some open spots. So I was turning around all night trying to get warm.
When we arrived at the trailhead we found a poster warning of wolf activity in this area 🐺. With the headlamps we hit the trail in the hope of finding any kind of wildlife (I already imagined the headline: "Two hikers killed by wolves ignoring signs" 😬). Even though it said that wildlife spottings are very likely we didn't see anything, again. Even though it's mating season for the moose... Well, we have some more parks left to encounter them. And the views are absolutely gorgeous, with or without wildlife.

After another short hike to a lookout we hit the road again to Toronto. It was just a two hour drive and we went straight to the information centre. Surprisingly there wasn't too much to see if you're not that interested in museums, so we decided to go up the CN Tower.
The tower was a fun experience but a little overpriced, especially as the glass floor was closed due to renovation. It was still a nice way to get a quick overview over the city. From up there we saw a little park right below which turned out to be a cute railway museum. We walked through downtown with little plan and ended up at a food court where I had a Toronto speciality called Peameal Bacon Sandwich, a soft bun with smoked ham and a maple mustard. It was really good and had a better bread to topping ratio than the Schwartz's Deli in Montreal 😁
For the end of our tour in Toronto we got us some beavertail, a sweet fried bread with topping. We're heading back to Ruedi tomorrow, so we made some miles in that direction and stayed at a Travelodge near the highway. Czytaj więcej
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Podróżnik Maravillosa foto Jonas!!! Gracias por compartir 👍
01.10.2022Odpowiedz
Podróżnik Pudieron entrar a este templo? Es hermoso...
01.10.2022Odpowiedz
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Honey to the moon and back
Brockville
1 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
We slept in and enjoyed a big (and pretty good) breakfast at the Travelodge before driving near the waterfront for the highlights of Brockville. There is an old railway tunnel beneath the town for about 500m which was renovated with a light and sound show. A really fun experience and for free! From there we had a relaxed stroll at the harbor and looked over the Thousand Islands and the USA.
After we arrived back in Mont Tremblant we saw that the van was by far not finished. We did laundry in town and when we got back the mechanic was there so we could quickly exchange and he said the parts are processed through customs and should be there by Monday and then it'll take him a day to install it... Let's hope for the best! Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Mont Tremblant II
2 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
As we had nothing to do to today but to wait for tomorrow we decided to do some things we had missed the last time.
First we drove to Lac Mercier and walked about 7km around it and then had an amazing breakfast at the waterfront. Afterwards we decided to walk/hike up the mountain Mt Tremblant, the highest peak in the area offering views over the whole region.
The hike up there on a ski slope took us about 2.5 hours, but the views were absolutely stunning and worth the effort. So we treated ourselves to some overpriced beers on top, at least they were pretty tasty 😊
We walked a bit more through the town as we didn't have time previously. But as the sun set we got pretty chilly so headed back home to Ruedi and prepared some dinner (Ramen Bomb!). Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Montreal
5 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Yesterday in the afternoon we received news on our van, the parts arrived but upon closer inspection the turbocharger has a loose part in a turbine which can (it will, the question is when) cause a so-called "runaway engine" and hereby destroying the engine. It took us some time, but then we decided to get it fixed even though it's quite expensive and will take another week. But we can't give up on Ruedi just yet...

Now we have to wait another week, so we planned something to do until then and we're hopeful to soon be able continue our trip with Ruedi ☺️ Therefore we booked flights from Montreal to Calgary to go visit the famous Banff and Jasper National Parks before it gets too cold there and they close up parts for the winter.
After we've done this we'll return and see what's next :) So we drove back to Montreal today in the afternoon and waiting for the boarding right now. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Banff
6 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
The flight has been pretty relaxed but late, so we arrived at 0:15 local time at the hotel (it's -2 hrs from Montreal). So we just freshened up a bit and went to sleep because we needed to pick up the rental car at 07:30 in the morning.
This went pretty smooth and the way from Calgary to Canmore (the last town before the National Park) was absolutely stunning with the Canadian Rockies slowly building up in front of us, filling out the entire view. Our first stop was in Canmore where we had planned to do a little hike but the trail was unfortunately closed due to maintenance so we decided to continue on to Banff. Right after entering the town we saw a large group of female elk grazing next to the road. A promising start to our wildlife spotting goals :)
After a short stop in town for a resupply and information on the hikes around we made a small and flat loop trail. Afterwards we drove to a lookout with a great view of the Fairmont Hotel, standing huge between the mountains on a cliff. The main hike we decided on for today is up to Sulphur Mountain where also a gondola goes up. The hike was pretty good thanks to a well maintained trail with switchbacks. The 5.8 km and 600 metres altitude still took us about 2 hours but the views were fabulous all over the valleys. The center on top offered lots of useful and interesting information on the area. I chuckled at the fact that they called it the "Switzerland of North America". And you could really see some similarities 😅
After we walked back down we were in for a treat because there are Hot Springs at the bottom where we spent an hour getting soaked. For the evening there wasn't much planned so we just walked a bit around in Banff, watched the sunset and went shopping (I've been looking for Smartwool hiking socks for a while!). The view of the town with the mountain backdrop and reflections were absolutely breathtaking 😍 Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Lake Louise
7 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
The first stop today was planned to be a 3 hour hike at the Johnston Canyon to the Ink Pots. Unfortunately most of the trail was closed due to renovations (again 🫠). So we just did a 1 hour walk during sunrise to a waterfall and then continued on to our main stop for the day, famous Lake Louise.

We had heard that the parking lot can fill up pretty quickly so we were lucky to get a spot at around 8:30 am. From there it was just a little walk to Lake Louise and a magnificent scenery. We took a few pictures before going on a trail leading around the lake and up in direction of the glaciers, more specifically the Teahouse (like a mountain hut but they didn't have any tea!) at the six glacier plains and the following lookout. We had a rest and some snacks before moving back to a junction where we decided to include another hike. Unexpectedly it was a quite tough hike with a steep climb up to Beehive Mountain but the views were absolutely breathtaking!
From there it went just downhill, first along Lake Agnes and it's teahouse then steadily to Lake Louise. We had thought about renting a kayak afterwards but the hike had tired us and there were none available at the time we came back.

Apparently the parking lot of the other famous lake, Lake Moraine, had filled up already at 6am this morning and usually fills up at 3 am 😵‍💫. Therefore we decided to take the shuttle service up there the next day. For the night we stayed in a huge hostel with an adjacent restaurant where we treated ourselves to a good dinner and some local beers. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
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Lake Moraine & Icefield Parkway
8 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
As planned we took the shuttle service up to Lake Moraine, curious why people would go there already at 3 am. And honestly it's very pretty but not that much that I'd get up that early for it 😅 Besides it was very cold there in the morning. We hiked a bit up to get warm and take some pictures. And then about 3 km to a nearby lake, on our way back was the highlight with a Pika sighting 😍
Around noon we came back to the parking and drove further North on the so-called Icefield Parkway, a beautiful winding road from Banff to Jasper. Along the way are lots of stops with short hikes and viewpoints. And that's what we did the rest of the perfect day, with some of the highlights at a turquoise lake, waterfalls and getting close to a glacier.
It's a long weekend in Canada because of Thanksgiving tomorrow and the weather is especially good for this time of year so almost everything is fully booked. We were lucky to find a spot at a hostel halfway through the parkway, called Beauty Creek Wilderness Hostel. So no running water and as the electricity comes from a solar generator it shouldn't be used excessively. Also no WiFi and service like the rest of the parkway.
We've met so many nice people at the hostel, had a refreshing quick dip in the glacier water fed creek, a nice hot ramen soup and a bonfire. Exchanging stories of travels, hikes and wildlife. Czytaj więcej
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Alexander Haid Nice!
21.10.2022Odpowiedz
Alexander Haid Auf diesem Felsen bin ich auch schon gestanden ;)
21.10.2022Odpowiedz
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Honey to the moon and back
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Jasper
9 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
We slept in and chatted a bit in the morning before continuing our journey North still following the Icefield Parkway. There were just a few interesting stops left before arriving in Jasper which were two waterfalls and a walk looping along 5 lakes. We took a medium length in the loop and finished luckily ahead before a crowd arrived. It was a pleasant, flat walk with nice views and therefore perfect to start the day.
We arrived in Jasper shortly after noon to check out the visitor center and inform us on possible hikes for the remainder of the day. There were some interesting options but they involved driving for an hour. That's why we went to the Pyramid Lake, just a little bit out of town offering a huge network of hiking trails. Right after the lake the name giving Pyramid mountains tower over the lake.

In the evening we attended a Thanksgiving dinner at the hotel restaurant. Czytaj więcej
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PodróżnikWas für eine Landschaft 😍😍😍
15.10.2022Odpowiedz
Podróżnik die farben sind ja mega.......
16.10.2022Odpowiedz
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Honey to the moon and back
Miette Hot Springs / Edmonton
10 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
It takes an one hour drive from the Jasper township to Lake Maligne, one of the highlights in the Jasper National Park. We hit the 4 km loop trail to Moose Pond at 7 am to maybe get a chance to see some wildlife but despite a lot of warning signs, still nothing. From there we walked on an old fire road up to Bald Hill, the road was covered in bear droppings but they stayed in hiding (probably better with the grizzlies 😬). Shortly before we reached the top it started raining and getting very windy so we decided to get back down because the weather in the mountains can very quickly turn very bad.
Luckily the weather turned better as we arrived back down and we had a few sun rays on the lake while we had our breakfast. On the way back to the highway we had some beautiful rainbows over the mountains and we even saw a bald eagle 🦅 at a rest stop! The last stop before getting back on the highway was at Maligne Canyon (actually a gorge).
Then we continued on to Miette Hot Spring with a few disappointing stops and short hikes on the way there 😅 The best thing were a group of goats right next to the road 🐐🐐🐐. We also did a little walk at an old mining camp where you couldn't see anything but some unmarked ruins 🤷‍♂️ But as we finished and came back to the car, there was a black Mercedes suspiciously driving around on the otherwise empty parking lot.
Then we spent some time at the - at best - warm springs. At least there were some cold pools as well so the warm ones felt warmer. When we got out the black Mercedes was in parking lot of the hot springs (about an hour later and 40km away 🧐). He drove slowly past us and Julia was already creeped out. But what was really weird was that when we drove the road back to the highway he got out of a side street directly after us and continued to follow us... On the highway we didn't see him anymore but almost expected to see him anytime turning up again 🙈

For the night we took an hotel close to Edmonton which meant a three hour drive in the evening. But the hotel was pretty cheap and had breakfast 🥰 Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Elk Island National Park
11 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C
We enjoyed a nice breakfast before driving just about 20 minutes to the nearby Elk Island National Park, a tip we got from a nice Indian couple at the Beauty Creek wilderness hostel. Already on the way there we saw so many bisons along the fences bordering the national park. Right after entering, there is a short bison viewing loop road where we could see three big herds of bisons in the plains and pretty close to the road.
We decided on a pretty long walk because the park is overall pretty flat. During the first half we walked through a herd of bisons 🦬 which was a little scary at first but they were shy and tried to stay away. Even though the bulls looked very mighty, when we got closer they backed off and watched us from a safe distance. A little while later we saw a beaver 🦫 in a pond working busy on a little tree. We followed him back to his dam (called a lodge🥹) where another beaver showed up and they built together. After the extended loop with 22 km we had some snacks and a little rest before doing two more but smaller walks. At the beaver pond walk we encountered a group of cute little muskrats grooming and eating on stones in a pond. We spent some time watching them playing and then drove to the Visitor Center and then back to Calgary for our flight tomorrow. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Calgary
12 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
First thing in the morning we brought back our rental car and then headed to the airport where we had a little breakfast and then waited for the boarding. This went surprisingly well (compared to the flight to Calgary) but then we spent two hours waiting to fly because of some maintenance issue they needed to redo and couldn't find a mechanic 🙈
So overall our flight arrived 2.5 hours later than expected back in Montreal. Together with the additional 2 hours time difference it was almost a full day we spent at airports and on the plane 😅 For the night we're staying at friends of Julia pretty close to Montreal. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Saint-Hyacinthe
13 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ 🌬 18 °C
We slept in a bit and Julia's friend prepared a typical Canadian brunch for us, but we both had plans so we drove back to Ruedi to check on the current state... And we just arrived when Ben, our mechanic went to take it for a test as he had just reassembled the van. It felt good seeing it put together and even taking him for a short drive but unfortunately the turbocharger is only supposed to be arriving on Monday. So we'll have to make plans for the weekend.
Even though we had some places to check out, they were all too far away, so we decided on some local things to do. This will also save us some money because we can sleep in the van. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Lac Simon
14 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Waking up to the rain on our van we didn't feel like getting up until noon just being lazy and cosy. But eventually we made it to the car and the one hour drive to Lac Simon and a National Park where we wanted to enjoy our breakfast on the beach.
On arrival we were told that most of the hiking trails are not recommended to do because of the moose and elk hunting season 😬 But they also didn't charge us for entry and we had our breakfast with maple beans by the beach.
Afterwards we walked on the beach by the lake but it was pretty cold despite the sunny weather because of the chilly wind. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Scandinavian Spa Mont Tremblant
15 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Our destination for the day was the Scandinavian Spa in Mont Tremblant because the weather report had predicated rains in the afternoon. And as we have a flexible schedule until at least Monday we switched the plans from Saturday and Sunday.
We went there right in the morning just shortly after it opened and were surprised to see people already lined up. But we got in pretty quick and spent the whole day relaxing in different hot and cold waters and relaxation areas. In the whole inside it was forbidden to use electronic devices so we brought books and took naps 😴😅
So we left the spa well rested and fresh about 9 hours later and fell asleep pretty soon afterwards. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Le P'tit Train du Nord
16 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
I think we've pretty much exhausted every activity there is (at this time of the year) in and around Mont Tremblant. Today was biking on the P'tit Train du Nord on our agenda.
The P'tit Train du Nord is a former train connecting the South of the Laurentians with the North to get people easy and quickly to the touristy areas. It was discontinued and rebuild as a multi-purpose track for walking, biking, skating and in winter Nordic skiiing. It runs about 200km with gentle slopes and along scenic lakes and ponds.
We did about a fourth of the whole track but felt quite exhausted afterwards 😅 We're just more used to walking than biking now.
In the late afternoon we tried to find a thick blanket for the colder nights (the last two nights it was 0 degrees Celsius) but weren't successful. We're going to check tomorrow in some more stores as it might get uncomfortable in our van at night otherwise. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Mont Laurier
18 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ 🌙 4 °C
We woke up yesterday with the view on Ben's car cemetery and started our day by heading to town and washing clothes. I talked to Ben and the part was supposed to arrive on the 18th but it changed to the 17th. Unfortunately it got too late and he just started fixing it today. So we went to Mont Tremblant Resort for a little walk to the casino (which was unfortunately closed) and to shop some more supplies for the road.

Ben worked tirelessly all day together with his wife to fix Ruedi and at around 6:30pm he went to a test drive which was successful 🥰 Then I also went for a little drive and it felt really good! No more limping around 😁

We chatted a bit with Ben while having a beer before finally going back on the road. It was already dark for a while but we wanted to drive a bit, so we made it about an hour to Mont Laurier. We're happy and excited to be moving again with Ruedi ❤️🚙 Czytaj więcej
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PodróżnikWar fast so spannend wie ein Krimi! Gute Fahrt und hoffentlich hält er jetzt 😋
19.10.2022Odpowiedz
PodróżnikFast schon zu spannend für meinen Geschmack 🙈 Dankee, das hoffen wir auch 😅
19.10.2022Odpowiedz
Alexander HaidFreut mich, dass euer Ruedi wieder läuft.
21.10.2022Odpowiedz
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Honey to the moon and back
Wawa
19 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ❄️ 0 °C
In the morning we took a little stroll through the old town center of Mont Laurier but it was quite small. A little park nearby had a fitness path so we did a little workout to get warm after the -1 degrees Celsius we were greeted to after coming out of the van 🥶
Then we drove the Trans-Canadian highway 117 through the very pretty wildlife reserve scattered allover the 200km with ponds.
At the end is the town Val d'Or, a gold mining camp established at the beginning of the 19th century following the discovery of rich gold reserves. There we walked through the mining settlement and a little loop trail out of town. From there we drove an hour to cross the border to Ontario for the first time with Ruedi. And we saw a super cute little fox by the road 🦊.

A little while later we stopped at a scenic spot for a late lunch and early dinner. When we got out of the van it was surprisingly cold and it looked like tiny snowflakes... A few hours later we were in the middle of a winter wonderland 🙈😅❄️
It was beautiful in the beginning but then we needed to drive 250km in the evening through a snowstorm until we came back to civilization (in this case a population of 3500). There were no proper places to stay in between and we didn't want to stop in the snow as it might have turned worse and we get snowed in. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Thunder Bay
20 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Luckily it didn't snow anymore in the night - which was surprisingly cosy and warm. Even though the temperature was pretty low, there was no wind. First thing we did was a stop at Tim Hortons for a coffee and to plan our day. Afterwards a quick stop at the "famous" Wawa Goose 😅🦆
The road conditions were dry and it was almost sunny so we made pretty good progress. Right before a tiny town called White Haven (that's where Whinnie the Pooh comes from!) there was a small accident of a truck and they blocked the road, so we used the waiting time to clean up Ruedi. After about an hour it was cleared and we continued to one of our main destinations of the day, Pukaskwa National Park. It lays scenic right next to Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world. Also in the hour drive between White Haven and the park the snow slowly disappeared and it turned into a beautiful late autumn day!
All of the park's facilities were closed but the walking trails were open so we picked a loop of several smaller walks to combine them to a 5km walk. It was a very fun and diverse walk with beach, rock and forest sections. There was one other walking trail but for at least half a day, so we rather continued on to Thunder Bay (or Tbay).
It was the perfect time of the day to explore the marina und downtown but there wasn't a lot to see (for our interest). The waterfront area was well made but even the central area was quite rundown. After a car wash (to get rid of the salt) and a refuel we checked out a restaurant chain, Boston Pizza. There have already been a few on our way so we got curious 🧐 And it wasn't anything special but now we know!

In the evening we drove by some waterfalls on the way further West but it was already too dark to see anything, so we continued to drive for a bit. After an hour of driving we crossed a time zone border (GMT -5 now) and soon found a nice spot by a little pond with water lilies to spend the night. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Winnipeg
21 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Thanks to the time shift and a very mild morning we were on the road before sunrise. The highway was already busy nonetheless but the area we drove through was beautiful with countless little ponds and lakes. Our first stop was at Kenora, a little town at the northern point of a vast area of interconnected lakes. Its slogan (apparently every town in Canada has one) is "Lake of the woods", like my hometown 😁
We spent some time in the marina and the visitor center with the exhibitions. We enjoyed our brunch overlooking the lake and full sunshine ☀️

A short drive later we crossed the border to the next province, Manitoba which flag features a bison 🦬! On the way to Winnipeg we came by the longitudinal halfway point of Canada that we used for a photo shoot, especially with Ruedi ❤️

Then we arrived in Winnipeg in the early afternoon which left us with enough time to explore the city. It's also called Winterpeg due to being known as the coldest city in Canada. The area around the river and the museums is very nice and scenic but a lot of buildings even in downtown were rundown. We still enjoyed the stroll through a diverse skyline.

Julia found a dinner spot named "feast", one of the few indigenous owned restaurants offering a small but very appealing menu. I've tried the slow cooked bison and Julia the poutine. The food was absolutely delicious!

In the evening we drove a bit further in direction of tomorrow's highlight, Riding Mountain National Park. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Riding Mountain National Park & Regina
22 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
We drove for an hour to the entrance of the National Park and were on the trail by 08:00 at -4 degrees Celsius. The winter weather is getting real 😬 We took three different loop trails until noon but weren't very impressed with the walks. Therefore we decided to continue on to Saskatchewan's capital, Regina. The drive in the last two days has been quite monotone with just wheat plains as far as the eye can see. So we picked every opportunity to get some walks in but not taking it too slow because of the incoming winter.
In Regina we spent some time in the afternoon walking the marina and along the lake which was really nice but not a lot to see and do. So we drove some more hours in the evening because we want to get through the Rockies before the snow really hits. But just right before we came to Calgary it started to snow 🌨️❄️ Not as much as before and the road wasn't covered in snow but we still set up our bed in a light snow fall.

Also we crossed another timezone today and the border to Alberta 🥳 Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Yoho & Kootennay National Park
23 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C
It was still snowing when we woke up, but the snow plowers had been busy overnight and the streets were pretty clear. Soon we had reached the familiar road leading from Calgary to Banff, just this time with the magnificent views of the snowy peaks of the Canadian Rockies. When we reached Banff it was still icy and foggy cold. We stopped by the visitor center to see which trails in the various National Parks in the area were open and which one is the best way to cross the Rockies. It felt surreal being back here but this time with our Ruedi 🥰🚙
Luckily there were still some shorter trails open as well as the road leading up to Emerald Lake. We weren't allowed to take the rental car outside of the province and Emerald Lake is already in British Columbia. So we were now able to do this with Ruedi and it was absolutely worth it. When we drove there the weather started to get better and it was soon sunny with a deep blue sky. Each of the lakes has it's own charm but for us this one is our favorite with it's relaxed setting, beautiful little chalets and the backdrop of mighty mountain peaks. We did the little 5km loop around the lake, taking pictures and enjoying the different views from the various angles.

Our next destination was the Kootennay National Park, consisting of several viewpoints and shorter walks scattered along the winding parkway. We stopped at a few of them but some were closed and others not that interesting. The best feature is probably the views you get when driving. And at the end of it are the Radium Hot Springs as a little treat in the afternoon 😊 With that we visited all three hot springs in the Rockies 🧖

Fresh, clean and relaxed we continued our westward journey driving through the Glacier National Park and Mt Revelstoke National Park without any stops as most of the trails were already closed. Surprisingly there was also another timezone we crossed 😅 Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Vancouver
24 października 2022, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
A little bit jetlagged by the different timezones in the last few days we woke up early to the sound of rain falling heavy and loud on the roof. Trying to get in a bit more sleep wasn't successful, so we drove to Kamloops where we sat in a Tim Hortons and planned our day over a cup of delicious hot Dark Roast coffee. There were a few things to do in Kamloops but nothing all too special so we continued on in direction of Vancouver. The weather got really sunny and almost warm on the way before getting hit with a rather intense snowstorm again 🙈 By the time we arrived to Vancouver it was cloudy and windy but dry.
The exploration of the city center led us first to Gastown, the old center and nowadays a hip neighborhood with the victorian stone houses. Afterwards we took a long walk along the marina to Stanley Park, a big beautiful park that offers great views downtown to the skyline. And we were super happy to encounter a pair of raccoons inhabitanting an old tree stump, peaking out curiously 🦝🦝

In the evening an old colleague of Julia from when she was a waitress at an Italian restaurant in Chihuahua picked us up. He's been living in Vancouver for 5 years and we wanted to meet up. He showed us around the foodies district of Granville Island where I tried Salmon Candy and then we went to dinner together.

Overall Vancouver was a young, fresh city and quite different from the other big cities in Canada. Czytaj więcej
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"Twin Peaks" & Seattle
25 października 2022, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
In the morning we went to Tim Hortons to spend the rest of our Canadian Dollars before driving to the border crossing to the US. Even though we knew everything is in order you always feel a little bit of anxiety when dealing with border agents, especially in the US. They were surprisingly nice compared to the ones questioning you at the airport and they searched Ruedi superficially. So after 45 minutes we could continue our journey South on US soil.
This came with some issues in the beginning when switching from kilometers to miles, especially because the van doesn't have any indicator how many miles per hour it's going. With Google Maps I could see my speed in mph :)
Our exploration led us first to the Snoqualmie Falls, a pretty impressive waterfall but more importantly the intro scene in the series Twin Peaks. In the area are several other filming locations of the series but a must-do was the diner with a damn good coffee and a cherry pie to die for. ☕🍰 Unfortunately the "Welcome to Twin Peaks" sign was removed but we still took a picture in the direction where it used to be.

Then we drove a little while back and into Seattle accompanied by the constant rain. The downtown area has a steep slope and together with the rain and lots of traffic it felt kind of dangerous but Ruedi braved the task. After a bit of walking we decided to take the Seattle underground tour which shows the lower level of the old city that the street was raised to. Then we had some time left to explore the rest of the city in pouring rain which was a little uncomfortable but we had unique views of the sights and they weren't that crowded. In the evening we drove out of the city and a little further South for the night. Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Portland
26 października 2022, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
In the morning we grabbed a nice cup of coffee in the rest stop before driving into Portland. There was a lot of traffic and it was just stop and go for half an hour but we had plenty of time.
Right after parking we went to do a little self guided walk tour through downtown, a friend of mine had already told us to be careful because there had been recently some incidents with homeless people. And it did feel a little unsafe in the beginning but after around 10 minutes we realized that they're pretty harmless and relaxed. We walked from the old center and Chinatown to the pretty riverside park and then to the central district. In the university area was a nice little farmers market and you could really feel the livelihood and charm of the city. A highlight of our tour was Powell's books, a whole block exclusively dedicated to a book store.
At noon we had scheduled to meet with a friend of mine, who I've met in Iceland six years ago and we stayed in loose touch since then. It was soo nice to catch up and share our plans with each other and the two hours flew by. But I'm sure we're going to see each other again somewhere in the world ☺️ She also gave us a hint about a waterfall just half an hour east of Portland. And she was so sweet to give us a lucky charm on our journey - a little fridget spinner in the shape of a golden snitch.
After the Multnomah Falls we continued on further East just shortly after the Idahoan border and another timezone change 😅 Czytaj więcej
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Honey to the moon and back
Craters of the Moon National Park
27 października 2022, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C
We slept in as we needed a little rest after yesterday's evening drive and our first stop was just half an hour away. The Bruneau Dunes State Park offers little walks and sand dune activities like sandboarding. It was still pretty cold in the morning so we just walked a 5km loop around on the dunes covered in all kinds of animal tracks. It lead us around a small pond with lots of ducks complaining constantly and loudly about our presence.
We took a few photos with our star, Ruedi and then continued on to the Craters of the Moon National Park. Unfortunately the lava caves were already closed due to the freezing temperatures but all of the walks were open and we did each of them 😁 The scenery was really otherworldly with sharp rock formations looking like freshly dug out. The little snow fields made the view of the intense black lava even better! We absolutely adored the views 😍
Next up was a stop at the potato museum, which was unfortunately already closed but had a big potato on display 🥔 The state's slogan is "Famous potatoes" and the (delicious!) instant mashed potatoes come from here.

For the last stop of the day we drove to a local restaurant (turned out to be a small chain) for a potato based dinner. There weren't any main dishes for potatoes so we stuck to the potatoes for sides: potato soup and baked potato 🥔😍 Besides that the complimentary first course was a surprising highlight: Idahoan scones with honey butter!

We resupplied a bit at Walmart and then drove an hour North for our night's rest stop. The temperature dropped to -8 degrees but it didn't feel that cold. Czytaj więcej
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