Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Jasper, AB: June 23-26 - The Final Leg!

Our final leg of the Dodd Family "Long Way" was purposely planned to be the most relaxing and enjoyable of the entire trip, and it was!  We drove from Banff to Jasper, through Lake Louise, and it was the most gorgeous drive!  Our final destination was the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and we were truly surprised at the setup/accommodations.  It seemed as if an old national park had been transformed into high-class 'adult camp', along with all types of outdoorsy amenities: boating, swimming, golf, horseback riding, volleyball, tennis, basketball...they had everything, along with the spa/salon typical of a resort like this.  Jonathan had booked the 'unlimited golf package' which was just slightly more than the regular room rate but included unlimited golf.  He played 5 rounds in the 3 days we were there, usually starting at 7am so that we could have the entire middle part of the day as a family and then another tee time after dinner (since it was light until almost 11pm!!)  I took Charlotte horseback riding one morning, which she absolutely LOVED - it made me so happy!  We also attempted paddle boating but something turned out to be wrong with our boat and we spun in circles and couldn't steer...so the boating attendant had to come 'rescue' us with her canoe!  It was pretty hilarious.  We got a babysitter twice, once so I could ride with J on one of his golf rounds and the other time so that I could have a morning at the spa - it was fantastic and she was so great!  We left Friday afternoon, refreshed and ready to get home.  We drove the entire way back to Vancouver in around 11 hours and got home just before midnight.  What a wonderful trip!!!

We walked a bit around Lake Louise

There were warnings everywhere but we never saw any bears!





Our room had this patio on it...we pulled out the camping cookware so we could eat the food we had bought for the camping we never did!  All other guests wanted us to cook them breakfast :)
Charlotte's first time horseback riding - so much fun for each of us!

Ready for the boat...TJ didn't like that life jacket too much
This was taken around 5 minutes before we realized we weren't going anywhere!
TJ's first bath sitting up! He obviously thinks it's great!



My little punkins watching CNN's coverage of Michael Jackson's death - didn't last too long!
The view from the Lodge deck
Charlotte 'won' this crown & wand from the concierge for doing a scavenger hunt

Someone's excited to get home
My toes, heading home!  The final shot of our trip...

1 comment:

  1. Amazing shots! I loved seeing Charlotte on the horse :). And the golf course looked gorgeous! You guys are an adorable family. I'm so glad you are my friend!

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