Tag: Roadtrip

Beautiful Banff

On By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

Last month, Tucker and I continued our Canadian explorations with a trip to Banff, Alberta. Of course, Banff had been on our list long before we knew we’d be living in Canada, and we can now say with absolute certainty that it should be on everyone’s bucket list! We were truly blown away with the seemingly infinite number of stunning views, trails, waterfalls, glaciers, and all sorts of other incredible landscapes. In fact, I had trouble narrowing down our plans to fit neatly into a one-week trip (many people spend weeks or months trekking around Banff and Jasper National Parks, and I now know why). But since most of us can’t do that, I thought I’d share our experience, which could be useful to others in planning their own epic trip to Banff!

Calgary, Alberta

But before we get to the city of Banff, we have to get to the province of Alberta. The vast majority of visitors fly into Calgary, which is the nearest major city. This is what we did although we also considered flying into Edmonton and driving down through Jasper as an alternative. Ultimately, Calgary won out because it was closer and the flights were cheaper. I’m happy this was our choice though because it meant we got to spend several days in Calgary, which turned out to be a really fun city: two beautiful rivers running through it with gorgeous parks throughout, a very lively and impressive brewery scene, and several bar and restaurant streets where we were able to try the famous Albertan ginger beef. Seriously, don’t let the airport be the only thing you see in Calgary!

Of course, our main reason for being in Alberta wasn’t the cities, it was the beautiful Rocky Mountains, so how to get out there? Well, they’re really only about an hour drive from downtown Calgary, and you have several options. There are buses and shared cars aplenty, but we, like most people, ended up renting a car. The price was as expected: reasonable if you return it to the same place, outrageous if you don’t. In hindsight, having your own car is absolutely paramount if you want to see anything outside the teeming tourist bubble. One of the best parts about driving ourselves around Alberta was that we could (and did) stop at every possible turnoff for views, trails, signs, etc. not to mention the total freedom we had when driving the Icefields Pkwy. But if you’re sticking close to Banff (as in Banff City and the lakes) you really wouldn’t need a car at all if you didn’t want one.

Canmore & Banff

Once you’re successfully into the mountains, you have another choice to make: where to stay. If you’re camping, the options are limitless, but if you’re afraid of bears and/or you’re not a millionaire, you basically have two choices: Banff City or Canmore. Canmore is a little further from the main attractions and isn’t quite as touristy; therefore, it’s slightly cheaper, but there’s much less to do, which means you’ll likely be driving (and having to find parking) more often, or so we heard from fellow hikers. We stopped in Canmore both on the way out of and back into Calgary, and we really enjoyed it. It’s basically a baby Banff, and I think it’s a solid option, especially if you prefer a more low-key home-base.

We ended up staying in Banff though since this was our first time, and we had no idea what to expect. Since we went at the end of September (right before a lot of attractions and roads are to be closed for the season), there was a plethora of visitors. Options for accommodations were somewhat limited either by availability or by price. Fair warning – Banff is beautiful, but it is not cheap. We chose to stay in a private room at a hostel about 1.5 miles (2kms) from the city center. It was an easy walk, but there is also an amazingly quick and efficient public bus that runs through town and out to many of the resorts as well. Several hotels/hostels give free passes for the duration of your stay, but you can also buy a day pass for $5CAD.  

The city of Banff has much more to do than we originally thought. On our first evening, we climbed the nearby Tunnel Mountain, and there were countless other trails into the surrounding mountains and valleys. Evidently, there’s also a famous golf course there – who knew? And the town itself is well-worth a wander. Little shops selling everything from mountain gear to homemade fudge, lots of cozy cafés, and restaurants that run the gamut: we saw a McDonald’s right down the street from an extremely lavish steakhouse. We ended most of our days in Banff eating and drinking after spending the day outside hiking, and the choices were surprisingly diverse for such a small town.

Lake Louise & Moraine Lake

Likely two of the most famous views in all of Canada (maybe even North America) are those of Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. No matter how you feel about large-scale tourism or throngs of tourists, you can’t come all the way to Banff and NOT see these two icons. Somewhat recently, Parks Canada decided to close off the roads to the lakes for all private vehicles. The only way to visit them now is to take a shuttle (or a tour) from a parking lot/ski lodge just outside the park. This was very confusing to us when reading about it online, probably because it’s new, but it was actually really easy to do. You reserve a time slot and a direction (either LL->ML or ML->LL) and then present your digital “ticket” to the bus driver. The buses leave every 20 minutes, and as long as you get on within your window, you’re fine.

Lake Louise is huge. There are trails on either side of the lake and up the mountains on both sides with bird’s-eye views. You can also rent canoes and take to the water if you want ($145 for 30 minutes – yikes!) My advice for Lake Louise is to play it by ear depending on the time you’re there, what the weather is like, how many people you see going in either direction, etc. We were there in the afternoon, and it was quite crowded, so we took the path less traveled up to the Fairview Lookout on the lefthand side and found it absolutely perfect. There are signs everywhere showing the lengths and difficulty levels of all the trails, so you can pretty easily decide once you’re there. Just remember to bring water and snacks because there’s not a lot of options once you’re on the tourist circuit.  

Moraine Lake is not as big, and because of how it sits, you’re sort of on top of everyone else trying to see/take pictures of the lake. There are several trails here too, but most of them take you away from the lake. We did the 4-mile (6-km) trail to the Consolation Lakes and felt that they lived up to their name lol. In hindsight, I’d have rather brought a picnic and found a nice place to sit and eat while looking over one of the lakes. All the hikes were lovely, of course, but the views of the lakes were better. Also, we did see signs about hiking/traveling in larger groups because of bears, which we didn’t take very seriously then. After recent events, we plan to be more aware and prepared next time, and I would urge anyone else to do the same.

Icefields Pkwy & Jasper National Park

Our last great adventure in the Canadian Rockies was a drive from Banff City up to Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park and back. This stretch of road is known as the Icefields Parkway because there are over 100 glaciers along this path, which gave us some of the most incredible views we’ve ever seen from a car. It’s only about 3 hours up to Athabasca Falls, but it took us over 4 because of all the stops we made along the way: the Columbia Icefield, Sunwapta Falls, Mistaya Canyon, Peyto Lake, and dozens of other incredible stop-offs. This drive was easily my favorite part of the trip, especially in the fall. We didn’t see very many people along the way, but there were endless signs teaching us all about the region, the various landforms, flora, fauna, you name it. It was very much like a DIY field trip, which, of course, I loved!

Ugh! After writing this and reliving all these incredible moments, I’m ready to plan a trip back to Alberta. Somehow, I feel like this might be a Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) situation, in which you haven’t really seen it until you’ve seen it in all four seasons. I do hope I’ve inspired you to put your plans to visit Banff into action not only because it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world, but also because some of these places won’t always be there for us to see in the future. Time really is of the essence, so bon voyage!

Crossing the Border and Settling in

On By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe it’s already May, but when I look back at everything we accomplished in the last month, I can’t believe it’s only May! At the beginning of this year, I firmly decided to stop waiting for whatever “new normal” will eventually present itself, and started the process of moving to Guadalajara, Mexico. The first few stages went extremely smoothly: we got our visas from the consulate, flew to GDL, received our residency cards, found an apartment, all while working full-time (remotely, of course). However, the final stage of the move was a complicated one. We had planned to fly back to the US, get our vaccines, pack our car with the rest of our stuff, and drive the 32 hours from Orlando back down to GDL – all in less than a week, during a global pandemic. Here’s how it went:

First, a little more on the logistics of this particular endeavor…

Driving our car across the border and down into the inner states of Mexico meant that we’d have to get an import license for our car. The import license required a lot of paperwork (like copies of our residency cards, US driver’s licenses, passports, proof of Mexican car insurance, etc.) It also meant that we had to renew our registration in FL and update our US car insurance policy without actually being in the US (thanks Mom and Google Voice). With crossing the border, we also had to have a list of what we were bringing across (in English and Spanish) as well as up-to-date copies of our dog’s vet records for customs.

We did what we could in advance from GDL, but the week we spent back in the US was crazy! We were lucky enough to get an appointment at Walmart for the J&J one-shot vaccine (absolutely perfect for our circumstances), and we got the jab about an hour prior to the national pause. Whew! We also made sure Jenn got her yearly vaccines and check-up, and then started the process of stocking up on US-specific goods (like Everything Bagel seasoning and our preferred brands of socks and underwear) before packing our little car to its gills. Did I mention that during this week of planning and preparing, appointments and vaccine recovery, questions and more questions, Tucker did not take a day off work! He did, however, take a day off for the drive.

One heck of a road trip…

We drove from Orlando, FL to Baton Rouge, LA on the first day. It took just a little over 10 hours, which was longer than expected due to heavy rains. Jenn thoroughly enjoyed the ride in the backseat on a pile of pillows, dog beds, and blankets. Day 2 was from Baton Rouge to Laredo, TX (right at the border). This was also a little over 10 hours (a bit of a delay again thanks to Houston traffic), but we enjoyed both legs with region-specific favorites like Café du Monde beignets and Whataburger patty melts. Aside from worrying about sitting in a car for three days straight after getting a vaccine with blood clot tendencies, we didn’t think much of days 1 and 2. The border crossing and drive across Mexico was our biggest unknown, and no amount of Googling was helping us feel prepared.

Around 6am on Day 3 (the only day Tucker requested off from work), we went through the McDonald’s drive-thru (our goodbye to the US) and crossed International Bridge II, which connects downtown Laredo (US) to downtown Nuevo Laredo (MX). We went through the first of many gates/checkpoints around 6:30am, before sunrise, when there were only a handful of other cars. Each car was eventually directed into a space that reminded me of where you vacuum your car after a car wash. Very intimidating looking guards came over, opened all our doors, checked a few boxes/suitcases and asked us a few questions like where we were going, what items did we have with us, etc. They were also surprised by our little perrita who promptly barked at them when they opened her door. Once they had ensured we weren’t smuggling goods or people across, we were free to drive through another few gates into Mexico.

It was thorough yet efficient, but as we’ve been told again and again, it’ll be much more difficult going the other way. Luckily, we won’t have to do that for a while! Once we were officially in Mexico, our first stop was at the Banjercito (import license and general immigration office). I stayed in the car with Jenn while Tucker handed over our documents and got the stamped form we needed in order to drive on with US plates. After showing this form to another guard at the next checkpoint (just as you’re leaving Nuevo Laredo), we were officially on our way – eating our McMuffins and calculating mph into kilometers, perfectly content.

The next 11 hours were uneventful and absolutely beautiful. We took mostly toll roads, which are newer and very well-kept. We drove through the Sierra Madres Orientals, Monterrey, desserts, canyons, and many little towns/rest areas. We never felt unsafe; there were plenty of gas stations, convenience stores, and clear signage all the way down. The only slightly challenging part was navigating the passing zones (and the fact that some drivers will pass regardless of zone). Overall, we drove through 5 US states and 5 Mexican states, 1,963 miles, over the course of 3 days, and I’d gladly do it again (although maybe not for another year or two).

And now we’re here (semi-permanently, or so it finally seems)

That first night in our own beds with all our stuff in the same apartment was magical! It didn’t take long to put everything away and feel truly at home, but there were (and still are) some things we’re getting used to. First, every time I’ve come back to Guadalajara, I have had to adjust to the altitude/climate again. We’re at about the same elevation as Denver, and in combination with the dry-season (and likely over-exertion) on this particular re-entry, I felt the familiar feeling of altitude sickness that seems to haunt me whenever mountains or plateaus are involved. Jenn is also adjusting to life A) in a high-rise building (with scary elevators) and B) in a city with a couple million inhabitants, but for her, the pros definitely outweigh any cons – so many new smells, a bird watching window, and her own room! Haha! Other than that, everything has been the usual fumbling along until we’ve figured it all out, which is exactly what I love about being an expat!  

Ultimately, I’m pretty proud of how well this all came together, and if I had been pining for an adventure, I definitely checked that off the list early in 2021. Now all that’s left to do is settle in and enjoy la vida en Mexico!