Alberta

Alberta was stunning. Moving from the prairies to the mountains was such a drastic change, everything was exciting and new.

The towns were much bigger than I expected, large older looking homes. More variety, especially when we approached the Badlands. The ground just dropped and create these incredible formations.

Sitting on the edge of the cliff, surrounded by grass, staring at the beautiful scenery – it was one of my favourite moments.

After setting up our tent we hiked around the site. You move from this incredible view of everything to being surrounded. The views were amazing, and walking as the sun was setting over the cliffs was unbelievable.

As we cooked dinner a playful hare stopped by, not getting too close but never straying too far. A family of deer also appeared, munching on the shrubs a couple feet away.

The next morning we woke again with the sun. The view was just as surreal as the night before. We took one last look at the Badlands at the top of the cliff and made our way to Edmonton.

Our first stop: Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. I was never that invested in dinosaurs, but my roommate was the most excited to see them. I’m glad he insisted on this detour. The bones were beautiful, and the dinosaurs were huge. I could go back every day and find new, interesting parts to look at. So inspiring!

When we arrived in Edmonton our first stop was the West Edmonton Mall. It was overwhelming. I’m not really a mall person so having a mall combined with a theatre, water park and theme park was intense. There were some stores I saw twelve times and others only once. It was good to see but it is not a place I would choose often.

That night we arrived at our second couch surfing experience. It was a frat house. Called the V.I.P. Zone. Filled with beer cans, posters, dirty cups and plates and people. It felt like my home over the summer. People were coming in and out – I met at least twelve people – but no one told us who really lived there. It was a little difficult after a long day to be social but luckily someone let us sleep in their room.

While everyone was extremely nice and accommodating, we were much too tired to be in that house for the night. It would have been amazing if we were looking for a rowdy night.

Next stop British Columbia!