You have to look good while traveling, right?
I love visiting these sites once in a while to “window shop” my afternoon away…
Simon’s – a Canadian company
Joe Fresh – another Canadian company!
Hudson Bay Company – yet again, another Canadian company…I sense a theme.
I am a big road trip fan, and I always need to be the one behind the wheel (except when driving a manual transmission in Italy – thanks Katie for taking on that job!).
I’ve done a few gorgeous road drive in my day, and I am going to attempt to pick my mostest favoritest ever.
This is going to be hard.
5. Highwood Pass – Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada
I’ve been back and forth on this road a billion times, it feels like. I know it like the back of my hand, I suppose! It was all those early morning and late night drives in search for the perfect grizzly bear to observe.
4. Rogers Pass – TransCanada Highway in B.C., Canada
I didn’t expect much on my way to Revelstoke, B.C.. But this pass was absolutely breathtaking. The wildflowers were the most colourful and widespread I had ever seen!
I wasn’t able to stop and capture my own photo!
3. Going to the Sun – Glacier National Park: Montana, U.S.A.
I’ve completed this drive 3 times now, and I will never, ever get sick of it. It would really be nice to drive it some day when I can actually see the sun peeking through the gloomy clouds. Still – jaw-dropping beauty with all the glaciers, pine trees (ohhh the smells!), and mountain goats.
2. Amalfi Coast – Italy
Zing – jaw dropping scenes and those crazy little towns like Positano hanging off the side of those sheer rock cliffs. Sure, I would move there though!
1. Road to Hana – Maui, Hawaii, U.S.A
WOW – the views! At one spot, there was a very unique tiny town that sold the best banana bread and shave ice. The volcanic rocks and huge crashing waves there were amazing! Once in Hana, we noticed that it was getting late in the day and we had to turn right back around. I was kicking myself for not booking a room there to spend the night (they were full). Try to keep your windows open when you pass the eucalyptus trees – wow! Wow. WOW!
Honourable mentions to Beartooth Highway, the Canadian gold rush route through the Fraser Canyon, the drive from Vancouver to Whistler (Sea to Sky highway), and any driving we did in Italy and Hawaii – there wasn’t a dull scene anywhere!
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by Guest Blogger Dave Cooper
Part One…
Point Pelee National Park lies in Essex County in Southwestern Ontario near Leamington and tapers to a point as it extends into Lake Erie. Residing on the 42nd Parallel North, Point Pelee National Park shares this latitude with the Island of Corsica, France; Rome, Italy; Jilin in the People’s Republic of China; the Oregon-California border and the New York-Pennsylvania border in the United States.
Originally inhabited by indigenous people from AD 700 and many centuries later shared  with Europeans Settlers, subsequently, the Chippewa people were forced from this area and this land remains unceded indigenous land. Point Pelee was made a national park in 1918 by the urging of bird watchers and hunters.
The point is part of a series of stepping stones across Lake Erie for the great migration of over 360 species of birds as well as butterflies and dragon flies every spring and fall. Lake Erie moderates the temperatures here by cooling more slowly than the surrounding land but the point still experiences warm humid summers and cold winters. The record high temperature here was recorded at 34.5C or 91.1F and the record low was -27C or 16.6F.
On my visit here on October 5th 2012 I saw only four monarch butterflies and very few birds, only the hawks, bluejays and these wild turkeys, which stay here year round.
Canada’s most southern point of land has many walking trails, from beach walks to boardwalks to broad paved roads. One path took us to an abandoned cemetery, last used in the early 1900s.
Copyright ©Dave Cooper 2012.  Visit davecooperphotography.ca
It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw, not because she is Canada but because she’s something sublime that you were born into, some great rugged power that you are a part of.
– Emily Carr
Maligne Lake – Jasper, Alberta
I am not fantasizing about a place very far today. It’s about a 4.5 hour drive from my home, it’s the most southerly point in Canada, and it’s full of green, green NATURE! And food. Yum!
Pelee Island – I’ve heard so many great things about this place, and I can’t wait to go camping here some day.
Here’s my plan, designed by Lonely Planet:
Begin your day with a visit to the Pelee Island Heritage Centre, which has one of the best natural history collections in Ontario. Here you can learn about the island’s human and natural history, including information about the Pelee’s role in Prohibition, the archaeology of its original inhabitants and visitors, and species of animals that call the island home.
Untitled by Dustin and Jennifer Stacey. Creative Commons Attribution licence
Sign up for an island eco-tour with Explore Pelee. Run by the enthusiastic Anne Marie, Explore Pelee (explorepelee.com) specializes in mellow bike tours that showcase the island’s best: Fish Point Nature Reserve, where birders flock to catch sight of migrating birds; Vin Villa ruins, the grand estate of the original winery; and Lighthouse Point Provincial Preserve, where a restored lighthouse and rare species of salamander and turtles reside. Guides will also narrate the geological and cultural history of the island, providing details about Pelee’s canals, its Middle Devonian landscape, and island farming. Besides bike tours, bike rentals and tours that focus specifically on birds, geology and agriculture are available.
Biking in summer heat can be intense, so relax post-tour with a swim off one of Pelee’s sandy beaches. Lake Erie’s shallow waters are heated to bathtub-water warm in the summer, and as you’re bobbing around in the warm blue water you might believe you’re in the Caribbean.
For storing wine by Candace Nast. Creative Commons Attribution licence
Pelee Island is the surprising home to a winery (the island is further south than half of the US states) and though the wines aren’t necessarily world class, the winery is a great place to unwind for a late afternoon snack. Pelee Island Winery (peleeisland.com) is the oldest and largest estate winery in Canada, with 600 acres of vines. Tours depart at noon, 2pm and 4pm daily, and are only $5 – with a wine tasting included. You can privately book special food and wine tours. For dinner, consider a picnic at one of Pelee Island’s many shore side locations. Sunset Beach, just north of the ferry terminal, is, as the name indicates, an excellent place to watch the sun sink into Lake Erie. Bring a bottle of Pelee Island Wine, and end your day relaxing on the warm sand. After a night in one of the excellent B&Bs, stock up on baked goods for the ferry ride home at Conorlee’s Bakery and Delicatessen. Homemade loaves, pastries and soups will have you fortified for the journey back to the mainland.
Sleeping: Pelee Island has several excellent bed and breakfasts, most of which are historic limestone homes. Try Stonehill B&B, on the west side of the island. With grey stone walls a foot thick, you won’t hear a sound all night, and the water views are magnificent.
Transport: ferry is the best way to reach Pelee from April to December; it is a relaxed one and a half hour ride each way from Leamington and Kingsville. There is also a ferry from Sandusky, Ohio (bring your passport). The schedule varies from day to day, but it is absolutely essential that you make a reservation. You can do so online at Ontario Ferries (www.ontarioferries.com). In the winter, there are regularly scheduled flights to and from the island’s small airport. Pelee is easily navigable by bike, which can be rented on the island. You can also drive a car on to the ferry.
Sunset at Lake Erie by vinod shankar. Creative Commons Attribution licence
This guy was found munching away on leaves with his pal, another bull moose even bigger than him, in Grand Teton National Park.
The loud construction on the road about 20 feet away, and the crowd of 30-ish tourists didn’t seem to bother these dudes very much.
Welcome to Waterton, Alberta. A much looked over national park. It’s attached to the US version, Glacier National Park, and together their efforts create the only international peace park (ie. national park joined by an undefended border).
It’s gorgeous, whether you prefer touring in Canada or the USA. I love both. Don’t make me  pick!
Waterton – wild flowers, black bears and cougars crawling all over you (not literally), amazing hikes, glasslands meets Rocky Mountains in a surprisingly diverse ecosystem for a park the size of a postage stamp.
Glacier – pure Rocky Mountain wilderness with extensive rugged back-country, roads only give you a small sample size of it’s vast protected space that covers both sides of the continental divide.
Look at a map of both – there is a missing 3rd in the flathead that is the west side of the continental divide in BC – the logical missing piece of the puzzle that is not only NOT protected, but OPEN to logging and development – see! Dumb.
*thanks S.
I am here in West Vancouver, babysitting a dog for a week and I absolutely LOVE it here. It’s my third time visiting the “best place on earth” – according to the limited edition license plates they produced. There is a picturesque scene awaiting me at every turn, so I believe this saying 100%!
Yesterday, I went for a jog around the neighbourhood:
Along the seawall in W. Vancouver
Keeping me motivated near the end of the jog
What a great way to explore the city. I could not believe some of the houses around this area. Jaw dropping…and what scenery to look out to!
I’m excited to get downtown Vancouver in the next few days and explore the view from the other side of the Lion’s Gate Bridge. I have driven downtown several times already this trip, and I can tell you that the road system is NOT the best place on earth. Traffic jam city!
After the jog yesterday, we met up with a few of my boyfriends friends and headed out in a boat around Howe Sound and Bowyer Island.
Again, my jaw was dropping at all the views around me. I even saw 4 different seals swimming around our boat. So neat!
A seal! Too bad I didn’t bring my Nikon
Never a dull moment in Vancouver…
It’s been such a wonderful summer.
So many fabulous wildlife adventures and photographs taken, a ‘new’ camera inherited (story to come soon), and countless amazing meals eaten along the beaten trail.
I am so sad that it is coming all to an end…BUT not just yet.
There is this brief hiatus in Vancouver babysitting my boyfriend’s parents dog while they are off on an amazing African adventure. After that stop, we are on the road again.
This time, it’s not through the states, but through the quirky Trans Canada Highway en route back to Toronto. Instead of the 2 loooooong driving days to Yellowstone from Toronto, we are taking 9 – 10 days to slowly working our way back across Canada via some interesting Canadian historical sites (eg. The last spike, the burial ground of Louis Riel…).
BUT I must share a very brief and very sad short story with you that has been casting a gloomy cloud over my head, despite a very sunny and warm Vancouver, and a very excitable and heart warming dog to babysit.
There I was in Jasper, Alberta among a huge crowd of people photographing one of three amazing bull elks with crazy racks that I have now known for three years. Ps, a side note – I’ve been learning all the innate wildlife talk – it could have gotten more technical than that 🙂 more technical than ‘crazy racks’.
These elk were so docile and accommodating to the throngs of people, young and old…in their faces snapping off photos with flash, yelling, running in front of them, stalking them, attempting to feed them…you name it. I was impressed, yet again this summer, and so happy to see these stunning elk so healthy after three years running.
The morning we were set to leave Jasper, just 3 days ago, we were stopped to photograph a black bear with one cub on the Icefields Parkway when a motorcycle stopped beside us and gave my boyfriend some very saddening news.
This one guy from the three bull elks (the smaller one as he is known) had just been hit and killed by a transport truck on the Yellowhead Highway where we always see him.
It was heartbreaking and so damn frustrating and it has kept me heavy hearted ever since I heard the news.
R.I.P.
Wistfully Wandering 