Day 1: Sunday in Calgary
I landed in Calgary in the early afternoon and my friend graciously picked me up at the airport. As an aside, I had the easiest customs experience of all of my trips to Canada (I’ve been here 3 times I think?). I didn’t talk to a customs agent - I just had to fill out a form at a terminal. That means I did not get a passport stamp! If you travel outside the US and your passport doesn’t get stamped, did the trip even happen? ;) I am childishly obsessed with passport stamps so this was a bit disappointing but so it goes! I will say that past encounters with Canadian customs agents have been the most intense I have experienced in all of my travels! They ask sooo many questions that by the end you might think - am I doing something illegal? Ha.
Leigh had asked what all I wanted to see in Calgary and the answer was truly - her and her family. I had not seen her for 9 years, had never met her husband (our previous meets ups were girls running trips) and she had 2 kids since I last saw her. So this leg of the trip was truly about connection. I loved getting to know her husband after reading all about him when she was blogging and it was fun to spend time with her kids, ages 6 and 8. We basically talked non-stop from the time she picked me up until I went down to bed at 8:30! We did go to a cool indoor market where I got some yummy ice cream and went for a beautiful walk along a river in an area called Bowness Park, but I failed to take any pictures!
Day 2: Hiking in Canmore
Our friend Amber flew in from NW BC and landed around 8:30 that morning. It was a Monday and Mondays are busy at work so figured I better check in and make sure things were going ok with the weekly newsletter that I usually review. It turns out there was an issue with the data I pulled on Saturday. Ugh. I didn’t even have to tell Leigh I was dealing with a work issue. She could tell from my posture and look on my face as I was emailing that it was not good. I felt just sick because I had no laptop and my colleague who sort of knows the data process was in Germany on vacation without a laptop (we are not allowed to work outside the country unless we get permission/approval - which is fine! I don’t want to work on vacation anyways. We are limited to checking email). I got the issue pretty much resolved over email but this whole situation exemplifies how little back-up I have at work and the extent of what we call ‘key person risk,’ meaning - can things go on if someone were to get hit by a bus? Granted the work I am doing is not saving lives. But it’s still important to my company. Thank goodnesss my new hire starts next month. We will NEVER HAVE OVERLAPPING VACATIONS!! And hopefully this is the only time I will have to mention work in these blog posts!! It took me quite some time to shake off the events of the morning, though. I care so much about my job and what I do so can’t shake it off when something comes up.
Moving on! When Amber got to Leigh’s in our car rental from Turo (which is very slick I must say!) we headed to the Canmore area to do a 10k hike called Cloudline. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I had the best time catching up with these 2! I hadn’t seen Amber since my wedding in May 2017. I love that I have the kind of friendships with these 2 ladies where you can pick up where you left off and it’s like no time has passed! Amber is one of my best friends (I was in her wedding 11 years ago!) so we keep in touch over WhatsApp but it’s not the same as spending time together. Here are some pics from the gorgeous hike!
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| Me, Leigh and Amber |
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| One last group pic with the brewery bear. Hopefully this is the only bear I see on this trip (we do have bear spray!). |
Today we will bike a dedicated bike trail from Canmore to Banff and bop around Banff for a bit and then we might go a later day hike when the sun is starting to set. It is oh so gorgeous here so I am loving all the views of the mountains!
14 comments:
I have NEVER had my passport stamped in Canada. I used to travel there for work once a year and customs was always very stressful, but they never really quizzed me or anything - I mostly just built it up in my head as Very Scary.
It looks beautiful and I'm happy you're able to get away and enjoy time with friends!
Hahaha - I completely understand the feeling of beginning to feel guilty just because of the intensity of the questioning! So glad that your customs experience was smoother this time.
And oh how wonderful to spend time with these lovely friends! I am so happy for you, that you get this time -- and also happy that you get time ALONE with them. Even though it's its own kind of special to share our families with our friends, there is nothing like one-on-one time.
The work thing has me steaming though. My first job out of grad school was completely remote, but there was NO backup. So I had to take my work with me on every vacation for seven years. It was supposedly a "perk" -- I could work from anywhere!!! But now that I am removed from it, I see it for what it was. Your description of how it took you awhile to detach from the stress of your work issue reminds me how awful it was to try to navigate work problems while trying to simultaneously relax. It's not possible! I am really glad that your new hire is starting soon and that you will have some control over their vacation schedule so you can truly decompress when you take time off.
And I hope the remainder of your trip is both work and bear free!
That looks like a lot of fun! I miss seeing Amber around sooooo much
This looks beautiful! It's so fun to reconnect and it always amazes me how it really does feel like "no time has passed" since seeing friends. Honestly, though we've never met in real life, I think it will feel that way when I meet you in person (notice I said will *wink*, not if) - like we've known each other forever?
Ugh about the work situation. Sigh. I had something similar happen to me a few years ago. It was an incredible 2-day vacation (WITHOUT KIDS), but I still look back on it with some dread because the final morning I got a bad e-mail and it consumed the rest of that vacation day AND coloured how I remembered the whole time. Sigh. And I purposefully didn't check e-mail; I just happened to see a notice come up on my husband's phone when we were eating breakfast (it was a shared work account for our small business). So glad your new hire starts soon!!!!
I have never had my passport stamped in the US, so maybe it's not a thing between our countries.
Bowness Park is lovely, and it holds so many wonderful memories for me, as a child and then with my own children!
Canmore is gorgeous and I know you're going to love the biking trip. It's such a great ride and such a spacious path.
ahhhhh girls trip!!! so jealous! enjoy to the max!!!
I am all for non stamps. passport renewal is so expensive.
Ahh, to be alone with friends-- and in such a beautiful place! Have so much fun :)
That is interesting that normally your travels into Canada are more strict, as I have found the Canadian border (both in and out) to be one of the easiest ones! I do agree with you re the passport stamp though! I want a stamp! I also hate that now in Europe you only get the one entry and one exit even if you travel in multiple countries. I want all the stamps!
It is so cool that you are finally meeting up with Amber and I am sure you guys are having a great time catching up! It is crazy how fast time goes, as it feels like you guys were all just here in San Francisco, riding bikes with me across the Golden Gate bridge... I guess that was over 8 years ago too! Enjoy the rest of your girl time!
apart from the work snafu, it sounds like a really good start to the holiday -- and to be able to see not just one friend but two is a real treat. The hiking trip looks like lots of fun -- and what beautiful territory!
I am so excited for your time with your two girlfriends. Enjoy every minute!
Ever since I got a second passport, I don't get any stamps in either passport anymore (well, I haven't traveled to many countries in the last few years, so maybe I would if I went on more international trips and not just between Germany and the US, haha.)
I have had to give up the excitement over passport stamps because I got my passport originally specifically for cruising and you never get stamps for the countries you travel to while on a cruise! I did get my passport stamped when I went to Ireland but not when I went to Canada last year. I remember being sooo nervous about the border crossing, though (we crossed it by car and I've never done that before!).
This trip looks amazing! It's so nice to see Amber's face on your blog! I'm really glad you got to have the time away.
Oh, I am so sorry you had to deal with the work issue. I sincerely hope it receded to the back of your mind, and that you were able to really enjoy your time with your close friends. There's nothing like it, is there?
I love my friends who I can pick up right where we left off!!! It's so much fun to get to meet their families too!!! I'm so sorry about the work issue!!! It is SO hard when you don't have back up, my last role I constantly felt that pressure! I'm thankful that with my current role I know that someone is always able to easily step in for me if needed! I love that y'all splurged for your own rooms!!! It's my understanding that where you visited is one of the absolute most beautiful areas ever!
It's funny cuz our talks with customs at the Canadian border (driving) are always intense too. And I just realized we didnt get stamps this summer when we went either! But then again I can just show them my drivers license and get in so maybe thats why. We did use our passports though because we hadn't in awhile and were like why not?
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