We'll be renting a motorhome for the duration, which will be hilarious because neither my mum nor my sister have driven anything that big. And I, being the non-driver, have been told by my sister that it's my job to direct them into parking spaces. Yeah, right.
So, what do I actually want to do around Vancouver and the Rockies? Well, first up, I'm planning on spending some time in Vancouver before the relatives arrive. There's plenty to do in the city itself but I'd also quite like to get out to Vancouver Island and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Took a little bit of digging, but apparently I can get a ferry from the city to the island. Hurrah.
My mum would like to visit Capilano Suspension Bridge. Looks pretty amazing to me - a footbridge high above the river. Good job I'm fine with heights.
Once Vancouver and its immediate vicinity is out of the way, we're going to spend a while going up and over the Rockies. There's a lot of amazing sites to choose from up there, but I'd really like to see Lake Louise. It looks like such a beautiful area, but then I imagine there's plenty of those.
I'd also love to visit the Burgess Shale. This is an internationally important fossil site, where some of the earliest complex life on Earth is preserved in the rocks. And by early, we're talking over 500 million years old. Parks Canada run guided hikes to some of the sites and while a couple of them are probably a bit strenuous for my liking - especially given that Mum/sister will need to be able to drive afterwards - there's a less arduous one to the Kootenay outcrop. All the shiny pretty science things.
Aside from that, there's nothing specific in mind for the Rockies. I'd love to go riding again and there's plenty of opportunities to go rafting or kayaking, which would be amazing. My mum really wants to take a hot air balloon ride, since she missed out when she visited India last year.
Oh, so many things!
The last thing I'd really like to see and recommended to my mum by a chap at the travel agent, is Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This a World Heritage Site south of Calgary, so a bit out of the way of our intended route, but it's something I'd like to see. It is, as the name suggests, a buffalo jump - a place where the native folk of the area would drive herds of buffalo over a cliff to their deaths. A remarkably efficient way of hunting.
Still relatively vague plans at the moment, but I'm sure as August creeps closer they'll start forming into more of an itinerary.
What would you recommend visiting on a roadtrip over the Rockies? Any hidden gems to see? Why not share in the comments below.
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