J and I were in Canada this past week. The last time we were this far north, we were in Vancouver for my bday in 2008. That was a great trip. We left there thinking: “If it weren’t for the cold, we could really live here!”

It seems that every trip somehow gets rated against that question, and seeing as I have just passed my ninth year in the Bay Area, what can I say, I’m getting antsy again. So this time around, we flew into Calgary, spent a couple of nights in the city, and then drove west to the mountains of Banff for another five nights. This was my first real vacation since starting my gig ten months ago. Yes, I was in Taiwan last November, but come on, family time never counts as vacay. The interesting thing about Canada? It’s kinda confusing, bc people speak English and they mostly dress/look/act very similarly to people from the States, so my brain assumes we’re in the States… but then some things are just a tad bit off. Mentally, it’s a little disorienting. Unlike when you’re in Asia or Europe where the differences are blatant, in Canada the distinctions are harder to tease out. For example, we hit up a shopping center in Calgary, and while everything about the strip mall felt very familiar and recognizable, we only knew the names of two stores (Best Buy and Costco) out of ten. Yeah, the other shops were probably Canadian. I know, duh, but it still causes a double-take. Then, at the Costco where we loaded up on wine, cheese, and trail mix, the cashier asked if we wanted our “buggy” back. John was totally confused. Thankfully, when he doesn’t hear or understand someone, I actually do. And vice versa. “Yes, we’d like the shopping cart back.”

Other observations? DYK the population of California is more than the population of all of Canada? WTF’ right? And if you think about it further: the population of Shanghai is almost the population of Canada and California combined! Mindblowing! The pace in Alberta is also considerably slower: that goes for airport processes, driving speeds, and restaurant service. It definitely takes some getting used to. Kinda like Hawaii’s “Island time” but thankfully, not THAT slow. People are super friendly, almost suspiciously friendly. Everywhere we went, we got free upgrades: rental car, hotel 1, hotel 2, restaurant seating, airplane seating, etc. And people are very conversational, and not in the usual auto-piloty kind of way we’re used to. There’s all this eye contact, and the people really keep the conversation going, which made us unabombers super uncomfortable.

What else. Holy crap, who knew there was so much diversity up here: I mean, I guess since Banff is a pretty international destination, it’s not that surprising to hear lots of European and Asian languages, but in Calgary? Same thing, and I also noticed many interracial couples at the public parks and around town.

Beyond those observations, the landscape in this part of Canada is pretty stunning. We saw lots of natural beauty with distinctive highlights from glaciers in the Columbia Icefield to grassy meadows to alpine lakes to fir forests in the Rockies. For some reason, all of this reminded me of our incredible trip two years ago in Wyoming. That was one of my top five trips, and of course, I was trying to pinpoint the reasons why it was so memorable. Banff had some similar features with the beautiful ski mountains and clear lakes, but in Wyoming, 1) I saw horses everyday 2) we did some really unique activities like my Intro to Rodeo class and mountain biking down the ski slopes 3) The Grand Teton Lodge was super deluxe/nice 4) we saw tons of wildlife: moose, elk, buffalo, bears, deer…

We still got lucky on this trip: we did see one bear and two elk, but other than that, on our three days on the trails, nothing! In conclusion, both places are definitely worth visiting. Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone are slightly less accessible, with Jackson Hole being the closest airport (often requiring a connecting flight) whereas Calgary is a short, direct flight from SFO followed by a 90-min drive. I highly recommend both, in case you’re asking!

Probably the most challenging part of this trip was us doing two moderate-to-strenuous hikes two days in a row and well, us realizing we’re not in as good of shape as we were two years ago. Plus, don’t discount the elevation. Haha. Those hikes really knocked the wind out of us, so for a couple of days, we lost a lot of steam and had to sleep a lot. Whatever though: that’s what vacation is for– resting. In terms of getting offline for a bit, I did pretty well. Partly, I had no choice, bc AT&T and T-Mobile had shit service in the mountains. Then another night, the wifi at the hotel knocked out due to a storm. I did squeeze in a tad bit of work and even sent off a couple of job apps. But seriously, I toned my online time WAY down. I give myself a gold star, for realz. I’m feeling decently rested now, but I’m eager to reunite with my Martin. Susan says he really hates the sub-q fluids. I have definitely noticed that he is getting more and more sensitive to the needles. I may have to try some new locations on his body due to the scar tissue. He has also become finicky again with his appetite, but otherwise, he is doing well considering the circumstances. Whew, Marty lasted another week! 😉

Wow, how is it fucking mid August  now? Shit man, back to work Monday. Gotta figure out how I’m going to get back into the groove. [FAG id=7443]