Kamloops, Revelstoke, and Banff National Park #ExploreMore

Many years ago when I was still in college, I spent a summer working in Alaska. I had managed to get myself there, but I had no way to get home. I was lucky enough to find a ride back to the lower 48, which meant driving from Denali National Park through Canada and to Boise, Idaho and then to Berkeley, California where my sister lived. When we drove through Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada I thought to myself, “This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen and I must come back.” It took 20 years, but I finally did.

Train-Banff-yvonne-condes

Thanks to Ford and the #ExploreMore media tour, I was able to drive the 2016 Ford Explorer from through Canada Kamloops, British Columbia to Revelstoke, Banff, and Calgary, Alberta. It was beautiful and so much fun. I reviewed the car on MomsLA (spoiler: the Explorer Platinum is a damn nice SUV) , but I wanted to share more pictures and more details about the trip here.

First I flew from Los Angeles to Vancouver and then Vancouver to the small town of Kamloops.

Kamloops plane

Kamloops was a cute little city with a tiny airport. I had a little bit of time to walk around the park and see the town.

Bridges-Kamloops- Yvonne-Condes

The next morning we all set out in our Ford Explorers to drive to Revelstoke. Along the way, my driving partner and I stopped to see waterfalls along the way, including this one at Crazy Creek Falls.

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We stopped at Mara Lake for a snack.
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Then we arrived at the Sutton Place Hotel in Revelstoke. We took gondolas to get to our dinner spot and the view was spectacular.

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Revelstoke-view-

The next day we took the long drive to get to Banff. We stopped at Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park.

Takakkaw-Falls-Yvonne-Condes
Lake Moraine (below and also pictured at very top) in Banff National park was gorgeous. There was a rock pile to climb to get the top view of the lake (there’s also a trail from the visitor center).

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By the time we got to Lake Louise it was overcast, but we could see the glacier. We decided to canoe to get closer to the glacier, but the weather is unpredictable and by the time we started paddling in the canoe, it rained on us. It was cold, but still fun to be in the water and beautiful to see.

Lake-Louise-Canada-Yvonne-Condes

The views in Banff were stunning in every direction.

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We ended the day in the town of Banff, a cute little spot with cool looking buildings, shops, and restaurants.

Banff-Church

It was a beautiful drive and one I hope to do again with my family. To learn more about the #ExploreMore trip or the Ford Explorer, visit MomsLA.

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