Road Trip to Alberta aka "Vacation of Doom"

We'll start with my "happy place"! The Badlands. This was the place I was most excited to visit on the way out west! It holds fond childhood memories for me.

And so it begins. We should have taken the storm as we left as a bad omen!

This is a new favourite, Fargo. Oh my gosh this place is a riot. You must visit!

The have a walk of fame for celebrities who visit Fargo. B-Dude had to step into Barney's...shoes!

Had to take this for hubs!

Of course some serious photos had to be taken!

I mean the Bee family likes to keep things classy at all times!

We took a break here while we waited for some fog to clear! Okay that's a lie. There was fog but I was sort of lost and needed to be pointed in the right direction!

And of course stopping means more chances for cool photo opportunities!

This shot makes me laugh every single time I see it. Mini-me looks like she's suspended in mid-air. And no Pepsi was spilled in the taking of this photo!

We stopped in town to do some shopping. I was determined to replace my childhood t-shirt! I netted a fabulous and cheap hoodie I love!

Then we took a wonderful drive through the loop. Love the Badlands. Such a cool place!

It's truly stunning, if you haven't been you should totally go!

The sibling rivalry begins...

Mini-me had five finger shoes on so she got off to a better start...or so I was told!

The girl is nimble!

And tough!

Not to be outdone B-Dude gets creative when I say "pose".

He celebrates his victory!

They can't just leave it at that so the zany pictures continue!

This is another photo that just makes me chuckle every time I see it!

Then the competitive spirit hits again and mini-me sprints off like Wonder Woman!

I gotta be honest, I think mini-me won that day!

We continued on the loop in search of wild animals!

Bison rule the land it seems. We saw tons of them there. You give them a wide berth when they cross the road! This is just a wee one, but some of them are monster sized!

We always have to stop and see the Prairie Dogs. Did you know they can carry the plague? No lie. Look it up. I may or may not have convinced mini-me she had it when we got home!

We continued our journey in search of more animals!

I may have slammed on the brakes and almost gave us all whiplash when we happened upon a band of wild horses!

I never thought we'd see them wandering around. They usually hide pretty well!

So of course I parked my car and stayed to watch them for hours. They had 3 babies with them. So adorable to watch them play. This was the absolute highlight of the trip for me! I will never forget seeing them!

The kids finally convinced me they needed to eat and stuff, so we waved goodbye to the Badlands. I may have shed a tear, or two!

For the life of me I cannot quite remember where this hotel was but it had the coolest statues outside. So of course the kids got into silly mode for me. B-Dude wins for most enthusiast on this one for sure!

When we arrived in Calgary we made a point of visiting Spruce Meadows. The last time we visited we were lucky enough to be there during The Masters. This time we were a few days too early so we just wandered around the place! Mini-me obviously loves it at Spruce Meadows!

There was tons of posing for shots!

Even B-Dude got in on the photo action!

His attempt to dismount gracefully fails miserably!

As he completes his dismount he looks over to see me and mini-me rolling around on the grass laughing at him. Luckily he's good at taking a ribbing from us!

Spruce Meadows is a spectacular sight even when not in full horse show mode!

They take great pride in the place and it's a delight to wander around!

Plus they have cool statues where you can take awesome pics of your kids!

Cuz taking awesome pics of your kids is a parent's dream come true!

We can do it ad nauseam!

We never get tired of it!

The kids however start to lose patience at some point!

Luckily I was able to make it up to them by taking them to dinner at my Auntie Judy and Uncle George's place!

Where we dined like kings and queens!

This will go down as the BEST baked potato I've ever had in my whole life!

Honestly they were freaking incredible. Auntie Judy is a baked potato genius!

And Uncle George makes the BEST baked beans I've ever tasted! Seriously killer beans. Cooked to perfection!

I so enjoyed hanging out and laughing with family while we there. Even my sis and her hubby came over from B.C. so it was a family reunion of epic proportions! What could be better than having a great meal with family!

A huge thank you to my Auntie Judy, Uncle George, Bobbie, Gus and Kaylee for making us feel so welcome while we visited!

The next day we got up early and went to Banff. I was already pretty sick at this point so Banff was complicated. It's was so worth the effort it took me to get there though!

It's such a pretty place to wander around!

We wandered around town for hours. The shops there are so cute and fun! Expensive so it's definitely more of a window shopping kind of town!

I really wanted to take a carriage ride but I knew it wouldn't be possible with how sick I was. So the kids posed with the cute horsey for me in lieu of a ride!

Next year we'll go back to do some hiking and maybe even camping. Banff is such a wonderful place to visit. The drive through there and Jasper are incredible. Hopefully next year we'll see Jasper as well!

We spent a final day getting B-Dude settled in his new digs. Then we said our goodbyes the next morning. I miss him but I'm so happy to see him following his dreams!

We hit the open road again. Just myself and mini-me!

It's a gorgeous drive if you ever get the chance to do it. We went through the States on the way up, and home through Canada!

And of course the perk of going through the prairies is more Prairie Dogs!

The prairies are also where the wheels fell off the trip. This is the point where I was so sick and incapable of driving we had to call hubs in to save us! He flew in immediately, took my stubborn ass to the hospital where they drugged me up before allowing us to drive home. This photo is one I took all drugged up!

But don't get too excited cuz I also took a gazillion photos of things like my feet and the back of hubs head!

Yup, always keeping it real. Even when I'm high on morphine!

Imagine driving with someone in the back talking about fluffy pillows and stuffed unicorns, all while sticking the camera an inch from your face while you're trying to drive! Yup, I'm a keeper folks!

The downside= I remember nothing from the trip home! The upside= I take awesome pics when I'm highly medicated. Sick lunatic + drug haze = vacation of doom! I wouldn't trade one minute of it for the world. Or more morphine!

B-Dude we miss you something awful!

But we're looking forward to Christmas! And there's always a chance we can take a Vacation of Doom 2013 right! xx