Day 16: Quick Drive to Valemount

Yikes, it was incredibly windy last night! After two consecutive nights of minimal sleep, we were beyond thankful that today’s itinerary only called for a breezy 1.5-hour drive.

With a shorter travel day, we had some time to reflect on a few observations from our trip so far:

• Rental heavy: In Banff and Jasper, it seemed like over half the campers in the campgrounds were rentals.
• Firewood perks: The National Parks provide wood for the fire pits right at your site upon arrival, which is a fantastic touch.
• Train spotting: Trains are absolutely everywhere. We haven’t stayed at a single campground yet where we couldn’t hear a train rolling by.
• Small town charm: The small towns we’ve passed through are amazing and feel so special to experience.
• Smooth sailing: The roads are exceptionally smooth and well-signed, with very few turns to worry about.
• Local flavor: We absolutely love hearing the locals speak. It almost makes us want to move here just so the kids can pick up the accent!

We also chatted about some of the major perks of this specific trip:

• Unplugged: Rob has only had to work one day this entire trip, compared to nearly every day on all our previous RV adventures. It is amazing!
• Home-cooked meals: We’ve been surprisingly content eating meals made right in the RV, only dining out a handful of times. Even better, Rob has cooked every single breakfast and dinner!
• Co-pilot: I love having an adult driving partner to trade off with. The two of us have spent the most time in the front seats together this trip (in the past, it’s usually been a kid co-pilot).
• Tech assist: While Kelly still handled hours of the prep planning, Rob has been utilizing AI to validate routes, double-check plans, and discover fun new ideas.

As for the day’s activities, we opted to do just one of the two waterfall hikes we had originally planned—mostly because we have already seen so many waterfalls! We also made a stop at the small Mount Robson visitor center to check out some exhibits and grab lunch.

The kids were so engrossed in their books and podcasts that they thought we were pulling into another hike trailhead instead of our campground. They were absolutely over the moon when they realized the driving was already done for the day.

Once we got settled in, we rode our bikes into town to visit Valemount Bakery and grab a couple of grocery items.

Back at the campground, we enjoyed some solid family time playing KanJam, horseshoes, and bocce ball.

The rain finally rolled in right at dinner time, making us very glad we had squeezed in all of our outside time early today.