In late September 2020, the boyfriend and I took a road trip to Alberta to pick up our new puppy! Neither of us had made the drive from BC before, and it was his first time in Alberta. We had just four days to work with, so I planned an itinerary for us that would give us some time to rest and check out the sights.

When I was choosing accommodation for our overnight stops, I made sure to book hotels and air bnbs with breakfast included. Knowing that we were on a tight schedule, we needed to make sure we could have a quick breakfast and hit the road early in the morning.

Our road trip to Alberta consisted of stops in seven different cities/towns, three overnights and a total of 24 hours of driving!

Keep reading to find out where we stopped on our Alberta road trip! Note: all locations we visited had COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines in place.

DAY 1 – VANCOUVER TO GOLDEN

I wanted to get most of the driving over with on the first day of our road trip. To get to our first overnight destination, we had a 12 hour drive ahead of us. The breeder is located in Granum, a town south of Lethbridge. We departed early, just before 8am and made a stop in Kamloops after about 3.5 hours of driving.

STOP IN KAMLOOPS

Kamloops was a great location for us to stretch our legs and enjoy the scenic views of mountains. We had lunch at Jamaican Kitchen, previously known as Jam Café. The service was friendly and there are lots of vegan options available – the boyfriend and I are mostly plant-based (I have more cheat days than he does). I had the vegetarian roti with curried vegetables and lentils. It was quite spicy and very flavourful! The portions were big and it came with rice and salad too. If I lived in Kamloops, this would definitely be a regular haunt. After our very filling lunch in sunny Kamloops, we proceeded to our first overnight destination, Golden, BC…

OVERNIGHT IN GOLDEN

This portion of the road trip is when we started noticing the biggest change in scenery, with the beautiful Canadian Rockies as a backdrop, as well as a significant drop in temperature. The drive from Kamloops to Golden took about four hours and by the time we arrived, the sun was starting to set. For our overnight stop in Golden we opted to stay at an Air BNB because other options for accommodation were quite pricy! We stayed at the Alpine Meadows Air BNB, which felt like an old ski chalet. It was a bit off the beaten path and required a 5-10 minute drive down a one-way gravel road.

After checking in and settling down, we were pretty tired and just wanted to have dinner and go to bed early (we vacation like retirees). We found a restaurant to get takeout from, but neither of us liked the food from there so I won’t bother writing about it 😊. There were a few things I noticed about Golden… everything seemed to be quite pricy. Firstly, we struggled finding vegan options. The pizza we ordered was expensive and it wasn’t very good – I didn’t end up finishing it and I almost never waste food! For over $120 a night, our Airbnb was comfortable enough, but a bit dated. However, we appreciated the kindness of the host, Jannis, and the complimentary breakfast the next morning. Though it was old, we also enjoyed the large soaker tub in our room, especially after such a long drive!

The main thing I didn’t account for is the time change. It may sound dumb, but I didn’t realize how close Golden is to Alberta. I thought since Golden was still in BC, that the time zones were the same. I was wrong! I admit, geography is not my strong suit (lol). Because of this, we lost an hour, which meant we arrived later than originally planned. All in all, I still think we made the right decision by choosing Golden for our first overnight stop. There’s not a ton to do in the town during the fall. We were told that Golden is known for its winter activities, which was fine since we were just passing through.

DAY 2 – GOLDEN TO GRANUM AND CALGARY

STOP IN BANFF

After having breakfast in Golden provided by our lovely Air BNB host Jannis at 7am, we hit the road bright and early to officially cross the border and enter Alberta! The scenery was stunning. One day I’d love to redo this road trip with more time to stop in each location. For day two, I allocated time to stop at Lake Louise, which was just over an hour drive from Golden. Seeing Lake Louise was definitely one of the highlights of our short trip. The water and views are beautiful. It was lightly snowing when we arrived and though we were both underdressed, we took a short stroll around the lake and took in the views of the mountains. From Lake Louise, we drove another 45 minutes to Banff for lunch at a local vegan restaurant, Nourish Bistro.

The food here was delicious! We especially enjoyed the wild mushroom ravioli with vegan cashew cheese and lavender “cream” sauce. After lunch, we had originally planned to walk around town, but there was significant construction on the main roads so we didn’t stay long. Onwards to Granum!

ARRIVE IN GRANUM

The dog breeder lives in Granum, Alberta, about 1.5 hours south of Calgary. There we met our little pup, Olive (née Ida) for the first time. After spending some time with the breeder and playing with the other dogs, Olive said goodbye to her family and we took her on our journey back to Calgary for our overnight stay.

OVERNIGHT IN CALGARY

Originally I had planned for us to take a walk around the city, but we found out soon after we started driving back to Calgary that wasn’t going to happen. Olive has a timid personality and she was quite stressed out and confused. Her entire life she had never left the farm in Granum, so she was anxious the entire car ride. Instead of walking to the restaurant we had planned on getting takeout from, we ordered delivery to our hotel room and ate dinner there. We were tired anyways and our hotel was very comfortable. We stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott in the Downtown/Beltline district. I’d definitely stay here again if I return to Calgary – the location was perfect. I loved the hotel room! It was more like a suite, with a kitchen and spacious dining area. I imagine this would be a great hotel for long term stays. We paid about $140 for our one-night stay, plus there was a pet fee and parking.

PS in September, Calgary was SO COLD and windy compared to Vancouver! I definitely did not bring enough warm clothing.

DAY 3 – CALGARY TO KELOWNA

After a restful sleep in our very comfortable hotel room, we got up early in the morning to pick up some brunch as we made our way towards our final overnight destination. The hotel provided breakfast, but due to COVID restrictions, it wasn’t their typical hot breakfast, just some fruit and granola bars. We saved these snacks for our long drive. Knowing we needed something heartier to fuel up, we picked up brunch from Red’s Diner on 4th Street (they have several locations), just a few blocks away from our hotel. Looking at their all-day breakfast menu, it was really difficult not to over order! We really enjoyed the breakfast food here and would definitely return.

Our main objective during this portion of the road trip was to get to our hotel in Kelowna safely and efficiently. We were very conscious of Olive’s anxiety and wanted to get her to a place where she would feel more safe. Since she had only known us for a day, she wasn’t used to being in the car with us. During the drive, exhaustion started creeping up on me. After about three hours we made an unplanned stop in Golden, BC (again) to find some coffee and let the dog stretch her legs. Finding coffee was more difficult than I thought it’d be. Since Golden is a small town, a lot of cafes were closed on Sundays! I had to resort to a 7-Eleven for some black coffee.

And… since I was so fixated on getting the dog to a safe and quiet space… I got a speeding ticket. In my defense, a lot of the driving on this road trip (especially in Alberta) was on very flat roads. It’s easy to lose track of how fast you’re going. I got caught in a speed trap near a construction zone. Because I was so concentrated on the car in front of me, I didn’t notice the signs indicating the slower speed limit. Fortunately the officer was understanding when I explained our situation with the new puppy, and he issued a ticket with a smaller fine. I was obviously annoyed, but hey, I was going 50km over the speed limit… ha ha. Oh well, I’ve learned my lesson and was definitely more careful for the remaining portion of our road trip.

OVERNIGHT IN KELOWNA

By the time we got to Kelowna (another four hours of driving), we were both exhausted. We checked into the Comfort Suites, which was indeed comfortable (ha ha), but a bit old. Similar to Golden, this was a challenge I encountered when booking accommodations in Kelowna. Room rates were on the pricy side and reviews showed some of the better value hotels were noisy. As light sleepers, we opted to pay a bit more for a quieter, “nicer” hotel. The Comfort Suites is about a 10 minute drive from the busier part of town, so it was quiet enough for us.

For dinner we ordered takeout from a vegan restaurant called Renegade Kitchen. After three days of driving, we wanted some comfort food and we were very happy to find a restaurant with a menu that is 100% plant-based. My boyfriend enjoying the Renegade Burger and classic poutine. I had the Boujee Mac with cashew “cheeze” and truffle oil.

DAY 4 – KELOWNA TO VANCOUVER

THE HOME STRETCH

If only we had more time! Kelowna was so beautiful, I would’ve loved to enjoy the sights more, but Olive was confused and we wanted to get her back home as quickly as possible. For breakfast before our drive back to Vancouver, we got takeout from The Marmalade Cat Cafe located right by the water. We found a nice spot with benches to eat our breakfast and admire the view. We both really enjoyed the Sunshine Bagel (without cheese). One day I will definitely return to Kelowna for a weekend trip. It is a great destination for a mini getaway from Vancouver.

After finishing our breakfast, it was smooth sailing back to our home in Vancouver! The four hour drive from Kelowna to Vancouver seemed short compared to the 20 hours we had already completed. And just like that, after 24 hours of driving over four days, we were back home with our new pup, Olive.

TAKEAWAYS

Looking back at our road trip now, though I wish we had more time, I think we planned the trip as best as we could’ve. Here are some of the main takeaways from our Alberta road trip:

• BRING LAYERS! Driving through all these different areas meant there were lots of temperature changes. For example, we noticed the temperature dropping as we crossed the border into Alberta, but in Kamloops and Kelowna it was sunny and felt like Spring! In Lake Louise it was lightly snowing and in Calgary it was windy and brisk. So.. prepare for all elements!
• Driving is very tiring (DUH!). Making frequent stops helped. Because we were so tired, we didn’t end up having the time or energy to do several things we had bookmarked. In addition to this, the dog was very anxious so we weren’t able to go out much once we had her.
• Downloading a 30 hour audiobook was one of the best ideas we made for this road trip! Being able to alternate between listening to an audiobook or music really helped me get through the drive. Using the Audible app, we downloaded a long fiction novel called Red Rising, which kept me interested during the entire drive, but it wasn’t so distracting that I would lose concentration.
• Slow down! Oops, I got a speeding ticket. As I mentioned, it’s very easy to lose track of how fast you’re going when driving on very flat roads in Alberta. Be better than me and keep an eye on your speed!