Honestly, most of what I’m thinking right now has to do with how much this blog program has changed since my last post, and how utterly frustrating it’s going to be to learn the goddamned thing. Jesus. But I’m retired, and retired people must do what they want. And yes, I want to blog about National Parks, so let’s get to it! #sinceipayforthedomain
On to the topic of this post.
A long, long time ago, perhaps when I was in my 20s, I thought that it would be really cool to visit all of Canada’s National Parks at some point in my life. The years crept by and it went out of my head till recently, as I’ve been thinking about all of the things I can do in this new retired life of mine.
There are 48 National Parks, as you can see in the image on the left. Up until this September, I’d visited 4.
Banff
I went hiking and camping in Banff National Park (in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains) when I was a kid – with my mom, dad and sister. I don’t recall a lot of it – just a general fear of bears, a stay in a cabin in the mountains that featured mice walking over us in the night, and my sister losing a pair of cherished jeans on a hike. I think I was 10 years old. I also remember thinking we were never going to stop walking…
Sadly I have no photos from our time at Banff National Park – at least not right now. But I’m betting I could find a slide or two if I sifted through mom’s boxes.
Fundy
I have camped in Fundy National Park in New Brunswick twice – first in 1993 with my lifelong bestie Carol, and again in 1995 for the honeymoon of my very short marriage (it had nothing to do with Fundy by the way). Fundy National Park was awesome – so many trails to explore and activities for visitors – and the tides are so phenomenal! Visiting Fundy was the first time I explored a National Park as an adult. I loved it, which is why I went again only 2 years after my first visit. (Ok, it’s hard to believe we were 28 … we hardly look old enough to be camping on our own…)
Grose Morne
In 1998 I went to Grose Morne National Park in Newfoundland with Jim. We had initially thought we’d travel all around Newfoundland, but ended up staying in the park for the majority of the time. We simply loved camping there. The proximity to the ocean and a fresh catch every day, the awesome new friends that we met & hung out with, the (rather challenging) hikes – all so great. I recall that it rained a lot, but we were game. We had so much fun!
Prince Edward Island
TWENTY YEARS LATER, in 2018, Paul and I took Liam and Bree to PEI. We rented a cool little cabin in Prince Edward Island National Park, which really didn’t seem like a National Park to me … in my memory it was basically a long strip of beach and woods alongside the ocean. But alas, it counts as a stay in a National Park! We rented bikes, ate fish, explored the beach – the typical seashore beachy type of things that you do. Lots of fun and some new experiences for the kids, and a good way to come back to life after chemo.
So those were my first 4 National Parks!
Coming soon… a wee review of my first National Park exploration since retirement (and my 5th park). Bet you can’t wait.