The Great Coast Road Trip: The Highlights

Canada / May 30, 2014

Last week I was in Western Canada and it was amazing.

Just because Mike is now working for Woo Themes full-time doesn’t mean that I intend to sit at home now (it doesn’t really mean he intends to sit at home all the time either, but it does mean he has to be pickier with how he spends his vacation days). When Coast Hotels invite me to be a part of their Great Coast Road Trip, I jumped at the chance. I invited fellow travel blogger Amanda Williams (from A Dangerous Business) to be my co-pilot.

The premise of this trip is really neat: a massive 35 day road trip stretching from Northern Canada to Southern California, with each leg being done by a different blogger. We had the “Peak to Peak” leg, which stretched from Calgary over the Rockies through Kamloops then down to the Okanagan Valley. The trip is still ongoing- you can check it out with the #GreatCoastRoadTrip hashtag.

I am not overstating things when I saw that this part of Canada is beyond stunning. It was a little difficult to drive with my mouth hanging open and my neck permanently turned towards the mountains.

I’ll be writing a few more detailed articles over the next couple of weeks, but until then, here are some of my favorite moments, and views, from our 5 day trip out west.

“Coasty”- our totally conspicuous ZipCar. We got a lot of stares.
Lake Louise in Banff- still mostly frozen even in late May
The adorable town of Banff
The Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park
Emerald Lake was still pretty icy too, but beautiful
The Coast Lodge in Revelstoke- super cozy.
Really difficult high ropes course in Revelstoke. We were sore and bruised for days!
Hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows at Modern Bakery in Revelstoke
The view from our room in beautiful Kamloops
Getting friendly with grizzlies at the BC Wildlife Park (more on this later -I promise)
Harper’s Trail Vineyard in Kamloops- great Rieslings!
Chef Romeo Oloresisimo (from Coast Kamloops) cooked us an amazing private lunch featuring local trout and duck.
The finale: home-made ice cream made at the table using liquid nitrogen. Tasty and scientific!
Pretty Sun Peaks, the Whistler of Western British Colombia
Coast Sundance Lodge- our room was in the tower
My first stab at paddle boarding on Lake Heffley
Last Stop: Kelowna, which has it’s very own lake monster called Ogopogo (we found him obviously)
Gorgeous Okanagan Lake. (Not shown: Ogopogo)

This trip was sponsored by Coast Hotels and Zipcar. All opinions and photography are my own.

About The Author

Stephanie Yoder is a girl who can't sit still! She is the co-founder and editor of Why Wait To See the World. Learn more about her here.

18 thoughts on “The Great Coast Road Trip: The Highlights”

  1. Rebekah

    Your pictures look so amazing. I’ve thought that post china I may want to just go camp in the mountains alone for a week to get some solitude and fresh air. This may be an ideal place to do such a thing.

    Reply
    1. Steph

      It was definitely really nice. I would suggest here or the Colorado Rockies if you want some really, really excellent mountains.

      Reply
  3. Nick

    I read a little bit about this on Amandas blog and look forward to see more about it here. Looks like you guys got a pretty amazing part of the trip!

    Reply
  6. Katie

    Fabulous! Canada has been on my hit-list for ages – it just looks so beautiful. And I love huge skies and big spaces.
    Your photos of the lakes are incredible – can’t wait to see more! 🙂

    Reply

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