Written By: Sky Rumpel
It all began with a big dream and a little bit of hope. I grew up fascinated and absorbed by van life and Pleasure-Way vans, so I decided I truly wanted to experience what van life is all about. Especially as one of the marketers here at Pleasure-Way, I hoped to experience a fraction of what our Pleasure-Way family experiences daily.
Our journey truly started when we were looking into planning a little summer getaway (‘we’ as in my boyfriend Owen and I, Sky), and Banff was the first location that came into our minds. Once we mulled over the idea of Banff and the potential amount of days we wanted to stay, we decided why not include Jasper? Owen had never been to Jasper, although I had when I was very young maybe six or seven. Funny story, actually – My family took the same Jasper and Banff trip way back then, and we took a Pleasure-Way. We were having a great time, (as far as I can remember), until we heard a crack. It was so loud, it was as if we got hit by a bolt of lightning. But, it was indeed not lightening. Did I mention we were leaving the Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course…? Yes, I bet you can imagine where this is going. The divider in the rear windows that allow the doors to open got harshly struck by a golf ball, with my twin sister and I mere inches from the damage. The one rear window completely shattered. It was a scary moment, and I can’t exactly remember what happened from there on out, but I do know, our trip was fortunately extended at no extra cost.
So, with Banff and Jasper top of mind, we decided to give it a try. We were so excited- we knew Jasper had experienced devastation from the forest fires, but we weren’t going to let that stop us. Initially, we had considered trying to find Air BnB’s or hotels, but unless you are willing to spend as much money as an all inclusive week in Mexico in exchange for a two night stay Banff, we’d for sure recommend going motorhome style or tenting. (And we are SO glad we did). PS: Don’t be fooled by the occasional ‘low’ price, those are hostels, or shared accommodations.
We were a little late when it came to booking, as we were in the month of May and not January, when we should have booked for the best outcome. But, we had no idea we even wanted to go at that point, and we both struggled thinking that far in advance. I began searching campsites, reading reviews, measuring distances and costs before we booked any sites. Although we were quite limited, every campsite had at least one site per night to offer- except for Two Jack Lakeside in Banff. It is an extraordinary campsite with waterfront views which is something we had always dreamed of, but as they say, ‘early bird gets the worm’, and we certainly did not get the worm. So we ended up going with what sites we could, and I’ll share more about that a little later.
Trip Planning
Because I like planning and knowing what to expect, we got straight to work on the itinerary. We knew that we wanted to stay in Jasper for two nights, and planned to stay in Banff for the remainder of the three days, but beyond that, we were clueless. We started researching for the best things to do in Banff, sights to see, and places to eat, and got a world of information! This may sound ridiculous, but I do recommend searching TikTok for different travel recommendations, as it is super nice to see real opinions, real views, and real people, all in real time.
Once we found the activities and restaurants that appealed most to us, we began planning our trip route. Since we were planning to go to Jasper, the quickest way is through Edmonton. We also had not been to Edmonton for quite some time, and the only thing there that truly appealed to us (mostly me), was West Edmonton Mall, or “West Ed”, as we like to call it. It is much more than your typical mall- beyond the hundreds of shops, it has a huge water park, an amusement park called Galaxy Land, a skating rink, race car track, mini golf, and even a sea life show right in the middle of the mall! Hard to pass up that opportunity right? Later, we booked a round of golf at Jasper Park Lodge, with reservations to Earls that evening. We knew our second full day would consist of driving the Icefield Parkway, as it is so scenic and there really isn’t another way to get to Banff.
We didn’t make many plans for Banff, as we wanted to enjoy some R&R, read by the lakes, walk the beautiful Banff strip, and just live slowly for the next couple of days. We knew from our previous Banff experiences that the Italian Restaurant Lupo, is an absolute MUST. Truly, hands down the best pasta I have ever tried, so of course we had to come back. We also planned to spend an afternoon at Two Jack Lake, since it is a mere ten minutes from downtown, with gorgeous views and spacious parking. We were happy with what we had planned so far, and decided to leave the last half of the planning open, to do what we were feeling those days. Which I highly recommend, as two go go go people, it was nice to not have a plan in place that we felt obligated to do. And, you’ll see why the two rest days ended up coming in handy and being a good decision.
Between campsites, gas, eating out and National Parks Canada admission (which is free ALL summer!) We both spent roughly $350 each, (excluding our shopping), which we thought was pretty good considering the average hotel in Banff starts at almost 500$ per night! Gas was around $500 total, all campsites were under $100 total, and that just left us with eating out, water, and snacks. Since the Ontour 2.2 has such a large fridge, we decided to take advantage of it and bring some groceries. This consisted of what we call our “essentials”:
- Waters
- Gatorades
- Diet Cokes
- Coffee
- Snacks
- Sandwich meat
- Cheese
- Buns
- Fruit
- Veggies
- Easy-to-make late night snack (KD cups)
We didn’t want to bring a lot, but we also wanted to feel prepared. Especially as two people who are not used to driving a 20 foot van, let alone used to driving in a city with more than 2 lanes on a freeway, we were slightly timid. We didn’t want to make any unnecessary stops that could add potential stress to my already poor navigation abilities, so I was happy when Owen suggested we grab groceries at a grocer right beside the large mall in Edmonton.
Day One – Let’s Hit The Road!
The trip began on an early crisp Sunday morning, starting our day with a couple iced coffees and breakfast sandwiches. We were on the highway headed to North Battleford by 7am, which was only two hours from the city. From there, we soared through Lloyd Minister, the city that settles exactly between the Saskatchewan and Alberta border. It is marked by two massive poles, approximately 30 feet high, so you really can’t miss it. One of the biggest bonuses we found on this drive was not having to stop to use the restroom. It was a huge bonus, and saved us an hour on timing! We only stopped in Lloyd to grab some water and snacks, then continued on the road as we were still good on gas, only about 350km into the trip. We finally stopped for gas once we were just under an hour from Edmonton, in a little town called Vegreville, then finally, we made it to the mall!
We arrived at the mall around noon after a five hour drive to Edmonton. We grabbed lunch at the food court, and aimed to leave the mall by the latest of four since we have another three hour drive to Jasper. We had a blast at the mall, but to be honest I think we spent more time walking than shopping- this mall certainly was a great way to get your steps in! It was so ginormous we got lost several times. *If you come here, do not forget where you parked, they have one of the largest parking lots in Canada, which is a blessing (you will have no problems fitting in the parking garage, or pulling into a spot) but also a curse (which of the 18 different entrance doors did you come through, and which of the 20,000 parking lots did you park at? That doesn’t include the extra 10,000 parking spaces).
Once we finally finished at the mall, we grabbed groceries at the nearby grocery store to obtain the list of food and drink items that I had previously mentioned. It was nice for it to be so close, so we did not have to worry about traffic or parking (yet) in that busy location. After all our shopping was successful, we headed to Jasper. I was anxiously awaiting to see the mountains- it felt like we didn’t even start to see them until 2.5 hours in! Once we were able to see them, they took your breath away. We were rolling into Jasper around sunset, so the view of the sun setting over the mountains was spectacular. We were so excited to finally be there, we pulled over into a little pull off that hosted a small beach with sand, and a large river nestled in the mountains. It was truly magical, an ‘I can’t believe I am really here moment’.
Once we fully arrived in Jasper, we headed to the town to grab some pizza, and get cozy at our site at Whistler’s Campground. It was a beautiful campground that was evidently well taken care of, however, it deeply lacked privacy- partially due to the fires. We did a little clean up around the van, unrolled the shades and set the privacy shades in the cab area, then we got ready for bed, put on a show, and went to bed.
Stay tuned for the next part!