This week, LPJ co-publishers Kyle and Judith Roberts took their family to Banff, Canada, for their annual vacation. Together, they look into the “why” behind the trip and the majesty of the Canadian Rockies.
Kyle Roberts (KR): First and foremost, I want to thank you for an amazing job planning a stellar trip, nearly down to every 15 minute increment for what we’d be doing. Your planning made for a memorable trip up north.
Judith Roberts (JR): I like a good itinerary. And I’m glad I have a family who follows directions.
Kyle: I’d love to meet that family one day. Seriously, what was your reason for wanting to go to Banff for our annual vacation?
Judith: We all like to be outside and doing something active, like hiking, which we obviously did a lot of on this trip. I think we ended up walking 11 miles on one day. And, granted, our younger daughter had a bit of a hard time on the Johnston’s Canyon hike, which I’m sure we’ll discuss shortly, but I just thought this would be a great way to connect with each other and God’s beauty.
Kyle: This was my and the girls’ first trip to Canada, but not yours, correct?
Judith: I had visited Canada once before, nearly 20 years ago — right after we got engaged, actually, and I’ve never forgotten how beautiful Lake Louise and Banff were.
Kyle: Truly breathtaking. I lost count of the number of times we said “Wow!” or “I’ve never seen anything like that…” So, on our first day, we flew into Calgary and briefly visited a zoo before heading westward to Banff. I was awestruck when the mountain range seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and I think the kids were, too.
Judith: Not just any zoo, but the second largest zoo in Canada. Three different types of penguins, Komodo dragons, and even a newborn baby zebra. And while that was really cool to see, I was so excited to finally start seeing the mountains as we made our way to Banff.
Kyle: Full snow caps at the end of May, and I’ll be honest, I was suprised by how warm the town was from a temperature perspective. It didn’t stop us from taking some nice walks, particularly along Lake Louise on our first full day. Was it as beautiful as you remembered from your first time going?
Judith: Even more so. I don’t think I hiked much in 2004, but I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Lake Louise, Banff and Johnston Canyon with y’all.
Kyle: You mentioned earlier about how difficult the hike along Johnston Canyon was, but the payoff was another incredible memory: both the upper and lower falls were absolutely stunning, and we ended up cutting the day short due to the collective exhaustion.
Judith: I think we saw all that we wanted to see though. I had researched it before we arrived, and I think the waterfalls were what we all really were interested in. The ink pots were about four kilometers from the upper falls, but I had read that they weren’t as impressive as the upper and lower falls. And considering how tired we all were at the end of that hike, I think going back and exploring Banff was our better option rather than hiking at Lake Louise again.
Kyle: And the next day, we stayed close to Banff and ended up at the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary. That idea was originally for the kids (the older one, in particular), but it ended up being one of my favorite excursions.
Judith: Yeah, I was surprised how educational and entertaining that was. Like you said, we did it mainly for our older daughter, who loves wolves, but it was really neat to learn about the wolfdogs and see how and why they are being rescued — and how well cared for they were at this sanctuary.
Kyle: Don’t forget the collective howl.
Judith: Oh, yeah, the pack howl. That was so neat. So apparently one of the wolfdogs at one end of the 160-acre sanctuary saw or heard something that he wanted to share with the rest of the wolves, so he started a howl, and within about 30 seconds, all of the wolfdogs were howling to spread the news. One of the caregivers said it was like playing “Telephone” so all of the dogs know what is going on at the sanctuary at any given time.
Kyle: After that we went back for shopping, relaxation, and then up the gondola for another incredible memory: getting to the top of Sulphur Mountain and then reading Psalm 125 together as we overlooked God’s beautiful creation.
Judith: Yes, that’s when I found out I was not afraid of heights, but I am a bit afraid of falling. In all seriousness, though, that was such a special moment, overlooking Banff and these absolutely breathtaking mountains, reading Scripture and being with you and the kids.
Kyle: We have to mention my dad, too; he was a real trooper and hung with us the entire time. If he was tired, we never heard about it.
Judith: Oh my gosh, yes. Having him on the trip was such a great experience for us and the girls. Yes, the kids got to experience all of this with us, but they had that bonding time with their grandfather, too, and that was wonderful.
Kyle: And finally, on the last day, we got to really hit a high point: walking on a real glacier. Even though it took the entire day to get there and back, I think that created a core memory for all five of us.
Judith: It was definitely a haul to Athabasca Glacier, but I’m so glad we did that. To see how much of the glacier has already decreased due to climate change but also to see something that gives water to hundreds of thousands of people and lakes and oceans was a lifetime experience.
Kyle: We were even encouraged to drink the running glacier water, given its purity, something the kids both loved. So last thing to mention: I was absolutely shocked by how good the food in Calgary and Banff is. We had everything from fondue to Korean pork bowls to halibut to Bourbon-glazed beef ribs. Everything was absolutely sublime.
Judith: I think the food in Louisiana is so good, and I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious everything was in Alberta. We didn’t have one bad meal and I think you and I tried a variety of items. Now to eat some of that chocolate I brought home…
Kyle: You can have it. I’ll need some kale and water to try to lose some of this weight I packed on this week. And the question we all want to know: are we going back?
Judith: I definitely hope so. But if for some reason we don’t, what a week’s worth of memories to hold on to.
Kyle: I’ll drink some glacier water to that.
