Traveling Across Canada - Personal Stories

by the Kindergarten Children in Mrs. Vaage's Class

Banon: We went to Jasper, Alberta. We played in the pool at the hotel and we went skiing with my cousins. Other places we have been are: Scotch Creek, British Columbia; Victoria, British Columbia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Calgary, Alberta; Radium Hot Springs, B.C.; and Banff, Alberta.

Every summer we meet 6-10 other families at the Shuswap Lake Provincial Campground. With over 20 other children, there is lots of fun. We ride our bikes, swim, hike, water-ski, bumper boating, explore, build sandcastles, search for bugs in the swamp, roast marshmallows and build forts. The best thing is I am with my cousins, A.J., Megan and Elodie.

We visit my cousins in Victoria, B.C. I love them. My daddy’s uncle lives in Winnipeg. Braden and I are both 5 years old (second cousin.)
My friend Xavier moved to Calgary. We stay at his house and visit.

Jocelyn: We went to Vancouver, B.C. to see Grand Aunt Man Yee. In Calgary, we visit Uncle Ricky and Auntie Jennifer, and Uncle Toran and Auntie Virginia.

We went to Panorama, B.C. This is the first time to travel outside Alberta. On this journey, we saw many horses and cows eating grass.

On both sides of the road, there were many mountains and trees. When we arrived, we went swimming in the hot pool and played on the water slide. The next day, we went to ride a horse for the very first time. It was very exciting. She loves it there very much and wants to go there again.

Claudio: We have been to Calgary, Drumheller, Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise in Alberta. We have also been to Hamilton, Toronto and Niagara Falls in Ontario, and Montreal, in Quebec.  In Calgary, we visited the zoo and the Calgary Tower. At the zoo, we saw lots of different animals, but he liked the bears the most. In Drumheller, we saw lots of dinosaurs. Claudio doesn’t remember much about Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Toronto or Montreal, as he was too young at the time. In Banff, we visited the hot pool and hiked a little. In Jasper, we visited Maligne Lake and took a boat ride down a lake.

Christopher T.: I camped at Writing on Stone Provincial Park on the Milk River in Alberta. I camped in Jasper, Banff, and Miquelon Lake. I liked the gooey mud in the Milk River and digging hot tubs in the sand. I took skiing lessons at Marmot Basin in Jasper. I stayed at the Jasper Park Lodge and saw lots of elk when Mom was with a conference with her work.

Victoria C: I visited Grandma in the big building.

Victoria M:

Parksville on Vancouver Island- I played on the beach and in the ocean. I loved making sand castles and then knocking them down. A brother and sister were collecting sand crabs and they showed them to me. There must have been 100 in their bucket.

Vancouver- we saw Uncle Gary. We played in the park by his house.

Calgary- we saw the animals at the zoo. My favorite animal was the giraffe.

We went to Calaway Park. It was fun riding the rides.

Canmore- we had chocolate at the chocolate factory.

Macey:

We have been to Calgary, Alberta to visit our cousins. We like to visit the big zoo there.

We like to go on holidays to B.C. Sometimes we go to Nelson, B.C. It is by a beautiful lake, Kootenay Lake. We also like to go to Kelowna. It is very hot there in the summer. I like to swim in the lake.

I liked everything about my trip to Jasper. It was fun to ski in the mountains. Every night we swam in the pool at our hotel. We saw lots of wildlife in Jasper.

Callum’s sister Sarah is a teacher in Vancouver, which is in British Columbia. The weather is warmer there and they don’t have as much snow. They have lots of rain though. Bryar’s cousin, who comes to visit us sometimes, lives in Calgary.

We went to Banff and saw lots of wild animals. We went cross-country skiing and played hockey on Pyramid Lake in Jasper. We saw lots of mountains.

We went to Drumheller and saw the dinosaurs at the Tyrrell Museum. There was a T-Rex. I climbed inside a big model dinosaur. We also went swimming.

I think the best place we went was Bamfield, which is on the West Coast of Vancouver. It is very isolated and the only way to reach it is on a logging road that takes two hours. People use boats to get around Bamfield as it is all on the water. The beaches were beautiful as they are on the Pacific Ocean – white beaches and warm, clear water. There was no one else on the beaches but us and it was like being on a deserted island.

Waskesui, Saskatchewan: Went to the beach and swam in the lake, camped in a tent trailer in the trees and rode on huge tricycles around town and had ice cream cones.

At Calgary, we visited friends and went to the zoo.

At Turtle Lake, Saskatchewan, we visited friends and roasted marshmallows around the campfire. We went tubing and for boat rides.

At David Thompson Campground, we camped and played in their huge campground. We played mini-golf and swam in the pool. We went hiking through the mountains to a beautiful waterfall.

In Jasper, Alberta, we went for a drive in the mountains and saw the ski hill. We saw many wild animals in the mountains. We stayed in a hotel and watched TV in bed. We went swimming in the pool and hot tub.

Ben: I have been to Radium, to Takakkaw Falls, Fairmont Hot Springs, Fort Steele, Enchanted Forest in B.C., Shuswap, and Kelowna. I have been to Alberta and B.C. I really liked swimming and camping in Radium. Fort Steele was the best thing.

Calgary: We have friends there. We slept overnight. We saw 100 animals at the zoo.

Drumheller: We went swimming at the waterslide.

Pigeon Lake: We fish for Jackfish. We go skating. We pick clamshells. We have fireworks. We have bonfires with Smores, popcorn and marshmallows.

Matthew: Vancouver, B.C. Matthew has been to Pacific Rim National Park. “The beach was huge. We found a crab and starfish. The trees are very tall in the campground. We ate crab and clams. We took a ferryboat to Vancouver Island. I saw driftwood on the beach and it was fun to play on.”

Vancouver Island, B.C.-

It is nice and warm – there are lots of shops and flowers. We were in the ocean – it was cold! We found a starfish.

We went mini-golfing and visited a real working sawmill. We stopped and saw huge, enormous cedar trees.

Vancouver, B.C.-

It is by the ocean. There were one hundred and two gazillion cars! We had to catch a Ferry there. We saw an Orca whale from the ferry.

Calgary, Alberta-

I went to a birthday party there. Calgary is a lot like Edmonton. There are lots of cars.

Kamloops, B.C.-

It was hot! We stayed in a hotel. We had dinner at a restaurant with my cousin.

Red Deer, AB-

I’ve been to Red Deer to visit my cousins. It is cool.

Chloe:
I went on my first trip when I was only four months old. My Mom and Dad, along with Papa John and Nana Pauline, took me to Regina, Saskatchewan for a family reunion. There I met many great aunts and uncles from my Papa’s family. I don’t remember the trip, but I am told it was extremely cold (-40°C), and I rode in the back of the van all bundled up in blankets.

When I was seven months old, we went on a family trip to Banff and Lake Louise. I hung out with some other young tykes, while Mom and Dad skied.
Later that year we went on our first family vacation. We camped in Osoyoos, BC for two weeks. The weather was hot (35°C) and dry. Mom says it is considered a desert. The roads were very dusty, and there was sand almost everywhere. It was in Osoyoos where I first learned to walk. I took my first boat ride and visited some orchards.

We went to Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan. The land was very flat and there were many pine trees. It rained for almost two weeks straight, so we weren’t able to play very much in the water, but we did manage to build a huge sand castle. During the last few days, we went fishing in a boat on the lake. I wore my bright yellow rain suit – I loved fishing!

For my second birthday, we went to Miquelon Lake and camped for the weekend. It was warm and sunny. I tripped and fell into the campfire, but Papa Krueger pulled me out before I really burned myself. My Mom washed my hands under cold water, and they were sore for a day or two.

On our way to Radium, we passed through the mountains. I love the mountains. They are really big and the really tall ones usually have snow on the top, even in the summer. In Radium, we went hiking during the day on some smaller mountains and we visited the hot pools every evening. We had to be careful hiking, because there were some hungry bears around. We wore a bear bell, and we were careful not to carry any food with us. Luckily, we never saw a bear.

When I was three, we went on a cabin holiday in BC. We had to drive through the mountains again – this time through Jasper. For the first week we stayed in a cabin on Shuswap Lake. I became friends Kayley from the cabin next door. The weather was warm and sunny and we went to the beach every day! We also went to Salmon Arm on two days and played on the water slides. This is where I learned to love watersliding.  For the second week, we went to Mountain Lake near Kelowna. The lake was beautiful but cold. We went canoeing, and Mom fell in the water. They had a small raft called the “Jolly Roger” that kids could use to cross from the shore to the end of the pier. I became friends with Hayley from Calgary, and I fell in love with the lodge owners’ dogs – Rocky, Kayla and Scooter.

We went to Kelowna again and stayed in a motel in town. The mountains around Kelowna are funny. They are covered with dry grass and tumbleweeds (they are a kind of bush with no leaves.) We cycled every day in Kelowna. Once we became good at cycling, we cycled the Myra canyon near Kelowna. The trail was about 24 kms in all and is built on an old rail bed. We crossed over eighteen trestles and went through one tunnel. I was a little scared to go too close to the edge on the trestles, but there was a railing, so I was safe. We went to visit some orchards to pick fresh fruit and vegetables – we ate corn on the cob, cherries, peaches, plums, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, and some local cantaloupe. Boy was the food yummy! I can’t wait to go back next year.

Ontario: We used to live in Hamilton. I have been to Toronto many times. I have also been to Niagara Falls. I have gone to Ottawa many times to see my aunt and uncle and cousin Charlette.

Once we went to a museum with lots of dinosaurs! I also went to Kingston to see Queen’s University with my brother Kuba.

Nova Scotia: My mom is from Nova Scotia and we go all the time to see my Grandma and Grandpa and two cousins. I have gone swimming in the ocean and visited a lobster pound and met all kinds of family.

New Brunswick: We were in NB this summer. I went kayaking and swimming. I also went on rides at a park with my great uncle, Cy-pie! My mom took me to the ocean and I was frightened by the jellyfish!

PEI: I went to PEI to see “Anne of Green Gables.” I saw the play and learned all the songs. I also went to Anne’s town, Avonlea, and had my picture taken with Anne and Diana Berry. We also saw Gilbert Blythe but no Matthew or Marilla.

Alberta: We have gone to Jasper and my favorite part is the hot springs – I love hot springs. We have also gone to Banff, Lake Louise and Kananaskis. I learned to ski at Kananaskis and my dad has taken me skiing in Lake Louise. I love the mountains – they are so big and beautiful!

Elora has visited Calgary on many occasions to visit relatives. On a recent trip there, we spent some time at McKenzie Lake where she went for a kayak ride with her dad.

Jasper National Park to go camping. Great days spent exploring the park and sitting around the campfire. We went swimming to Miette Hot Springs where Elora loved the warm water – also went to the Aquaplex in the town of Jasper where she went down the waterslide with her dad. We spent a day up at the Columbia Ice Fields and explored their Information Center. There were many “hands on” displays to see and learn about the glacier.

Canmore/Banff National Park: Lots of beautiful mountains. We went hiking and explored the “ghost town” where one of the coalmines once operated. We visited both town sites and enjoyed the candy Shoppe in Banff.

Drumheller: We explored the Royal Tyrell Museum and in the walk outside, found a piece of petrified bone. There were lots of huge dinosaurs to look at. We hiked up at the “hoodoos” and explored Horseshoe Canyon and walked across the Rosedale Suspension Bridge. We drove across many bridges to Wayne. Elora enjoyed counting the 11 bridges that were only wise enough for 1 car to drive across at a time.

In April, we will be traveling to Parksville, BC. Elora is looking forward to the ferry ride and exploring the beaches where she’s sure to find lots of seashells, tiny crabs, and other marine life.

Kedra lived in Fort McMurray, AB. It is a municipality surrounded by forests. We walked on trails through the woods, went tobogganing, saw rainbows and sundogs.

We went to Sylvan Lake. Kedra loves the lake. We built sand castles and played with her inflatable dolphin in the water.

We went to Calgary and saw the zoo. We went to a bunny farm outside Calgary. Kedra fed and patted the bunnies. Now Kedra loves bunnies.

We went to Banff and Lake Louise and walked up a mountain to the teahouse. We went canoeing on a lake. We went swimming in a mountain lake. We went to a stream and sat on big rocks and stuck our feet in the cold, cold water. We went to see waterfalls.

Christopher T: We went to Calgary during Family Day last year. We stayed in a hotel with a pool. We went swimming in the pool and we ate out a lot. We also went shopping to 6 different malls. We watched movies in the hotel.

Carly: We have been to Jasper and Banff. We skied there. They are in the mountains, which are big huge rocks with trees on them. There are lots of elk in the mountains.

When I was 3 I went to Invermere, BC. When I was 4, I went to Kimberly, BC. This last summer, we went camping by Rocky Mountain House. We camped with our friends. We played at the beach and saw leeches. One got stuck to my toe. I pulled it off.

I went on a fly fishing trip to LaRonge, Saskatchewan. We took a pontoon plane and stayed in a cabin on a little island. My friend Nicki’s Grandma caught a huge fish. It was a jackfish.