Hiking Maligne Canyon in Alberta

I always have a hard time shopping for presents for my husband. He is the kind of guy that when he needs something, he simply goes and gets it and puts whatever item he has bought to practical use. He doesn't even like receiving presents. So gift-giving is tricky with that man. Especially gift-giving for his birthday, which comes so close after Christmas.

Go Snowshoeing in Jasper National Park in Canada

Item number 57 on my bucket list has been "Go snowshoeing" for years. Despite living in rural Alberta my whole life, where it is winter three-quarters of the year and always full of snow, I have never even stood in snowshoes before. It was actually a little sad that I had never checked item 57 off my list yet.

Athabasca Falls of Jasper, Alberta

The Jasper area of Alberta's Rocky Mountains is often overlooked in favor of the more popular tourist destination of Banff. I myself, a resident of Alberta, Canada, am guilty of choosing to visit Banff over Jasper in the past. However, a quick trip in May of 2015 with my family convinced me that Jasper has a lot to offer, and is often times more appealing to visit. It is beautiful, clean, and not as busy as the more touted Banff region.

Walk the Jasper Skywalk in Alberta, Canada

This past weekend my fantastically thoughtful husband gifted me a trip to Jasper, Alberta for my birthday / Mother's Day. It was a very exciting present indeed, seeing that I hadn't been to Jasper since I was a child, and Joey has NEVER been to the Jasper area in his life.

It was also great timing because the newly created Jasper Skywalk (officially termed the Glacier Skywalk) had just opened, and I was itching to go visit it, despite my love/hate relationship with heights.