Question: Larry Carrier asks:  We have a travel van and AAA insurance.  We plan to leave Ottawa, KS June 21 and have 5 days to get to Seattle, WA.  We will take a week long cruise and then have 2 weeks before returning to Ottawa.  We want to take in as much beautiful scenery as possible and explore Canada from Vancouver to Glacier National Park on the way home.  Can you help us with a marked map?

Answer: Danny Nanavaty, travel planner at the CAA office in Burnaby, British Columbia says:  If your cruise returns to Seattle, take I-5 north toward Vancouver and then take Hwy-99 through Whistler.  Also named the Sea-to-Sky Highway, this route is a AAA/CAA-designated scenic byway and you’ll want to photograph the jagged, snow-capped mountains along the way.  You’ll pass by several provincial parks where you can stop, including Narin Falls, Joffre Lakes, and Duffey Provincial Park.  Stop in Lillooet, a small town surrounded by beautiful scenery.  Lillooet boasts several festivals during summer months.

Continuing eastward on Hwy-99, take Hwy-1 east which is the Trans Canada Highway to Kamloops.  Here you will travel through the Shuswap Lake area.  In Kamloops, you can take a self-guiding tour of local historical attractions or visit the British Columbia Wildlife Park.  Stop in Salmon Arm which is popular for its beach, house boating, and water sports such as parasailing.  Continue east through British Columbia and stop at Glacier National Park of Canada.  The Rogers Pass Center is the visitor center where you can walk around several history displays.  There are over 700 miles of hiking trails if you are so inclined. You can also stop at Yoho National Park near Golden which is a GEM attraction.  Note this park is open all year, but some facilities and guided tours operate during June and July only. 

As you cross into Alberta on Hwy-1, continue to Banff, Lake Louise, and Calgary.  Don’t miss the observation deck of the Calgary Tower or the Glenbow Museum, both GEM attractions.  The Calgary Zoo, another GEM attraction, offers members a discount upon admission.  Just show your membership card.  It’s worth the 85-mile drive to Drumheller from Calgary where you can visit the Royal Tyrell Museum and see their large dinosaur archeological site. 

Back in Calgary, take Hwy-2 and then US-89 to Glacier National Park in Montana.  Drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road, a beautiful, scenic drive through the park.  You will quickly see why this is a AAA-designated scenic byway.  Be sure to make time to stop at the pullouts along the route. Depending on how much time you have left before returning to Kansas, you can visit Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills en-route. Here is your route generated by TripTik Travel Planner. With TripTik Travel Planner you can easily use the drag-and-drop feature to select the route you prefer to travel or to plan other stops on the way home.