A Thrifty Woman's Trip to the Mountains

Living on the prairies, it seems like its the thing to do...to go to the mountains. There is no need to say which mountain, or in which direction you are going, because, well really, there are no other mountains nearby other than the infamous Rocky Mountains (which are west of us).

So when going to the mountains
you are either going to
A: Canmore/Banff
or
B: Jasper

Coming from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, there are mountains everywhere, so no one would ever say something as silly as, "I'm going to the mountains." But I suppose on the Island we said things like, "I'm off to the beach" with no need to clarify which beach, because we were surrounded by beaches.

Although when I was 18, and apparently not very hip with the ways of the world, I was working at a restaurant called the Cactus Club Cafe, and a bunch of the girls invited me to come along to the beach after work. I asked, "Oh which Beach?" They giggled as much older, cooler girls could do, and said, "The Beach is like Nanaimo's newest, hottest, coolest nightclub." "Oh..."
Well, I went, and yes I was underage (sorry Mom!), but walking in with a crowd of some of our town's most beautiful people seemed to be identification enough! (it was the hottest restaurant in town at the time, thanks to the uber hot serving staff).

Therefore...we are going to the mountains this weekend. But I'll cheat by telling you that we are going to Jasper. And in true Holly fashion, it will be done in the most affordable way possible. I'm not new on the scene of cheap road trips. I think I was fairly famous for them in my younger days. Take for example the time my friend Sarah and I loaded up my 1984 Pontiac Sunbird, and drove to CreationFest in George, Washington with maybe like $200 between the two of us, and you bet we ended up sleeping in a tent in a ditch beside the parking lot of a K-Mart on our way there. Do road trips get any more fabulous?

Another example would be Rob and I's honeymoon. We drove down the coast to California, and although one would not consider our spending habits exactly thrifty, we did discover the sheer joy (and calories!) of American Denny's breakfasts. For like $3.99 USD you would get 3 pancakes, 3 sausage links, 3 pieces of bacon, loads of hashbrowns, plus 3 slices of toast. Now that's value for your money! We also did the infamous Motel 6 route. I think the cheapest was about $45 USD a night. Ahh, yes, hotel life!

Sadly, we weren't exactly thrifty with the rest of our adventures, and on the morning of our planned drive to San Diego to visit the zoo and animal park (I think we were in L.A., which was about 2 hours away), we realized we had about $200 left to our name. Yup, we were sitting in a Denny's (of course), counting out the cash, doing the math...and gulp...um, we are in a foreign country, with barely enough money to pay for the gas for the drive home, let alone stay in a hotel and catch a ferry back to our little Island. YIKES! So as you can imagine, we promptly left Denny's, got in our car and drove like crazy people. After two 11 hour days of driving, a one-night stay in the filthiest, cheapest hotel we could find, a ferry ride, we were finally home. So the joke is that we went to the San Diego Zoo on our honeymoon...we just never actually got there.

So how does a super cheap trip to the mountains happen for the Neppers? Well, this time with a little more planning, a bit more savvy, and hopefully some lessons learned from our previously failed road trips, we will actually get to the mountains. If you'll note, the following exhibits...

Exhibit A:
The Children's Heart Society offered all of it's members a free trip to Jasper this weekend. Yup, you read that right FREE! We've known about this organization since Abbi was born, but only really got invovled this past Christmas when we attended their yearly Christmas party. The only catch is that you have to provide your own food and get there. Still, what an incredible blessing to all of the members! I think the majority of the yearly fundraising goes to this trip. For many of the families, this trip is a welcome reprieve from all the medical junk that takes up their day to day lives.

Exhibit B:
You got it. Airmiles! I've redeemed my Airmiles to make this trip all the more affordable.
I've got $80 in Shell gas coupons, which should at least pay for 2 out of our 3 car fill ups (its about a 4 hour drive). And for a special treat, $50 GC to Earls. We are planning on going out for dinner on Saturday night, and this should cover the majority of our dinner bill. How fun is that?

Exhibit C:
Loads of food. Yup, I plan on us eating most of the food that we bring while we are there. Sandwiches, yogurts, snacky stuff. You name it. Now its just a matter of fitting of this in the car. I'm sure Rob will nearly faint when he sees what I plan to load into our 4 door sedan.
Heh, heh, husbands...

In keeping with our healthy-ness, lots of veggies to munch on. I'm pleased to report I'm down 3lbs already! I think its all about self-denial, or self-discipline as Rob puts it. But to me its denial. I'm denying myself the pleasure of the food. There has been no snacking in the evenings after 7pm. No real snacking between meals. At first I was so hungry, but after day #4, I'm feeling pretty good, and the temptation isn't hitting me as much. Although when I walked into Safeway and all the Christmas chocolate was 50% off, well that took a little determination, but I'm pleased to report no chocolate as of yet. I'm thinking we will splurge a bit at our dinner out at Earl's, but still keep things fairly healthy. No chocolate for this girl yet. It really is so much easier when your partner is on the same team.

Anyway, that's all for now. I've got lots to do. I'm looking foward to our time away. Now a room with two queen beds, and 2 children and two adults should be interesting. I'm doubting my kids will be falling asleep easily knowing their parents and their sibling are a few feet away. Yup, I'm calling it an "adventure weekend in Jasper."