So it’s been about a year since dad passed away last November 16. We’ve missed him a lot and that continues to this day. Losing Tante Ynskje was hard for us too just knowing how close they were. 

Early this summer my wife, Heather, and I planned on taking a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana and also Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. We have been dreaming about and planning a vacation to Banff for several years but it just never seemed to work out. Finally, this year, we were able to put plans together for a two week holiday to Glacier and Banff in September. As the summer went by we visited often with Mom.  Our conversation turned to our upcoming vacation. When we told her where we were going and that Lake Louise in Banff would be one of our stops, mom told a story of how as a little girl she wrote a paper in class talking about one vacation spot that she dreamed of going to, Lake Louise in Banff. So we asked her if she had ever been, now that she would be turning 86 this year. She said no and told us of a time when Dad had a conference in Calgary, Alberta and they were staying in a hotel. They had a rental car and she had told dad that she wanted to go visit Lake Louise. So they jumped in the car and started driving into the mountains. Lake Louise is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Calgary.  When they got about an hour or two into the drive, dad said well that’s probably far enough and they turned around and went back to the hotel, never making it to Lake Louise. We laughed but were not terribly surprised.  When she told us this, we felt terrible that after 85 years she had come so close, but had never made it to Lake Louise. So we told her she should come join us. 

Now, when we go on vacation to the mountains, we have a little camper that we pull behind our car. We drive 25 to 30 hours to get to Montana, another nine hours up to Jasper.  Then three hours down to Banff.  And the trip home would be 28 hours back to Michigan. Staying in the camper the whole time. Inviting her to come along would not be possible as I’m not sure she’s up for that kind of traveling nowadays. So we put our heads together to try to figure out a way to make it happen. We decided to do the first 10 days of our vacation camping like we normally would but then we would rent a house so that if my mom were able to fly into Calgary, we could pick her up and she could stay with us for a few days while we visited Lake Louise, and some of the other most beautiful places we’ve ever been. So after doing a lot more planning and scheduling and figuring out how to make it work, we made it happen. We started out our trip driving to Glacier National Park in Montana, where our son Hunter works as a backpacking guide. We don’t get to see him very often because he usually lives off of the grid in a van or in a tent. We camped right on Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park and spent the week backpacking with Hunter and rafting down the rivers. We had a great time. 

After glacier, we headed up to Jasper National Park, Banff National Park, and Yoho National Park in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. We camped and hiked.  Saw bears and moose, mountain goats and bighorn sheep. And then on Thursday, September 11, mom flew to Calgary and I picked her up to take her back to our rental house. While it was a long trip for her, she was very excited for the trip and so were we. We cooked steaks on the grill, drank red wine on the front porch and got up the next morning to complete a trip she had made in her mind some 80 years earlier. Lake Louise was spectacular!  The teal blue color was breathtaking.  It was a pretty emotional trip and we missed Dad but figured he probably would’ve wanted to stay at the hotel anyway. 🙂 We ended up seeing many other beautiful lakes, mountains and glaciers while in Canada. We saw more bears and other animals and just had a gazellig time. Three days later I flew home with Mom. My wife, Heather, and daughter, Charlie, drove the camper back home.

As I said earlier, we’re coming up on the one year anniversary of dad going to heaven. It’s comforting to think that he is with Oom Piet and Tante Trintje, Tante Co, Tante Ynskje and the rest. We are all doing great in America even though our country is struggling right now. I know you had elections and I wish the best for you all in the Netherlands because elections matter a lot! We hope you all are well and we hope to see you soon. 

With love, Ryan, zoon van Auke.