Road Trip Recap: Okotoks, Alberta - July 26-28, 2013

Another road trip for me! This time I went off to Alberta to spend some time with my good friend Amanda.  Amanda and I have been friends for almost two years now, she was actually roommates with my friend Alana (that I went to visit a few weekends ago) when we first began getting to know each other.  Amanda is one of my closest friends and I really value her friendship so I was excited to be able to head out to her home and spend time with some of her family for the first time.

Okotoks is about a 6 hour drive from Saskatoon, but I don't mind at all - I really enjoy road trips on my own, that's why I tend to take so many! The drive is quite flat, which is to be expected on the prairies, but it's extremely beautiful.

Abandoned prairie house near Hanna, AB

On the Friday night Amanda and I drove in to Calgary and went to Ranchman's with a couple of our friends who are also from Saskatoon, but were in Alberta for a Catholic event for the weekend. We two-stepped the night away and had a great time!

Amanda and I before we went out on Friday night

On Saturday Amanda and I drove out to Cochrane, Alberta for One Rock, the Catholic event that our friends were in Alberta for. It was a "World Youth Day At Home" to help unify those who were able to make it to Rio and those that stayed home. There were talks and music all day long and we ended the day with an amazing evening of Eucharistic Adoration. There were lots of people and I was fortunate enough to see a bunch of friends from the summer I spent living in Halifax. I rarely get to see them and I hadn't told them ahead of time, so it was a little bit of a surprise for them :).

The crowd in front of the stage at One Rock

Sunday morning I joined Amanda and her parents at Mass at their parish, St. James, on the Feast of St. James - talk about timing! We had a quick brunch and then went in to Calgary to shop. I had wanted to leave Saskatoon early on Friday and shop before I made my way to Okotoks, but I let myself sleep in and got on the highway much later than expected. By the time Sunday came around, though, I wasn't in the shopping mood (odd, I know!). It's a good thing though, I really don't need to shop, so only spending a bit of time in the mall was beneficial to my finances.

I had a fantastic time visiting Amanda and her family and I cannot wait until I can visit Okotoks again!