Autism in Banff National Park

We had Bush’s Hickory Smoked Baked Beans last night, and said to Steve, “I feel like we’re eating a campfire.” Because everything in our house now smells like campfire–our tent, sleeping bags, and clothes are all holding the smells of our camping trip hostage.

I love it.

Steve and I went to Banff two years ago, just the two of us. It was Steve’s first “real” trip to Alberta–the province I grew up in. He fell in love instantly. The Canadian Rockies will do that to you.

A few months ago, Steve announced he wanted to do the trip again–this time with the kids. It’s a fourteen hour trip up to Lethbridge, Alberta (where my aunt and uncle live) and another 3 hours or so to Banff. It’s a long way to be away from home if something goes wrong. And we’re camping–neither of us are outdoorsy. It’s a 50/50 shot if we can get a fire going. But honestly my main concern was the bears. I’m talking grizzly bears.

Grizzly bears and two kids–one an autistic kid? Sign me up.

I’ll admit, my need to go back to Alberta this time trumped all other concerns. Even the bear ones. It sounds selfish, but sometimes I get that way. Selfish. We work with autism every day around here and sometimes I just want to do something I want to do. Even if it’s logistically almost impossible, even if it isn’t “autisticly ideal.” So I said yes to the Canadian Rockies trip. For me.

I researched Pintrest for camping hacks. I made a fire starter kit. I bought a mini camping stove. Somehow Steve and I were able to shove 4 sleeping bags, 4 pillows, 4 suitcases, one tent, and all our supplies into the Camry. The kids were squished, but that’s what long car trips are all about, right?

We got into Lethbridge late Saturday night, and spent a couple of days recouping before our big week-long camping trip in the backwoods of Banff. Okay, so it really wasn’t the backwoods, it was a civilized campground surrounded by an electric fence to keep out the bears and we stayed in a hotel every other night, but for our family it was essentially backwoods.

Then we headed up to Banff. I wondered how this would work for J. I always wonder how things work with J. Sometimes I wish I could crawl into his brain–a real version of Inside Out–is he’s capable of what I expect from him. Am I short changing him? Am I asking for too much? Can he do this?

With some divine intervention (a family willing to let W on their boat at Lake Louise so Steve and I could canoe with J, the downpour of rain waiting until our last night to show up, no bear encounters) and some perseverance by J, it worked. Camping is exhausting. It’s setting up camp, it’s hiking, it’s driving, it’s doing it again at another location. I’m so grateful that J’s getting more flexible with his routine. Things aren’t always perfect and there were a few big meltdowns. Two days in I had to think on the fly the new privileges that would work for our transient lifestyle (I can’t take away the Wii or trampoline while we’re travelling) but s’mores privileges and socks to bed can work just as well 😉

Here are some pictures of our trip:

Lake Louise

Marble Canyon (Kootenay National Park)

Johnston Canyon:

Top of Whistlers Mountain (Jasper National Park)

Our last day in Banff

It’s been interesting coming back home. I feel like we’ve been gone for months. It’s only been two weeks. The best part is that I feel recharged (which is strange, because of all the work and stress of travelling). It must be the mountain air. And J is really happy. He’s happy to be home in his routine and it’s like he’s matured a little more over the last two weeks. He tells me over and over every day that he loved our trip. He tells me every day that he loves Banff. Sometimes I wonder that if we just remove all the things around us–all the busy stimuli and our responsibilities–and strip down to the basics: food, shelter, human interaction, nature–if we develop ourselves a little more too. If we find a little more of ourselves again.

Oh, and this is everything I love about Alberta:

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