From August 11 to August 18th, my husband and I went on a coach tour from Toronto to Vancouver. We usually like to drive on our vacation but for this year, we decided that we will let someone "drive the bus" therefore we took this coach tour. The tour took us through the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. It was certainly a good way to see Canada.
Below is our itinerary.
Day 1
Toronto to Sault Ste. Marie
We left Toronto early in the morning and along the way, we stopped at Parry Sound for coffee, and then we have lunch at Sudbury. When we reached Sault Ste. Marie, we visited the famous St Mary’s boardwalk. From the St Mary's boardwalk we were able to see the International Bridge. Crossing the St. Mary's River and spanning two nations, the International Bridge connects Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan with Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1962 and located at the northern end of I-75, the International Bridge provides easy access for the near 100,000 residents of the region to traverse the border.
Then it was time to check into Water Tower Inn.
Day 2
Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay
We left Sault Ste. Marie and headed for Wawa (objiway’s language for “Wild Goose”), took a picture of the “Wild Goose”
and visited Magpie Scenic High Falls.
We had lunch at Marathon. The next stop was Terry Fox Monument. The Terry Fox Monument is located on Highway 11/17 on the eastern outskirts of Thunder Bay. Terry Fox attempted to walk across Canada to raise support for fellow cancer sufferers and this Monument marks the point where he sadly had to abandon his trek. Please click on the picture below if you want more information about Terry Fox. 
We drove by Lakehead University and stopped along the way to take in a better view of the Sleeping Giant. We visited Thunder Bay’s Charity Casino and tried our luck there.We ended up donating to the Charity Casino !. We stayed at The Prince Arthur Hotel for the night.
Day 3
Thunder Bay to Winnipeg
From Thunder Bay we continued on to Kakabeka Falls, which is the “Niagara of the North”.
The next stop was Dryden where we saw a Moose !..a statue of a Moose. We stopped at Kenora and visited the Museum of the Lake of the Woods and the air service center. We proceeded to Forks Market in Winnipeg, picture of which is shown below.
We visited Winnipeg’s Chinatown for dinner and stayed the night in Sheraton Winnipeg.
Day 4
Winnipeg to Regina
After breakfast, we visited the Legislative Building, shown below
with the famous Golden Boy statue at the top of the dome, which unfortunately was under construction. They also have a pair of Bison in the main hall leading up to the meeting rooms. Then it was off to the Royal Mint where the circulating coins of Canada were minted. On the way, we had lunch at Brandon. We crossed the border into Saskatchewan. We visited the Casino Regina and stayed in Delta Regina for the night.
Day 5
Regina to Edmonton
From Regina, we continued our journey to North Battleford for lunch and then onwards to Edmonton’s West Mall which is the world's largest entertainment and shopping centre and Alberta's #1 Tourist Attraction! West Edmonton Mall features over 800 stores and services, over 110 eating establishments, plus seven World Class Attractions. It's the only mall of its kind - both a shopper's dream and a world of excitement and adventure. It also features the world's largest indoor amusement park, the world's largest indoor waterpark, an NHL-size ice arena, four seaworthy submarines in the world's largest indoor man-made lake, dolphin shows, an exact replica of the Santa Maria ship, which is shown below
a miniature golf course, 26 movie theatres and a Las Vegas style casino. We did a little shopping at the Mall. We went to the Legislative Building of Alberta after the visit to the Mall. We stayed at Delta Edmonton South Hotel for the night.
Day 6
Edmonton toCanmore
We left early from Edmonton for Calgary. We had lunch at a Chinese Restaurant in Calgary’s Chinatown. We went to Bow Valley and Sulphur Mountain in Banff. We took the Gondola up Sulphur Mountain and had a great view of Bow Valley and the Canadian Rockies. Below is a picture of the Bow Valley as viewed from Sulphur Mountain
We stayed at Banff for dinner and then we were taken to Canmore’s Radisson Hotel for the night.
Day 7
Canmore to Vernon
From Canmore, we went to Jasper National Park where we took a snowcoach tour of the Athabasca Glacier of Columbia Icefield. The Athabasca Glacier is a gentle, six kilometre tongue of ice flowing from the Columbia Icefield. Icefields are formed by compacting snow. The surface ice is hard and breaks easily but under the surface, the ice is more liquid and flows easily. Along the way, we view the Crow Foot Glacier, the Bow Lake, and other wonderful sceneries. Below is a picture of Bow Falls.
We then stopped over at Chateau Lake Louise and Natural Bridge. We went to Revelstoke for dinner and stayed the night at Three Valley Lake Chateau in Vernon.
Day 8
Vernon to Vancouver
Today is the last day of the journey; we left Revelstroke for Craigellachie’s “The Last Spike”. Then it was off to Sunmore Ginseng store where we were given a seminar of the properties and usefulness of Ginseng. We were also served Ginseng tea. We continued our journey and went to Capilano Salmon Hatchery. At the Hatchery, we were able to observe some salmons making their way up a fish ladder. From there we went to Stanley Park with their famous totem poles.
We drove on to Gastown. If you go to Gastown, you must take a closer look at world's only steam powered clock. It will puff clouds as it sounds the Westminister Chimes when it hits every hour. The clock is unique as it was designed in 1875 but was actually created in 1977. Below is a picture of the Steam Clock.
We then went back to Richmond where we checked into Radisson President Hotel.
This ended the first part of our trip. Check out the second page of our trip. We travelled from Washington state through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan before returning to Toronto.
