It was difficult to leave the cozy town of Smithers, but we knew it was time to begin the journey home. This part of the trip was different from the drive west. No stops were planned. I knew I would want to drive as far as I could each day, but didn't know how far. It would depend on my fatigue. We left blindly, hoping that AirBnB would help us find accommodations.

That didn't last...the first AirBnB destination fell through! I was getting tired, we were getting closer to Jasper, and it was obvious we wouldn't find any hotels with vacancies in this resort town, let alone a room we could afford! So I used an old-fashioned search method and stopped at a tourist info office in McBride, 166 kms west of Jasper. A very helpful tourist info person not only showed me what motels were in town, she called several on my behalf and found a reasonable room that was pet-friendly just around the corner! What a relief!