If you have been on a long road trip, especially one that includes active outdoor activities, you know that things eventually get stinky. We were getting by hand-washing garments here and there but we didn’t have a lot of water on hand in the van. It was time for something I was unreasonably excited for: a visit to a laundromat!

Coin Clean Laundry

Coin Clean Laundry is a laundromat + coffee shop combo right in downtown Jasper. You can enjoy a beverage from their in-house cafe, SnowDome Coffee Bar, while waiting for your clothes to get squeaky clean. Bring coins (as the name suggests) for the washing and drying machines, or use their change-making machines inside. Coin Clean Laundry has 3 different sizes of washing machines and they were all very clean.

An even better part of Coin Clean Laundry is that they have hot showers! This is a prayer answered for campers and hikers, and Coin Clean Landry definitely delivered. For a small fee, we enjoyed cleaning ourselves as well as our clothes. Modern luxuries felt so amazing after a couple of weeks in a van with no running water.

Town of Jasper

The laundromat’s location in the town of Jasper also means you can explore town while waiting for clothes to finish washing. We took this time to enjoy happy hour at Jasper Brewing Company and visit the Jasper Farmers Market.

Before departing Jasper, we stopped by CoCo’s Cafe in town for a Montreal style bagel. It was very pricey for what it was (a bagel with butter), but despite the sticker shock was unbelievably tasty. The texture of that bagel is still something I think about years later. This bagel experience rivals some of the best bagels I’ve tried in New York City (very different bagel style, both are amazing).

Farewell to Jasper National Park

Back to Vancouver we go!

Our time in Banff National Park and Jasper National Park was unforgettable and it was time to start heading west for our next adventure in Olympic National Park! The misty rain bade us farewell and the drive away from Alberta was bittersweet. So many memories were made on this leg of our trip!

Most driving itineraries to and from Vancouver and Banff/Jasper route through the town of Kamloops as a midway destination. Just before reaching the town of Kamloops, we stopped in the town of Little Fort for dinner at High Five Diner. High Five Diner serves up gigantic portions of unique burgers and comfort food. I recommend the onion rings! Not far away in Kamloops, Bright Eye Brewing was a fun pit stop for some yummy brews and an opportunity to stretch our legs.

Afterward, we were able to make it past Kamloops but only a bit further. With sleepy eyes, we parked our camper van at a Save On Foods in the town of Hope to sleep overnight. We’d be back in Vancouver the next day.