It's right before full-bore summer wedding season, and Nathan and I snuck away to Banff, Jasper and Yoho National Parks in Canada for a week with two other couples. We camped for six nights, hiked, cooked outside, took a lot of pictures, visited our favorite back-country tea house at Lake Louise, went canoeing in beautiful turquoise waters, played croquet in a field at a campground, saw well over a handful of black bears, walked on a glacier and saw many beautiful things.

Banff is a really, really special place to Nathan and me. It was the first place I went camping (ever) and really became our place after our initial visit in 2007. We got engaged there, honeymooned there, and it's always the mecca I dream of running away to when feeling drained. Endless craggy mountain ranges mixed with the water colors just make it irresistible, and every time we go, it's different. I've never seen Peyto Lake with the color of blue we saw this time. We'd never been canoeing on Lake Louise before. There's a never-ending list of things we want to try, and even the usual spots keep me coming back for more.

Here are some postcard moments from our trip. Enjoy!