Selection: Travel

Our neighbour Gabriella returned from an excursion to Tibet and China. She gave me some impressions over the phone last night:

• Tibet stinks
• China is becoming a tourist trap

Apparently, the monks in Tibet spend more time praying than cleaning. And getting onto the Great Wall was almost impossible due to tourist congestion.

Can't wait to hear more... 

Was up at 4:30AM, waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in. Went back to bed at 5:30 and slept fitfully until 6:30. I had planned to get up at 6. Talk about a restless night...

We checked out at 9:30 and drove to Invermere to gas up. Duncan wanted to use his Petro Canada pass to get a 5 cent discount per litre. Hmmm... That must have been a whole $2 or $3 savings...

10AM we left Invermere toward Radium with sunny breaks. As soon as we hit the Kootenay National Park, we were into fog (low clouds), light rain and some light snow. This lasted for about an hour. Monica was driving the other vehicle and not enjoying it.

After turning onto the Trans-Canada Highway toward Banff at Castle Junction, it stayed dry but cloudy. Not until we left the Bow Valley Provincial Park, did we see sun again. We were beginning to see evidence of the major snow storm Alberta had while we were in BC. Beautiful snow scenes, but this is spring, right?

A little before Red Deer my lack of sleep was catching up and Cecile drove the rest of the way home. Duncan and Monica were going to have "lupper" (lunch/supper) in Red Deer, so they went off by themselves. I must have dozed about 10 minutes when I noticed the dark clouds blocking the sun. Somewhere between Red Deer and Ponoka it started to rain lightly, but the effect on the snow was noticeable, it was almost gone!

We got home about 4:30PM. Unloaded the van, got most of the gear put away and pretty much crashed for the evening.

Woke up to rain and low clouds. I'll add a picture later.

Cecile wanted to do some more shopping in Invermere, so we went there around 2PM. Duncan and Monica were going to meet us at the bakery, but we never saw them.

Bought some nice wine (same as we enjoyed yesterday) to take home, an orange/vanilla smelly candle, and a tile painting for our hallway. Enough holiday spending...

When we came back I went to soak my back in the jacuzzi tub, while Cecile went to the Hot Springs. My bath was a tad too warm so my glasses started to fog up, and I could not see my solitaire game any longer...

Cecile came home after 7PM. Turns out Alicia joined her at the Hot Springs. Turned out to be a great day for that, 13°C and no wind.

BBQ'ed some burgers. Nice, considering that Edmonton had snow only yesterday... ;-)

Off to do some packing for the trip home tomorrow.

Went for a walk with Cecile and Monica. Duncan stayed with Alicia, because she had not finished her homework. The walk was only a short one because I wanted to loosen up my back, but not aggravate it further.

Took Monica up the ski hill for the view. She was hoping to see bears, but no luck. To be perfectly clear, we DROVE up...

Duncan cooked some nice steaks and Monica had potatoes on the BBQ, garlic bread, salads and other veggies. Polished off a nice white wine from Mission Hill. Then we just sat around enjoying each others company and Gabe's antics.

Later Cecile and Alicia went to the pool. When they came back, we watched Tom Hanks in The Terminal. Different... 

The bean soup hardly got any comments, good or bad. Going to have to find a new recipe...

Slept fitfully as none of my painkillers helped against the back/hip pain. Sure overdid it on that otherwise nice walk. I would have gone slower uphill were it not for the rain.

Went to Invermere to do some grocery shopping and picked up Robaxasil. It helps a bit better.

The weather was cool and a bit windy. Not great for any outdoor activity, so we watched movies, had tea with the kids, and entertained ourselves with Gabe. 

Today was going to be our "do nothing" day. I had not planned anything and Duncan and Monica and gang were going to the hot springs.

About 2pm Alicia asked if oma was coming with them to the hot springs. That was ok with me. I could go for a walk. So, about 2:20pm we got to the hot springs pool and everybody but me went for the water.

I walked down the edge of the creek, taking photos, but about half an hour later it started to rain. Determined not to go back the same way, I continued the trail and went back on the opposite bank of the creek. Sure was a workout for my heart. I had taken the nitro along, just in case, but not needed it.

Rain and hail did not prevent me taking photos of prairie croci, sometimes growing on the edge of a cliff. Will post a pic later.

Picked up some South African white wine from "Two Oceans". Very nice!

We're having bean soup and chicken today. I find the bean soup not great but will wait and see what the rest of the gang says. 

Woke up to lovely sunshine. Going up to around 13°C today and then a bit cooler every day with some sun, some cloud, and Friday a projected 6°C with some rain and/or wet snow. Saturday warming up again as we drive home.

Haven't seen Duncan yet, but it's only noon...

No idea what we'll do yet today. Shopping for sugar, I guess. Had to borrow a bit from Alicia.

While Duncan and Monica were getting ready, Alicia was doing homework. We took her out of school for the week, but she still needs to do homework. We had Gabe for a while. Mr 4-month old is getting noisy. He discovered he has a voice and is now using it. So he was talking, smiling, drooling and spitting on us for a good hour.

When the gang was ready, we took the Westside Road to Invermere and walked around for a while. Browsed in some shops, bought some candy. A chilly wind started to pick up and that made it a bit less pleasant. So we hopped back in the van and drove to Panorama. It was the last day of skiing and they were closing for the season. We passed bus after bus leaving Panorama. Alicia counted 10 of them. You have to picture the narrow, winding mountain road, full of turns where you have to slow down to 30 km/hr and then passing those huge tour buses...

When we came back from Panorama, we had dinner at the Black Forest Restaurant. We took our time and spent a nice 2 hours wining and dining.

Back in Fairmont, Cecile, Monica, and Alicia went for a swim. I thought I was going to take a nap, but watched The Good Shepherd instead. Good flick about the beginnings of the CIA.

After 9 hours we finally made it to the Fairmont Vacation Villas. Traveling with two vehicles and a 4-month old takes a bit longer than the normal 6 hours.

Drove all the way myself. Two years ago Cecile and Vincent took turns. What a difference between 1 year after surgery vs. 3 years after surgery. Although I have my doubts at times, I must be getting better...

Once we turned south onto highway 93, it started raining intermittently. Still saw lots of deer in Kootenay National Park. Also some bighorn sheep in Radium.

Picked up some groceries in Invermere. Cecile cooked some spaghetti and the adults had a glass of wine to wash it down.

Now I'm pooped. Time for bed!

We are again taking Brenda and Doug's spring spot.

I am thinking of investigating these timeshares. Ideas are most welcome. 

Cecile just called that she's still in Chicago. They had a snow storm and her flight was cancelled. She's now due to come home tomorrow afternoon.
Reminds me of "Planes, Trains & Automobiles".

Cecile finally figured out that we gotta get up 4AM tomorrow... Doh!

We've had bad and good weather, seen lots of wildlife (bears, elk, deer, mountain sheep, various rodents), wildflowers (lilium philadelphicum, indian paintbrush, and many unknown), but I think the two most important things are the time Cecile and I spent together, and a deeper appreciation for the beauty around us.

Monday, time to check out and go back home. But before that, we finally made it up the Jasper Tram. It did not freak Cecile out even though it was quite a trip. On top, some guy was fooling around - pretending to drop off the mountain - and Cecile and this guy's family were freaking out. But there was no shear drop (there would have been fences) but it just looked serious.
I was surprised at the vegetation above the tree line. Most flowers were so very tiny, and I wonder how they produce seed. There don't seem to be too many insects around.
Drove to Maligne Lake but decided to postpone a boat trip as it was getting too late. On the way back, we saw another two black bears

Contrasting yesterday, it was sunny, but windy. Went back to the Jasper Tram (a cable car to almost the top of Mount Whistler). We could not even find a parking spot, so we decided to drive to the Columbia Icefields and stop at places we never stopped before. Saw another two black bears. These bears were not cubs, but probably siblings not of breeding age. Met some Dutch people from Meidrecht on vacation here. Very nice people and we talked for over half an hour.
The Columbia Icefields were cool, no they were cold... Cecile and I walked from the parking lot up to where the ice was melting. It was cold and exhausting (there was a notice posted for people with heart and lung problems). I was glad to be back at the van. There we fed some birds, a crow/raven and some relative of the blue jay but beige and black.
Had dinner at the Marmot lodge.

Saturday, day 2, was cold, dark, rainy and gloomy. First we went to Amethyst and Pyramid lakes. Stopped at the Jasper Tram, but it was too cloudy to make the 1.2km trip up the mountain, so we went to the Athabasca Falls instead. On the way there (hwy 93a) we saw our first black bear. As I found out later, I was shooting with too slow a shutter speed so most long shots came out fuzzy.
Afterward we checked out Jasper Park Lodge and a way down Maligne Road.
We had dinner at the Jasper Inn's dining room.

A friend of mine invited me to go shoot pictures in the Rocky Mountains this weekend, but at the last minute could not make it. As I already had booked the time off, Cecile and I went by ourselves. We left at about 1:30pm as Cecile had a meeting in the morning. Forecast was rain, but until Edson we did fine. Then it started to come down in buckets. After Hinton, the 4-lane divided highway became a 2-lane non-divided highway and due to the rain, visibility was reduced. That almost cost us our lives. At one point, I went "holy crapoly" because there was a vehicle in my "single" lane. I had to hit the shoulder (fortunately wide enough) to avoid a head-on collision. While we were thanking God for saving our skins, I'm sure the driver of the other vehicle must have sh!t his/her pants.
After we checked in to the Jasper Inn, we went for a walk and had dinner at some restaurant where my Bison medallion was actually bison strips...

Woke up to snow this morning, even though it was 3C. By 9am we were ready to leave, and that was good as it turned out. Vincent took over and drove from hwy1/22 south of Cochrane to Red Deer. I'm glad he did because as soon as we hit hwy 2, the wind gusts from the west made driving tough. About 45 minutes from home we started getting snow, turning into blizzard episodes. Thank God we arrived home in one piece, although I was very tired.

I was hoping to come home to tulips blooming, and they were, but they were looking poorly. The snow and the frosts at night are not helping. Lots in bud, even my white lilac. I hope the night time freezing stops soon, and that we won't get anymore snow.

Early to bed!!!

I thought today would warm up, but it got cooler instead. Only 8°C, and we could see fresh snow on the mountain tops around us. Good day to drive out to Panorama, a ski resort 18km west of Invermere. Of course there was no skiing left, but the runs were still covered. Snow was melting rapidly, and Toby Creek which runs from Panorama to Invermere was really moving fast.

Took Vincent's rental car back around 4pm, and then the five of us had supper together, after which Cecile and I went for a walk. This evening is time to pack, so we can check out tomorrow at 10am.

Today Cecile and I went for a drive to Kimberley, Cranbrook, and Fort Steele. A rather cool day, only 12°C, perfect for driving around. Kimberley has a very quaint, German-style downtown area, called the Platzl. Walked around to take some pictures, do some shopping, and have some bratwurst and apple strudel.
Then we were off to Cranbrook, not because it is so exciting and picturesque, but because it's on the way to Fort Steele. I imagine that Cranbrook is kind of the shopping hub for that area. Great for shopping, but dull for sightseeing...

Just a few minutes north of Cranbrook, on the way back to Fairmont, is Fort Steele. They weren't completely open for the season yet, so the admission price was a donation. A lot of old buildings and farm implements. There's even a private residence in the style of a century ago. There were also some ancient hobby horses, real cute. Walked around for almost an hour. By the time we got back to Fairmont, we'd been on the road for 5 hours.

After Cecile took a nap, and I organized the photos we had taken, we went for dinner at the Black Forest restaurant in Invermere. Pricy, but excellent food and Jennifer was a perfect hostess. Cecile had the special, asparagus soup, grilled salmon filet, and a very light strawberry desert. I made do with a "filet Neptune", a succulent tenderloin steak, medium rare, topped with crab meat, asparagus, and a bearnaise sauce. Some barrel select white wine went down well with these dishes. Worth the splurge.

While the day started cloudy, everybody except myself went swimming. I used that time to change my ostomy flange and shave the area where the flange adheres to the skin (so the flange sticks better...). Shaving is a tricky business because you don't want to nick the stoma.
Vincent and Angela treated us to lunch in Invermere, after which Vincent and I went to an internet cafe to check our mail. I could get my mail, but send nothing. Interbaun only allows sending email from approved IP addresses. I noticed that they still had not fixed their DNS servers, as forums.danen.org still did not come up...
A bit more cloudy today, but still 22°C, quickly dropping as the sun went down.
Lovely sunset, as you can see on the photo, "the Heavens declare the glory of the Lord."

Slept until 10am, when Jayden was knocking on our door. I guess a 3-year old doesn't understand why people like to sleep late.

After brunch, Cecile and I went for a walk behind the Fairmont Hot Springs. We walked for over an hour uphill, downhill, in the baking sun. I'm glad I remembered my SPF60 sunscreen and my hat. Beside the gorgeous views, we found alpine flowers already in bloom, such as shooting stars, creeping phlox, prairie crocus and more.

Today's high was a whopping 28°C on our patio. Good for a barbecue and some Heineken.

Worshiped at the Valley Christian Assembly in Windermere. While lots of tourists must visit this church, I got the distinct feeling they're quite inward focused. Nice service, though. The pastor reminded me of Scott Daniels. ;-)

After lunch, Cecile and I tried to find a walking trail near the Columbia river, but you can only get there if you're a paying golfer. So we drove on, checked out Westside Road for some pictures of our vacation villa. Checked out the hoodoos, and drove south on Columbia Lake road. When we got back on the highway, we were almost in Canal Flats, so we drove the the provincial park, and on the way back bought some ice-cream at the local general store.
Today's high was also 24°C.

Had a long sleep, even though the upstairs neighbours and a few down the road were very noisy. Objective 1: "find earplugs." Found these in Invermere, I'm happy.


Stopped off at a garden centre, the only one I've seen. Mind you, I haven't seen an abundance of gardens here. Sure, shrubs and trees, and containers for annuals. Either the winters are hard on perennials or the deer are. Perhaps a bit of both. Spring seems maybe one or two weeks earlier than in Edmonton. I had, wrongly, assumed that the "Warm side of the Rockies" was indeed a lot warmer.

Checked out the hot springs but I'm not ready to water-test my colostomy in a public place. So I just took some pictures. Tried to find the hiking trails I remember from 2 years ago, but all we could find was a new RV park. Drove up to the ski area, and there was still snow on the ground. Nice views from that height...
Today's high was 24°C.

Left the house at 8:45 to go pick up Vincent and his family. Around 9:45 we had everybody and everything loaded and we were off to Fairmont. I drove as far as Red Deer, where Cecile took over. After a near-miss going into the ditch, I took over in Cochrane for the duration to Fairmont. There was a forest fire near Radium with a fairly thick smoke. From Radium to Fairmont is only 40km, but Jayden was getting tired of sitting for so long and we stopped at Invermere to do some grocery shopping.
Arrived in Fairmont a little after 4pm. Dropped the girls and the luggage off so that Vincent and I could go back to Invermere. Vincent wanted to rent a vehicle so we're not always dependent on each other.
Temperature was 25°C.

First day of our vacation. Today is designated as packing day. I had a lot of paperwork to clean up, bills to pay, and chemo brain was taking his time. :)

Had my dad lived, he would have been 84 today...

I am now officially on vacation, and sooooo looking forward to it. We're going to Fairmont BC, using Brenda's timeshare. I just found out today that Brenda is getting a lung transplant this weekend. I had no idea. Just called to ask about some housekeeping things, and she shared what was happening. She mentioned that she had been praying for me during my cancer treatment, and again, I had no idea. Of course, I will be praying for you, Brenda.

With 23°C (73°F), today was the first day this year I went to work without a jacket. We'll likely get some snow before summer really starts, but I enjoy each nice day as it comes. Six martagon lilies are up now, tulips and daffodils are budding, so when we get back, I expect a sea of colour. Love it!

It's 9:15pm, and I am listening to the last song of a robin. These guys start at 5am, when it's barely light and go on till about now, when the daylight has just about faded.