Fort Edmonton Meets Its Match

Last weekend we took in the free attractions day in Edmonton. Yes, free! (with a donation to the food bank) We planned to see Fort Edmonton, the zoo, the Muttart Conservatory, and go swimming. Turns out though, that we're not the only people who heard about this free day, and so the last three didn't happen due to ridiculously long line ups.
I should have taken more pictures, but I was struck in awe as my wife all but stumped the interpreters with her questions. And it's not because she couldn't, she just didn't want to embarrass them, really. When we came to one, I asked "Hey, old fashioned man, where'd you get that hot tea?", and then Kelsey goes and one ups me with "I notice that you're dressed as a Voyageur. Wouldn't that have been a little out dated in the time period you're representing?" and "When you say Winnipeg, don't you mean Lord Selkirk's region?" It was fun to see them squirm!

Here's Kelsey very slowly cooking her banack in the Indian Village. Seriously, this took about 20 minutes while everybody else was out of there in under 5. Then she complained that there was no jam!

We got to take a ride on the old fashioned steam engine around the park.
Like I said, I should have taken more pictures. General impressions: the Fort is huge, and they do a great job.

Disappointments: the touch screen computer at the till of the 1885 bakery.
Really Cool: the fact that they have an 1885 bakery. I had "Frontier beef stew with slab of bread". Mmmm.

T.

Walk for Dog Guides

This weekend we took part in a fundraiser walk for Dog Guides of Canada. Our team of 5 raised over $2000! Gord won a prize for being the smallest dog at the event, a title he will not likely ever have again.
Here he is beside his cousin, Bear. (Not the smallest dog on the walk!)
Our family picture. We borrowed the backdrop from Sears.
All tuckered out!

T.

Airshow Roadtrip

We did a lot of moving and shaking, and wagging last week. Gord had his first trip to the vet. He was so frightened that the vet couldn't get a pulse read on him because of his hyperventilating, but he didn't even flinch when he got his needle! Then we gave him his deworming pill and sent him off to Grandma and Grampas for the weekend! Sorry guys!
Kelsey loves him even when he's not feeling good. Actually, he's come out of his shell quite a bit and loves to tromp around and chew on things. He has a nice big dog house now but hasn't used it a whole bunch yet. We go for walks and he follows along right with us. So far, he's been a perfect puppy.
But this post is supposed to be about the airshow! I took my brother, Matt, up to the Cold Lake Airshow for his 18th birthday. He'd never been to one before so I was proud to show him some high octane performance like he's never seen. On the way up, we camped at Moose Lake Provincial Campground. We had to carry our assembled tent across the campground because we first set up in a reserved site and didn't want to set the tent up all over again. It made sense to us...
We also stopped in at Glendon, AB, home of the world's largest pyrogy, apparently.

Ok, the airshow! I'll try not to narf out too much.

Underside pass with an F-18 and 3 tudor jets, painted in the centennial colours. 100 years of powered flight in Canada.

Requisite Snowbirds double knife edge pass.
More Snowbirds
The airshow was interrupted when Santa waterskied through the stage area. Apparently Santa vacations in Cold Lake.
He was showing off and biffed in front of the crowd. Luckily, Air Force Search & Rescue was in the area!
The Granley's, flying these modified 1940's Russian prop planes. These guys were my favourite part of the show. They're a father and son duo, with dad in his 70's flying the little red plane. They did some of the tightest formation acrobatics I've ever seen.
One last shot of the Snowbirds for perspective. There were so many other cool parts of the airshow, but sometimes I was just to awestruck to think about taking pictures.
And the trip back home. Matt was our navigator and he did a fine job. We made record time without speeding.

Rained out in the Rockies

Welcome to our rainy day tour of the rockies. I had 2 weeks off from work and so we headed to the mountains. Alberta has been in draught, so we can't complain about the rain, but it does make tenting quite the adventure.
Before any drops fell we stopped for a soak at Miette Hot Springs. It was glorious to sooth all those tightened muscles.
We beat the rain in making supper, but not eating it. This was our first of many meals in the car/tent.
Our second day, the heavy downpours were pretty sporadic, so we were able to play in the rain.
Athabasca Falls

Horseshoe Lake, it was the bluest and clearest lake I had ever seen.
After rushing to pack up before the rain started yet again, we were able to stay ahead of the clouds as we headed down Highway 93, appropriately named the Icefield Parkway.

Stunning falls at Tangle Creek! I am trying to fit in with the posing of the other tourists around us, it's fun to hear about your country from an outside view.
Columbia Icefield: mighty and cold sum it up.
Rampart Creek was an amazing campground. We had a short reprieve from the rain and so decided to dip our heads instead. Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky the next morning, and had to pack up in the rain.
Needing a break from the dampness we made for the Nordegg Lodge, where we are comfortably enjoying a hot shower, supper in their delicious restaurant and the view of rain on the mountains from our hotel room.
When the clouds lift and the rain pauses we remember why the rockies are the best!

May Days

Mothers Day!!

Finally this cold spring has started to turn. We were lucky to have nice weather for a picnic with Ma. It was exciting to set up our yard (our first spring in our new house) for our V.I.P.!! Happy Mothers Day!

My bro came for the event too, but managed to find a wifi signal on his ipod, so lunch took a back seat. I wish I had a picture of him trying to play frisbee with is ipod in his hand.

Last weekend we went to visit my sister, Rachelle, and her hubby, Dave, and baby Mya in southern Alberta. They have a beautiful house on the coulee. The next day we decided that we should take the opportunity to visit the Calgary Zoo, especially since Mya LOVES animals. The day we arrived, she kept telling us "I saw baby cows!" so it was basically a must to go to the zoo.

Here's me with my baby sis, beautiful niece, and one on the way!
Awwww! I know she's a baby, but sheesh! There must be some real fat heads posing in the koala there. And I bet the Australians who visit love that it says "G'day Mate!" We were there last year, and I guess I do remember the koalas saying that...
Mya loved the animals. She usually had this look of wonder and concern on her face. I took more pictures of her than the animals. Zoo pictures are never as cool as you want them to be anyways.
There was a lot of pointing and "MOM, LOOK!!!" going on.
Here she is riding the woolly beefeater.


Banff!
This weekend Kelsey took me with her on her first business trip as the Director of School Programs! I love her new job.

On the way down, we saw more Canadian wildlife than we've ever seen before. Without exaggerating, we must have seen well over a hundred deer! We also saw a coyote, a beaver, geese, ducks, bighorn sheep, elk, possibly a young moose, and your standard varmin on the road. (porcupines, squirrels etc.)


The scenery is awesome of course, so we have to include some of that:



The road trip was great. We had fresh cherries, beef jerky, cold drinks, tunes, and great weather! Here we are at the classic Castle Mountain gas station.

One of breathtaking mountains. It goes on and on like this. I forgot how beautiful the Rockies are.
Nothing like the freedom of the road. Next time we're doing it on the motorcycle!

We stopped in at Lake Louise on the way home. Beautiful.
We also bummed around the Chateau Lake Louise and enjoyed the live harp music and the comfy chairs overlooking the lake before heading back home. It was a great weekend. Oops, I should mention that Kelsey did some work on Saturday... Thanks work!

Tyrn