Travels with Tim & Richard

Sorry for the delay, peeps. It's been a busy couple of weeks! Tim & Richard arrived on Friday, June 20 and we headed out bright and early the next day to camp at Lake Louise campground in Banff National Park.

First stop, the Gondola in Banff. Views from the top:



The view looking down the gondola cables (scary!!):


The next day, we went up the Icefields Parkway to the Columbia Icefield. We rode onto the glacier in a Snocoach - it was kinda freaky but pretty cool.

Driving up the highway:

Big horn sheeps, hanging out on the side of the highway:


OMG, a BEAR!! (It was having a leafy snack by the side of the highway, this photo is taken from the truck, no I am not a crazy person who gets out of the car to get a good shot, hence the crappy photo):


The view of Peyto Lake - the water is that blue, even on a cloudy day. Kerry, ever the fountain of knowledge, tells me that it is due to glacial silt:


Moraine Lake - the view that's on the back of the old $20 bill:


Up on the glacier at Columbia Icefield - the stone beds are called moraines:

Looking straight up at the top of the glacier where it joins the actual Columbia Icefield, which spans over several mountains:

Looking up to the left at another glacier:


Same view, but closer up (that thick crest of snow is actually super deep - I'll say 100 feet but Kerry can probably give you the actual number):



Us in front of the snocoach:



On Tuesday, me and Tim and Richard headed out to Drumheller to check out the Dinosaur museum in the Badlands - some pretty neat landscape out that way:


And the museum was pretty cool too. Albertosaurus (yes, really that is the name):



The massive T-rex skeleton:



Sabre tooth cat (in the left) and Woolly Mammoth - hello, Flintstones!



That's all for now, I'll be back soon with pics from last weekend's trip to Kananaskis Country...

And the sun shines again!

Finally, finally, finally. After pretty much solid rain for the past month, the sun came back on Saturday and it looks like it's here to stay. Hooray!

We went to Medicine Hat as planned this weekend. Visited with my grandparents and my friends Robyn, Trevor and Mike and their kidlets. Checked out the Redcliff Days fireworks and went to Echo Dale park to pet the baby sheeps and calves. Sorry, I forgot the camera so no baby sheep shots to share.

This week is all about getting outside and getting ready to go camping this weekend. We're off to Lake Louise campground on Saturday for 2 nights, and hoping to get up the Icefields Parkway to check out the glaciers. Fun!

Neglect is a two way street

You can't be arsed to read, and I can't be arsed to write.

Seriously though, not much happening on the home front. It's been raining steadily since I last wrote - we'll get a day or maybe a day and a half of half-assed sun and then the rainclouds roll back in. Today we got a special treat, when it started to HAIL. Welcome to Jun-uary in Calgary. At least I got my flowers planted and we've managed to get the grass cut in between thunderstorms.

I picked up Seasons 1 & 2 of Weeds last week, watched em all, and went back for the newly released Season 3 this week. Awesome. You should definitely watch this show. Season 4 starts next week, probably not in Canada though, boo.

Finally, this weekend we are heading to Medicine Hat. I've made plans and bailed a few times and we haven't been there since March (can you feel my guilt oozing across the internet?) so we're off to visit for Father's Day. And Mother's Day. And probably Canada Day too... lol.

Next up, Tim & Richard are coming to visit and we'll be off to the mountains for lots of adventures. Pictures to follow...

The downside of the bunnies...

is finding a dead one in your yard.



The husband is outside, ahem, taking care of it.

In other news, the sun is finally out after days of pissing rain. I am pleased to report that everything is green (a rare sight in Alberta) and the trees finally have leaves on them. Spring has sprung, a mere 3 weeks or so before the official start of Summer. Ha.

Our washer is broken. Good thing it's still under warranty.

Part of our fence fell down on the weekend. It is most definitely not under warranty and we were hoping to hold off until next year to replace it. Le sigh.

Not much else to report, I guess I'm pretty boring. I don't mind, am enjoying the peace and quiet. Maybe I'll actually get something done around here for a change!

Is anybody out there?

Seriously. Not a comment for ages. Is anyone reading this? Should I even bother?

Maybe I will password protect this blog and then use it to make fun of the non-readers. :p

(In case you don't know how to comment, you just click on "0 Comments" below the post and it brings you to the comment page where you can read what others have posted and leave your own comment.)

What a difference 11 hours makes

AKA, WTF.

Last night we were under a snowfall warning. As I sat in my office in the afternoon, the sky went from sunny and bright to dark and ominous. Thinking back to the whiteout we drove through coming back from Medicine Hat back in January, I cancelled our plans to go down this weekend.

Come bedtime, it was snowing a few wet and fluffy flakes.

This morning, we awoke to this:




And then, it got nicer. The sun came out. Right now, at 8:00 p.m., it's 8 degrees, bright blue sky, sun shining brightly. Here is the same view from our front window, a mere 11 hours later.



Now that's what I call variable conditions.

Catching up

I've been pretty busy since we came back from holidays so I've let the blogging slip a bit. My apologies, faithful readers and non-commenters :p

I'll take you back to April 21, shortly after our return from the beautiful Caribbean, when Mother Nature decided to pay us back for our relatively snow-free winter.

The front yard:



The back yard:



Ick. Fortunately, it was gone after a (very long) week and we were back into sun and dry sidewalks. My friends Robyn and Trevor came up for the weekend with their daughter Sandra, and we took a day trip to Banff.

Looking up 'Main Street':



Various mountain shots:





The Banff Springs Hotel:



The Hoodoos:


Sandra the cute:



And then this weekend, we bought a BBQ. Not just a BBQ, the mother of all BBQs.



And we broke it in in true Albertan style:



That's all for now. Coming up: Mother's Day in Medicine Hat, off to Ottawa for Tulipfest, and then our extra long weekend in the T-dot. I'll try to update sometime in the middle, but I make no guarantees.