The last while I have been drowning in work. I am still kind of drowning in work, but while I have my head above the water for just a second I thought that it would be best to try and spew out some words and photos. I wanted to get the photos up last week, but given my lack of reliable internet in Rocky Rapids I was delayed until yesterday. I got the photos named, geotagged, and posted; now its time for the words.
Where to start? Where did I leave off?
The Columbia Valley with the Haladies
It was the beginning of September. I had been hoping that a friend of mine in New Brunswick would come out to visit, well, I might have been pushing for it a little bit too. Anyways, in September a friend of hers was moving out here to Alberta. She was moving to Edmonton, and since she was driving across the country she needed a car buddy to go with. That was my friend. They took two weeks and they headed from Saint John, New Brunswick, all the way to Edmonton, Alberta. They got there with a bit of time to spare and they decided to do a bit of sightseeing while the seeing was good. They headed to Jasper, Banff, Calgary, Drumheller, and finally to the Columbia Valley with me!
Me and the Haladies
We were supposed to have two days and three nights, but things shifted a bit (as they do) and we ended with only one day and two nights. There could never be enough time, but to see what the Valley could really offer it was enough.
They arrived Friday night after briefly getting lost on one of the Valley's more scenic roads. I welcomed them, gave them the tour, and then gave them the options. There is always more to do than there is time to do it so I just laid out some options and they picked at their leisure. For that night they picked to go to the historic Toby Theatre to watch Captain America.
It was a good time. Good movie. Good popcorn. And there was definitely a Good photo of the two girls snuggling up beside each other in one of the Toby's iconic love seats. It was a good time, and a great way to start the weekend. It is tragic that the days for the Toby are numbered, but at least it is memorable enough to stick in our minds forever.
True Love?
The next day we were up bright and early and ready to go. Appreciating the limited time the girls wanted to do as much as was humanly possible. I made a quick breakfast of what was supposed to be omelets and bacon, but Dad hid the omelet pan resulting in my making them scrambled eggs and bacon whenst my omelets failed to... omelet.
The Mining Settlement
We eventually did make it to the settlement and I showed the girls some of the Valley's rich history. We wandered around the old log cabins, poked around at the tins of Corned Beef and Tomatoes, and explored the life of a hundred years ago.
Tomatoes
Corned Beef
Bella Vista
The Trestle Bridge
Lunch done, we were back in the Jeep and on our way. We stopped for gas at Petro Canada and purchased the girls their first Slurpees. First Slurpees, gasp, I know, but over in New Brunswick the Irvings own everything which includes all of the gas stations, which means that there at no 7-11's and no Mac's and thus no Slurpees. So we got them their first Slurpees and we enjoyed them greatly as we raced south on the highway towards Whiteswan Provincial Park.
It felt like we had done a lot of driving already, and perhaps we had, but was was so worth it. It took us fortyish minutes to get into Whiteswan, down the White River, and to Lussier Hot Springs. These hot springs are natural. What that means is there are no gates, no fees, and no buildings. All it is is a jet of hot water seeping out of the ground and collected in pools of stone.
Down to the Hot Springs
Amazing.
The Hot Springs
I cracked out the speedo and we headed down the cliffside and to the hot springs. It was busy that day, as the pools were full of people, but there was just enough space. I seemed to draw a great deal of attention with my florescent speedo, and it was as if people could not not look. C'est la vie. That speedo makes a statement.
Statement made.
The girls and I squeezed into the hottest pool, and then jumped from pool to pool to mitigate the dizzyness caused by the hot water and faint smell of sulphur. What a great way to spend an afternoon. The hot springs start with the spring, and as the water gets further away it cools off. Eventually the water leaves all of the pools and flows into the White River. I have crossed that river before, and even in the heat of summer it is still freezing. We didn't need to cross the river, but we did need to go in it. I managed to convince my friend that we needed to go swimming for the authentic hot springs experience. We headed back to the hot pool and sat in it up to our chins. The sweat was pouring off of our brows as our body temperatures skyrocketed. When we couldn't take it any more we burst from the hot pool, sprinted down the bank, and leapt into the icy river... well, that is what I did. As I was floating downstream and smashing my legs on the rocks my friend decided it was better to enter the river slowly. I was up and out and heading for the hot pools as she finally submerged herself. She too found herself pulled downstream a bit and hammered into rocks. We both ended up in the coldest of the hot pools with our skin burning from the temperature change. Everyone in the hot pools had been watching, and as we tried to heat up again there was much laughing and smiling.
We did heat up again, and we did hop into the river once more. It was a great afternoon. While we where there a few other people made their way into the river and one gentleman actually crossed it. Good times.
Satisfied for warmth the grabbed our belongings and headed back to the Jeep. We made our way back towards Invermere and stopped at Akiskinook on the way. I showed the ladies the condo and then we headed down to the beach so we could see the lake. The sun was starting to set so we were faced with a gorgeous view. We enjoyed the view for a moment and then continued our journey to Bella Vista.
Lake Windermere
Lake Munn
Mirror
Reflection
What a day.
We were up early the next morning, as it was my Grandparent's 60 Wedding Anniversary Party in Calgary and I needed to get there on time. We said our goodbye's and I was on my way to Calgary. It was a short visit, but a good visit. Still, I do hope we have more time next time.
60th Wedding Anniversary
60 Years is a long time, so long in fact that I cannot even imagine how much time that actually is. It was a good party. I did manage to make it to Calgary on time, and I did manage to make it to the party on time. The whole family was there as well as a whole bunch of people that I either had never met, or that I had never met after my memory had developed. We talked, we mingled, and on behalf of the grandchildren I gave a toast.
I must say, I might not be able to imagine what happened 60 years ago, but I am sure glad that things happened the way they did.
Happy 60th Grandma and Grandpa!
Cooks Aplenty
Moonrise
The Valley
The following weekend was my Grandfather(on the other side)'s Birthday. For his Birthday his three children all gathered at Bella Vista as well as all of us offspring on the Bella Vista side. It is always interesting to get the children together, especially since we see each other to seldom.
I know that I had just seen Granddad a few weeks prior, but every opportunity is a golden one. It was an excellent family gathering and for the most part everyone played nice. We tried to give everyone a taste of the valley, so we had everything from water-skiing to going to the "trestle bridge" to Granddad going off with Dad to fire off a few shotgun rounds.
Waterskiing
When Up is Down
Bonfire
Lift
Rise
He was rolling in the dirt so I tried to film it but I just missed it...
Happy Birthday Granddad!
Drowning
So what happened next you might ask? That was when I started drowning in work. One of my projects has been well received within my company and its application will be widespread. This just means that I have got a whole lot of work ahead of me to spread the application around. Work. Work. Work. It is a good thing that I am a workaholic... this makes this much easier. Still. A lot of work is a lot of work.
I'm still not caught up, but I am getting closer and closer...
p.s. Somewhere in there I managed to sneak off to Edmonton to see a Nikki Yanofsky concert.
Edmonton
Clocktower
Art Gallery
Food so Amazing it Can't be Translated into English
Steamed Fish
Chinese!
The Gates of Chinatown
Just Before the Concert
The Larches
The Light on the Lake
The Land of Fog
Autumn
A Fall Beach
It was Thanksgiving Weekend (so, last weekend) when I wanted to find the Larches. I worked the first day of the weekend, but began coming up with an idea for what to do next. When we went up to Paradise Mine we found about a bazillion Larches at the top of the mountain. It was the right season, and my thought was that the Larges could all be orange about now. Chloe and I hopped in the red truck and headed towards Paradise Mine. We parked at the mining settlement and then continued up the mountain on foot.
Morning Mist
Mystique
An October Mountain
It was not a cold weekend, but it was cool. There was no snow in the valley, but the tips of the mountains were gently frosted. It did not take us long in our hike until we were walking through a thin layer of snow. There were a few Larches around and they were amazing, but as we got up further the Larches seemed to have lost their needles already. It get cold sooner in the mountains, and though the Larches might have been orange in the valley, they were already in peaceful hibernation higher up. This was disappointing, but we hiked for as long as we could anyways. We had limited time here so we just went till we had to turn around and that is what we did.
A Larch
Bear Prints
One thing that was interesting was watching the animal tracks. Since it is nearing winter the bears are all headed back towards the mountains. Down by Bella Vista there was a significant amount of bear droppings around the lake, and as we walked up the mountain we could see bear tracks in the snow. The tracks were small and the bear could not have been much bigger than a large dog. Still, it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up some.
It was funny, sort of... there we were, walking beside wild raspberries, picking wild raspberries actually, right beside a set of bear tracks. Yep. Brilliant.
When we made it back down the mountain we had a decent handful of berries and we raced back down the mountain roads to BV.
It was cooking time, and as usual we all ran around like chickens with their heads cut off as we prepared for supper. Stress or no, supper was amazing and it was an amazing Thanksgiving.
A Hole in the Sky
The Lake
The next day we went for another hike. This was one that my Brother-in-Law had just been on and he thought we would appreciate it. Panorama road runs on the north side of Toby Creek from Inveremere to Panorama. In all of our years driving to Panorama I have always thought that it appears like there was a road on the south side of Toby Creek. Well... there was. That was where we headed. We drove about half an hour to get to the beginning of the trail and then we hiked along it for an hour. The trail used to be an old carriage road, and it was no doubt used to get to Paradise Mine, Thunderbird Mine, Delphine Mine, etc. The road was cut into the side of the hill, and then cut into the side of the cliffs. Toby Creek turns into a sort of canyon and that was where the road rested. There were some spots where logs and timbers had been used to support the road and where they had now broken apart. We walked through the trail, through the random rain forest, and then onto the edge of the cliff. We walked all the way to where the foundations of the bridge rested on both sides of the gorge. The bridge had long since been removed.
Inukshuk
The Hidden Rainforest
A Broken Road
Toby Creek
The Abandoned Bridge
Climb
Amazing. No matter how long you spend in the Valley there is always something more to find. It is riddled with history.
We headed back to BV, back to Calgary, and I headed back to Drayton Valley.
It appears like I am finally caught up. I will probably be working for the rest of the day but at least I am getting a handle on it. I will be in Calgary for the next two weeks taking a course here and then I will be back in Drayton briefly and then in the Phillipines.
Minor note. I was doing some more public speaking on Friday. My session got crammed in last minute so I was worried there wouldn't be many attendees. They gave me a room with about forty seats and the room was full, including people standing at the back because there were no more chairs. Ye haw.
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