Jul 2009

Well, I am home. I arrived this morning at 6:00 a.m. Thank you Sam for picking me up at the crack of dawn!

In looking back, which from my previous blog, you know I like to do, I have some things that I would like to share.

First off....
If you have never been to the Rocky Mountains, I strongly suggest that you go. The photos here are just a sample, and of course don't give the whole panoramic view of being there. Absolutely breathtaking!

Second....
Although you may find cowboys in Calgary, it is difficult to distinguish the real cowboy from the pseudo cowboys, especially during Stampede week. Everywhere I looked, there were Korean, Chinese, and Asian cowboys. Once in a while you would see a rugged type, with his red plaid shirt, and wornout boots, but he was mostly found in the surrounding bars in the downtown core and not at the Stampede, unless of course he was roping a calf, which I didn't see as it was too late in the day when we arrived and most of the events would be taking place later in the week, too bad.

Thirdly....
Calgary is an amazing City. Everything you would ever need in a City is there and in a compact area. The downtown is as compact as any large Canadian city that I have ever visited. I was impressed that the Zoo was close at hand and easily accessible. Construction of tall skyscrapers is underway in several areas of the downtown, Calgary looks prosperous. The widespread residential areas are a little disappointing. You really do need a car to get from the 'burbs into the downtown core. A single cab ride for me was $46 before I picked up the rental car.

Overall....
Although I enjoyed my visit to Calgary, and am very happy to have went, I don't think I'd be going out of my way to visit again, unless of course Ryan is still there. Like any large city, it's much of a muchness really after being there for a few days. From what I understand, he will be moving to Vancouver in September. Guess maybe that will be a destination next summer. Maybe some whale watching will be in order ....

In my opinion, the best shots of the trip: Moraine Lake

and Lake Louise Rapids

June-Anne

This morning started off early as per my usual. Waking at 5:30 a.m., I attempted to go back to sleep by my body was having no part of that. I lounged around for the morning, which was quite nice, as early afternoon I was meeting up with Ryan and we were headed to the Calgary Zoo. The zoo is located just outside of the downtown core, which is quite amazing really. Once inside the zoo, you would have no idea how close you really were to everything. It has the same flavour as the Toronto Zoo, but a much smaller footprint. There are still plenty of animals and buildings to go through, but not so spread out, which is much easier on the feet. I have posted a few photos of our adventure there and what I think is a very good shot of Ryan.

After the zoo, Ryan and I headed back home for a bit to get things organized. My flight leaves at 12:45 a.m. tomorrow morning, so I need to be at the airport tonight around 11 or so.
After doing some last minute shopping, we headed back downtown to drop of the rental car and a friend of Ryan's is meeting us there to pick us up and take us to the airport. We met up around 9 p.m. and away we went. Arriving at the airport in plenty of time, I treated myself to a nice dinner at Kelsey's and walked around for a bit before heading to the departure lounge, where I almost fell asleep waiting for the plane to board. Once boarded, it didn't take me very long to nod off. The next thing I knew, we were landing. It's good to be back home after a long day.

After a quiet morning I met Ryan downtown around noon. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to the Stampede grounds. I was a little let down to be honest. The rodeo had already shown at 1:00 and not again until 8 p.m. where I expect I will be gone by then. Too long to hang around.

I think I expected more that what was there. Once inside the grounds it was more so a host of rides and games than anything else. Eventually we stumbed across the Art Display/Show/Exhibition that was tucked away in a back part of a building. Not very well advertised, but I was very impressed with the art that was there, and with the amount of work that was being displayed. Unfortunately, I think it is one of the Stampede's best kept secrets, as I saw no advertising for it. In talking with some of the artists, I heard several times, that barely anyone ever came through. Too bad, the display was magnificent, too good to be missed in my opinion. There was a featured competition of highschool students and the work was amazing. Out of respect, I did not take any photos with my bb, although in hindsight, a few maybe wouldn't have been that bad. They had several large water features set up, mostly around large standing rocks, with what looked like sculptures sitting on the edges. It wasn't until I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye that I realized that these were actually living models. They had been painted in browns to emulate woodtones and looked like carvings. Amazing. Speaking of carvings, there were many, and many sculptures as well, both in miniature and in lifesize. A great display. After walking around the fairgrounds again, Ryan I and decided to leave and head out someplace to eat. We went to Earl's for a true Alberta beef Steak dinner. YUMMY!! Knives were not necessary, the meat fell apart as soon as you touched it. Can't beat Alberta beef in my opinion, especially blue rare. After dinner, we headed back home, where I dove into my bottle of Yellow Tail that I had attempted to drink the night before. I may get to finish it tonight. It will be a quiet night, Ryan has gone out for the evening which suits me just fine. After running around all during the day, I look forward to some quiet time in the evenings. I didn't take any photos today. I didn't want to carry my camera around with me. Tomorrow we are off to the Calgary Zoo, and then later tomorrow night, I catch my flight home. Right now, I have the place to myself and a hot bath is in order.

The day started off fairly early for me as usual. It had been eating at me since yesterday, this car rental thing. Because it was a holiday very few places were open so in order for us to get to Banff I took what I could get. This morning I started making phonecalls to find a better rate than $120 a day. Found one...Enterprise kicked in at $42 day unlimited mileage. I can now manage to keep it for a few days without breaking the bank. So, that's how the day started. By 10 am I was sorted and Ruan and I headed out for breakfast. Ryan had an appt today for some tatoo work, so while he did that, I went for a manicure. Lovely. I've been for manicures before but never has it included a whole lower arm and hand massage. Anyhow, after that I headed back to where Ryan was and watched him get his outline for his tatoo done. It took a while but we spent the time chatting, of course inbetween winces. Afterwards Ryan and I walked around downtown Calgary. Lots of cponstruction of huge skyscrapers going on here. The city is bustling with excitement of the upcoming Stampede. I found cowboys...lots of em. Every nook and cranny. They are everywhere. After a long afternoon ealking downtow, Ryan and I went for a nice dinner. I then dropped him off for him to get ready for work, and I found a mall. I know om getting comfy here now, as - also fpund the grocery store and the liquor store. Now I am back at home with a bottle of Yellowtail and some trail mix relaxing for the day at the Stampede tomorrow

How lucky am I to be able to visit Banff, Alberta on Canada Day. I woke fairly early this morning, after a decent nights sleep. Once up, I woke Ryan and I proceeded to find a rental car. Quite a feat on a National holiday, but I managed. Ryan and I called a cab and went to pick up the car, afterward, we went to Denny's for a nice leisurely breakfast. The company and the conversation was wonderful. It's been quite a while since Ryan and I have had the opportunity to chat like that, what a level headed young man he has turned out to be. He explained to me what he had been up to over the past several months and what his future plans were. It was nice to hear, and very exciting stuff. I felt myself take a hidden sigh of relief.

After breakfast we drove back to the condo to grab a few things to take with us on our outing for the day. Namely, the camera After making a few quick stops before heading out of Calgary, we were on our way to Banff. How exciting! I could hardly wait to see the mountains in all their glory once again. Such an inspiring energy, and the air seems so much easier to breathe.

Our first stop of course was the Village of Banff. It hasn't changed very much, as I had suspected. Some of the shoppe owners have altered, but the streetscape and the mountains in the background still remain very familiar. We spent quite a few hours walking around, in and out of the shoppes and walked down towards the Banff Hotel and the rapids. They were wonderful. (There are plenty of pictures to share, but once again, I don't have any way of downloading from my main camera, so they won't be up until after I get home. In the meantime, I have some blackberry photos that I took to share until then.) After spending some time in Banff Village, and a very slow departure due to the Canada Day Parade, we headed back to the car and made our way to Lake Louise. We took the off road (Bow River Parkway I think they call it) rather than the #1 highway, which was a nice treat, certainly sounds more intriguing. The scenery was beautiful and the speed limit a little slower to enjoy it.

Along the way, I got one of my wishes. Alongside the road was a herd of wild horses just meandering around, slowing and stopping traffic, not a care in the world. Ryan jumped out of the car to take some pictures on the camera, but quickly jumped back in as the horses began to trot towards him snorting, after only a few shots. I think it scared him just a bit. I am hoping that he got a clear photo of the mustang in front that had crystal blue eyes!

Amazing, I will never forget this beautiful chestnut and brown painted mustang as he led the herd down the road. Obviously the Alpha male. I think i'd like to paint him. Due to the circumstances, I may be painting from memory

After driving along the road for several miles we finally came upon Lake Louise. The hotel was like a jewel in the wilderness, but the real jewel lay quietly behind her, Lake Louise herself. The day had graced us with sunshine from the time we woke up this morning, and to see the glacier on the mountain that feeds Lake Louise with the shimmer on the surface of the lake was unbelievable. It's another one of those things, that you can't really take a photo of it, as it missed the whole panoramic setting, but we did try and will upload later with the others. We then all headed toward the hotel, as I was intrigued to see the inside of it. The architecture and tapestries that graced the main lobby was a nice surprise. Off to the right was a windowed hallway of arches, that let to shops and an art gallery. We stayed inside the hotel for about an hour, wandering around the main floor. It was beautiful.

After Lake Louise we headed a little further on down the road to Lake Moraine. Here I got a little bit smarter and took some photos on my BB to share here. Again, such a beautiful sight and not at all captured in all it's glory, and much less commercialized as Lake Louise, but it does hold the title of being on the backside of the twenty dollar bill form 1969-1979. After a few photos and being chased off by monster mosquitos, we headed back to the car.

It had been 9 hours since we had left Calgary this morning, and it was time to head back. The drive was fairly uneventful with the exception of driving back into poor weather in Calgary after such a stunning day in Banff. I'm not sure what happened to the fireworks display that they had planned. It stays so light so long here, at 11:00 p.m. it was finally getting dark.

I am quite tired and I know I will sleep well again tonight...and I'll need to...tomorrow, we are spending the day in downtown Calgary. I would like to visit some art galleries and do a little shopping.