Sunday, August 21st, 2011

I got up early because Lurline, Dave and I agreed that we would go on a road trip out to Dinosaur National Park today.  It's near Brooks, a couple hours away, so we wanted to get on the road early.  They were supposed to meet me at 9am, but we actually left a little later than that because Dave forgot his wallet at home.  Tristan decided to join us for the day, too.

They hadn't eaten or had a coffee yet, so we stopped to pick up food, then had to get gas.  The morning was slipping away.  Anyway, we finally headed out around 10am.  It's not a very interesting drive.  Lots of fields and flatlands as far as the eye can see.  It was going to be a scorcher, too.  I think we got up to 32.5 degrees celsius!

When we got to Dinosaur National Park, we got out to take photos and I also took some video of the view from the top.  Then we drove down into the canyon and had a snack and a drink at the concession.  There's an actual campground there.  It was really, really hot outside in the sun, so we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible.

There's a loop that you can drive right through the hoodoos and rock formations of the canyon.  Along the way they have some actual dinosaur "digs" that you can check out.  It was interesting and there were lots of fantastic photo opportunities.  It was hard to choose which one to use for today.

When I got home, I made BBQ pork skewers, corn on the cob and potato salad for dinner.  The potato salad was store bought, actually.  Then I put on some music and read a book.  I'm reading Water for Elephants.  I didn't want to see the movie until I've read the book.

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

I took a "me" day today.  Stuck around the house in the morning and had a few pancakes with the Raposos, then got ready and headed out.  I went to get my hair cut first ... just got a trim, so nothing too special.  Then, I went to a car wash to finally get my car clean.  I washed it last week, but didn't do a very good job.  After that, I had my camera so I went for a drive heading South.  I only got as far as De Winton just outside Calgary.  I drove some back roads and took some photos of random things.  It's absolutely gorgeous in Alberta in the summer.  There are fields, hills, amazing skies, sunshine, hay bales, and old structures scattered all throughout the province - like old grain elevators, farm equipment and barns.  I just love going for these types of random journeys to see what I can find.  The picture below is just one of many that I shot that were so naturally intriguing.

When I got home, I finally heard from the property management company regarding the 2 bedroom apartment.  He wanted me to go drop off the deposit and fill out some paperwork.  So, I headed to the far Northeast corner of Calgary - Falconridge - and paid my deposit, 1/2 August rent, and September rent.  My bank account is taking a big hit!  I told him I'd move in on Saturday, so we'll do a walk through that morning to check everything over.  Yay!  I finally officially have a place to live.  Phew ... I wasn't sure I was going to find anything, and best of all I love Bankview area.  It's very close to where I was living before.  I love it when a plan comes together.

Friday, June 24th, 2011

We're all leaving for BC today, so I spent my morning packing up my stuff and cleaning up a bit.  Dave only worked a half day, so he and Tristan began packing up the tent trailer.  Lurline came home, and we all rushed around to make sure everything had been packed and the house set in order.  We ate the leftover kebabs for lunch, then went to pick up Talia from her job at Starbuck's, then we hit the road.  It was a long, slow trip for some reason.  We had a lot of stops, and with 5 large humans and a dog, space was limited in the Toureg.  When we hit the highway between Kamloops and Merritt, things went awry for me ... I won't go into details, but I have a very funny and embarrassing story to tell - and I've decided it can only be told in person, so as to get the full picture of the events.  We left Calgary at around 3:45pm and didn't arrive into Chilliwack until probably 2:30am.  We were all pretty tired - particulary me - because of the events that unfolded on the drive.  After filling in mom and dad on some of the drama of the drive, we all went to bed. Here's a shot of the Rockies somewhere close to Lake Louise.