May 19, 2013 - Thinking about the guest house

As I sit in the dining room at the hostel I notice that Christen, the Australian who lives and works here at the hostel has become the main attraction. She is special in that she gives off an energy that makes you want to sit next to her close your eyes and hope some of it flows your way. I don't usually come to the dining room as after being at site, I spend as much time as possible outside when I am here. But I am seeing today what I have been missing. This is not the hostel of yesteryears when everyone is chatting and sharing the 3...

May 19, 2013 - We saw our first bear today

9-17-2013 Crooked River (Bear lake) provincial park to Dawson Creek. This morning it was a chilly 40 degrees, I guess this is why they still have snow on the ground here at Bear Lake. While we were traveling today we saw our first animals which was exciting! We first saw a large red fox w/ a huge white tail, about 1 hour into the trip. And then we saw our first grizzly bear by the side of the road! To be honest, He looked like he just woke up and was a bit dazed. He looked kinda skinny too. Then on the other side of the pass we saw a large...

May 19, 2013 - Fête des patriotes.

C'est une fin de semaine de trois jours, on croyait bien voir mon fils Martin et son épouse Chantal s'inviter pour une journée mais il faut croire que la température les a découragé. = Jeudi j'ai commencé mon ménage de printemps à l'intérieur de la roulotte, il me reste que quelques petites choses à laver et j'aurai fini l'intérieur, il me restera le plus difficile et le plus long soit l'extérieur. Le proprio est venu faire la réparation de mon égout, au lieu de changer le tuyau brisé, il a creusé sur deux autres terrains et me poser un...

May 18, 2013 - Camping in the rain

9-15-2013 Rosedale-to Lac La Hache Provincial Park We drove up the Frasier river Canyon today. The weather was partly sunny as we drove through 7 different tunnels, one after another. That was fun and different. I can’t say that I have ever been through 7 tunnels in a row. When leaving the Frasier river canyon, the terrain totally changed from a heavily wooded wilderness to an arid terrain like eastern Washington. This happened about Lytton and the Thompson river canyon area. Then about milepost 100 it changed again to rolling grasslands...

May 18, 2013 - Bear lake is Awesome!

9-16-2013 Lac La hache Campground to Crooked River (Bear lake) provincial park/ just north of Prince George. Another day of beautiful scenery. Lots of cattle ranches and rolling hills. We saw baby cows galore, so cute and little, prancing all around their Mamas. Lots of neat old ranches with old barns made out of logs. That is the first time I have ever seen a barn made out of logs before. About an hour into our trip we stopped off at the Caribou Wood shop on the west side of the road. They advertise 20 flavors of fudge to choose from....

May 17, 2013 - the east cape

We walked to the most eastern point of New Zealand today,lat s37, long 178, what a remote and beautiful part of the country. After riding a great dune trail yesterday at Opotiki, having said farewell to our friends, we had a lovely drive along the coast and camped completely alone at a wee bay called Maraehako. Sunsets and open fires, stuff we love. I got another swim in this morning. The East Cape is quite different from the remainder of the country, mostly maori inhabitants, and seemingly wild horses. And lots of lots of rugged coastline...

May 17, 2013 - Columbia Icefields / Athabasca Glacier

We woke up this morning viewing in full sunlight, Athabasca Glacier … an accessible glacier as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall. It is one of the most visited attractions in Canada … maybe even North America. We took a trip up to the glacier and walked on it back in ’88 … decided to save the money to use for something we’ve not seen or done before on this bucket-list trip. Last night the glacier was partially covered in snow and clouds at times … this morning it is crystal clear, not a cloud in the sky. Enjoy the pics …

May 17, 2013 - Jasper National Park

This is another park we visited on our honeymoon in 1988. It remains as beautiful as it was then … so it wasn’t just “stars in our eyes” on that trip. If anything, this area is more beautiful to us now than it was then. The town of Jasper itself is much more commercialized now than it was in ’88 … kind of a “Wisconsin Dells” atmosphere … with shops and eateries that charge “whatever the traffic will bear” and much overcharged for what you get 50 miles down the road. But … it is a delightful town. Extraordinary is a better word for the area...

May 16, 2013 - Last week here

Only 6 more days to get the rest of our belongings to storage and put the camper back on. Got our Trip Tik from BCAA this morning and new tires on the truck. Getting to the bottom of the deep freeze and trying not to buy any more groceries. Thank goodness there are a lot of hockey games for Frank. I am busy cleaning. Hopefully when we buy a new home it will be as clean as we are leaving this one.

May 16, 2013 - can you say scared???

Well When I came to Fort Mac in September I was going to stay for 6 months. 9 months later it about to be over. I got an email this week saying that Shell is not renewing the contract for the company I work for and that we will leave Fort Mac May 31 and then spend 2 weeks in Calgary handing over the project. At first I was actually scared and upset my bosses at Shell and Fransen talked to me about staying until September and when I got the email all I could think about was the money. But a talk to with a very smart lady made me realize that...

May 16, 2013 - Lake Louise / Icefields Parkway

The trip north from Banff toward Jasper today was “for old times’ sake” … we honeymooned in this area in July of 1988. This is year number 25 … what a great trip to celebrate our Silver Anniversary. We stayed at Lake Louise and stopped for the glaciers along the Icefield Parkway … great memories as we saw it all again today. It was an interesting day weather wise … cool this morning, but plenty of sun and blue sky. We ran through rain and snow … mountain tops in the clouds much of the day. As I write this log, it is snowing on us and you...

May 15, 2013 - Last day in Toronto and Canada

This morning we had breakfast at St Lawrence markets, sort of like our Central market. The food in Canada has been great, not as I imagined. Although Starbucks and other chains are everywhere, it is possible to get nice fresh stuff too. We took a walking tour of Old Town Toronto run by a historical architect. We were the only ones on the tour and it was great hearing about the history and architecture. Toronto is a rapidly growing city full of high rise condominiums, but luckily some old buildings are being preserved. We even saw some...