I know... It's been three weeks since my last post. There has just been no time (or internet access, most places) for posting. We are in Havre Montana, and, hopefully, making haste. Here's our planned route. We hope to be back by July 27. That's about 500 Km per day for 7 days.
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Monday, July 21, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Victoria
I won’t be creating entries for my whole stay here. When we do something interesting or memorable I might create an entry – as in Wednesday night – we went to Spinnakers for dinner. We walked there – 40 minutes each way. I didn’t feel at all guilty having 2 beer with dinner.
There is a Tall Ship Festival going on in Victoria now. On Thursday we watched some the ships sail into the inner harbour. The most interesting, a replica of the Bounty, stayed too long way out in the outer harbour with her sails furled up, so I never got a good shot of her. The one at right is a smaller 2 masted ship called the Lady Washington. Ships are feminine it seems.
Friday we walked around the inner harbour. It was a maze of masts and rigging. We were all too frugal to pay $15 for a pass to visit the ships. The lineups were terrible anyway. This is a shot of a small part of the harbour where Bounty was moored.
There is a Tall Ship Festival going on in Victoria now. On Thursday we watched some the ships sail into the inner harbour. The most interesting, a replica of the Bounty, stayed too long way out in the outer harbour with her sails furled up, so I never got a good shot of her. The one at right is a smaller 2 masted ship called the Lady Washington. Ships are feminine it seems.
Friday we walked around the inner harbour. It was a maze of masts and rigging. We were all too frugal to pay $15 for a pass to visit the ships. The lineups were terrible anyway. This is a shot of a small part of the harbour where Bounty was moored.
Edmonton to Victoria
There’s not much to say about these two days. Day 1 (Monday) I drove to Kamloops – a 9 hour endurance run. I didn’t feel like looking for a campsite, so I called Maureen and got a recommendation for a motel. It was not too expensive, comfortable and had wireless internet. It was also close to an Earl’s Restaurant that was OK. By the time I had supper I was too tired to go online.
Day 2 was easier. I left at 9:00, made the 2 PM ferry and was at M&B’s place by 4:15. The drive from Kamloops down into the Fraser River valley is very scenic.
I guess I was still pretty tired on day 2. I managed to drive through a changing red light on Blanshard Street in downtown Victoria and just missed being clipped by a small car crossing the intersection. Man, I was pissed at myself. Just writing about it now, has tensed me up. Fortunately no one was hurt; nor was any damage done, other than to my ego.
Day 2 was easier. I left at 9:00, made the 2 PM ferry and was at M&B’s place by 4:15. The drive from Kamloops down into the Fraser River valley is very scenic.
I guess I was still pretty tired on day 2. I managed to drive through a changing red light on Blanshard Street in downtown Victoria and just missed being clipped by a small car crossing the intersection. Man, I was pissed at myself. Just writing about it now, has tensed me up. Fortunately no one was hurt; nor was any damage done, other than to my ego.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Edmonton
My long, long overdue encounter with my (not so) new great-niece, Aoife has come to pass. In a more timely sense I also met my newer great-niece, Lucia. Fortunately, we have all agreed to drop the “great” and I am just Uncle Tom.
I took pictures, of course. Here's a couple of the girls.
Surprisingly (for me) Aoife was not at all shy and very quickly adopted me into her “sphere of influence” which already includes her parents and grandparents. Lucia is not is not making a lot of sounds yet (other than occasionally “making her needs known”) but lies quietly observing the world and occasionally smiling at anyone willing to act sufficiently foolishly.
The weekend visit involved shopping for food, preparing food (not so much by me but lots by Aidan and Ange), eating food (I did my part there), cleaning up after food, some drinking (not too much), some yoga, visiting relatives (Val and John – Aidan’s mum and Dad, where we did more eating), lots of playing with Aoife, lots and lots of holding and rocking Lucia (mainly by Ange, some Aidan and a little by me), a visit to the park and a visit to 2 restaurants – all squeezed into 3 days and 4 nights. I also went to Fort Saskatchewan to visit my Mom’s grave.
I would have stayed longer but I was exhausted and needed a rest. Just kidding – actually, Maureen called and tempted me with the possibility of seeing Dave Brubeck (jazz) on Tuesday night – so I deicided to leave Monday instead of Tuesday, as I had planned. Also, as I had chosen Tuesday arbitrarily on my own, I was feeling slightly guilty about it, as Ange and Aidan seemed so busy with their lives.
As I was leaving, I did briefly reconsider my decision to head to Victoria (plan B) and instead follow my original intention (plan A) to go to Prince Rupert and take a ferry down the Inside Passage. However, that would have taken the better part of a week and a lot of driving – basically 3 or 4 extra days that I then wouldn’t be able to spend with M&B. So, I finally went with Plan B. As a result, it’s doubtful that I will get to see the Inside Passage this trip. Maybe I’ll just have to fly back west and take a cruise – global warming be damned.
I took pictures, of course. Here's a couple of the girls.
Surprisingly (for me) Aoife was not at all shy and very quickly adopted me into her “sphere of influence” which already includes her parents and grandparents. Lucia is not is not making a lot of sounds yet (other than occasionally “making her needs known”) but lies quietly observing the world and occasionally smiling at anyone willing to act sufficiently foolishly.
The weekend visit involved shopping for food, preparing food (not so much by me but lots by Aidan and Ange), eating food (I did my part there), cleaning up after food, some drinking (not too much), some yoga, visiting relatives (Val and John – Aidan’s mum and Dad, where we did more eating), lots of playing with Aoife, lots and lots of holding and rocking Lucia (mainly by Ange, some Aidan and a little by me), a visit to the park and a visit to 2 restaurants – all squeezed into 3 days and 4 nights. I also went to Fort Saskatchewan to visit my Mom’s grave.
I would have stayed longer but I was exhausted and needed a rest. Just kidding – actually, Maureen called and tempted me with the possibility of seeing Dave Brubeck (jazz) on Tuesday night – so I deicided to leave Monday instead of Tuesday, as I had planned. Also, as I had chosen Tuesday arbitrarily on my own, I was feeling slightly guilty about it, as Ange and Aidan seemed so busy with their lives.
As I was leaving, I did briefly reconsider my decision to head to Victoria (plan B) and instead follow my original intention (plan A) to go to Prince Rupert and take a ferry down the Inside Passage. However, that would have taken the better part of a week and a lot of driving – basically 3 or 4 extra days that I then wouldn’t be able to spend with M&B. So, I finally went with Plan B. As a result, it’s doubtful that I will get to see the Inside Passage this trip. Maybe I’ll just have to fly back west and take a cruise – global warming be damned.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Fort Battleford
I should get to Edmonton today. But before I get back on the road, I want to visit the Fort Battleford Historic site. Members the the Northwest Mounted Police from this detachment were involved in quelling the Metis rebellion of the 1880s and also for subduing the Indian tribes in north western Saskatchewan. These actions were the precursor to the establishment of the residential schools for which Stephen Harper recently apologized. I had read some details about this when researching my trip and wanted to learn more.
The guided tour of the fort took about 1 1/2 hours and I won't bore you with the details. I'll just say that the latter half of the 1800s is not a period of which we can be proud as far as our treatment of our first nations and Metis is concerned. It's very sad. I'm just not sure what we as individuals can do about these past sins- perhaps support government actions to address the wrongs in the future.
Getting to Edmonton from Battleford was uneventful, other than my arrival 2 hours earlier than I thought I would. It turns out my GPS is not able to use local time and was giving me the arrival time as Eastern Standard Time. Oh well, Ange and Aidan seemed to cope with my precipitous arrival.
The guided tour of the fort took about 1 1/2 hours and I won't bore you with the details. I'll just say that the latter half of the 1800s is not a period of which we can be proud as far as our treatment of our first nations and Metis is concerned. It's very sad. I'm just not sure what we as individuals can do about these past sins- perhaps support government actions to address the wrongs in the future.
Getting to Edmonton from Battleford was uneventful, other than my arrival 2 hours earlier than I thought I would. It turns out my GPS is not able to use local time and was giving me the arrival time as Eastern Standard Time. Oh well, Ange and Aidan seemed to cope with my precipitous arrival.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Grain Elevator
Ever since Manitoba, I have been driving by these grain elevators. For some reason, I like them. Most seem to be falling into disuse. Anyway, this one screamed out to me to be shown in black and white. So I did.
Kandahar
Earlier, when I went through Spanish, ON, David wondered what direction I was heading in. Just to confuse David further, here is a shot of my van as I stopped in Kandahar. There was no sign of Taliban. I was shooting into the sun on a bright day, so the image is not the best.
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