Bestest Road Trip Evar

Today I went to Radium Hot Springs with friends. We left the city a little late (11 am) and the first thing that happened..... WE GOT STUCK IN TRAFFIC! It took us a good hour to get out of the city. The day was perfect - not too hot and not cold. As we arrived at the Banff Park gates we again hit traffic and it took forever to get in (ok maybe 15 minutes). Finally free to go we drove to Radium.

Sad thing... I've lived in Calgary all my life (except for my metal lapse of 8 months in Winnipeg) and have never been to the Radium Hot Springs before. It took my friend from Oklahoma and her husband to get me to go there! Ok my life is officially boring.

The hot springs were great and it only cost $6.30 to get in (including GST/PST being in BC). For a 2 hour drive that isn't bad. If you wanted you could stay in the springs all day. You might come out completely wrinkly but you can have a good day. It was very relaxing and I almost fell asleep. There are two pools there - a hot one and cold one. The hot was 39C and the cold springs was 29C. We started in the hot, moved into the cool and then back into the hot. The soothing mineral-rich warm water and scenery combined to relax my muscles and return my peace of mind.

After spending a good 2 hours in the springs we got out and went to grab something quick to eat. Radium isn't the biggest town so we stopped off at an ice cream shoppe and had a small sub.

On the drive home, I asked Sheila if she could find a moose for me as I took my camera and never really seen a moose up close. She said she'd do what she could. It was around 6:30 on our drive home and we started to see a lot of deer. I was really hoping to get my moose, but no luck.

Instead we drove around a corner and on the side of the road was this great black bear. We stopped and watched it for a bit. It was eating up dandelions like there was no tomorrow. I didn't know they ate them and wanted John to catch it so we could take it home to clean up the dandelions around town.

John made a noise and got the bear to look in our direction. That is when I got this great shot. The bear looked to be in good shape and was making a good dent in the dandelions.

Just as we were about to drive off, I spotted a cub coming out of the woods. It was cute as could be.

Then a second cub showed up! This one wasn't as adventurous as the first one but it eventually came closer to its mom too.

I wanted John to catch me a cub to take home as a Father's day gift but he chickened out and wouldn't do it. What a friend!

A lot of people had stopped and were taking pictures and wouldn't you know it there has to be fool in every crowd. People actually started to get out of their vehicles to get closer and take a picture! It would serve them right if the bear attacked them, but then the poor bear would be put down because some jackass got hurt. We were afraid that these people were going to startle the bear, it would warn the cubs and I could see one of them running onto the road and getting run over. After telling people they should really stay in their cars we drove off.

We drove a good 10 minutes until we came to a store/rest area. John went in and asked if there was a way to get a hold of a ranger as we didn't want the bears to get hurt. The store owner seemed to indicate that the mother and her cubs have been seen a lot but when he was told that people were getting out of their cars he radioed for the ranger right away. So we did our good deed for the day.

We saw another black bear on our drive but it was further in the woods and Sheila didn't stop this time (meanie!). There were cars pulled over every now and then but we didn't see any more animals. Then we came upon this wolf on the side of the road. I say it is a young wolf, John thinks it is a coyote. You be the judge.

This guy crossed the road several times and seemed to be afraid but he wasn't going very far. He seemed to want to get close to the vehicles. Again the stupid people seemed to come out of the woods and threw food out of their cars for him to eat. Where do these people come from? Wild animal = wild food NOT McDonald's! I really hate people.

Anyways I got a few good shots of him and Sheila was able to pull up beside him so I could get these great shots.

It was a very exciting drive home but I'm pooed and now off to bed to dream of bears, wolves and relaxing in the hot springs.

2009 Travel Adventure Cancelled... or Postponed

Well since it is almost the end of June it looks like my Travel Alberta trip this year has been cancelled.... or maybe just postponed. I have yet to do a short trip or day trip, especially with Snoopy. I still would like to go to some places this year, so we'll have to wait to see what happens.

My friend Sheila and I have been talking about going to Missoula, Montana as she wants to go down to Cracker Barrel and get a rocking chair. We saw them when we were in Texas in November.

I'm looking into the trip and will keep the blog updated with info as it comes available.

Procrastination, Funeral & Grief

Yesterday I went to a funeral of a lady who I had worked with in the past. We had worked together back about 10 years ago. I then found out she worked for the same company I currently am with, just at a client site. So we never really knew this until I went to the client site for a meeting and saw her there. We weren't "close" friends, more like acquaintances.

Her death seemed to have hit me hard. I think because I knew she was sick and always said I'd call her so we could catch up but never did. I guess I feel guilty about that.

She had a nice service and I needed to attend. Besides the guilt of not calling her, the service seemed to have put closure on Aunt Phyllis' death since I was not able to go out when she passed away. It also helped me in the closure of letting Cali go.

Grief can be a powerful thing and you don't know how much it really affects your life and your being until you finally get a little closure. The light at the end of the dark tunnel seems to be getting closer where I can start to feel like I can let go.

The Great Quilt Room Cleanup

Today mom and I spent about 6 hours cleaning up and re-organizing her quilt room. After about 2 years, it just wasn't working. You could not use the full cutting table as it was constantly full of half projects on the go. So we decided to re-organize and it turned out really good.

We moved the quilt books, magazines and binders off the shelf in the closet onto the bottom of the cutting table. We hardly use them but when we do, it will be easy for us to access them.

We then put all mom's projects on the shelves and labelled them so she knows what is what. It gave us more room I think.

We then cleaned up and removed an extra table around the sewing area. Now you can walk around with ease!

The counter wasn't that bad so we just tidied it up a little.

Look a place for visitors to sit! There was a chair under all that material.

A Birthday Remembrance

It would have been 11 years today that Mojave Desert California Dream "Cali" was born. This is a remembrance of her.

It was back in August 1998 when I was looking for a companion for Snoopy. We were living in the country but moving into Calgary. I had bought my first house and had a very, very long possession date. I had to wait 6 months before I took possession - November 1998. Since Snoopy was used to having company - Lakota, Raven and Sarge - I thought it best if she had a sister of her own to share experiences with in the new house. Before taking possession of the house I thought it best if Snoopy and her new sister got to know each other.

I had looked hard around Calgary for a sibling but could not find anything. I did not want a male dog as they pee on everything and I thought it best to keep with us females. My search expanded to Alberta, then Canada and I still could not find a sibling for Snoopy. The prices were incredible - close to $1,000 - and I didn't want to pay that since I got Snoopy for $250 (without papers).

At the time I was working at PanCanadian when the internet was in its infancy. My job let me to surf the net freely with no consequences (except for the naughty sites). I searched and searched but finally found a dog that needed to be rescued in California. I had no idea what it would take to get this dog but I wanted her. She was a blue ticked beagle like Snoopy - hard to find. I had also been looking at breeders and found Mojave Desert who was in California as well.

I thought I would do a good deed and get the rescue dog and when talking with the Mojave breeder, he offered to go take a look at it and see about getting the dog sent to me. I had contacted the rescue society and told them that Donald from Mojave Desert was coming to take a look at the dog for me. After a lot of time and effort, the society would not let me have the dog as I lived out of the country. I was heartbroken.

Donald knew what I was looking for and so we started talking again. He did have a beagle girl who was ready to go and after a lot of diliberation I said I'd take her. I didn't know if he was just a puppy mill breeder but put my faith in him and glad I did as I was never disappointed with the outcome.

He had indicated that she was a "little tri-colored female who is submissive but beautiful, healthy, playful and very loving". Years later she was still that way and that description fitted her to a "T".

It was August 29th that I had received notice from Donald that Cali had "passed her physical with flying colors". He had indicated that "you are going to really be happy with her. She is one of the cutest beagles you will ever see. Her head is turning a soft, light brown and she has those long floppy ears. She loves to be held, petted and carried around. She will be a great friend for your other beagle." He couldn't have said it any better.

On August 31, 1998 Mom, Ross Van Wert (a friend and co-worker from PanCanadian), Snoopy and I got in the old truck and drove to the airport. Cali was coming in on Canadian Air Cargo that evening around 8:30pm. We had to drive back to the cargo office as that is where she was to be picked up. I was excited and nervous as I didn't know what I was truly getting. It could have been a stuffed dog with 2 missing legs for all I knew.

We went to the cargo office and we were told that we had to go to the hanger where the parcels came in. So we hopped into the truck and drove off to find the hanger. Finally getting to the hanger I was so excited. I had all the paperwork and was ready to pick up my new member of the family. At that point I was told that they could not release the dog as I had to go to customs first. The person indicated that I might not be able to take her home as customs was closing in 20 minutes and sometimes they held the animals for a day. My heart fell to my stomach and I wanted to cry.

So mom quickly drove me back to the airport terminal where I had to find customs and speak with them. Ross stayed behind to check on the pup. At that point I had not even seen Cali. I walked into customs and there was no one around. It looked as if everyone had already gone for the evening and I was heartbroken. Truly ready to cry. An officer saw me and came to see if he could help. I told him my circumstances and was almost in tears. He indicated that it was late and that he doubted that I could have her tonight. Tears started falling, so he went back and spoke with his co-worker. He came back and said that he was wrong and that I just had to pay the customs on her - $44.94 and she was all mine. BUT I had to hurry as the cargo hanger closed in 10 minutes.

Mom had driven around several times until I came out and she said she almost got in trouble for parking so long waiting for me. I told her we had to hurry back and explained what had happened. We got back to the hanger and had all the official paperwork - Cali was officially mine and I could take her home.

She was a groggy little pup as she had a long day. Snoopy sniffed her, wasn't impressed and sat in the back with Ross. Mom thought she was an ugly thing but she was wrong. Cali was always a sweet, cute, loving, playful and cuddly little angel.

Snoopy and Cali became the best of friends, hardly ever fought and played all the time. Cali was a special girl who will always be in my heart forever. Remembering her aroo, her favourite toy - the green frog she carried around by the crotch in her mouth, her excited dance when you came home, to her last breath. I love and miss you my sweet little angel.

Snow on June 6th

Snow started at around 4:30 am.

Cute little snowflakes.

Snow starting to accumulate at 8am.

8am - snowfall

A nice little skiff of snow in June.

After the snow melted, we had a little hail.

Update from Parents

Well mom & dad were not abducted by aliens NOR were they sleeping in the airport for 7 days. Today I got an email from mom saying that they were in Ketchikan, Alaska and they were having a good time. Of course she asked if Paige was well first, guess I should let her out of the shed! bahaha (evil laugh). As for being abducted by aliens, she did say they weren't but some of the people on the ship were weird. Will have to get more information on that when they come home.

Their weather has been beautiful so far and apparently there was a storm last night but they both slept through it. Mom asked if I'd rock her to sleep every night.... um... NO! Sorry!

I guess they have been SHOPPING quiet a lot as I was asked to put some money on their Visa card for them. I'm scared! She also indicated that they sent a package home so when I pick up the mail if there is a package it is from them. They were unsure of the amount of room they have left in their luggage. I sure hope they didn't buy Alaska out. Mom indicated she picked up some Alaskan type material so to be prepared to sew when she gets home.

They had seen some humpback whales, dolphins and okras so far. She also mentioned there is a lot of junk in the ocean (that's sad).

I guess the lineups to get back onto the ship is quite a site - I hope they have some pictures.

I called the Alaskan Airlines to confirm they are still booked for the flight home and they should be fine.

I did warn them that there is SNOW in the forecast for this weekend, heavy snow and that I was not joking. Mom said she heard that.

I'll be bringing in all the plants I can tonight as it is supposed to also freeze, so I'm gonna try to save some plants.

The Crazy Robin

Before mom and dad went away on their vacation, I was in the basement with the dogs and we heard this thump. It was loud and consistent enough to get Paige barking. I went to see what was going on and saw that a bird had flown into the basement window. It kept flying into the window time and time again. At first I thought it was trying to kill something so I went out and checked with window well. The robin flew away when I came to investigate.

It was the first night mom and dad left. I think they must have had the following planned somehow. Starting at 4:30am the next morning that thumping sound was back. Of course Paige started barking but this time the thumping came from my window. I got up to see what it was and it was the damned robin again. It flew into the window a couple of times before I scared it off.

The next morning around the same time, the damn robin was back. It would fly into the window consistently and not stop. I would have to go to the window to scare it away. It would just fly up and sit on the fence staring down at me. It was as if the damn robin was mocking me. I then put a pillow in the window thinking that might scare it off if it came back the next day.

Well sure as anything it did come back the next day. Pillow didn't work and I was at my whits end. I went into the shed and got the snow fence out. This time I covered the whole window over. If anything I was going to stop this robin.

While putting the snow fence up, I noticed the bird had flown across the street and was attacking their basement window with as much vim and vigor as anything.

Sure as I'm typing this the next day the thumping was back. But this time it was in the other room. I had scared the bird off my window but it was now attacking the window in the other room.

Finally this morning there was no thumping. Either the robin flew into the window enough times that it killed itself or it has left.

Killer bird marks on the window.

Bored and working from home

This is my name 'VALERIE' written in Snoopy Wingding Font. Ok, yes I am bored but I'm working from home so I guess it isn't so bad. Except that I'm so anal that I'm sitting in front of my work laptop just waiting for something to happen. Oh I did a load of laundry yesterday and folded it while sitting in front of my laptop.

I do get up now and then to let the dogs outside. On the plus side I did have lunch sitting on the deck listening to the fountain and birds enjoying the lovely sun. I see I have to cut the grass tonight. We'll see how my knee holds out. Six weeks of physio and it still hurts and is swollen that I can't bend it.

Yes I'm rambling, sorry to you poor souls who are reading this (if there is anyone out there!).

I'll write my RETARDED ROBIN story probably this evening - you'll get a chuckle out of it. Well back to surfing for unusual stuff.