Well, I have like an hour or so maybe less before the plane lands and I don?t have enough time to watch a movie so I decided that instead of playing pinball on the laptop, I?d write out my post for the latest trip I?ve been on. For most of you, you should know by now that me and Tamara went to Alberta this last week so here?s the tale of how it all went down. Be warned. This is likely to be a long post.
So, we flew out of Moncton on the 3rd of June and let me tell you, having to get up at 4am to catch a flight is not much fun. But, we did, and we did eventually make it to Calgary. No major hassles during our trips but our stop in Toronto kind of blew since there was very little in the way of restaurants in our part of the airport. Tim?s had to do.
We got into Calgary around noon, found our bags, and met up with Cheez who met us there. Cheez then proceeded to get lost trying to find his car. It felt like that episode of Seinfeld where they keep walking around the garage looking for their car. But neither me or Tamara were in the mood but thankfully, he maintained a good sense of humour and eventually we made it to his car where he ended up taking the wrong way to our rental car spot, and then after we got the car, he missed our hotel exit. Thankfully we were paying attention.
We went to downtown Calgary and had supper after checking into our hotel. We had a real shitty supper but we did get a real nice look at Au Claire which is a nice part of the city?s downtown. That night, we went for a walk, and then proceeded to crash very fast when we got back to the hotel.
The following day, we made our way to Banff but after arriving there we decided that we?d do Lake Louise first since it wasn?t that far away. We drove up and took the scenic way which paid off as we got to some deer, mountain goats, and elk. They were very cool. The lake was gorgeous as expected and the whole time we were there (as well as anywhere there were mountains) about the only thing Tamara could say was ?WoW!!!? and believe me, she did a lot of that. Was all good.
After Lake Louise, we headed up to the gondola which goes up Sulphur mountain to about 7500ft. It?s a four person trolley car of sorts that climbs the mountain and let me tell you, what an awesome view. Tamara was quite nervous but by the time we got up there and saw the view, she knew it was worth it. We went down the gondola again, and were going to go to the hot springs but decided to wait til later when it was less crowded. We took a look at the Banff Springs Hotel and took a pile of photos and then proceeded to feed the squirrels nearby.
We made it back to our hotel, then headed off to the springs where we enjoyed a very warm pool for about an hour or so, headed back to the hotel, and once again crashed.
The next morning, we checked out, and did the downtown shops. Along Banff avenue there are a ton of little shops where you can buy just about anything so Tamara wanted to go look at these. We did that until around noon and then started on the trek to Edmonton. It was going to be about 5 hours in the car so we knew it would be a long haul.
By the time we got to Edmonton, it was 5ish and the supper traffic was hitting, plus it was raining. We managed to get through the city and made it to my dad?s place where we really just vegged and visited that night since it had been a long day.
Monday was all about my past. We took a drive down to Beverly which is the first real neighborhood I remember as a kid. We walked around and I showed Tamara where I lived, and told her some of the stories about being there as a small boy (4-7yrs). We then went for a walk, taking the same way I took everyday to school. We went up to Rundle elementary where we actually went inside the school and got permission from the office to look around. Turns out my 2nd grade teacher was still there and through some miracle, she actually remembered me. We took a walk down the hall and found my old school photos and sure enough, there was my picture and my name for kindergarten, grade one, and grade two. A little weird.
We then went for a little drive through Rundle park and I pointed out a few points and we even saw a jack rabbit running around. When we were done at Rundle, we headed over to Hermitage which is the other neighborhood I grew up in. I did the same thing, showing her where I grew up, taking the path to the school, and went inside and also walked around. This was a little different for me because I had been there 12 years ago and had actually spoken to one of my teachers. None of them were still there but I did get a photo with a plaque that is on the wall that actually has my name engraved on it. I had won the centenary citizenship award in the 6th grade and my name was on the plaque. Very neat to see.
We made our way down to the park there where we fed a pile of geese and just relaxed. For that, we had a bag of bread and some peanuts and fed a bunch of babies, along with some parents (all geese, no human babies) everything we had. A lot of fun.
After that, the day was ours so we just drove around, going to various places in town and I showed Tamara both the south side, as well as a pile of downtown. Nothing major but still a nice drive around the city. We also took a drive up to Mill Woods (a subdivision in Edmonton) and I visited my only living grandfather. He is still alive at the ripe age of 85, and I had not seen or spoken to him since 1994. He?s been living with cancer now for two years but says he feels good and he sounded very good. He was very surprised to see me but very happy as well. He did give me some photos from his photo album of me and him and my late grandmother when I was a child. I had no pictures of me with them at all so this was great.
Seeing my grandfather again was a really cool thing and I was very nervous about it since I had not seen him in so long. As a side note, it was this grandfather who introduced me to my first computer system at the age of 7. He was the one who showed me how he had made the computer draw a border around the screen. Inspired by that, I wanted to learn more about computers. Now look at where I am? Very cool to see him.
We spent Wednesday at West Edmonton Mall where we didn?t do much except look around. We did go see some of the sea life below and watched the sea lion show, but beyond that, it was more just walking around. We did go to the waterpark which was a hell of a lot of fun but let me tell you, some of those slides are nasty. Holy. Plus, I got flipped over a half a dozen times by the waves in the pool. All good though.
By the time 8pm came along, we made our way to the casino and played some blackjack for about two hours. A little different than Halifax but still a lot of fun. After being at the mall for 10 hours, we went back to dad?s.
Thursday was all about being mellow. We went downtown a bit and sort of vegged taking some pictures, and visiting with my dad. That night we went out for supper and met up with Roy. He is doing well and was nice enough to buy us supper. Thanks Roy!
That night, we visited with my dad again while we packed up. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to see my uncle, or meet my other sister. Dad has a daughter from his second marriage which I have never met. She?s 18, apparently pregnant, and quite a character. I was disappointed about not getting the chance to meet her as it may be a long time before I get back there.
I did have the long talk with dad about his failed attempt to move to Moncton and without going into excessive detail, I am happy with the answers he provided, and can understand what he did although I don?t agree with his not communicating, I now understand why. This has eased some of the issues I have.
I think Tamara enjoyed her trip as well as meeting my father. It was very interesting to be able to finally share my roots with someone and I have to say that it felt very good.
Anyways folks, we are about 120 miles from Moncton and are descending into the city so I am going to save this for now, and finish it when I get the opportunity.
So, I have finally made it home. We landed and got home by around midnight, slept and let me tell you, it was nice to be in my own bed. The other nice thing was that we came home to find that the house renovations were complete so we had a nice hot bath in our brand spanking new hot tub downstairs. Let me tell you, it was a hell of a way to end the vacation.
I checked our mail and sure enough, my Peeping Tom CD and new Faith No More disc arrived so I have since re-ripped the disc and intend on watching the new DVD very soon. Way cool.
Beyond that, I did get a pile of pictures (around 800 or so) and will post some new ones shortly. I?m taking the weekend to rest. Tamara has gone out to a wedding reception so I am posting this, listening to some music, waiting for my pizza to arrive, and will shortly pop in a DVD to watch to unwind. I need the weekend to rest.
