Vacation Postcard #8

View from the top of Sulpher Mountain near Banff, Alberta

We finally reached to Canadian Rockies and spent the day around Banff, Alberta. I have never seen these mountains except from an airplane. We took the gondola to the top of Sulpher Mountain. The grey skies finally opened and sunlight illuminated the snow-covered peaks. It is very cold here and I would have welcomed a winter coat. Some people arrived in shorts and t-shirts. My husband walked all the way to the peak of Sulpher Mountain but I turned back after going 3/4 of the way because of the cold wind and freezing drizzle.

The walk to the peak of Sulpher Mountain

Vacation Postcard #7

We are at the Calgary Stampede all day today and I will not be on the internet this evening. We stayed in Medicine Hat, Alberta on Wednesday night and the entire front lawn was taken up by a colony of  "gophers". Gopher is a general term used for a number of burrowing rodents and I do not know what exact species this is. The hotel receptionist told us they were not prairie dogs. They were amusing to watch but I am sure no one would want 100 or so living in their yard.

Vacation Postcard #6

The Calgary Tower

We had dinner tonight in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Calgary Tower. The weather is sunny and warm and the view was beautiful. As we ate we watched the crowds gather to watch William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, leave the nearby Hyatt Hotel and travel the short distance to the BMO Centre near the grounds of the Calgary Stampede. We will spend the day tomorrow at the stampede. And here is a little bonus...

Top left: Yours truly with DH            Top right: BMO Centre, the Royal entourage and welcoming bands
Bottom left: Calgary Saddledome    Bottom right: Glass floor of the Calgary Tower

Vacation Postcard #5

A visit to CFB Moose Jaw - Maryse Carmichael second from the left

It is getting harder to pick one highlight each day for my postcard feature. We saw so many interesting things today and I will write more later. My husband received money for a trip from his workplace as a bonus for 20 years of service.We wanted to go to Western Canada and considered driving ourselves, but the distances are great and it would be very tiring to do the trip in 2 weeks. So we signed up for a bus tour with Great Canadian, a company based in our own city and hoped we would like it. So far we have been very pleased with the tour guide, driver and our accomodations. Today, we had a surprise luncheon at the 15 Wing Moose Jaw, also known as CFB Moose Jaw. One member of the forces sat at each table and discussed their job, answering our questions as we ate our meal. We had the privilege of meeting Maryse Carmichael, the Commanding Officer of the CAF aerobatic team, the Snowbirds. In 2001, she became the first female pilot to fly with the Snowbird team. She spoke to our group and was warm, personable, very intelligent and had a fine sense of humour. We do not live near or know anyone associated with the Canadian Armed Forces and found today's presentation to be very interesting and a highlight of the day.

Vacation Postcard #4

Red River at The Forks in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba

My initial impression of Winnipeg when we arrived last evening was not great, but I changed my mind after a tour of the city this morning. Canadian history would have been so much more interesting if we had taken field trips to each province. We stopped in St. Boniface near the tomb of Louis Riel and viewed the famous Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge crosses the river. The steps lead to the river walkway which is obviously flooded at this time. The Assiniboine River is in flood due to above average rainfalls this year and the Red River is also very high for this time of year. (Wikipedia has all the details here)

P.S. My computer time is limited to public internet locations in the evening so I will have to catch up on other blogs when I get back to Ontario.

Vacation Postcard #3

Northern Ontario Mascots

We finally made it to the Ontario-Manitoba border this afternoon, 1823 km from our home. It is exactly the same distance from our house in south-western Ontario to Jacksonville, Florida. We are spending the night in Winnipeg, Manitoba and go on to Regina, Saskatchewan tomorrow.

Many northern Ontario communities have decreasing populations as some pulp and paper mills and other industries have closed down. The economy is definitely hurting in many locations and summer tourism is very important for local businesses. Some towns have famous (or infamous) mascots which remind me of statues of patron saints or deities in other countries like Mexico. Today's postcard shows some mascots we met along the way.

Top left: The Wawa Goose- Wawa, Ontario
Top right: Maximillian Moose- Dryden, Ontario
Bottom left: Family of Bears- Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
Bottom right: Husky the Muskie- Kenora, Ontario (a very beautiful town!)

Vacation Postcard #2

Terry Fox Memorial just east of Thunder Bay, Ontario

Northern Ontario is vast in size. We drove 700 km between Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay and saw endless expanses of forest and water with a few small communities inbetween. There are so many lakes that it appears too difficult to come up with original names for all of them. We passed Mom Lake, Dad Lake, Baby Lake, Old Woman Lake, and Rabbit Blanket Lake. The flowers at the side of the road were beautiful and  flowering Lupins filled ditches and berms as we approached Thunder Bay. We saw the Terry Fox Memorial in July 1982 when it was first erected but it has been moved to a park just off the Trans Canada Highway. Interestingly, I am reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks while we travel. 

Bonus Postcard-Lake Superior near Wawa ON

Vacation Postcard #1

The St.Mary's River- Sault Ste Marie Ontario and Sault Ste Marie Michigan

 

 

 

I never thought about the name of this city until I saw the St. Mary's River today. "Sault" is an ancient French word for a cataract or rapids. The boardwalk on the Ontario side of the river is lovely for an evening stroll and it is still light at 9:45 PM. Westward we go!