Last weekend, I was scheduled to preach at First Presbyterian in Lafayette. My good friend and general partner in crime and adventures around South Louisiana, Lindsey, noticed weeks ago that the date coincided with Lafayette's Festival International de Louisiane. I can talk more about my sermon another time, but oh man. I cannot recommend Festival International enough to all of you. I would come back to visit Louisiana just for this free music fest. Wow. So good.
We were very fortunate to receive some incredible hospitality from First Pres for the weekend. We were hosted by a very sweet couple whose children are grown and moved away, so Lindsey and I had very, very comfortable beds and a key and encouragement to come and go as we pleased. We were gifted with pins, which help support the festival, and drink tickets, as well as free parking at the church. So we wandered around the festival Friday evening, all day Saturday, and even ended up sticking around Sunday afternoon for more.
The music was amazing! The whole historic downtown of Lafayette, French street names and all, was closed to traffic and full of people who were excited to hear musicians, including Cajuns from the Gulf Coast, Acadians from eastern Canada, as well as bands from Haiti and French West Africa. Announcements were made in French as well as English. The downtown is full of neat little galleries and coffee shops in old buildings. It would have been nice to walk around even if not for the great music! Speaking of which--
Bernard Adamus, from Quebec
Sweet Crude, from New Orleans
Les Hay Babies, from New Brunswick
There were so many others we enjoyed too, and for the most part, we just sat and listened to whatever was in front of us. I cannot stop listening to songs that I don't understand. I wish more than ever that I spoke French!
One of the the things I really enjoyed over the weekend was thinking about my time in South Louisiana as well as my time in Eastern Canada. I find both incredibly charming. One of my favorite provinces in Canada is New Brunswick, after the experience of getting washed out from camping and spending a night in a little fishing town on the Bay of Fundy instead. (It's probably a seven way tie for first place, but whatever.) New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada, noticeable in signage and conversation. There are many sleepy little fishing towns down the bayou that remind me a lot of Alma and other places we ventured in that region. I like the shared history. Acadians in Canada and Cajuns in Louisiana kind of continued on the same trajectory, sticking to fishing and speaking French. I suspect the Cajuns use a little more spice in their food (thanks to heavy influences that create the cultural gumbo that is South Louisiana), and Louisiana focuses more on crawfish and shrimp while eastern Canada focuses on lobster. But still. Both places are full of charming, historied culture. I really like it.
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
01 May 2014
11 August 2012
This is how JACK feels about Canada:
(at the Citadel in Halifax, created by Katie)
After Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, we traveled back into New Brunswick over a very long bridge. I know there are no moose on Price Edward Island, but I am sad and disappointed to report that we did not see any moose for the remainder of our trip.
We drove from Charlottetown, PEI to Fredericton, NB, stopping along the way to see a few statues of giant things, which seems to be our new thing to do. Maybe http://www.bigthings.ca will sponsor JACK's third tour of Canada? (Probably not, as it was last updated the summer after we all graduated from high school, but it was still a pretty helpful website in planning our adventures.)
Fredericton was a quiet city for it being Saturday night and the opening of the Olympic games. We had dinner at a place called The Snooty Fox, which had great food and a decent selection of Canadian craft brews. Most curious to me was a sandwich on the menu called the Wyatt Earp... the only sandwich on the menu named after someone. Apparently the cooks just really liked the movie Tombstone. I was still pretty amused. It's a steak sandwich, so I had an epic quesadilla instead, along with a beer from Picaroon's Brewery right there in town. It was really fun to watch the opening ceremonies and the Parade of Nations during dinner-- the US didn't get to see it till prime time!
We walked around town a little bit after dinner, mostly along the waterfront, enjoying a humid but otherwise beautiful evening. The hostel we stayed in was just a few blocks from downtown, so we walked everywhere. Eventually, ACK went back to Snooty Fox to enjoy a bit more of the opening ceremonies and a few more Canadian brews.
Our last real day of vacation involved the trip from Fredericton and Portland, back into the US. Katie and I were nervous because this would be the fourth time our passports were swiped back into the US in the month of July, but the border patrol didn't seem to mind us (guess I didn't explain all the exits and entries yet, will get to that after I finish writing about JACK's Canada excursion). We stopped in Nackawic on the way to see a giant axe representing the importance of the logging industry to New Brunswick's history.
In the Portland area, we were able to find a few more large things-- the world's largest chocolate moose (1700 pounds of pure milk chocolate, accompanied by a few dark chocolate bears ranging from 80 pounds to 300) and also the world's largest spinning globe (three stories high!). We relaxed in Portland and watched some Olympic swimming and beach volleyball.
Driving back to New Jersey wasn't particularly impressive. I drove us out of New England, Jamie took over in Connecticut. We made good time and arrived home to sunshine, which was helpful in unpacking the Fundy wreckage. It smelled pretty rough but didn't knock us over. All in all, another wonderful adventure with my beloved JACK!
(at the Citadel in Halifax, created by Katie)
After Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, we traveled back into New Brunswick over a very long bridge. I know there are no moose on Price Edward Island, but I am sad and disappointed to report that we did not see any moose for the remainder of our trip.
We drove from Charlottetown, PEI to Fredericton, NB, stopping along the way to see a few statues of giant things, which seems to be our new thing to do. Maybe http://www.bigthings.ca will sponsor JACK's third tour of Canada? (Probably not, as it was last updated the summer after we all graduated from high school, but it was still a pretty helpful website in planning our adventures.)
Fredericton was a quiet city for it being Saturday night and the opening of the Olympic games. We had dinner at a place called The Snooty Fox, which had great food and a decent selection of Canadian craft brews. Most curious to me was a sandwich on the menu called the Wyatt Earp... the only sandwich on the menu named after someone. Apparently the cooks just really liked the movie Tombstone. I was still pretty amused. It's a steak sandwich, so I had an epic quesadilla instead, along with a beer from Picaroon's Brewery right there in town. It was really fun to watch the opening ceremonies and the Parade of Nations during dinner-- the US didn't get to see it till prime time!
We walked around town a little bit after dinner, mostly along the waterfront, enjoying a humid but otherwise beautiful evening. The hostel we stayed in was just a few blocks from downtown, so we walked everywhere. Eventually, ACK went back to Snooty Fox to enjoy a bit more of the opening ceremonies and a few more Canadian brews.
Our last real day of vacation involved the trip from Fredericton and Portland, back into the US. Katie and I were nervous because this would be the fourth time our passports were swiped back into the US in the month of July, but the border patrol didn't seem to mind us (guess I didn't explain all the exits and entries yet, will get to that after I finish writing about JACK's Canada excursion). We stopped in Nackawic on the way to see a giant axe representing the importance of the logging industry to New Brunswick's history.
In the Portland area, we were able to find a few more large things-- the world's largest chocolate moose (1700 pounds of pure milk chocolate, accompanied by a few dark chocolate bears ranging from 80 pounds to 300) and also the world's largest spinning globe (three stories high!). We relaxed in Portland and watched some Olympic swimming and beach volleyball.
Driving back to New Jersey wasn't particularly impressive. I drove us out of New England, Jamie took over in Connecticut. We made good time and arrived home to sunshine, which was helpful in unpacking the Fundy wreckage. It smelled pretty rough but didn't knock us over. All in all, another wonderful adventure with my beloved JACK!
26 July 2012
Things That Have Happened Since the Last Post
After Alma, we began our trip to Halifax, stopping first at Hopewell Rocks in The Rocks Provincial Park. So cool. We hiked down to the beach and wandered around during low, low tide. I spent the whole time staring at the rocks, trying to figure out the patterns of weathering and how high the tide goes without consulting any of the signs in the visitors center.
I'm a nerd.
We drove into Nova Scotia and made it to Halifax by late afternoon. Our hostel was an old building, conveniently located across the street from another old building that housed a restaurant and bar. We had some really great food and Amanda and I had some really great beer from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec.
Meanwhile, Mike had an interview for a teaching job in Arizona.
After dinner we decided to walk around the city, which really resulted in us wandering down the waterfront, taking pictures and acting ridiculous (surprise, surprise). There were a few large sculptures and anchors that we thought it was necessary to climb on, and the sunset was gorgeous. We went back to the same place for dessert and beer before unloading the car and turning in. We had left our wet shoes on the hood of the car to dry a little more (and stop making the car smell awful) as a social experiment, figuring if someone stole our worn out, soaking wet, nasty smelling shoes, they really, REALLY needed them more than we did. Well, apparently no one in Halifax was that desperate for shoes.
Around midnight Mari-time (11PM Eastern time, 8PM Pacific time), we received word: Mike got the job. Yay! Except that means he has to leave on Friday, at least two and a half days before I get home from Canada. While that is excessively unfortunate, let's focus on the yay job part! Congratulations, Mike.
This morning, we visited the Citadel in Halifax, a historic naval base. It was interesting to read a bit about the War of 1812 from another perspective... beautiful structure, interesting to wander through some of the creepy passages and look over the ramparts.
We took a creative route to Prince Edward Island, stopping in Stewiacke for a picnic lunch and a picture with a huge statue of a mastadon. The ferry was huuuuuuuuge. Thankfully, despite 50% of us being the carsickest people I've ever met, we didn't have too much trouble on the boat. It was a gorgeous day for a ride across the Northumberland Strait.
The drive into Prince Edward Island was interesting. Guess I should have review my Eastern North America notes, because somehow I was surprised by the myriad of agriculture happening around us. It may also just have been seeing things that I just associate with much different scenery-- corn, soy, wheat, other things that I see growing at home, or associate with the midwest, where the windbreaks are not spruce trees and they don't grow right next to the beach. Very pretty and peaceful here though, and I always enjoy a nice drive through farm country.
We watched the sun set on Brackley Beach in Prince Edward Island National Park, where I would learn what sand fleas are.
...
We are now settled into our enormous lighthouse suite. Seriously, there are multiple rooms and floors. If you are logged into facebook, and friends with me, you should be able to view our tour video:
And, in case you were wondering what the dancing was about, we did seriously spend our evening learning this (although we improvised some of the crazy foot work, especially at the end).
Tree of the day: Red Oak, the provincial tree of Prince Edward Island, as well as the state tree of New Jersey (more specifically the Northern Red Oak, one of many red oak varieties in NJ but the only one that grows this far north, according to my tree book and eyes)
Next up: Fredericton, New Brunswick, via Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and the Confederation Bridge, and giant lobster, rooster and magnet statues
I'm a nerd.
We drove into Nova Scotia and made it to Halifax by late afternoon. Our hostel was an old building, conveniently located across the street from another old building that housed a restaurant and bar. We had some really great food and Amanda and I had some really great beer from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec.
Meanwhile, Mike had an interview for a teaching job in Arizona.
After dinner we decided to walk around the city, which really resulted in us wandering down the waterfront, taking pictures and acting ridiculous (surprise, surprise). There were a few large sculptures and anchors that we thought it was necessary to climb on, and the sunset was gorgeous. We went back to the same place for dessert and beer before unloading the car and turning in. We had left our wet shoes on the hood of the car to dry a little more (and stop making the car smell awful) as a social experiment, figuring if someone stole our worn out, soaking wet, nasty smelling shoes, they really, REALLY needed them more than we did. Well, apparently no one in Halifax was that desperate for shoes.
Around midnight Mari-time (11PM Eastern time, 8PM Pacific time), we received word: Mike got the job. Yay! Except that means he has to leave on Friday, at least two and a half days before I get home from Canada. While that is excessively unfortunate, let's focus on the yay job part! Congratulations, Mike.
This morning, we visited the Citadel in Halifax, a historic naval base. It was interesting to read a bit about the War of 1812 from another perspective... beautiful structure, interesting to wander through some of the creepy passages and look over the ramparts.
We took a creative route to Prince Edward Island, stopping in Stewiacke for a picnic lunch and a picture with a huge statue of a mastadon. The ferry was huuuuuuuuge. Thankfully, despite 50% of us being the carsickest people I've ever met, we didn't have too much trouble on the boat. It was a gorgeous day for a ride across the Northumberland Strait.
The drive into Prince Edward Island was interesting. Guess I should have review my Eastern North America notes, because somehow I was surprised by the myriad of agriculture happening around us. It may also just have been seeing things that I just associate with much different scenery-- corn, soy, wheat, other things that I see growing at home, or associate with the midwest, where the windbreaks are not spruce trees and they don't grow right next to the beach. Very pretty and peaceful here though, and I always enjoy a nice drive through farm country.
We watched the sun set on Brackley Beach in Prince Edward Island National Park, where I would learn what sand fleas are.
...
We are now settled into our enormous lighthouse suite. Seriously, there are multiple rooms and floors. If you are logged into facebook, and friends with me, you should be able to view our tour video:
And, in case you were wondering what the dancing was about, we did seriously spend our evening learning this (although we improvised some of the crazy foot work, especially at the end).
Tree of the day: Red Oak, the provincial tree of Prince Edward Island, as well as the state tree of New Jersey (more specifically the Northern Red Oak, one of many red oak varieties in NJ but the only one that grows this far north, according to my tree book and eyes)
Next up: Fredericton, New Brunswick, via Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and the Confederation Bridge, and giant lobster, rooster and magnet statues
24 July 2012
Fundy
Dear Mom,
If I concede defeat and admit you were right, will you enjoy that feeling and get over it before I get home?
You were right. I was wrong. The tent leaks.
Love,
Colleen
After a pleasant morning and afternoon in Saint John, we drove to Fundy National Park, travelling via a road with a really creepy horse skelton statue. We sent up the tent and explored the park a little on our way into the nearby town of Alma for chocolate (we had marshmallows and graham crackers!). We decided on a chill evening-- campfire, a couple of beers, and a good night of sleep with the sound of the wind running through the spruce trees surrounding our little campsite.
Woke up early to search for moose. It was really, really overcast and the camp office had posted a weather report of 90% probability of precipitation. We decided to hope for the best and head out hiking anyway. We did three short trails: one called Caribou Plain, through some wetlands and peat bogs (no moose, though we hear it's a popular place for them to hang out), one along Dickson Falls (totally lovely, despite a LOT of stairs), and Shiphaven, which was along the Point Wolfe River with coastal views... that were largely obstructed by the heavy rains. By then we were all soaked, so we just kept going.
We decided to check on our campsite since we were nearby, and lo and behold, bad news, my sleeping bag was UNDER WATER, as I had slept at the bottom of the slight incline we parked the tent on in the first place. Everyone's things were soaked. We decided to go visit the low tide at Alma Beach and find a cafe in town to regroup and book a hotel.
I feel really silly for wimping out of camping in poor weather, but we don't really have any other option.
The beach was really cool. The tide was really, really far out so we walked down on the beach, which is covered in rocks of all colors, shapes and sizes. Can't wait to see it again at high tide, which is in about fifteen minutes.
We spent some time warming up in a little cafe, where we sorted out the hotel situation. We couldn't get into our room for at least half an hour, so to kill time we went searching for the "neaby" lighthouse at Cape Enrage. Terrible car ride, but lovely scenery. We've just been hanging out the rest of the afternoon, reading and napping. Right now we're gearing up to visit Alma Beach again for high tide (about ten minutes from now, about a ten second drive from here) and then visiting a heated salt water pool in the park that's apparently on the edge of a cliff or something pretty sounding like that. It's still rather misty out, but we're glad to do something.
Tent reconnaissance is scheduled for tomorrow morning since it can't really get any wetter.
Tree of the yesterday: red spruce
Beer of the yesterday: Rickard's Dark, a porter-style beer with a slight maple syrup aftertaste
Tree of today: Hemlocks, which I'm going to miss when the wooly adelgid totally wipes them off the face of the east coast in the coming years
Tomorrow: Halifax, Nova Scotia!
If I concede defeat and admit you were right, will you enjoy that feeling and get over it before I get home?
You were right. I was wrong. The tent leaks.
Love,
Colleen
After a pleasant morning and afternoon in Saint John, we drove to Fundy National Park, travelling via a road with a really creepy horse skelton statue. We sent up the tent and explored the park a little on our way into the nearby town of Alma for chocolate (we had marshmallows and graham crackers!). We decided on a chill evening-- campfire, a couple of beers, and a good night of sleep with the sound of the wind running through the spruce trees surrounding our little campsite.
Woke up early to search for moose. It was really, really overcast and the camp office had posted a weather report of 90% probability of precipitation. We decided to hope for the best and head out hiking anyway. We did three short trails: one called Caribou Plain, through some wetlands and peat bogs (no moose, though we hear it's a popular place for them to hang out), one along Dickson Falls (totally lovely, despite a LOT of stairs), and Shiphaven, which was along the Point Wolfe River with coastal views... that were largely obstructed by the heavy rains. By then we were all soaked, so we just kept going.
We decided to check on our campsite since we were nearby, and lo and behold, bad news, my sleeping bag was UNDER WATER, as I had slept at the bottom of the slight incline we parked the tent on in the first place. Everyone's things were soaked. We decided to go visit the low tide at Alma Beach and find a cafe in town to regroup and book a hotel.
I feel really silly for wimping out of camping in poor weather, but we don't really have any other option.
The beach was really cool. The tide was really, really far out so we walked down on the beach, which is covered in rocks of all colors, shapes and sizes. Can't wait to see it again at high tide, which is in about fifteen minutes.
We spent some time warming up in a little cafe, where we sorted out the hotel situation. We couldn't get into our room for at least half an hour, so to kill time we went searching for the "neaby" lighthouse at Cape Enrage. Terrible car ride, but lovely scenery. We've just been hanging out the rest of the afternoon, reading and napping. Right now we're gearing up to visit Alma Beach again for high tide (about ten minutes from now, about a ten second drive from here) and then visiting a heated salt water pool in the park that's apparently on the edge of a cliff or something pretty sounding like that. It's still rather misty out, but we're glad to do something.
Tent reconnaissance is scheduled for tomorrow morning since it can't really get any wetter.
Tree of the yesterday: red spruce
Beer of the yesterday: Rickard's Dark, a porter-style beer with a slight maple syrup aftertaste
Tree of today: Hemlocks, which I'm going to miss when the wooly adelgid totally wipes them off the face of the east coast in the coming years
Tomorrow: Halifax, Nova Scotia!
22 July 2012
Mari-time travel
I always knew that Newfoundland is half an hour ahead, in its own time zone... I just didn't know that it was half an hour ahead of the hour ahead that the rest of Maritime Canada is... meaning, it's 10:30 here while our brains are on 9:30. We didn't notice this till after dinner.
Aside from time travel, it's been a pretty laid back day. We drove almost exclusively on Route 1 from Portland, Maine to Saint Stephen, New Brunswick. Long drive, but really lovely. Maine this time of year can pretty much be summer up as blueberries, antiques and trees. Lots of adorable towns, lots of pretty views of bays, lots of seagulls.
No moose. YET.
We have arrived safely in Saint John, New Brunswick after a very exciting border crossing at Saint Stephen. I mean, mostly it was me just being really excited to be back in Canada, because I think this country is great and could see nothing but trees past the border station. Also, the border patrolman was very nice and stamped our passports, which was not the case traveling back and forth between Walpole Island, Ontario and Algonac, Michigan (which I have yet to tell you about, but aside from those being neat places, it was very disappointing that the border patrol REFUSED to stamp our passports, claiming that they don't do that for land crossings anymore. More on this another time, right now I'm excited that I did get a nice new stamp today).
We just returned from dinner at this great brewpub in the Uptown district of Saint John called Big Tide Brewing Company. We took a short stroll and saw some beautiful old buildings, and took a short drive and spent some time staring at the Reversing Falls, where the Saint John Harbour/Bay of Fundy meet the Saint John and Kennebecasis Rivers/Grand Bay and it's just madness.
Tree of the day: For lunch we stopped at a delicious Mexican restaurant on Route 1 somewhere near Northport, Maine. We ate on the deck out back, and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and the glorious shade provided by a very nice White Ash tree.
Beer of the day: Seaworthy IPA from Big Tide Brewing
Tomorrow: more time wandering around Saint John, and ultimately ending up camping in Fundy National Park.
Aside from time travel, it's been a pretty laid back day. We drove almost exclusively on Route 1 from Portland, Maine to Saint Stephen, New Brunswick. Long drive, but really lovely. Maine this time of year can pretty much be summer up as blueberries, antiques and trees. Lots of adorable towns, lots of pretty views of bays, lots of seagulls.
No moose. YET.
We have arrived safely in Saint John, New Brunswick after a very exciting border crossing at Saint Stephen. I mean, mostly it was me just being really excited to be back in Canada, because I think this country is great and could see nothing but trees past the border station. Also, the border patrolman was very nice and stamped our passports, which was not the case traveling back and forth between Walpole Island, Ontario and Algonac, Michigan (which I have yet to tell you about, but aside from those being neat places, it was very disappointing that the border patrol REFUSED to stamp our passports, claiming that they don't do that for land crossings anymore. More on this another time, right now I'm excited that I did get a nice new stamp today).
We just returned from dinner at this great brewpub in the Uptown district of Saint John called Big Tide Brewing Company. We took a short stroll and saw some beautiful old buildings, and took a short drive and spent some time staring at the Reversing Falls, where the Saint John Harbour/Bay of Fundy meet the Saint John and Kennebecasis Rivers/Grand Bay and it's just madness.
Tree of the day: For lunch we stopped at a delicious Mexican restaurant on Route 1 somewhere near Northport, Maine. We ate on the deck out back, and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and the glorious shade provided by a very nice White Ash tree.
Beer of the day: Seaworthy IPA from Big Tide Brewing
Tomorrow: more time wandering around Saint John, and ultimately ending up camping in Fundy National Park.
21 July 2012
It's Mari-time!
I couldn't resist.
Bags packed (record turnaround of arriving home from the Outer Banks at 2AM, sleeping, doing laundry, packing, showering and ready and antsy to get going). Totally stoked to be traveling with the amazing JACK again. Canada and the Lighthouse Challenges (though one lacked a vowel) have been really great experiences and I'm thrilled to be spending a few days straight with some of the best girls I know.
Things I'm most excited for, in no real order--
Bags packed (record turnaround of arriving home from the Outer Banks at 2AM, sleeping, doing laundry, packing, showering and ready and antsy to get going). Totally stoked to be traveling with the amazing JACK again. Canada and the Lighthouse Challenges (though one lacked a vowel) have been really great experiences and I'm thrilled to be spending a few days straight with some of the best girls I know.
Things I'm most excited for, in no real order--
- Spending time together. It's been hard with Amanda living a state or two away, me being all over the place, grad schools and various other challenges. I'm really thankful that Jamie and Katie live so close but it can be challenging to coordinate.
- New Brunswick. I thought it would be hilarious whilst attending school in New Brunswick, NJ, to say "Hey, going to New Brunswick for the weekend!" and leaving the country. That never happened, but I'm still amused.
- Seeing stuff I learned in college in real life. Thanks Dawn Bowen.
- Finding a moose. It's going to happen.
- Seeing the joy on Katie's face as we stop at some of the big things in eastern Canada!
- Helping Jamie rack up some miles on her new car.
- Seeing Amanda for more than a day!
- CANADA!
- EVERYTHING!!!
19 June 2009
FLASHback, shout out to JACK
Today has not been terribly productive, unless you count that I trimmed my fingernails. We were unable to get permission to work at any ejidos, but we have hopefully figured out a plan that allows me to finish my work before I go.
Rainy day report #5: It hasn't rained in Chetumal (yet) today, though it will pretty much any minute now (it just got DARK), but we caught a really awesome storm, complete with some phenomenal cloud to ground lightning, while out on the road this morning.
This made me think, about a year ago, I was also driving up to a quite apocalyptic looking storm somewhere in the prairies of Canada. So I decided to take a gander at our photos, and it turns out I was off by a day, but that doesn't much matter since it was pouring here yesterday too.
Tree of the day goes to the cecropia. It's a fast grower, so any time you've got a reforested area, you see these guys sticking waaaay up above all of the other secondary vegetation. They get tree of the day because I bet they are the first ones to get hit by lightning. Added bonus: they look like they could be straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.
Rainy day report #5: It hasn't rained in Chetumal (yet) today, though it will pretty much any minute now (it just got DARK), but we caught a really awesome storm, complete with some phenomenal cloud to ground lightning, while out on the road this morning.
This made me think, about a year ago, I was also driving up to a quite apocalyptic looking storm somewhere in the prairies of Canada. So I decided to take a gander at our photos, and it turns out I was off by a day, but that doesn't much matter since it was pouring here yesterday too.
Tree of the day goes to the cecropia. It's a fast grower, so any time you've got a reforested area, you see these guys sticking waaaay up above all of the other secondary vegetation. They get tree of the day because I bet they are the first ones to get hit by lightning. Added bonus: they look like they could be straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.
23 June 2008
Just wanted to let you know that we have safely arrived in Vancouver! We already dig the place and are looking forward to tomorrow's adventures. A few photos are being posted from the travels and from the sunset on Jericho Beach, which is where our last hostel is.
Tree: Bigleaf Maple
Beers: Russell Cream Ale, Russell Honey Blonde
Tree: Bigleaf Maple
Beers: Russell Cream Ale, Russell Honey Blonde
We wandered around Vancouver today. I love this city! There are a lot of cool unique districts, it's clean, there's a lot of bike paths and parks and whatnot, basically encouraging people to get out and do things.
We also checked out the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. It's pretty enormous and sweet and there's a lot of trees, but I hung out with Katie, who couldn't cross the bridge on crutches. We hung out with some crazy wooden statues and got our hands stamped for visiting various children's stations...
The girls went along with my intense desire to have dinner at a microbrewery, so we ended up at Yaletown Brewery. Beers of the day: Hill's Special Wheat and Red Trucker Ale. We spent some time at Sunset Beach Park this evening, which is exactly what it sounds like, on the English Bay. It was really pretty and a relaxing way to say goodbye to this awesome country. Can't believe we're heading home tomorrow!
We also checked out the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. It's pretty enormous and sweet and there's a lot of trees, but I hung out with Katie, who couldn't cross the bridge on crutches. We hung out with some crazy wooden statues and got our hands stamped for visiting various children's stations...
The girls went along with my intense desire to have dinner at a microbrewery, so we ended up at Yaletown Brewery. Beers of the day: Hill's Special Wheat and Red Trucker Ale. We spent some time at Sunset Beach Park this evening, which is exactly what it sounds like, on the English Bay. It was really pretty and a relaxing way to say goodbye to this awesome country. Can't believe we're heading home tomorrow!
21 June 2008
Revelling!
We have arrived in Revelstoke, British Columbia, although we almost didn't make it because we were so awestruck by the beautiful things we saw along the Icefields Parkway in Banff and Glacier National Park this afternoon that we probably could have stayed there forever staring.
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk14/JackCanada/day%2012/
Trees include Lodgepole Pines (slender variety!), Black Spruce
Beers include Mount Begbie (a Revelstoke brew) Pale Ale, Kolsch and Cream Ale, Alexander Keith's Red Amber (again from Nova Scotia), and Sleeman's Honey Brown (from Guelph, Ontario). Note to parents: Amanda and I did not have five beers each. The bartender was kind enough to pour us a bit of each to taste before ordering.
Tonight we're in a Same Sun hostel. I dig the name, because we're all under the same sun. Of course, that sun sets really late up here... the past few nights it's been light till nearly 10. We got another hour today when we got to British Columbia, so we weren't as far went in the time zone, but still. We're more than 5000 kilometers from home and we're having a great time!
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/k
Trees include Lodgepole Pines (slender variety!), Black Spruce
Beers include Mount Begbie (a Revelstoke brew) Pale Ale, Kolsch and Cream Ale, Alexander Keith's Red Amber (again from Nova Scotia), and Sleeman's Honey Brown (from Guelph, Ontario). Note to parents: Amanda and I did not have five beers each. The bartender was kind enough to pour us a bit of each to taste before ordering.
Tonight we're in a Same Sun hostel. I dig the name, because we're all under the same sun. Of course, that sun sets really late up here... the past few nights it's been light till nearly 10. We got another hour today when we got to British Columbia, so we weren't as far went in the time zone, but still. We're more than 5000 kilometers from home and we're having a great time!
19 June 2008
Banff is lame, so we're not posting any photos.
JUST KIDDING!!! Photos may not do this place justice, but we'll post a gaggle of them over the course of the evening nonetheless.
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk14/JackCanada/day%2011/
(Also because we are all concerned that my dear friend Justin Doyle will attack us if we don't.)
Trees for the day: Western Red Cedar, Water Birch
Beers for the day: Alexander Keith's IPA from Nova Scotia (at happy hour price!) (and very good, and I'm not usually a fan of beers that you can see through), Show-something or Showgirl or something -shine from Calgary (which wasn't great, surprise surprise Calgary)
Today was beautiful.
JUST KIDDING!!! Photos may not do this place justice, but we'll post a gaggle of them over the course of the evening nonetheless.
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/k
(Also because we are all concerned that my dear friend Justin Doyle will attack us if we don't.)
Trees for the day: Western Red Cedar, Water Birch
Beers for the day: Alexander Keith's IPA from Nova Scotia (at happy hour price!) (and very good, and I'm not usually a fan of beers that you can see through), Show-something or Showgirl or something -shine from Calgary (which wasn't great, surprise surprise Calgary)
Today was beautiful.
18 June 2008
Banff tomorrow! Banff tomorrow! Banff tomorrow! Banff tomorrow! Banff tomorrow! Banff tomorrow! Banff tomorrow! Banff tomorrow! Banff tomorrow! Banff
Tomorrow we go to Banff!
Today's drive brought all sorts of surprises, which was good because it was another long one (between 7 and 8 hours somewhere). Amanda and I are still doing just fine with driving, switching off as needed. We expected Alberta to follow Manitoba and Saskatchewan and basically continue the flatness till we got to the Rockies. We were still awestruck by the beauty of it, possibly due to the vastness and vividness of the colors-- the greens and beiges of the fields, the bright blue sky (alternating with the deep blue-grey apocalypse style clouds and some sweet lightning off in the distance). Our ears are telling us that we're definitely not at sea level anymore, pop pop pop pop pop. At one point, we went up a hill and around a curve and were suddenly in this gorgeous hilly area.
Other highlights of the drive included finding another Sibbald-- this time an itty bitty town just over the border into Alberta, and stopping for lunch in Fiske, Alberta, another itty bitty town that had a random gazebo in an empty lot. We saw an older man going for a stroll, and we're pretty sure he told the other twelve citizens of the town that some strange girls were having a picnic, because for being only a pair of blocks big, a lot of cars sure went past. Everyone waved though. Everyone's so nice here.
And then we got to Calgary, which probably wasn't going to win favorite city of the trip, but an emo twelve year old skater boy wearing skinny girl jeans flipped me off in an already psychotically stressful parking lot, so I have decided that Calgary is of no use to me other than being the layover on the way to BANFF!
Today's drive brought all sorts of surprises, which was good because it was another long one (between 7 and 8 hours somewhere). Amanda and I are still doing just fine with driving, switching off as needed. We expected Alberta to follow Manitoba and Saskatchewan and basically continue the flatness till we got to the Rockies. We were still awestruck by the beauty of it, possibly due to the vastness and vividness of the colors-- the greens and beiges of the fields, the bright blue sky (alternating with the deep blue-grey apocalypse style clouds and some sweet lightning off in the distance). Our ears are telling us that we're definitely not at sea level anymore, pop pop pop pop pop. At one point, we went up a hill and around a curve and were suddenly in this gorgeous hilly area.
Other highlights of the drive included finding another Sibbald-- this time an itty bitty town just over the border into Alberta, and stopping for lunch in Fiske, Alberta, another itty bitty town that had a random gazebo in an empty lot. We saw an older man going for a stroll, and we're pretty sure he told the other twelve citizens of the town that some strange girls were having a picnic, because for being only a pair of blocks big, a lot of cars sure went past. Everyone waved though. Everyone's so nice here.
And then we got to Calgary, which probably wasn't going to win favorite city of the trip, but an emo twelve year old skater boy wearing skinny girl jeans flipped me off in an already psychotically stressful parking lot, so I have decided that Calgary is of no use to me other than being the layover on the way to BANFF!
Oops, we were too busy being old ladies to post last night
Today (yesterday) we discovered the awesomeness of Jamie's eyesight. She was the first one to spot a 30 foot moose, annnd the first one to spot the prairie. We went to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and found that it should be easy to find a 30 foot moose, but it wasn't. As a side note, 75 year old motorcycle men from BC cannot take legit pictures of people AND a 30 foot moose. See pictures for details.
We discovered that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have not actually been on horseback for 50 years. Also, it is the USA's fault that the Mountees were created and everyone hates American whiskey traders. Colleen would like to add that it was not her people's fault, but only Katie's. Colleen and Amanda became Mountees in the child-sized costumes, although it may have cut off their breathing. Katie and Jamie combined make one Mountee. We watched a troop of RCMP doing drill practice which was sweet, and then we watched 1st graders do it which was creepy.
Then we drove to Saskatoon, and it was really flat with some random hills thrown in for kicks. We found that Saskatoon's downtown is only a block, despite the fact that it's Saskatchewan's largest city. Across from the hotel was a sandwich place called Badass Jack's, so of course we had to eat dinner there. When we enter the hotel, we found an alternate universe/igloo/hobbit hole on the second floor. Sadly, the rest of the hallway to the room did not match that. We went on a mini pub crawl through Saskatoon for Amanda's birthday and sampled some more Canadian beers. Great Western is brewed in Saskatoon, Rickard's White from P.E.I., and Grasshopper from Calgary (our next stop). Jamie and Amanda experienced the coldest temperatures ever when we went into the liquor store to find the Grasshopper, but they survived without frostbite.
After we finished the beer and uploaded some photos, we passed out because we are all secretly 80 years old.
Now we're on our way to Calgary, stopping at Beaver Conservation Area before we leave Saskatoon. This was a group effort, p.s., which is why it's so random. Amanda thanks everyone for the birthday wishes, and thanks to Mom Earp for the tinnybopper card!
We discovered that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have not actually been on horseback for 50 years. Also, it is the USA's fault that the Mountees were created and everyone hates American whiskey traders. Colleen would like to add that it was not her people's fault, but only Katie's. Colleen and Amanda became Mountees in the child-sized costumes, although it may have cut off their breathing. Katie and Jamie combined make one Mountee. We watched a troop of RCMP doing drill practice which was sweet, and then we watched 1st graders do it which was creepy.
Then we drove to Saskatoon, and it was really flat with some random hills thrown in for kicks. We found that Saskatoon's downtown is only a block, despite the fact that it's Saskatchewan's largest city. Across from the hotel was a sandwich place called Badass Jack's, so of course we had to eat dinner there. When we enter the hotel, we found an alternate universe/igloo/hobbit hole on the second floor. Sadly, the rest of the hallway to the room did not match that. We went on a mini pub crawl through Saskatoon for Amanda's birthday and sampled some more Canadian beers. Great Western is brewed in Saskatoon, Rickard's White from P.E.I., and Grasshopper from Calgary (our next stop). Jamie and Amanda experienced the coldest temperatures ever when we went into the liquor store to find the Grasshopper, but they survived without frostbite.
After we finished the beer and uploaded some photos, we passed out because we are all secretly 80 years old.
Now we're on our way to Calgary, stopping at Beaver Conservation Area before we leave Saskatoon. This was a group effort, p.s., which is why it's so random. Amanda thanks everyone for the birthday wishes, and thanks to Mom Earp for the tinnybopper card!
We <3 Amanda!
IT IS AMANDA'S 22ND BIRTHDAY AND WE ARE EXCITED!!!
Oh, and we're safely in Saskatoon and we saw Royal Mounties, a 30 foot moose statue, and some prairie dogs today. Yay!
We have skipped time zones twice now and have a third one to go in a few days, so please know that I'm not really still awake at 2.07AM. That's just preposterous.
Oh, and we're safely in Saskatoon and we saw Royal Mounties, a 30 foot moose statue, and some prairie dogs today. Yay!
We have skipped time zones twice now and have a third one to go in a few days, so please know that I'm not really still awake at 2.07AM. That's just preposterous.
17 June 2008
checklists and bison and drumlins, oh my!
Slowly but surely uploading photos... today is day eight already!
When I was in high school, a bunch of us from youth group were at a diner, probably after forcing our youth pastor to bring us to a Presbytery meeting or something. I probably made some offhanded comment about how my goal in life was to break 200,000 miles in the car I drove at the time (a Nissan Stanza which died at nearly 204,000 during my junior year of college) and then I could die happy. Well, Wayne, our youth pastor, did not find that acceptable and wrote a list of things I needed to do before I died on the back of the diner placemat, including but not limited to: live outside of NJ for more than a year (check), kiss a prairie dog (check), and travel to Saskatchewan... CHECK! Another item on the list was "drive on the edge", very unspecific, but I'm pretty sure I've done that in the past week: the edge of the Great Lakes, the edge of America, the edge of Canada, the edge of FLAT, FLAT, FLAT LAND.
But we got to see some bison, and that rocked! Actually, I've enjoyed the flat drive. It's flat. It's very different from the flat I come from, living next to the ocean. It's flat and grassy. And flat. But it's pretty, and I manage to find random minor glacial landforms and other geographic phenomena. Society might call me nerdtastic. Society would be absolutely correct.
Tomorrow we're going to check out the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Center and carry on to Saskatoon via Moose Jaw. Life is awesome.
By the way, JACK Parental Units, we are incredibly amused by the plethora of ways you have decided to sign your comments besides "Mom" and "Dad" since there's four of each of you. Keep up the good work.
already!When I was in high school, a bunch of us from youth group were at a diner, probably after forcing our youth pastor to bring us to a Presbytery meeting or something. I probably made some offhanded comment about how my goal in life was to break 200,000 miles in the car I drove at the time (a Nissan Stanza which died at nearly 204,000 during my junior year of college) and then I could die happy. Well, Wayne, our youth pastor, did not find that acceptable and wrote a list of things I needed to do before I died on the back of the diner placemat, including but not limited to: live outside of NJ for more than a year (check), kiss a prairie dog (check), and travel to Saskatchewan... CHECK! Another item on the list was "drive on the edge", very unspecific, but I'm pretty sure I've done that in the past week: the edge of the Great Lakes, the edge of America, the edge of Canada, the edge of FLAT, FLAT, FLAT LAND.
But we got to see some bison, and that rocked! Actually, I've enjoyed the flat drive. It's flat. It's very different from the flat I come from, living next to the ocean. It's flat and grassy. And flat. But it's pretty, and I manage to find random minor glacial landforms and other geographic phenomena. Society might call me nerdtastic. Society would be absolutely correct.
Tomorrow we're going to check out the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Center and carry on to Saskatoon via Moose Jaw. Life is awesome.
By the way, JACK Parental Units, we are incredibly amused by the plethora of ways you have decided to sign your comments besides "Mom" and "Dad" since there's four of each of you. Keep up the good work.
16 June 2008
Hey Fozzie, where've we gone?
Today we drove from Winnipeg to Saskatoon. As mentioned, Winnipeg seemed oddly empty. We figured that's because we arrived on a Sunday evening, but here we are, Monday morning, and it still seems pretty empty. Amanda and I walked around the city a little bit while Jamie and Katie enjoyed sleeping in a little bit. We checked out the hotel's water slide before leaving for the open prairie.
Manitoba is beautiful in its vastness. Nothing but highway, fields, and sky stretching in every direction. We stopped for lunch in a place called White Horse, which featured a statue of a white horse, something about young lovers being killed instead of living happily ever after, the horse was a gift somewhere in there. At lunch we discovered that the oranges that caused us so much trouble at International Falls? One orange hid in the bottom of our bag and made it back through customs and into Canada again!
We have arrived safely in Saskatchewan. Our hostel for the night here in Regina is a really lovely old house. We're the only girls in the building so we have an enormous room to ourselves!
Manitoba is beautiful in its vastness. Nothing but highway, fields, and sky stretching in every direction. We stopped for lunch in a place called White Horse, which featured a statue of a white horse, something about young lovers being killed instead of living happily ever after, the horse was a gift somewhere in there. At lunch we discovered that the oranges that caused us so much trouble at International Falls? One orange hid in the bottom of our bag and made it back through customs and into Canada again!
We have arrived safely in Saskatchewan. Our hostel for the night here in Regina is a really lovely old house. We're the only girls in the building so we have an enormous room to ourselves!
15 June 2008
borderline ridiculous
This update will hopefully be posted from the Marlborough Hotel, whose wireless internet is kind of misbehaving. I'm updating tonight because everyone else slept like toddlers in the car for our ridiculously long drive today. This morning we decided to change today's route a little bit, leaving Ontario for Manitoba via Northern Minnesota so we could make Fathers' Day phonecalls at domestic prices, get cheaper gas (the liter to gallon conversion leaves us around $6.50 a gallon in Canada), and check our International Falls. It looked as though it would add a little over an hour to today's trip, but since we gained an hour when changing time zones, it was negligible due to TIME TRAVEL!
International Falls is a misnomer. The Ontario side is called Fort Frances, another papermill town, and it was kind of difficult to find the bridge to Minnesota. The "falls" were, as best we could tell, some rapids running under the bitty little bridge we crossed that had natural gas pipelines and a shared lane for busses, trains, and trucks. We survived that, and then there was customs. We were sent to see the Agricultural Dude because we had a small bag of baby carrots (American), a bag of grapes that were going bad that we'd meant to get rid of (Mexican), and two oranges from the last hotel's continental breakfast... all picked up in Canada. Well, he ok'd our grapes, but we kind of didn't want them back, and he ok'd the carrots because they were American, but he claimed our oranges couldn't be transported because they weren't in a box or bag... and then he quarantined those to his jacket pocket. Snacktime for the USDA Border Patrol!
A note to any Mary Washington Geographers who may be reading-- I drove past a sign for Bemidji today! It was kind of several hours out of the way and I already felt bad enough for talking my friends into driving through Minnesota and adding time to our trip... but I pulled over and got a photo. AMAZING. This photo and others will probably not be up till tomorrow because the internet is not sure if it wants to keep working or not this evening.
I drove from lunchtime onward, crossing us back into Canada. We'd gotten rid of our carrots so passed through customs without a problem. The lady asked why we were driving through Canada, and I told her because we thought it was awesome, and she said we were absolutely right. Welcome to Manitoba! It is REALLY flat! And there is roughly nothing within several dozen kilometers of the border. I enjoyed the drive. Everyone else fell asleep till we were pretty much into the city. So far in Winnipeg, we're impressed with the size of the city but how not crowded it feels. Then again, it was Sunday evening when we arrived. We're in a sweet hotel and all rather tired since we feel like it's an hour later than it is.
And now that this is besously long, I'd like to add a post script: Congratulations to our friends Becky and David, who became parents for the first time this weekend! Welcome to the world, Samuel!
International Falls is a misnomer. The Ontario side is called Fort Frances, another papermill town, and it was kind of difficult to find the bridge to Minnesota. The "falls" were, as best we could tell, some rapids running under the bitty little bridge we crossed that had natural gas pipelines and a shared lane for busses, trains, and trucks. We survived that, and then there was customs. We were sent to see the Agricultural Dude because we had a small bag of baby carrots (American), a bag of grapes that were going bad that we'd meant to get rid of (Mexican), and two oranges from the last hotel's continental breakfast... all picked up in Canada. Well, he ok'd our grapes, but we kind of didn't want them back, and he ok'd the carrots because they were American, but he claimed our oranges couldn't be transported because they weren't in a box or bag... and then he quarantined those to his jacket pocket. Snacktime for the USDA Border Patrol!
A note to any Mary Washington Geographers who may be reading-- I drove past a sign for Bemidji today! It was kind of several hours out of the way and I already felt bad enough for talking my friends into driving through Minnesota and adding time to our trip... but I pulled over and got a photo. AMAZING. This photo and others will probably not be up till tomorrow because the internet is not sure if it wants to keep working or not this evening.
I drove from lunchtime onward, crossing us back into Canada. We'd gotten rid of our carrots so passed through customs without a problem. The lady asked why we were driving through Canada, and I told her because we thought it was awesome, and she said we were absolutely right. Welcome to Manitoba! It is REALLY flat! And there is roughly nothing within several dozen kilometers of the border. I enjoyed the drive. Everyone else fell asleep till we were pretty much into the city. So far in Winnipeg, we're impressed with the size of the city but how not crowded it feels. Then again, it was Sunday evening when we arrived. We're in a sweet hotel and all rather tired since we feel like it's an hour later than it is.
And now that this is besously long, I'd like to add a post script: Congratulations to our friends Becky and David, who became parents for the first time this weekend! Welcome to the world, Samuel!
14 June 2008
Happy Fathers Day, Dad! (And Cliffie, and Mr. Paton, and the AG!)
Thunder Bay is cool (awesome AND less warm). Tomorrow we leave Ontario behind for new places that none of us are remotely familiar with. We're pretty excited!
Tree of the day: Eastern Hemlock, the lookout platform at the gorge was surrounded by them
Also, Amanda and I continue to try new domestic beers. Tonight's was Kokanee, a brew from British Columbia. Not bad!
Thunder Bay is cool (awesome AND less warm). Tomorrow we leave Ontario behind for new places that none of us are remotely familiar with. We're pretty excited!
Tree of the day: Eastern Hemlock, the lookout platform at the gorge was surrounded by them
Also, Amanda and I continue to try new domestic beers. Tonight's was Kokanee, a brew from British Columbia. Not bad!
13 June 2008
Soo-per!
Sault Saint Marie (also called "The Soo", yes, spelled like that) is easily my favorite city so far. I knew a lot about it before we got here because it was featured in the Eastern North America class I took as a geography major at Mary Washington. It was just really cool to see everything the professor talked about (even though I took the class two years ago).
There's one on the Ontario side as well as the Michigan side, and we visited both. The Ontario side is a papermill city, but both sides have extensive canal systems, which we were fascinated by. We checked out a sweet little museum on the Canadian side and ate dinner (in a boat-shaped restaurant!) and watched ships go through the locks on the American side. We actually drove to Rudyard, Michigan to pick up American cell phone signals to catch up with our families at domestic rates. We ended up pulling over at a playground to make the calls, which must have been strange looking to anyone passing by. It was just a really interesting and chill day!
Tree of the day: paper birch. Those things were everywhere on the gorgeous drive up here.
PS- Just wanted to share the hilarity of the evening. We all headed down to the pool/gym area. Amanda and I decided to exercise a little bit to offset the sitting in a car for such long stretches. She took the stationary bike, I took the treadmill. Somehow, we blew a fuse and I about faceplanted on the thing. It was probably really funny to watch. It's also probably really funny to imagine.
There's one on the Ontario side as well as the Michigan side, and we visited both. The Ontario side is a papermill city, but both sides have extensive canal systems, which we were fascinated by. We checked out a sweet little museum on the Canadian side and ate dinner (in a boat-shaped restaurant!) and watched ships go through the locks on the American side. We actually drove to Rudyard, Michigan to pick up American cell phone signals to catch up with our families at domestic rates. We ended up pulling over at a playground to make the calls, which must have been strange looking to anyone passing by. It was just a really interesting and chill day!
Tree of the day: paper birch. Those things were everywhere on the gorgeous drive up here.
PS- Just wanted to share the hilarity of the evening. We all headed down to the pool/gym area. Amanda and I decided to exercise a little bit to offset the sitting in a car for such long stretches. She took the stationary bike, I took the treadmill. Somehow, we blew a fuse and I about faceplanted on the thing. It was probably really funny to watch. It's also probably really funny to imagine.
12 June 2008
Toronto, day two!
Highlights of the day:
Colleen: the man playing norwegian wood on the sitar in the subway
Jamie: having Moose Head beer at the comedy show tonight
Amanda: the huge stack of pancakes from breakfast covered in chocolate and powered sugar
Katie: sitting out on the patio out on the 5th floor of the hostel in the beautiful weather
Beer of the day: Moose Head at Betty's
Tree of the day: Red Pine
Colleen: the man playing norwegian wood on the sitar in the subway
Jamie: having Moose Head beer at the comedy show tonight
Amanda: the huge stack of pancakes from breakfast covered in chocolate and powered sugar
Katie: sitting out on the patio out on the 5th floor of the hostel in the beautiful weather
Beer of the day: Moose Head at Betty's
Tree of the day: Red Pine
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