October 2, 2007

We are off to Vancouver!!! My mother, Carole, and I that is. My Dad drove us to the airport this morning. Our flight left at 7h45 am. We had a connecting flight in Calgary. All in all, with the 3 hour time difference (Vancouver is 3 hours behind), we arrived in Vancouver at 12pm. A shuttle took us to our hotel, the Delta Airport Hotel located on Gronville Island, which is about 20 minute bus ride to center city. Once settled-in our hotel room, we ventured off in Downtown Vancouver! We covered ground mostly by foot today. It felt good! We mostly walked the South-East of Vancouver. We saw Port Vancouver, Canada Place, Vancouver Lookout, Vancouver Art Gallery, Chinatown (which is I think one the biggest Chinatown in North America, I wouldn’t be surprised!), Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden (where we saw a young woman inject herself with a needle… she ran away when she saw us… then we saw the needle on the ground with a fair amount of blood on the ground… talk about chills down my spine…What an eye opener!) and Gastown (I thought it was a little “doggy” there…really unclean… and I don’t think I ever saw so many people begging for money or something on the side of the road in a same area, heck on the same side walk!).

Later on we walked along part of the Seawall past False Creek then walked around in Yaletown and did some grocery shopping. It was about 7h30pm when we got back to the hotel. I admit, I’m outwardly exhausted!! Funny how the jetlag is affecting me now more then it ever did in the past… and it’s only a 3 hour difference… hmmm. So can’t wait for tomorrow!

Do I ever love traveling! It’s unreal! I probably said that previously but it’s so strong of a feeling so I’ll say it again. It’s like I’m semi-conscious in between my trips. Only when I travel do I realize, “Hey! I’m here!” and I feel like I can let go, be me. Brings back so many memories… love it!

Hope Mom is going to enjoy her trip!! She more then deserves it!!!

October 3, 2007

Weird to think we’re still in Canada after traveling all this land by plane… but then again the environment and culture is the same so you do feel like you’re in Canada, just in a new city! We focused more on the North-West of Vancouver today… just beautiful!! After what we saw yesterday, we were beginning to think “what is the big deal with Vancouver anyway?”. But today we got a glimpse of it! I want to come back soon!

Thanks to my lovely memory loss today (I forgot my cell in the hotel room) we lost a good 2 hours of visiting time fetching it back! It happens…

We walked along the Seawall path, along the Coal Harbor, and in the Stanley Park. Because of my “brain-fart”, our visit in Stanley Park was cut short. But we still managed to see some beautiful natural life, and some belugas and seals in the aquarium! Never saw a beluga until today!!! They’re so cute!

Then we took the bus across the Lion’s Gate Bridge to get to Grouse Mountain. We took the chair-lift up the mountain. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t all that great. Hell, it hailed and snowed up there! So obviously the apparently amazing view over Vancouver, well, was shite! But it’s ok, we’ll be back. At least we could see enough in front of our nose to see some deers and grizzly bears… the bears where hard to miss!! These are big and impressive fellows!! I wanted to walk on the suspension bridge but since the weather wasn’t all that great, it wasn’t really worth it… so another time then!

After our little adventure on top of snowy Grouse Mountain, my dear friend Karine picked us up at the bottom so we could all go have diner. She showed us her lovely new home, located on the North side of Vancouver (very beautiful area by the way!!) and then we were off to Brown’s (I think that’s what the restaurant was called…). It was good… especially my Mojito!!! OOOoohh baby! Could have had a couple of those!! Karine was so kind to drive us back to our hotel. On the way she showed us where she worked, where she will be working for the next 3 years (she’s part of the 2010 Olympic Committee…woohoo, how great is that!?). And that pretty much ended our evening. So wish I could stay longer! Next time I visit: skiing in Whistler, visiting Victoria and hiking somewhere in North Vancouver is on my list!!! Oh, and the suspension bridge!!

October 4, 2007

Early rise this morning as our check-in for our 2-day Rocky Mountaineer Train Tour was at 6h30am, and boarding time was at 7h20am. We are on our way to Kamloops, where we will spend the night at Ramada Hotel. Tomorrow we have day 2 of our journey, ending in Calgary.

Wow did we see some beautiful scenery today!! It was just gorgeous! Apparently, tomorrow is the best to come…!!! Here are a few things we saw today, along with a little history of them.

New Westminster: The Qw’ontl’en (Kwantlen) people, part of the Sto:lo nation, had their cultural center, Sxwoyimelth, on this geographically desirable location. In the 1860’s New Westminster was incorporated and is considered one of the first Canadian cities west of the Great Lakes region.

Fraser River Swing Bridge: Crossing from the community of New Westminster into the City of Surrey, also marks the passage from Burlington Worthen Santa Fe tracks to trackage owned by CNR (Canadian National Railway). It was built in 1904.

Langley: For 12 000 years, this area was a center of the complex culture of the West Coast Native Indians. Built by Hudson’s Bay Company in 1827.

Mount Baker: This impressive mountain, located 64,37km (40 miles) South in Washington State, is part of the volcano chain that extends down the Pacific Coast to California and includes Mount Hood, Mount Rainier, Mount Saint Helens and Mount Shasta.

Matsqui Junction: Here we cross the river to Mission City and connect with CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway). It takes us along North West Side of Fraser River as far as Cisco.

Harrison River Bridge and Kilby General Store (built in 1922): An 11 span bridge totaling 293.22m (9622 feet) crosses the Harrison River.

Twin Tunnels and Fraser Valley

Hope: In the fall of 1981 was used as the location of the first Rambo movie “First Blood” starring Sylvester Stollone. Established in 1848, situated in the Cascade Mountains at the start of the Fraser valley, protected on 3 sides by mountain peaks. In 1929, Hope was incorporated as a village.

Yale: Fort Yale, established in 1848, was a stopping place built to assist parties coming through mountains. Named after James Murray Yale.

Alexandra Suspension Bridge (1863): Named after Princess Alex of Wales. Rebuilt in 1926.

Hell’s Gate: The narrowest part of Fraser River. Named by Simon Fraser in 1808, reminded him of “Gates of Hell”. 909 218 000 L (200 million gallons) of water pours and surges each minute through a 33.53 meter (110 feet) wide gorge!

Skuzzy Creek

North Bend: Mile 0 of the CPR Cascade Subdivision and start of Thompson subdivision.

Kanaka: Named for Hawaiians who passed for gold in the mid 1800s.

Cisco Crossing: CPR and CNR cross the Fraser River. Cisco, named after the Indian work “siska”, means unpredictable and refers to the nature of the water under the bridge.

Lytton: The meeting place of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers. Named in 1858 after Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton, the British Secretary of State for British Columbia.

Avalanche Alley: For 8.04 km (5 miles) we see rocks sheds and slide detection fences that protect the track from unstable areas above.

Jaws of Death Gorge: The banks of the Thompson River become quite steep and narrow creating turbulent waters, especially at Suicide Rapids.

Murray Creek Falls: According to Aboriginal legend, a water spirit lives in the pool below the falls.

The last spike of the CNR: driven here on January 23, 1915.

Black Canyon Tunnel: February 4, 1915, 12 days after the last spike on the CR line was driven, this tunnel collapsed causing the opening of the railway to be delayed until October.

Osprey Nest: A large osprey (“fish eagle”) nest sits on top of a telephone pole.

Ashcroft: One of the driest places in Canada with less then 2.4cm (10 in) of annual rainfall.

Savona: The Thompson River widens into the beautiful 40 km (25 mile) long Kamloops Lake at this town. Named after François Saveneux, who ran a cable ferry across the river in 1858.

Kamloops: Derived from the Sushwap Indian word “T’Kemlups” meaning “meeting of the waters”, it refers to the junction of the North and South Thompson Rivers.

We saw many other things. But in general, those were the major ones. The trees haven’t changed color very much. It’s mostly yellow for the ones that have changed but there’s a big majority of green! So we are staying the night in Kamloops, at Ramada Inn. We arrived at 5h30pm.

Kamloops was the trading center for the Secwepemc or Shushwap people for thousands of years. It is located in a valley, protected and surrounded by mountains on the East and West side. It’s very beautiful! The city is built on both flanks of the mountains.

We walked around town for the rest of the evening since we were sitting almost all day on the train.

October 5, 2007

On board!!…. at 6h30am this morning! On the way to Calgary! Making our way through Revelstoke, Field and Banff, we got into Calgary at 10pm this evening. What an amazing day!! The views and landscape was just breath taking!! Never saw anything like it!! It reminded me of New Zealand, but in a much bigger and wider format!!!! There’s just something about mountains…. And with the blue water running along side of it…. Just beautiful!!! Mom is truly amazed!! I’m happy she’s enjoying every minute of it!!! Canada really is a beautiful country, and most people don’t know… not like we know much but with what we saw, we are convinced!

Here’s a glimpse at our main sites today.

Hoodoos: Scattered throughout this region we see unique rock and clay formations. They were formed after the end of the last ice age.

Chase: Situated on Little Shushwap Lake, a popular trout fishing and boating area.

Squilax: A small community whose name comes from the Aboriginal word meaning “black bear”.

Mouth of Adams River: The mouth of the Adams River and the site of the world’s largest salmon run.

Sicamous: From the Aboriginal word meaning “in the middle”, Sicamous is situated between Shushwap and Mara Lakes. Often called the “Houseboat Capital of Canada”, it is the home of more then 300 house boats which are used during summer months by vacationers who want to explore the inland water ways.

Craigellachie: On November 7, 1885, the last spike of the CPR line was driven here by Donald Smith.

Eagle River Bridge: The train followed the Eagle River between Sicamous and Three Valley Gap.

Kay Falls: Saw the cascading from Mount Griffin.

Columbia River Bridge: 342.21m long, the 4^th bridge built by CPR to cross the Colombian River.

Revelstoke: Situated in the Colombian Valley, near Mount Revelstoke National Park, Revelstoke was named after Lord Revelstoke, an Englishman, whose banking firms financial support of the fledgling rail line in the late 1880s kept the project alive.

Illecillewaet River: Aboriginal word meaning “running” or “swift” waters, crossed 10 times during this journey.

Glacier: The CPR advertised Glacier National Park as the North American equivalent of the Swiss Alps. Situated in Glacier National Park, Glacier House was a meal stop for the early transcontinental trains.

Connaught Tunnel: In 1913, construction began on the 8 km long Connaught Tunnel, through Mount Macdonald.

Stoney Creek Bridge: Located on the eastern slopes of Mount Tupper. Its architectural design and beauty made it one of the world’s most important bridges of it’s time. Originally built in wood but replaced by 1893 with steel. It’s 147. 6m long and 99m above the creek bed.

Surprise Creek: Another major bridge, 126.9m long.

Mount Creek: The creek runs 41.5m below the train.

Beaver Mouth: Named after the Beaver River, which flows into the Colombian River at this point. Manmade Lake Kinbasket is formed as a result of the Mica Dam.

Kicking Horse River: For the next 48km, we traveled through the Kicking Horse Canyon, discovered by James Hector.

Field: Named after Cyrus West Field, who visited here in 1884.

Lower and Upper Spiral Tunnel

Wapta Lake: The source of the Kicking House River.

Stephen: This is the Continental Divide and the boundary between Banff National Park in Alberta and Yoho National Park in British Colombia. It is the highest point of the journey, 1626m (5332 feet) above sea level and seperates the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds.

Lake Louise: Once know as Laggan, after the Scottish village in Inverness-shire, this log station is one of the 12 heritage railway stations in Canada. In 1884, the name changed to Lake Louise, after Queen Victoria’s Daughter. The beautiful emerald green lake is surrounded by Mount Victoria Glacier with an elevation of 3466m (11 365 feet).

Castle Mountain: 2730m (8950 feet), this bulky, turreted mountain is an excellent example of castellate type mountains (featuring horizontal rock layers). It was previously named “Eisen Hower Peak”.

Banff: Called “Siding 29”, the name was changed (thank God!!) in 1880 by Lord Strathcona, to Banff, after his Scottish hometown, Banffshire. In 1887, the park was enlarged to 260 square miles and Banff National Park was officially created.

Mount Rundle: This 2 932m (9675 feet) mountain, towers above Banff and can be seen reflecting in the waters of the Vermillian Lakes. That’s my favorite one!!!

Canmore: In 1988, it was the site of cross-country skiing and biathlon during the Olympic Winter Games.

The Three Sister Mountains

Cochrane: Bears the name of Senator Matthew Cochrane, who established the first cattle ranch in Alberta in 1878.

Calgary: Established in 1875 as Fort Macleod, it sits at the junction of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. It serves as a center for processing agricultural products, cattle, natural gas and oil.

And here we are in Calgary! Our 2-day train is over… Amazing! This definitely ranks in my top 3 activities and destinations in my life so far!!! Just the train ride itself was amazing! Whatever you wanted to drink, you had it! And they were always feeding you, like if we were going to die from starvation! The service was impeccable!! Our Train guide, Tina, was amazing! She was kind, funny and a “good story teller”! She even fetched me some AA batteries for my camera before I broke into a fit!!! Seriously, I went through 3 sets of batteries today and took about 500 pictures!!! It’s just crazy…or I’m crazy! My batteries died on me at probably the most beautiful sight seen on this train ride… Was I ever pissed!! And the most annoying but so funny thing is, Mom keeps taking pictures with my old batteries!!! I wish Dad and Alex would have been with us to see this! They would of loved it!! So folks, the non-Canadians and Canadians, this is a place to see!!!! Look for any train trips with Rocky Mountaineer!!!!

We are presently in our hotel, the Best Western, for the night. It’s currently midnight… time for me to sleep! We had an amazing day today!!

October 6, 2007

Calgary is such a quite city! We were up and walking around at 11am and hardly anyone was out! Even the traffic was non-existent! I like this city… It’s clean and it’s got a strange but nice feeling to it… like a “vampirery” ambiance… love it! But that’s just my impression. Other then the Calgary Stampede, there’s not much to do in Calgary.

We went up the Calgary Tower. We had a lovely view of the city and the Canadian Rockies surrounding it!!! Very nice!! Up in the tower, we saw our route to take to make our way to the airport so we could get our rented car. To cut the cab fees, we decided to start walking towards the airport, thinking we would cover at least ¾ of the distance…. HA! After 2 hours of walking we covered maybe 1/3 of the distance! But at least it did cut the cab fees and we got a good workout out of it since we did have to carry our backpacks and luggage with us! I’ll never forget that one!

Finally we got to the airport and got our car… Good thing I asked for a little car, we got a Chrysler Sebring! That’s not a little car! I wouldn’t have like to see a big car!!! And I dislike Chrysler cars but at least it’ll take us where we want to go!

We left Calgary around 3pm and made our way to Banff, and entered Banff National Park. We were driving towards the Rockies, so you can just imagine how the view was! Ridiculously impressive is what comes to mind! Once arrived in Banff, we took the Tunnel Mountain Road for some sight seeing. We viewed some mountains (can’t remember their names, I apologize, there are so many!) and Fairmont Banff Castle (it does look like a castle!) along Echo Falls. Mom saw an eagle… but it was a scarecrow!! Hihi! We had a good laugh about it! Since our hostel was very well hidden, it took us a while to find it. But we eventually did and settled in. We walked around in Banff for the rest of the evening. I love it here! It’s maybe a little too “touristy” but still very nice! I’m thinking “condo in Banff” …. Hmmm….

October 7, 2007

We left Banff at 9h30am this morning. We are so lucky with weather so far!! It’s great! We got off the Trans Canada highway to take a more scenic route, Promenade Bow. We viewed Bow Valley, River Bow and Lake Bow… Wonder why it’s called Promenade Bow… Anyway, we stopped at Johnston Canyon and Falls, and saw Mount Pilot. Later on the route, we stopped to view Hills Dales Meadow, Mount Kitchner and Lake Hebert (we had a perfect reflection of the mountains on the lake! So beautiful!!! Mom took such a gorgeous, if not perfect, picture of it!!!). We eventually got to Lake Louise… Wow!!!!! If you haven’t experienced pure sweet perfect beauty, there it is!!!!!! Just incredible! Morraine Lake is as much of a beauty!!! By the way my dear Canadian Folks, I learned that Morraine Lake is the image at the back of our 20$ bill. How cool is that!? Not far after that, we entered Jasper National Park. Making our way to Jasper, we stopped to see the Attabaska Falls! I’m sure that’s were they filmed the commercial TV add for Kokanee Beer!!! If not, they should!! We stopped at so many other view points and lookout points on the way, it’s unreal! And I don’t remember the names of all of them! I prefer Jasper National Park over Banff National Park. The mountains are more massive, higher, whiter (more snow)… there’s glaciers everywhere you look… but it’s obviously colder! But don’t get me wrong, Banff NP is still amazing!!

We finally arrived in Jasper at 5pm. By the way, from Banff to Jasper, this is supposed to be a 4 hour drive… It took us almost 9 hours!!! There’s just so much to see on the way, it’s unbelievable! We checked-in our hostel, which is a little outside of Jasper, then drove to Jasper to visit the place. To my surprise, it’s smaller then I expected, and less tourism. It’s a small quiet little town with a lovely view of the Rockies!

The folks have been so welcoming, friendly, helpful, warm, cheery and charming since we’ve been here! Well, they better be since we are from this country! ;-)

Mom and I had a little late picnic on our hostel bed for diner! We sorted our pictures and played cards for the remaining of the evening. But was it ever hard to fall asleep! Many had a party going in the next room for thanks giving! We could here the music and people screaming like they were in the same room! But it’s ok, they seemed to have had a good time!

October 8, 2007

After a very light sleep, we left Jasper this morning at 10h30am. We drove up to the highest point of the road to have a view over Jasper and the chain of mountains surrounding it! We also stopped to admire Colin Chain on the way and other viewpoints. We saw some Elks too!! I think I forgot to mention that, so far, along our trip we saw the following wildlife: elks, mountain goats, moose, bears, deers and bald headed eagle…and Mom’s eagles (scarecrows).

Eventually we drove out of Jasper National Park. I was sad, We had to leave the Rockies! I daydreamed so much during our drive today! Then again, I daydream all the time but this was more intense for some reason. I was thinking of my next trips, what my condo will look like… when I’ll get one in Germany… when it’ll be when I finally have a partner…. The upcoming events with my friends… And how much I would love to go shopping for clothes and shoes!!!! All in good times, all in good times!

We got to Edmonton at 3h30pm. We met my aunt Gisèle and uncle Philipp at the Holiday Inn Express hotel. We were so happy to see them!! We haven’t seen them in so long!!!! I know Mom was so happy to see her sister!!! It brings all fuzzy and warm feelings to the heart!! ;-)

The rest of the day was very relaxing. I took advantage of the treadmill to have a good run and the swimming pool for a few lapses. I wrapped up my good workout with the steam room, the pool, the steam room and the pool again…!!! Feels so good!! Then we played cards for the rest of the evening.

October 9, 2007

Nice and easy day! Started off with a good continental breaky and then a great run!!

We spent most of the day visiting and shopping the West Edmonton Mall. Wow!! I don’t think I’ve seen so many stores in my life! And certainly not a mall that holds an amusement park (All sorts of rides for all sorts of ages… and one crazy roller coaster woohoo!), a water park (wave pool, water slides, etc.), an entertainment area (Show with seals and penguins. Previously with dolphins but they died apparently.), a cinema, a hotel with theme suites, two miniput course (one glow in the dark), a Chinatown, a Europe alley, a casino… and much more!!! It’s crazy!! I bought myself a nice jacket. I shouldn’t have but I’ve been looking for one just like it for so long. I first saw one the second time I went to Germany and never could find one since, until now!! So I figured why the hell not!

Had such a big laugh!!! My aunt Gisèle was admiring something in a bay window but misjudged the distance between her and the window and just smaked her head in the window!!! Hahaha!!! Then this 3 year-old kid bursts out laughing and just wouldn’t stop laughing so neither could we!!! It was hilarious! One of those moments where you just have to be there!

In the evening we visited Thérèse, Mom’s and Gisèle’s cousin I think. That woman talks so much! She’s very nice and funny, and has such good stories! Gisèle is such a clown! She keeps surprising us with her jokes!! “Care for a donut??…” Sorry, it’s a little insider but I just had to write it down so I wouldn’t forget that one!!

After our visit, I went back to the hotel for some reading. Mom, Gisèle and Philip went for a late diner.

Oh, I forgot to mention we brought the car back today. Gisèle and Philipp are so nice to drive us around!!!

October 10, 2007

Great start with a run and good breaky this morning! Nothing better to start off a day! We booked a tour today to visit Edmonton but it didn’t start until 1pm. So we checked out of the hotel and did a little shopping… I bought some jeans, shoes and a shirt… I don’t think I remember the last time I bought myself some clothes (except for the jacket yesterday!)… It’s not in my budget but hey, why not??! I’m in need of some anyway.

Peter, our tour guide, picked us up at the hotel at 1pm. The tour lasted a good 4 or 5 hours! We visited city hall, the house of legislation (government buildings), the Uni and its many growing projects! We saw rich neighborhoods and heard their stories, the North Saskatchewan River, the West Edmonton Mall, Art Galleries, and so much more! Edmonton is really big, almost 2 million in population!!! I didn’t think it was that big! But like Calgary, other the West Edmonton Mall, there’s not much to do in Edmonton.

After the tour, we had diner at Kelsey’s and drove on to Cold Lake, where Gisèle and Philipp live. We stopped in Bonnyville, located 20 minutes from Cold Lake, to visit my cousin Erik and his new apartment! Once arrived at Gisèle’s and Philipp’s house, we took it cool, relaxed and had a great nights sleep! They have a really beautiful home!!! We met Tic-Tac and Lulu!! Two little puppies!! They are so cute!! They almost fit in the palm of my hand!!!

October 11, 2007

Had a chance to wake up late and read this morning! Felt so nice! Then we visited Cold Lake. It’s much bigger then we expected! There’s about 90 000 in population, I think. We saw the Marina and dinned at Clarks. It was a general store back in the days but they converted it into a little diner. It’s nice and stylish! I felt like I was in the movie Grease, or something back in the 60s. Then we visited the military base, where my uncle used to work (he was in the army) and where my aunt currently works. Then we went downtown, saw the casino, little markets and shops, and we visited Julie and David’s house (very nice too!!).

We had a late Thanksgiving diner with my cousin Julie and her partner David, and Michel, a friend of Gisèle and Philipp (the guy with a life-time-supply of jokes!!) Wine, Bailey’s and Gisèle’s famous drinks joined the party!!

October 12, 2007

Ishh… Last day today. We had to say goodbye to Gisèle and the puppies this morning since they couldn’t come with us. Philipp had an early appointment for his car at Volkswagen in Edmonton so that was our ride to the airport. We barely had 4 hours of sleep. It’s a good 3 hour drive from Cold Lake to Edmonton. I was so happy Julie could come with us today! Once in Edmonton, after leaving the car at the garage, we went for breakfast at Denny’s. We went to West Edmonton Mall and another mall for some shopping. Julie had to get some teaching supplies. We ended up playing cards in a lounge, in front of Second Cup, in the mall!

We had to eventually retrieve Philipp’s car. While waiting, we had fun posing in our “dream cars”!! Mom with her Porsche!! Julie with her Volks SUV!! Hihi!! Then we went for diner at Kelsey’s and drove to a hotel near the airport so Julie and Philipp could get a hotel room for the night (which was nice because we could now “hang out” in the hotel room instead of waiting at the airport for our flight back home). So we kicked back, relaxed, watched TV, played cards until it was time to get to the airport. Our flight was at 1am Saturday morning… We certainly didn’t want to leave!!! We said goodbye to Philipp and Julie then we were on our way.

October 13, 2007

Ouff, ruff morning! We hardly didn’t sleep on the plane; Mom even less then me! We got in Toronto at 6h30am this morning. Our connecting flight was at 8am. We were in Ottawa at 9am. Dad and Alex were waiting for us. It was so good to see them!! Mom and I were all excited to explain our trip. I’m very happy! It’s obvious Mom enjoyed her trip very much!!! And so did I!

I was surprised to see that the leafs from the trees haven’t fallen out yet! And there is plenty of green left too!! There’s so much more red this year the previous one! Love it!