We bought a camper!

Not only did we start camping when we arrived here three years ago, but we have been covetously looking at campers. With nighttime temperatures below freezing in the mountains even in July,a camper greatly extends the season. It also gives us air conditioning and protection from mosquitoes during the rare - but becoming less rare - hot spells. It lets the cats come camping with us (although they may hate it and only ever do it once). We didn't want to buy a new vehicle so it had to be something what we already owned could pull, i.e., something small. But we still wanted separate beds for everyone.

So, when Terry saw the camper on kijiji (aka Canada's Craigslist) and it met all our requirements we pounced on it. Even though this is the end of camping season. Most campgrounds that don't specifically do winter camping have either closed or will close after this weekend - Canadian Thanksgiving. Snow will come at any time, it's already October.

Alymer Lookout

 To my delight, and probably everyone else in the family's, I have found a women's hiking group. Much less nagging the family to come with me on hikes I'm not comfortable handling alone!   The first hike I did with this group is also the longest hike I have done in memory (possibly ever) - 24 km in one day. I thought it would be Ok because more than half the hike is mostly level, with a relatively sharp incline at the end to get to those amazing views. so this is the thing about hiking with a bunch of moms: (1) when we started inclining I was definitely the last in line, except for another women who I think just wanted to be sure I made it although she kept saying she was super slow; (2) when someone fell and gashed her knees, there were multiple choices of alcohol wipes, antibacterial ointment, and large Band-aids; (3) at lunch nearly everyone had carrot, cucumber and/or celery sticks. It was glorious. Everyone wanted to be there, everyone was having a great time. I did get blisters and learned that the kids' hiking shoes are really not meant for serious hiking. Also if I am going to continue hiking with these ladies then I will need a serious, decent pair of hiking boots. Given that I wear kids' sizes I am not hugely optimistic about finding what I need.

Elkwood Campground (aka Peter Lougheed camping #2)

Back during our first full summer when we were camping neophytes and made lots of mistakes, we spent a couple of nights in the Peter Lougheed area. There are multiple campgrounds and one we visited was Elkwood. Elkwood had actual showers (in one location for the entire campground), an ampitheatre that held concerts and park ranger informative talks, and a ton of bike trails. We swore we'd come back one day and thankfully, Schnerp.com let us do exactly that!

[side note: schnerp is a site that alerts users to cancelled reservations to their chosen campgrounds so they can try to snag the newly opened spot. The window is only open for 10 minutes and the first 2-3 times we tried someone else got the spot before us.]

We ended up never using the showers nor did we attend the concert but the campground was as nice as we had hoped. We arrived Friday after work and a fast food dinner, the nearly eternal summer daylight allowed us to still get the tent and gear all set up before s'mores and getting ready for bed. I was also thrilled and surprised to sleep as late as 7am and only woke a little cold in the night.

After a more or less leisurely breakfast we headed out to the Blackshale Suspension Bridge, which I would not say would be worth the trip from Calgary but being about 20 minutes from camp made a ton of sense. The bridge itself is cool, as a suspension bridge, but there isn't much else to it. The loop is only about 1km long, taking us up to and over the bridge, then looping into the forest before spitting us back out by the car.

I had heard quite a bit about renting kayaks and canoes from a nearby campground (our PL #3 if all goes well - next year) and wanted to check it out. Boulton Creek Campground has all the Elkwood does PLUS a general store, ice cream shop, and aforesaid rentals.  It's also where we buy the token to use for showers if we so indulged. We went for the ice cream and decided the watercraft rentals were a bit rich for our blood. It's a cool system though, you handle the paperwork for the rental and get the oars/lifevests at the shop, but the craft themselves are at the waterside about 10 minutes' drive away.  

Instead we decided to check out a different waterside day use area and had a great time there, although the kids would probably deny it now. We scrambled around the rocks, the kid got their feet wet (and their shoes, socks and to some extent pants/shorts) and we watched a bald eagle grab a fish out of the water, then - after its lunch - come hang out in a tree near us.  Upon return to the campground Terry and I took a little bike ride and caught some stunning mountain views as well as admiring the wildflowers beginning to poke their heads up.

Sunday morning there was rain in the forecast so after pancakes we got everything packed up in the cars and got ready to go. On the way home we stopped at several day use areas to check them out. I deeply regretted not pulling off at Grizzly Peak because the views were clear to the wall of mountains across the way.  At the Opal day use area there was an entire city of Columbian Ground Squirrels (exactly the small mammal I have been thinking are prairie dogs all these years and just learned this minute that I was wrong) scampering around worried about birds but paying us no mind. And many weren't all that concerned about the birds either, lounging fully stretched out on rocks or among the grass.  I could happily watch those adorable rodents all day but we did need to eventually get home. We discovered that there's trout fishing at Mt. Lorette Ponds and Terry happily scoped that out for future reference.  There's also a pulloff I noticed every time we were on Route 40 that has an old fashioned well and stairs beside it leading up into .... who knows what?  A couple of miles after I was sure I had just missed it Terry saw it and pulled off. It was a sweet a spot as I thought it would be, but the trail just led along the little creek and we didn't follow it very long.

Due to various logistics this is the only camping trip of summer 2022 and it was definitely one for the books!

Alpacas and gophers and rain, oh my!

 

Before we had ever arrived in Calgary we had heard about the Gopher Hole Museum and it was on our bucket list. Then COVID hit and we didn't really travel. It isn't open year round, either.

Last year friends went to Kirk's Alpaca Farm and had a blast. There's a little shop, picnic benches for lunch, and lots of little kid toys and games around. You can feed the alpacas and hang out with them in their pasture.

These two unique establishments are only 15 minutes away from each other!

You have to book a time with the alpacas because it gets really full. The operation has only been in business a few years and they say each year they are learning a lot, growing the business, and breeding new alpaca babies used to hanging out with humans. They advertised 22 babies and they were so cute!  There's two pastures, one with the moms and babies and one with the males. You get a baggie full of feed and can hang out with them quite a while. Some are happy munching the grasses and some greedily chomp down on handful after handful of feed. The babies were frolicking around. One mom and baby were resting and the mom started growling when I got a little too close. Many seemed unbothered by a little petting of their necks but were more interested in other things to hang around too long. They do have incredibly soft fur. 

We also enjoyed watching the prairie dogs scampering around. They were 100% not freaked out by us humans, with nary a panicked "cheep" to be heard. They were mostly running around, popping out of one hole and into the next. We caught one with a mouth stuffed with grasses - for what purpose we had no idea. 

Next up was the Gopher Hole Museum. Honestly, it was a lot smaller than I had expected - just one room. However, gophers are quite small and the diorama are stacked on top of each other so they fit a lot into the space. The dioramas are quite detailed and pretty humorous. 

Hiking season

Between Terry's broken ankle and wanting to spend every free moment skiing during winter, we have not been hiking. Although some trails are still closed for avalanche risk, there are still plenty of amazing hikes in the Rocky mountains that in our three years we have not yet done.

On Juneteenth when we didn't have work we thought we were in the clear to hike Lake Agnes. It was a school day/work day and I had been asking around in some of the hiking groups I'm in online and folks said they weren't having problems finding parking during the week. Hm.

Arrived at the parking lot at 10am and it was firmly closed. So we went back to the Lake Louise info center to regroup. After a conversation with one of the park guides and some more conferring, we decided on Moose Meadow to Ink Pots. 

It was nearly deserted until we hit where the trail merged with the path from Johnston Canyon to the Ink Pots. Lots of mosquitoes, some wildflowers getting an early start, and a lovely walk through the woods. The Ink Pots were worth the trip. We also discovered a lovely river just beyond, and the mountains of course behind it all, making a ridiculously beautiful spot to stop and eat lunch before adventuring on.

Btw, the Lake Louise parking lot fills by 8am even on a weekday, and Lake Morraine by 6am!!!

For the next week, we had seen a photo of Peyto Lake looking particularly deep blue and given that we'd never seen it yet (the overlook had been closed for most of our time in Canada) decided that would be the destination. The view did not disappoint. However, as the lookout is only about 1km from the parking lot we knew we needed a bit more for a hiking adventure.

So we hiked through the snow (!?!? no joke) across a ridge to another viewpoint that overlooked Bow Lake and some different mountains. The snow was very slippery and slushy so Terry's ankle began bothering him before we got to the farthest point on the trail; however we saw enough to know we wanted to come back later in the summer when more had melted and make it all the way through to the end.  The prairie dogs were abundant - a few were so big and fat I thought they were a different animal - and it was as always fun watching then scamper about.  

The wildlife highlight, however, came on our return trip.  This marmot popped out of her (his? I'm going to assume this was a mama with babies inside who wanted to keep an eye on the giants happening by) hole. At first she just popped out, checked us out and dived back in. But then she got curious and took a longer look. This was when she assumed the classic "senior year photo pose" and let us photo her from various angles.  A small group came by and she again dove back into the hole, and returned moments later to check them out.  We must have hung out with her for at least five minutes (a long time, wildlife-wise) and it was with regret we said goodbye and finished the hike.

 

 

Canada Day

 

This has been an unusual year. The snow isn't melting as fast as usual, many hiking trails and campgrounds that would normally be open are still closed. Lots more bears around because the continued snow at higher elevations means they need to come farther downhill to find food. And, for the first time since 1991, Sunshine Village was open for skiing.

It was only one lift operating (Strawberry Express), and off that lift only two runs. The line snaked far up the end of the hill although I timed the wait and it was only 15 minutes. We had decided not to schlepp our poles up the hill because we were already carrying a bunch of stuff and it turns out we do use the poles more than just as a mental safety blanket. At one point it started to rain as we got on the chairlift and midway we moved into bluer skies and the rain fell away. The rain. While we were skiing. On July 1.

We arrived later in the day because (1) I had meetings I couldn't miss in the morning because this wasn't a US holiday so we didn't get out the door until after 10:30am and (2) there was a car crash that mandated a rerouting so it took an extra half hour to get there. All this to say that by the time we had done two runs we were very hungry for lunch and were comfortable calling it a (ski) day.

After the nourishment it was time to change out of our ski boots and into the hiking boots. Because the lift next to Strawberry (Standish) was open for sightseeing; i.e. the hiking trails weren't open but there was a half mile walk to a viewing platform with truly stunning views.  I gotta say - it was cold. Like, I was not wearing nearly enough and I kept rubbing my ears to warm them up cold. So we didn't stay too long.  With that view, though, we definitely want to return when more has melted, the wildflowers are around, and we can actually hike.  Oh, and the viewing platform was in British Columbia.

Quite an adventure for one day!

If you don't like the weather just wait 10 minutes

We bought cozy patio furniture on Saturday. I curled up on a loveseat to read on Sunday. Later we built our first fire of the season, roasted the first marshmallows/made the first s'mores of the season. 

Then, overnight, this:

Getting outdoor hours

I am trying the 1000 hours outside challenge this year. Given the way the first part of the year has gone, I think I will be happy to reach 500 hours by new year.  However, my mother's day present to myself and my family means that more time out of the house just may be quite a bit more feasible.

Yes, this is a new (to us) patio set. The chairs around the table are significantly more comfortable than the set we previously had so outdoor dining just became more likely. AND there are two loveseats perfect for lounging on while reading - one for me and one for Alex. PLUS two small coffee tables just right for holding nice cold drinks to stay hydrated in the summer heat.

Just need this to not be the next "most wildfires ever recorded" year so we can breathe the outdoor air.

Catching up

 Since the last post, way back in January ... 

• We've skied. Literally every weekend since January 8 at least one member of the family skied for at least one day. Terry ended up going for the 10 weeks of lessons, and when that ended I started the 4 week spring ski lesson course. Sadly, tomorrow is my last lesson and given how melt-y everything is getting, likely our last time on the slopes until next season. I know most slopes have been closed a month already, but it is a little sad to us. I guess we go back to hiking.
  
• We have two new additions to the household: Nikita and Flicker (née Harlow, but nobody liked that name and Flicker suits her). We had been talking about getting cats since before we went to Germany and it was beyond time.
• Alex is prepping for high school. In Canada high school starts in 10th grade. She applied to, and was accepted at, a charter school that we expect will give her the support and challenge that has been missing in middle school.
• Terry's been prepping for gardening season. We have a bunch of little baby plants under lights waiting for the right time. Which, in Canada, is way past Mother's Day (normal planting time in PA).
  
• I had a short work trip to Dushanbe, Tajikistan!  For three days! 
  

Maple syrup taffy

 Friday's adventure: maple syrup taffy

All it takes is some boiled syrup (to 235-245F) and snow. Check and check.

In one set of instructions I found online the writer mentioned that candy thermometers are notoriously inaccurate so she uses three simultaneously. Given what happened with our attempt, I'd say she was probably right. By the time the syrup hit the right temp the consistency was definitely off. Several recipes mentioned letting the syrup cool for up to 5 minutes before pouring but this was already hardening.  We did get a few crunchy, hard candy clumps before Terry tried to salvage what was  there by adding water and boiling down again. That gave us somewhat creamy, sweet snow. Definitely not what we were after.

So, we will try again.

And try again we did. That was Saturday's adventure. I took the boiling maple syrup off the burner when it was only about 225 degrees. That created the kind of thick, sticky, taffy consistency that could pull out a filling.

So I guess we need a third try, for that perfect Goldilocks of chewiness.

Some small adventures

 Planning my new year goals and one is to get out of my rut. Try new things again. Lockdown has really gotten me out of the habit, even though one of my favorite things is totally COVID-OK - exploring new neighborhoods (Calgary is pretty low density so there are very few pockets where you have to be within 6 feet of someone on the sidewalk).

One thing I'd read about and wanted to try is making ice lanterns.  Basically you partly fill a container with water, then stick inside of it a smaller container to make the insert where a tea light will go, and set it outside to freeze.  I put one together, and then thought about coloring the second one. It turns out that food coloring will condense in the cold so it's a stronger pocket of green at the bottom surrounded by clear-ish water.  I've also seen examples where people put greenery and berries in the water before freezing. I have lots of ideas now.

 

The other thing is food. We have complained, well, more than we should have about the restaurant scene here.  Our trip to Vancouver inspired me to look for some of the things we ate there. Tonight it was hand pulled noodles.  We got the fried noodles that we knew the kids would like and a noodle soup for the adults. We got it spicy - the restaurant actually sells its chili oil, which I think Terry plans to buy next time. It was delicious and spicy. I kept coughing and my nose was running. Probably not the best scene in COVID times, oh well.  It bears repeating - it was delicious and spicy.  The kids tried sesame balls with sweet bean paste inside and liked it enough that we ordered a second round. The house tea was also exceptional. I have no idea what was in it - I think goji berries, peach flower, maybe chamomile, maybe chrysanthemum, I think some rose hips .... definitely honey but somehow the sweetness continued through several refillings with hot water.

Anyway, it has fueled my desire to do more exploring.

Gratitude 29-30

 #29. I am thankful for our amazing landlord. We really won the lottery with him.

#30. And I am thankful that he isn't selling the house so we can continue to live here for 3 more years!

Gratitude 25-28

 

#25. I m grateful for the COVID vaccine. I would never have volunteered to wade into tents filled with thousands of evacuees – nor take the flights required to even get there – if I didn’t have that bit of security.

#26. I am grateful I get to spend more summer in Calgary. Mountains and hoodoos to climb, and to admire views from. Rivers and lakes with colors so deep Alex swears they have been dyed. Camping in the mountains and experiencing freezing temperatures in the tent. S’mores over the campfire. Moose, bear, fox, the adorable little beaver swimming with its little stick.

#27. I am grateful that we actually managed to score the campsites we were most intent on getting last summer: Dinosaur Park (climbing hoodoos!) and Two Jack Lake (canoe!). We did not clear the bucket list; there will be plenty more campsites we are waiting online like concert tickets to score.

#28. I am grateful for libraries. They are so much more than only places that have books, but even if that’s all they were, it would be enough (dayainu).

Gratitude 21-24

 #21.  In a very generalistic, vague picture of reality, I'll explain that most of my days are spent trying to teach, coach and convince colleagues that disability rights is an important topic in foreign policy, and that physical and communications accessibility is worth the effort and possible inconvenience.  That often takes form as reviewing and editing speeches that senior diplomats will make to large crowds and to intimate gatherings.  I am grateful and even joyous every time I open a document to review and either the points I would have added are already in the original remarks, or that some other ally has already added them.  Over the last two years I have seen tangible progress and I am so grateful to be in this position, doing this work.

#22.  I am thankful that we were able to score the last, frozen, free range turkey from the butcher we frequent; local Thanksgiving was 6 weeks ago and Christmas turkeys aren't full size yet.

#23.  I am so grateful that Zoltan fits so well into his new school. He's thriving. And even more grateful he gets to stay.

#24. I am grateful to Terry for building me two bird feeders during the first COVID summer, one I can see from my desk and one in the back yard. It is such a delight to lift my eyes from the computer screen and watch the chickadees grab a bunch of seed and move through the pine tree bough, caching it (for the magpies later to steal. Circle of life.The feeder is too small for them to perch so that is also entertainment when they try.)

Gratitude 10-13

 #10:  The kids. I am not at all the same person I was before they were born – mostly for the better. They challenge me and push my out of my comfort zone all the time and I am excited to meet the adults they become.  Relatedly, I am grateful that Alex has been mostly delightful for more than six months now; she was always precocious and maybe this is a sign her teenage angst came early?

#11:  Today I am grateful for the military men and women who have volunteered to serve and protect.

 

#12:  Buy Nothing groups. Your crap is my treasure; my crap is your treasure. Everyone is happy.

 

#13:  Today Terry finished up the 2 day sourdough bread I started yesterday (no accolades for me; sourdough has been his thing since the pandemic started and I have only begun to take over).  He also had started chicken stock from a few carcasses, some aromatic veggies, and water;  today it became chicken noodle soup.  I went to the farmers market to buy our fourth box of apples (slightly smaller than a bushel); it was turned into applesauce we snacked on this afternoon.  Zoltan made chocolate chip cookies.  I am so grateful for the interest and ability of my family to put together from-scratch delicious food.

Gratitude 5-7

 So I guess this is how it's going to be this year.  Sigh.

Gratitude #5:  My health. Really. It’s a trope in my house that I don’t get sick except about one cold a year. I don’t take this for granted.

Gratitude #6:  My husband. Terry really is my perfect complement. 21 years! Soon our relationship will be older than he was when we met.

Gratitude #7:  Alberta healthcare. Three ER visits in our first year (thankfully none after that, although Terry did break his ankle). We paid a pittance for all that good care. I’ll take my “socialized medicine” any day thank you.

Gratitude 1-4

 I love November gratitude. We should all be doing it every day of the year but at least it's an effort. It really does make life a bit sweeter to start (or end) the day thinking about all the good things that come to us.

So how did I manage to forget for THREE DAYS? Ugh.  Catching up ...

Gratitude #1:  Although my short term memory is definitely on a slide, I still don't need reading glasses. Given that I have worn glasses since 5th grade, I was sure that the day after my 40th birthday I'd be looking for bifocals.  It's been a few years since then, and Terry has his stock of readers, but I am still going strong with only myopia.

Gratitude #2:  I do love winter, and the cold and snow. But icy roads mean Alex has to take the bus or we have to drive her to school, and neither option is really awesome. So I am grateful for the mild, sunny, beautiful weather we have had this week. I even went for a run after work in short sleeves!

Gratitude #3:  As frustrated as I have been with myself on the nights I decided to get some sleep rather than chase the aurora and missed the show, I have now seen the Northern Light three times since we came to Calgary and it's the only bucket list item that never gets checked off.  The last time I saw them - last month - they were so strong we caught a bit from our own back porch. Given we are relatively close to downtown and all the related light pollution, that is a HUGE deal. I will not kick myself for not staying up last night and trying to chase them down (they were apparently going strong in the 4-6am timeframe).

Gratitude #4:  The last 2 years have been the nadir of the cycle of aurora activity, so it's only up from here. And I am super grateful that I will have almost 4 more years from right now to decide to forego sleep once in a while and try to catch Lady Aurora dance.

Halloween 2021

 Things felt relatively normal this year - fewer than half the kids wearing masks and a sense that kids weren't being kept at home due to COVID.  This was also the first year we let the kids go off alone (albeit together). We thought we had a good grasp of what the neighborhood would hold, trick or treat-wise. We bought candy like we still lived in NE Philly. I advised kids grasping at whole handfuls that they really needed to take only one so other kids could be sure to get some candy.

Oops!

We overbought by about 100.

Other interesting tidbits are the two different business cards we got from two very different businesses - one was handed out at a house and the other was actually taped to the treat. That was something new! And the candy the kids discussed not liking that we discovered were Baileys Irish Cream truffles.

Once in a lifetime

Last night the aurora was so strong and so high we caught a shot of it from our back yard.  We live relatively close to the downtown area, so between trees, neighbor's houses and light pollution, it must have been a massive, amazing show for us to catch that little green line.  It was early enough in the night that I got Alex to come down and take look, although it was past Zoltan's bedtime.

I deeply regret not getting in the car and catching the real show somewhere darker.

(Photo taken with my phone, so one more reason it's not as spectacular as it could have been.)

Wordless Wednesday