Showing posts with label Awesomeness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Awesomeness. Show all posts

Sunday, July 17, 2022

Stampede Pancake Breakfasts


Of course I had heard of Stampede before moving to Calgary. The rodeo thing, right? And when we moved here I heard a bit more about the pancake breakfasts. I heard about corporate sponsored ones, fancy with cocktails and invites being handed to clients and contacts.

During COVID the whole pancake breakfast thing took a hiatus, so this year was our first opportunities. I was a bit of a disbeliever - organizations just have this breakfast spread and anyone can just show up and eat the pancakes? Yes. Oh, yes.

While I was busy hiking mountains, Terry took the kids to a neighborhood breakfast at a new establishment we had been meaning to check out.  They were on the early side so although the pancakes were cooking, the band was not yet set up and the ponies for kiddie rides were just coming in. Apparently they were wearing cowboy hats. How disappointed am I that Terry took no pictures???

This morning we went to a nearby neighborhood for a church's pancake breakfast so I could see what this was all about.  This time we arrived about 15 minutes after it officially began and the line was down the street, the tables they had set up were full and they were setting up additional ones, the band was in full swing as was the petting zoo. These things are basically like block parties but better in just about every way! What an amazing thing for communities to do in a city.

Friday, July 8, 2022

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. 




Sunday, July 3, 2022

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!

Saturday, May 7, 2022

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.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Happy birthday to me!

 ... a few days late.  This year was a pretty good one. It started with chocolate chip waffles and Alex' card. The card included a secret code I had to crack to find the batches of cookies she made just for me.

 

  We tried to make maple syrup taffy, which failed miserably. We watched a movie together, Terry made my five hour duck (delicious as always, and the source of a year's worth of duck fat), and after dinner we had a brief jaunt to Confederation Park to check out the light displays and do a little sledding. 

The kids' s'mores cake was fantastic, although the marshmallow frosting melted into the cake a bit.  The kids gave me what I always ask for (but don't always get) - a whole day without fighting. I *may* have napped between 10-11pm but did get up in time to watch the fireworks on TV. We could see a tiny bit of the highest fireworks from the front steps but that wasn't reason enough to stand outside in the -20 chill.




Wednesday, December 1, 2021

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!

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

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.)


Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Prairie Mountain

 


As said before, the family vetoes hikes with an incline. So, a little nervous about the possibility of bears, I clutched by bear spray tightly and embarked on one of the most popular hikes in the area: Prairie Mountain. I can see why folks love it - it is only an hour outside of Calgary and 7km round trip. It also covers 700m of elevation, or nearly 2300 feet, of elevation in that time. It is not for the faint of heart.

I tried my best to take many beautiful photos and they all look fake. They also don't nearly capture the view. This happens when all you have is a crappy phone camera because your husband, who wields the fancy (and heavy!) camera, decides not to join.

The summit has a perfect 360 view of mountains and the valley. For some reason my cell phone battery was dying quickly today so I didn't linger at the top past eating lunch. The parking lot for the hike is at the Elbow River so I did pop over there to dip my feet before driving home. Just a bit down the road, I saw a ton of cars pulled over on both sides and assumed there was some hiking trail with an insufficient parking lot. The camper in front of me was trying to maneuver because some of the cars hadn't pulled over all the way. Then I looked to my left and saw this handsome fellow. I pulled over (all the way) and took a couple of quick shots before heading on my merry way home.

Moose and mountains, is there a better way to spend a day?

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Cake for dinner

 One of the birthday coupons the kids got last year was dessert for dinner.  Zoltan used his on something relatively mundane. Alex, on the other hand, came up with this gem.

She and Zoltan each made cakes.  

 She made the chocolate and graham cracker cakes. Zoltan made a plain white cake.  He made chocolate chiffon frosting. She made marshmallow frosting. It consumed 2 containers of Fluff and still the "marshmallow" flavor got lost in "frosting" flavor. Next time it needs less butter and powdered sugar.

She stacked and frosted the layers.  She decorated the top and sides (Zoltan helped made some of the design decisions).

This thing is both amazing and terrifying. Our slices were about 1/16 each and it was too much. I was impressed how it all came together.  The graham cracker cake is the same recipe our chef friend had used when making Alex's birthday cake 3 years ago in Frankfurt and I doubted that Alex could pull off something as moist and flavorful. I was wrong.


* Note: Terry had nothing to do with these photos

Monday, March 8, 2021

The Buy Nothing Group

 One major silver lining of COVID is the development of local Buy Nothing groups. Through ours, I have rid our house of outgrown kids' clothes, snowshoes, cookware, toys and games. We have acquired other cookware, food items, a white board just when ours died, and - most importantly - school supplies the night they became necessary.

When Alex mentioned in the late afternoon that she needed two balloons for science class the next day, I took a deep breath. We're trying to limit our trips to stores, and we don't have any balloons. In comes the Buy Nothing group. I asked if anyone had balloons. A few people did. One of whom said she was running out to the wine store and would drop off the balloons while she was out. Jokingly, I asked her to drop off some wine as well. 

Later in the evening she writes back that she had dropped them off in a bag at our doorstep. I go out to pick it up. In the bag, in addition to the balloons, is a bottle of wine. My heart is so overfull.

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Wild Ice


Wild ice is the term used for ice skating on a pond, lake or other natural body of (frozen) water. Technically we have been on wild ice before, last year. But ... Lake Louise grooms a rink and the Bowness Park Lagoon is small and narrow.

Gap Lake is very popular - so popular, in fact, that there have been accidents and the local authorities asked people to stay away. We drove out to Johnson Lake and it was snowy and rough. We figured we'd just pop over to Two Jack Lake and check it out because it  is only 5 minutes down the road. Expectations were exceptionally low, and extraordinarily exceeded. 

Between the volume of cars in the parking lot and the specks of people dotting the surface of the lake, it looked pretty solid. We found parking, grabbed our skates, and headed for the shore. I am not going to lie, the clear ice freaked me out. I preferred not seeing all the way to the rocks at the bottom of the lake.  Terry showed me how to apprise the cracks of ice to tell how far the ice was solid. And of course note the hordes of people skating hither and thither, emphasizing the solidity. There were folks being pulled by their dogs, folks playing scrimmage hockey, pushing their children in strollers ... even a guy on a fat tire bike riding around. There was a whole lake of space!

It was super windy, to the extent that you could be pushed to dizzying speeds if you let the wind catch you. Alex, deeply into her teens, actually admitted to having fun!

The downside is that we have not skated this year at all, and we got cold, tired and achy. We saw a guy grilling out of his truck's bed and realized that was a great idea. Our plan for next time involves coming earlier and bringing some camping equipment to make a hot lunch. That way we can have a morning skate, some rest and regrouping, then a second run in the afternoon. Whenever next time will be ...

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Chasing the aurora

When we lived in St Petersburg, we took an Arctic vacation in Lapland to cross off the one item on Terry's bucket list. We saw an aurora borealis. Turns out, that only whet our appetites for more.

Within the first month of our arrival in Calgary, we were directed to a Facebook page (yes, that is still around) for folks who check out scientific data, make guesses about where good viewing might be, and head out in the middle of the night in hopes of catching a view. People even do this on a work night! We were super stoked, pumped up to be just like these dedicated individuals whose stunning photography we would marvel over the next day.

But there were always hesitations. It is the middle of the night, usually, and we had work the next day. Plenty of times folks would post about going out and never finding her (Aurora). What would we do with the kids? If no sleep on a work night was a dicey proposition, no sleep on a school night is a hard "No." So we spent our first few months just watching and reading. We learned a few things, like Bz going South is good but if it goes North you may as well go back to bed (except that it can suddenly plummet South at any moment, you never know, Aurora is a fickle one). After October there really weren't any more auroras near Calgary, although to the way north it was still a nearly nightly occurrence. We learned about solar flares and solar minimums and lots of reasons why the aurora was probably going into hibernation. 

We got sad and worried we had totally missed our opportunity. 

Turns out 2019 was a solar minimum, which means we are now on a 5 or 6-ish year cycle toward the solar maximum. So things can only get better!

Back to Friday night. In the evening there was chatter that conditions looked good for an aurora, so after the kids went to bed I was back on Facebook seeing what people had to say. Some were already posting photos of the aurora from locations within 30-45 minutes of our very house! We got excited. I installed Facebook on my phone so I could track where people said they saw stuff while en route. We took the general advice that is given every time a newbie asks "Where to go?" - which is "head north to get out of the city, then go east or west." Folks were posting photos from due west and from due north, so we started off with a goal in the northwesterly direction. 

We did pull over on the side of the road once because there was something hazy and we weren't sure it was anything. Nothing green was visible to the naked eye but when we looked at the photos later it was unmistakable.  But that's nothing to stay up all night over, so we kept hunting.  At a crossroad where we were about to turn, we decide to pull over and check out the sky. And there she was.


Saturday, January 11, 2020

Canadian Tire

A phenomenon we had never even heard of before our move is the magic that is Canadian Tire. They do in fact sell tires (I wasn't entirely sure). But in addition, they sell every thing you can possibly think of. Kids need ice skates? They even sharpen them in the shop. Looking for a shower curtain or bed sheets? Sure thing. Clothes? Indoor shoes for school? School supplies? It's Canada's Target. And also somehow K-Mart-y. But no food.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Happy birthday to me

This was definitely a birthday for the books. The mantra of the day for the kids was "Kind, loving, agreeable" - meaning if their words or actions were not one of the three, they had to knock it off. For the first time ever it worked!  So first gold star of the day - very little bickering, no fighting, yelling, crying.

We went downtown and started to break in the museum membership I received from my father as a birthday gift. The museum has an interactive section where adults and children can work on art projects inspired by two temporary exhibits. The kids worked on making prints on pieces of foam and on re-purposing everyday items after having wandered for a few moments (I stretched it as long as I could) through the related exhibits to see what the artists had done.

They were so interested in their projects we left the museum 20 minutes later than planned - gold star number two.

We met Terry for lunch at the delicious Korean place near work. The kids only complained about the egg on top but after we pushed it away they ate until full and agreed it was delicious. I call that a win - gold star number three.

Next up - ice skating at Olympic Plaza. The Zamboni came out as we were tying our skates and then we spent an hour on the ice. Randomly, an ice sculpture was unceremoniously unveiled while we were there. Interesting fact: This park is the epicenter of Calgary's "ringing in the new year" activities (hence the ice sculpture) and there were about five times more people on the ice at midnight when we saw it on the TV at home.
By the time we were ready to head home, it was time to pick up my birthday Made by Marcus cake. We have recently discovered this local ice cream place and have really enjoyed getting a cone there. Sadly, we all had to admit later that Rocky Road is not their best flavor. I mean the DQ ice cream cakes the kids got for their birthdays were better.  Ah well, live and learn.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Snowy Days

We got a decent snowfall overnight and the kids played outside most of the day. Using the snow they shoveled from the walkway as well as almost all the snow from the yard, they have constructed their own little living room in the back yard. Two chairs, two "beds", a table, some shelving. Also, my favorite, is that they constructed a giant Mancala board out of snow and they are using gravel from the side of the house as the stones.

The next day was our fist trip to Banff. We foolishly trusted the weather report and did not dress warmly enough for the hike we had planned, so instead we took a much shorter route. The kids have been complaining that they don't like hiking ... apparently, when "hiking" becomes "walk for a bit and play in the snow a lot" they are huge fans!

A blog post I can no longer find recommended the Park Distillery for eats and boy was that a good call! Between the beef and the buffalo burgers, the ah-may-zing Hikers Salad, and the really delicious house tea (I was too cold for a cocktail, although they looked tasty) it was a perfect, hearty way to refuel after all the playing (I mean hiking).

Friday, August 9, 2019

The best rest stop accidental tourism ever


We had a somewhat longer driving day to get to the North Dakota hotel we had chosen along the route ... chosen because of the water slides in the hotel pool. They did not disappoint. We chose fast food for dinner because of it being, well, fast, and the kids got an hour to play before bed. The next day they dutifully chowed through their breakfast in order to get into the pool for a short while again in the morning before checkout.

Jamestown is a big buffalo place, meaning it is home of the world's largest buffalo!  It's set just on the far end of the Frontier Village, which is a fun depiction of a main street back in frontier days. The kids enjoyed hanging out in the jail and seeing what the post office used to look like.

So far as we knew, there were no tourist sights, things to see, reasons to stop along the road to the next hotel. We drive for a few hours. Then, we see signs for Theodore Roosevelt National Park in two miles. What?? Right then, Terry says he needs to stop and stretch his legs.

We pull off into the Painted Canyon Visitor's Center.  Oh. My. Goodness. The vastness, rugged terrain, and difficulty of adequately capturing it on film reminded me of the Grand Canyon. We decide to take the (described as) half hour hike into the canyon. The kids whine they are hot and tired. Then they see a couple that had passed us on the trail not ten minutes before were near the top of one of the peaks in the canyon and they are energized. It was a fun hike up, much more challenging getting down the thing because some of the soil was a bit pebbly so we weren't as sure of our footing. Heading back out of the canyon was a bit more challenging than what we are used to, because we are all in horrible shape and moving probably faster than we really needed to.

We've all heard of Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier. How had we never heard of TR National Park? He is practically the reason we have any national parks at all!

Friday, January 4, 2019

Christmas Market time, Part I

Terry was here for the kids' winter holiday (which is still ongoing, entering its third week, dear Lord will we survive this much togetherness?) To celebrate the last winter in Germany, we went a-Christmas Market-ing.

Stop One - Köln. Home of the only decent Ferris Wheel we saw the entire trip. In hindsight, I feel a little bad about only letting the kids go on once. The Chocolate Museum was decent although compared to other museums on the trip, pricey for what it was. A major highlight for the kids was, as usual, the bunk beds in the hotel room. Köln Cathedral never ceases to stop me in my tracks, although this was the first time I went inside.

On our way to Köln the train was switched out for another train that was exactly the same except the car numbers were different which means that no reservations were honored. Thankfully we were able to secure identical type seating to what we had paid for so no complaints. On the return trip, however, we got to the station too early so when we saw that train was also switched out I went to the DB travel office to see if we could switch to an earlier train given that our reservations didn't matter anyway. The lady first explained that I couldn't switch us to an earlier train because of the class of ticket we had purchased ... but ... we could depart on a train that left 30 minutes after our scheduled one, and arrived 30 minutes earlier and have the exact same type of seating to what we reserved. Customer Service!!!

* Tip to the wise: Frankfurt to Köln can be a 1 hour trip or a 2 hour trip, so pay attention when booking tickets.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Epic Road Trip part 3: Wroclaw

From Saxon Switzerland, we headed into Poland. Although we stopped at Boleslawic for the night and a bit of pottery shopping in the morning, our real destination was Wroclaw. All we knew about it was that it was a little city filled with brass gnomes. You can buy maps at the tourist info center, or find maps online, or just wander around with eyes peeled. Gnome hunting was a highlight of the entire trip for the kids.


 It reminded me a bit of Boston's Freedom Trail, in that the gnomes seemed specifically placed in neighborhoods around the city that tourists might not otherwise visit, but that the city might benefit from tourists discovering. Once such location that comes to mind is a small network of back alleys that sheltered, in addition to the gnomes, some brass farm animals and a number of independent shops, cafes and souvenir stores.

In addition to the gnomes, the town center area is also quite picturesque.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Epic Three-country Road Trip, Part 2: Saxon Switzerland National Park

On Day 3 of the Epic Road Trip we left Pilsen for Saxon Switzerland National Park, which is not in Saxony nor in Switzerland, but instead in Germany near the borders of Czech Republic and Poland.

Kudos to Microsoft or whoever has that program of rotating beautiful places on earth as the logon background.  That's where I first saw a photo of the place a couple of years ago, with its spectacular rugged rock formations. By then I knew I was on my way to Germany for my next tour and I made a plan to get to it. It's a big pain to get to from Frankfurt, but it is a mere convenient waystation on the Epic Road Trip!

We took the usual tourist route across the Bastei Bridge, which is free although parking costs a little bit. The half-price fare (due to construction) to go into the space that was once an old castle was more than worth it, as it had several decent exhibits and signs explaining what used to be where. It also had some of the best views and closest approaches to the edges of rock. Imagining what could have encouraged people to try to live in such a harsh environment was a fun mental exercise.

We also got to watch a number of rock climbers try their luck against the sharply peaking faces. But apparently none of those photos met with Terry's critical eye because none of them appeared again after he finished editing everything.

 Iconic photo of Bastei Bridge
 That is not a person. It is a sculpture known as the Angel.
Terry and Alex hanging out in a cave while Zoltan and I rest elsewhere. It's hard being 8 when everyone else is older and stronger.

Sunday, July 29, 2018

The Eclipse

July 27 saw the longest lunar eclipse in a hundred years. Although I hear the US wasn't able to see it, it was supposed to be well visible from Europe. Around the time it was supposed to start, I started wandering around looking for the moon. Between trees and buildings, I couldn't see anything. I checked in with friends and neighbors here in Frankfurt and for a good hour there was no news. Then someone mentioned it was visible. I ran out.

Not having a videocamera or a high quality camera of any kind, I had to capture it on my Smartphone. Although the photos were nothing at all, the videos at least caught the essence of what was going on. In the first video the moon is clearly reddish. By the end, the moon was passing out of our shadow and becoming much lighter, brighter and whiter.

Yes, the quality sucks. But it was cool to see it.

Which reminds me that back in November a friends mentioned that the International Space Station would be visible overhead in the DC area, and the kids and I went out to watch it pass.  Didn't capture that one at all, but it was pretty cool.

Around 11:15pm