triumphgal

05-24-22 Calgary zoo and home again

May 24, 2022

This morning we had some of the kids in the pool, some getting packed and eventually all of us at the breakfast buffet. Poor Will had a tough night with a bad cough, likely caught from his cousin he was hanging out with. He is such a doll, wearing his mask without question and taking cautions. Breakfast a was good and we had a lovely hostess/server who made our morning special. I recommend the Best Western Port O’Call especially with kids as the water park with dual water slides was just great. Once we got all checked out and loaded we headed to the zoo. It was supposed to be a cool stormy day so I dressed accordingly. Good old Calgary… I boiled

The lady at the booth gave me the seniors rate as I am only a year away from the 60 they call senior. I will take any perks, lol. The first and last stop of the day was the Penguin Plunge exhibit. Ashlée and I could have lived there. The black fluffy black bird in the back is 6 months old today!

After that we just worked our way round and kept trying to see the 32 day old gorilla baby. The timing was wonderful and Doxy (SP?) showed up with the baby girl on her back. The lone silverback is the papa and his father was the oldest recorded Silverback living to 62! At feeding time it was exciting to see all 7 gorillas. They have a huge indoor and outdoor pen and seem to relate well. I could have just sat and watched them for hours but after dinner mama headed out of sight again. We were so grateful to see them. It was hard to miss out on so much due to the Avian Flu and pandemic fear. Many places were fenced back or the animals were indoors

I am just going to share a bunch of pictures although I couldn’t get a picture of some of my favourite, the Meerkats. Their old man faces and frantic movements of seemingly endless curiosity cracked me up.

It is hard to explain exactly how I feel about a zoo. It is so incredible to see these animals in an environment trying to create their natural one, to have opportunity to learn about them, to see which are endangered, etc. I hope though, that most of them are rehabilitated or relocated from negative spaces rather than captured and caged. Most of the environments seemed positive, only a few seemed too small and I hope over time they will be expanded as it seems some have been along the way. There is a new polar bear habitat in the making. I will be following that progress.

We all had a bite together and then finished that last bit we’d missed before heading for the parking lot. A pulled pork grilled cheese sandwich is delicious btw.

It was odd for me to see Bill in a scooter. I am glad he had it or he wouldn’t have lasted long. My feet and knees were feeling it, he never could have done it all. The fact he was my first husband though sits with me as the age seems so much more than 6 years to me now. It was such a good time all together though, I am really glad I went. And I am glad for the fun Deanne and I had as well, even if my bad influence made her buy a designer fanny pack and drink peach crown royal.

Golan and Aymo travelled with me home and we had such fun, stopping to take pictures and singing Bruno Mars loudly. It was great to have long talks and learn more about their lives and home countries, hopes and dreams.

Once home again, I dropped them off, came home and unloaded, appreciating the bounty of travels, including the odd rabbit Golan gave me from his Kinder Egg.

This was such a full and fun experience, it really is important to enjoy your own backyard, only 5 hours away and so much greatness!

05-22-22 Coal Mines and Canyons

May 22, 2022

This morning we finally got our poop in a group and headed south to the Atlas Coal Mine Museum. It was really impressively done, the tours don’t open until next weekend but we paid and were able to wander the grounds, reading signs, ducking in and out of buildings. Each one felt very caught in time and I think everyone enjoyed it. At one point Sawyer and I turned to each other at the same time and said, ‘That looks like a face”! I would go back there and take the tours, ride the narrow gauge railway, go underground, etc. I did buy some wash house soap and a dinosaur egg bath bomb as well as a nice small print to frame.

We headed back into town and stopped at our dream grocery store Freson Bros. What a lovely place with so many incredible options. It was easy to find food to take to Horse Thief Canyon for a picnic. We also met a dog named Moose celebrating his 4th birthday.

The drive up to Horse Thief was nice and the view down into the canyon was spectacular. We all settled to eat and then people started heading in different directions down and up and back again. Suddenly there was a fleet of emergency vehicles crowding the parking lot. It turned out someone had fallen and broken their ankle on the other side out of sight. I felt for the EMTs who did not seem equipped for hiking. The way down was long. some of the trucks found a way to a closer spot and the person was eventually carried out in a basket. All very exciting!

After that we drove North to the Bleriot Ferry which is the halfway mark on the Dinosaur Trail. It was a cable ferry, free to take and operated by a single person. Many of the features are quite antiquated and we were told she had to leave people behind because of the number of life jackets, despite room on board still.

Coming back down the other side of the river we saw the welcome to Drumheller sign and just had to stop. It was also the site of a previous coal mine. Turns out so is our hotel. I like the signs around the area explaining the history.

Back to the hotel as the pool was open again, having recovered from a burst pipe. I sat and blogged about yesterday and others rested. I have decided not to go home tomorrow but to carry on to Calgary with them all. We plan to shop tomorrow, no provincial sales tax so it saves us 7% and then go to the zoo the next day when Alberta kids are back in school.

We fed all the kids and then Rae-Anne, Roger, Ashlée, Deanne and I walked next door to O’Sheas for a nice dinner. Well, that was what we hoped for…. My steak that could be cut through because of sinew was not the only thing to go wrong and it took a very long time so we were freezing on the patio by the time we were done. They did give us a 20% discount after the manager came to sit down and get to the bottom of it all. Unfortunately it made the night end sooner than we had planned as we are all tired and just done. We got the boys in our room organized for the morning and we will have breakfast with an intended launch of 9:15.

I did get some sun today but am happily tuckered out.

05-21-22 random connections

May 22, 2022

I begin this evening backwards because I just spent the last couple hours hanging out in the hotel comfort area with HAYLEY from Victoria, sharing life stories and more. To be fair, I am hammered. So as much as i want to share all that happened today I am going to tell you this…. I remember that: Hoodoos,, Wayne.. Big Dinosaur,, family, random strangler.

Hayley and I spent along time hanging out in the lobby,which of course Is the last thing I am relating to since Roger kicked my andDeanne’s butts at RummyCube

I am sorry,I want to Share more of my fabulous day but IAM drunk,lol

Ha! I am going to count that as an official post but apparently I didn’t even push the publish button so I am going to fill in the blanks now. I laugh to read the above as I am not even sure what random strangler I am referring to.

The day began with me herding everyone out of the room so I could get housekeeping to clean the bathroom and do up the beds. The breakfast room here is pretty great with everything you could hope for available. I understand they are also short staffed at this SureStay but seem to be making the best of it. It’s a shame they keep having trouble with the pool though as the kids are very disappointed when it is closed.

The first adventure of the day was Fossil World. It was more for the little guys and they had fun digging for fossils that they could choose one of to keep while Ashlée and I roamed the large gift shop. There were no local fossils to purchase as it is illegal to sell Alberta found ones. I did but a gorgeous geode though as a keepsake of this fabulous trip. I probably would have bought the shark if I had the money, lol.

While everyone else went to the World’s Largest Dinosaur, I went to Vi’s Nail salon where I spent a lovely hour chatting with the other ladies and learning about the places we should see. It really was a marvellous fill as well, and I love my cats eye colour.

When I was done the whole gang had just made it to the Vietnamese Noodle House for lunch and we gained Bill’s brother Ray and wife Jan with their son Kory and his two kids Luna and Maddox. We now fill half a restaurant. The food was very good and reasonably priced.

Once back at the hotel, everyone went outside and had a lot of fun with footballs and such before we all decided to go to the HooDoos. $2 a carload for some great climbs and hanging out in the beautiful environment.

Our next destination was the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne. It was at the end of a long winding road with 11 bridges, of which we crossed 9. There was no cell reception and the place was crowded when we arrived with 17 people and 4 more were on the way. Fortunately they had contacted Jessie, Kory’s brother to let him know where we were headed so that he, his Daughter Braea, his friend Austin and his daughter Charlotte could join us. The staff was so accommodating and let us have the whole closed patio to ourselves. The place has a lot of character and friendly staff which made it very enjoyable and we had a good, impromptu Perreault family reunion.

Once we got back to town, The Guedes family, Ash and I went to the big Dinosaur as their time was so short earlier, the lady signed their slips that they could come back. I went up in Deanne’s place and was glad I did. It is very well done and the view from the top is awesome.

Returning to the hotel, Gene managed to get his new kite flying and we all hung out and visited before the rest headed to their hotels. That is when Roger, Deanne and I drank whiskey and played Rummicube. It was time to go to blog and bed but I didn’t want to keep Ashlée awake so I went to settle in a chair in the living room style area down the hall. there was a lady already there and I had a great chat with her, the above mentioned Hayley. As you can tell, there was not much that happened after that, rather like the plaque re 1897 that I saw on the saloon wall in Wayne.

So much fun was had yesterday and today that I am only just now at 5:40 pm finishing this!!

05-20-22 Royal Tyrell Museum

May 20, 2022

I didn’t have a lot of great sleep but was up at a decent time and we all headed to the hotel provided breakfast which was delicious. We headed out and were at the museum before 9:30 which turned out to be the best as we were ahead of the crowds and took our time wandering through and enjoying it all. It really is world class!! I had no idea that Drumheller is the Dinosaur Capital of the world. I learned so much today and it really was special. We headed into downtown to do the dinosaur walk. The kids had fun posing with so many of the art installations and we wandered in and out of stores and stopped for flights of beer being sure to bring some cans back with us. The kids went to the pool while Rae and I took the students to Walmart to pickup a few things and then it was out for dinner to Bernie and the Boys Bistro for great burgers in a very weird environment. I picked up some dehydrated salt water taffy. When we got back, the teens went to the pool again and Rae and Roger and I went for a walk to the neighbourhood stores, and they picked up drinks and snacks for the kids. Roger and I continued on to the Liquor store across the street for some treats. I then played RummyCube with him and we each won a game before I headed back to my room to get people settled for the night. It is challenging with one room and 6 different expectations of sleep times. It is a really nice time together and I am really glad I came. I have even mostly been able to ignore my email, ha-ha

05-19-22 Vulcan was a hoot!

May 19, 2022

I loaded the car, took out the garbage and headed to the office. Got a lot of people paid and reports done before going to fill up the car at Shell where there was double air miles and 3 cents off with BCAA. Stopped at Northstar Bicycle Company where I had been told yesterday that there is a great barista and that was the truth. He (dang I forgot, I think TImmy) was just a lovely human being who made me a wee dog and Rae a heart. What a sweet touch.

We all met at Rae’s and packed the cars before agreeing to meet at Arby’s where Rae needed to bring change. From there we hit the highway with Ash in my car, the students in with Bill and Deanne and the Guedes family all in their vehicle. The weather was sketchy with pretty strong winds as expected but it stayed light long and there were many things to see that made me wish for time to stop and take pictures. The turbines freak me out a little. I guess I have watched too many movies that they unnerve me as a harbinger of doom.

I listened to audible books and Ash tried to sleep along the way until we got to Vulcan which is a cool little spot celebrating the Star Trek universe. It wasn’t open and it was pouring rain so we stopped at the Subway across the street use the loo, grab food and warm up. Just as we were nearing town my car gave me a message. Maybe it came from outer space

My car told me I had zero Kms of fuel left about 2 Kms before we got to the first open gas station which just happened to be a shell right beside our hotel. Probably could have kept going!!!

Rae, Roger, Bill and Deanne, Will and Sawyer have a suite with a kitchen and separate bedroom and Ash & I are in a two queen with pullout with the 4 teens. It is already smelly in here, lol.

I once again forgot part of my machine but thankfully Ash brought both of hers so I will use her machine and my mask tonight. Should be good and I am tired… On with the vacation!!