Calgary - Scott, Kat, Alli

Our flight from Vancouver to Edmonton on Tuesday was quite uneventful, and when we went to pick up our rental car, they gave us a lovely upgrade, which made the drive to Calgary even nicer.  We checked into our room in Airdrie, then went to Calgary to meet Scott, Katherine and Alli at Moxies for dinner.  This is 6 month old Allison Mary Linton.

On the drive to their house after dinner, we passed Telegraph Hill, which has something to do with WW2, but I can't remember the story, and don't have time to look for it.  Sorry!

Alli is crawling already, finding her own company quite amusing.  What a sweetie!

Daddy is quite sold on his little girl......

....as is Mommy!  And I must say, the feeling is quite mutual!

Scott has been trying to emulate Grandpa Linton in making toboggans from scratch, and has developed a new admiration for his Grandfather in the process!  Apparently it's harder than it appears!

It was really nice to spend time with this young family, see the results of all the work they've done on their lovely little starter home, and eat the yummy dessert that Kat had made for us!  Thanks guys!

Last day (for now!) in Vancouver.

This morning we found a couple of visitors in the back yard - very healthy looking visitors!

The lady in the other downstairs apartment in this house has cats, this being one of them, and leaves a window open when she is not home so the cats can come and go.  Trouble is, the racoons like to eat the cat food as well, so come and go also.  Guess that's why they look so well fed!

Karen, this one's for you - cherry trees on Taylor Way.....

.....and at Ambleside.

There are lots of Dogwood trees in bloom right now as well - they are SO beautiful!  Dogwood is BC's provincial flower.

We went to the pond in Ambleside Beach in West Van - a place I always love to go.  There were lots of these American Wigeons - pretty little ducks!

I don't know if they were eating this grass that's in their mouths or building a nest.

I know the mallard is just a plain old every-day duck, but they really are very pretty!

And here's Mama.

We were lucky to see this pair of Common Mergansers in the English Bay again today.

This totem was given to the people of West Van by the Squamish Nation to "welcome with open arms all who pass our shores".

This is John Shaver, who is well known in the area for his balancing rocks.  There is no glue or anything involved, just balance.  We had heard of him, but hadn't seen him until today.  It's pretty amazing!

This is a portion of the West Van Seawall that we love to walk on, as do MANY other people.  Behind the fence is a dog walk.  The owners walk on the seawall, the dog walks on the path.  It seems to work!

This woman had a trap set, tied to the shore with a long rope.  She had caught some crabs and was stuffing them in the blue bag.  She would only be able to get to the trap at low tide.

When we got to Dundarave Beach at the west end of the sea wall, we went up to Marine Drive to a nice little coffee shop and bakery.  :-)  Yummm!

Another example of art work on the rocks by the seawall.  It's bits of tile and glass - very pretty, and lots of them along the way.

We found this fellow looking for clams or something in a creek that runs into the bay.  He isn't nearly as fat and healthy as the ones in the back yard!

Another example of balancing rocks.  Today he was making bird shapes, sometimes he does inukshuks.

I think these peaks are called the Lions, for which the Lions Gate Bridge is named.

And one last look at the Vancouver skyline - tomorrow we're off to Edmonton/Calgary.

Sea to Sky

What a great day it has been!  We started the day with Jeff skyping with Kerry.  They had a pretty long visit, but the video part was not great.  Kerry is in Prague, 9 hours time-wise from here, and as I do this, she is likely getting ready for her first day of school.  Hope it's a good one, Kerry!

We went to the Cap Community Church, and after church I found this little monkey climbing a tree outside.          Jeff then drove us to Whistler on the Sea to Sky highway in the Volvo.  It's a great car for that windy road!

We made a stop to hike through the woods to an old volcano crater - quite a climb for us old folks!  But so glad we did!

Took a different way back down - not quite so steep.

This was definitely bear country, as evidenced by the marks on the tree, but we didn't see one.  This is the same area that Jeff and Kerry camp often, and where the bear tore their tent.  They don't learn quick!

Jeff caught this just before Paul got the snow.  Even though there was snow around, it was very warm - a truly beautiful day!

A picture holding an "Our Canada" magazine, to send for possible inclusion in a future issue.

We had a late lunch at the Mongolia Grill.  You choose the stuff you want in your stir-fry, and a cook cooks it for you on the big grill.  The big pile is Jeff's.  :-)

It was really nice to be able to sit outside on the deck.....

.....where we were joined by this little fellow, looking for a handout.  He was out of luck - we were too hungry!

Although Whistler was closed, they were still able to ski on Blackcomb - will be for a long time I think - and were even able to ski right down to the village.  Note the shorts.

Another picture for Our Canada.  Jeff thinks he's # one, his Dad # two.  :-)

Whistler is on the right, Blackcomb on the left, and there is a gondola that goes across from one to the other.

I chased this lovely little bumblebee from flower to flower.  The strange thing is that his back end is orange.

As we were leaving Whistler, we came across these bears eating the nice green grass.  They weren't particularly interested in us - not as interested as we were in them.  What a bonus to see them!

Stopped at a pull-over spot to see these snow-covered peaks.  There is still a lot of snow on the mountains!

Stopped again for another look at The Chief - a famous climbing site near Squamish.

There were some climbers on it at the time.  This is the second biggest piece of granite in the world.  The biggest is the Rock of Gibralter in Spain.

Also got a good look at Mount Garibaldi with the sun shining on it.  This is the Dalton Dome.  The mountain is a dormant volcano.

And one last pic through the car window when we were nearly home.  Thanks Jeff, for a great day!