A side of Rwanda that few of us have ever seen. Wonderful video by Mammoth.
Rwanda
Reply
Category Archives: travel
Our tent
For our trip to Grey Owl’s cabin, we need some tents. Mark will carry a one person tent along and I bought this one for Jordon and I yesterday for $16 from Wal-Mart. We set it up last night and while it fits me great, like all three person tents, it is a bit crowded for Jordon but it will work well. Hopefully the fly won’t be needed and we can lay out under the stars. I do need some stuff to seal the seams in case it rains but other than that, it’s one thing to be checked off the list.
The 2013 Grey Owl’s Cabin Expedition
Jordon has posted about our planned expedition to Grey Owl’s Cabin on his blog. To be honest I wasn’t totally thrilled with the idea. A 40 km back country hike is well out of my comfort zone but as I checked out some video, read about other people’s hike and basically got over my own fear of the unknown, I started to get excited about the idea.
We are going up in mid-June with the idea of getting out there early and making camp at the Northend campground before pushing on to Grey Owl’s Cabin that afternoon. While it could be hot, I have full confidence in Kingsmere Lake providing all of the chill that I need to cool off and stay hydrated.
Now we need to get the gear for the trip and start getting in shape to handle the walk. Walking for 6-8 hours makes for a long day and of course for most of that time I am carrying a full pack. Here is description of the trip.
The good news is that I went out and bought some shorts, top, and even a new summer jacket. I may die on the trail but I will look good. I am looking forward to it. Who knows, maybe the Boreal Trail is in our future.
Travelling with kids
With a trip planned to Calgary, we are now trying to plan for the trip to make it pleasant. While we have computers and gear, we want to pack as light as possible which will mean some puzzle and quiz books. Today I went to Liquidation Supercentre where I picked up some books and a new backpack for Oliver. The backpack will also hold his water bottle and a snack for Oliver when we hike Johnston’s Canyon and walk the Calgary Zoo.
Mark has a messenger bag that will hold his camera and gear. For the road trip his bringing his iPod Shuffle but also he plans to buy a iPod Nano while in Alberta (no sales tax). Both him and Jordon will want to check out the Apple Store while in Calgary. He also will be going old school with a couple of magazines and some books to read on the road.
For me, I’ll play with Jordon’s iPad, listen to some music, and read a bit as well. Hopefully I will be better behaved than the kids in the back seat but you never know.
Calgary
Jordon and I have been married for 15 years this October 18th. Since then a lot has changed, mainly we have a son in football. Since football won’t be done by October 18th, we have pushed back our anniversary trip to early November and will be heading up to Calgary for four days then. We had planned to head out by ourselves but we decided to take the boys, see Banff, and explore some touristy parts of Calgary. We went there back in 1998 and haven’t been back since.
The plan is to check out the Calgary Tower, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, Glenbow Museum, Chateau Lake Louise, the Banff Gondola, Johnston Canyon, and the Calgary Zoo while hopefully seeing Dave King and some family while in town. We took some advice of some friends and got our gondola and Banff Zoo tickets from Airmiles. It turned two expensive trips into a very cheap one. The only thing that didn’t work out is the Caverns and Basin Historic Area is undergoing some renovations and won’t be open.
While the drive there is a bit long, we will grab a bite to eat in Drumheller, let the boys explore a dinosaur and check out Horseshoe Canyon.
We looked around and decided after reading Trip Advisor to stay at the Best Western Calgary Centre. It’s a hotel and not much more but all we will be doing is sleeping and grabbing a breakfast from it. That and relaxing in the hot tub at the end of the day. It has a kid’s pool which I have never seen before but it will be nice for Oliver to splash around in.
I am looking forward to it.
The Prince of Wales & the Duchess of Cornwall
We got news last week that when the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall roll into Regina on May 23rd, Mark was invited to join them for a Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II reception at the Saskatchewan Legislature. Since Jordon attended a reception with the Duke and Duchess of York back in 1989, I get to be Mark’s escort. We will head down early on the 23rd and spend the day in Regina tooling around. It should be fun and a great experience for Mark and myself.
We are leaving Oliver in Saskatoon. Jordon will drive down with us but I am pretty sure he can keep himself amused.
The Canadian
Next year Jordon and will have been married for 15 years and have been thinking of taking a trip. Most of our friends seem to celebrate these occasions by heading to Mexico and we talked about this but Jordon suggested we take a train trip. Our first preference would be to take the Rocky Moutaineer from Calgary to Vancouver but it’s out of our price range so we started to look at VIA Rail’s train, The Canadian which would cost us about $1,000 from Saskatoon to Vancouver and back and double that if we wanted an upper berth seat. It’s a fun way to travel but boy is that a lot of money.
I took a look around on Air Miles to see if I could book a train via them. You can not but you can purchase VIA Rail gift cards. $100 gift card costs 700 Air Miles so I am looking at over 7000 reward miles for the trip. A flight on the other hand costs 1450 Air Miles and about $260 via WestJet.
The stupid part is that there are deeply discounted seats available but only at the last minute (under $100 to go to Vancouver) but it’s hard to plan a romantic get away that way. I think we will be flying.
Update: Jordon says my thinking is foolish and we will plan around last minute deals. Apparently he is sold on the idea of a train vacation.
Update 2: A reader sent me this review of The Canadian. It’s not a good one.
Photos of our Long Weekend
Our Ford Festiva (now SGI’s Ford Festiva) had an eventful long weekend. Our friend Scott Williams borrowed it to head to Blaine Lake and clipped a mini-van while on route. The RCMP were cool and instead of a fine, told Scott, “You’ve been through enough”. Luckily no one was hurt but I don’t think it can be fixed :-)
The 2011 To-Do List
So Jordon laid out his agenda for 2011. A quick look at them means that I am caught up in some of them (which is okay as we do talk about this stuff).
Here are his goals that I am caught up in
- Get the front deck done at the cabin and build a back patio or replace the gazebo with another one.
- Head to Calgary/Banff for an extended weekend this summer. Take the boys to
Calaway Park,Heritage Park, Banff via the old highway, Johnston Canyon, theHuskyCalgary Tower, Calgary Zoo, have coffee with noted local photographer Dave King, Cave and Basin National Historic Site, the gondola, and visit Sawback picnic site (it is a great spot for picnic). - While at Johnston Canyon, take the hike all of the way to the ink pots. Let’s hope those Sketchers help because it’s quite a hike.
- Spend at least one uninterrupted week at the cabin with the family. All of us. Including the dogs. With a visit from Lee in there for a couple of days.
- Make Evernote a part of my daily life. (Jordon is leaping gung-ho onto the Evernote bandwagon)
Now my personal goals
- Do my own version of a Project 365 and post a photo a day here and in Flickr for a year.
- Post 50 recipes with photos on The Cooking Blog in 2011.
- Lose 50 pounds in 2011.
- Play 25 tennis matches in 2011. Hit Jordon in the head with an overwhelming forehand smash at least once.
- Beat Jordon and Mark at Mario Kart. It’s not the losing so much that kills me, it’s the taunting that I endure, even from Oliver and the dogs. When I win, I will redefine obnoxious.
- Become decent at one PS3 game as well. I am thinking Modern Warfare but more realistically it will be Little Big Planet.
- Fix my perennial garden. Three years of depression, one baby, and an abandoned lot as a neighbour has taken it’s toll. The plan is to bring it back to life and nurse it back to health in 2011. While I am at it, I want to plant a bunch of tomatoes as well. I am the world’s worst gardener and while I am content to stay in the bottom tier of gardeners, I want to at least say I can grow something well.
NFL Vacation?
Jordon is trying to figure out which city we head to next year for a NFLcation. Jordon wants to go to Denver or Chicago but I am voting for Seattle. Pike’s Market, EMP, the Space Needle, even the Seattle Mariners.