Monday, August 31, 2015

Ride, ride, ride.....



One thousand, two hundred and seventy.... point five.... kilometres....  That's how far we rode this past weekend, give or take. What an awesome time!

Thursday after work, Chris and I left Red Deer on the Harleys along with Chris's parents, and we toured out to Canmore, then down to Waterton Park, back up through Crowsnest Pass, and then home. It was fabulous, with excellent weather and riding conditions for the most part. The smoky haze from the Washington State forest fires put a bit of a damper on the views, and we were blasted by wicked winds yesterday for part of the return journey, however I really have nothing but great things to say about the trip!

The crew - beer break south of Highwood Pass.

Me and my honey.

Love travelling with the Cookes - they are always prepared!


Fitzsimmons Creek



The trusty steeds.

Flood damage is still evident in K-Country.

Lunch in Longview.


Classic Waterton scenery - the Prince of Wales Hotel.





Waterton Lake





Pre-dinner beverages at the motel in Waterton.
(Turns out the chairs were a clever idea, right Chris!?!)


While in Waterton, we did a bit of touring. We rode the Akamina Parkway out to Cameron Lake for a quick look-see.....

Cameron Lake





And we rode the Red Rock Parkway out to take a short stroll along a stellar little canyon.





Red Rock Canyon

Anderson Peak

After we checked out a few of the Waterton sights, we made our way north to the Crowsnest Pass. We stopped in Coleman for lunch and then saw the incredible Frank Slide. On the way over to Pincher Creek, I made everybody detour to a place I recalled from childhood - Lundbreck Falls - and it was as beautiful as I remembered!

Anybody else see the irony in this pic?
Probably won't see my bike parked in front of
a church again any time soon! LOL!

Mmmmmm, lunch at RumRunners!
(This was across the parking lot from the church.)

Frank Slide Interpretive Centre

Frank Slide


Even through the haze, the Turtle Mountain aftermath is unbelievable.


Lundbreck Falls

Meanwhile, back in Pincher Creek... some small-town tractor humor.....



Chillaxin' at the Stardust Motel - thanks so much to Dia for calling me back!

Familiar views as we got closer to home.


One last 'rest stop' before rolling into Red Deer.

The gang.

Fantastic company, wonderful sights, fun riding..... What an enjoyable way to spend some days off! Thanks for joining us Sandy and Larry!

Cheers!






Monday, August 17, 2015

Time well wasted....


Ouch. It literally hurt to get out of bed this morning. At 4:30am. Oy.

After being on Shuswap Standard Time for the past two weeks, it almost killed me to wake up to the sound of an alarm..... But until I win the lotto, showing up at the ol' salt plant four days a week is on my agenda. Boooooo for work!

The lake vacation was definitely a nice break from the grind. Eleven of us enjoyed the Cooke Family cabin - the Simpsons and half of their brood, plus all three of Chris's girls (and a couple of stragglers - haha) joined us for the first week, and then it was just Michelle, Norm, Chris and I for the second week. Wow - what to do, what to do?!

Here is some of the story of our holiday, in pictures.....

Gorgeous, rugged Shuswap shoreline.

The fleet!

The kids, chillin'.

This bald eagle and his buddy hung out in a tree
next to the cabin one morning.


The Delburne gang on the beach.

The other half of the gang on the spanky new dock.

Some teeny weeny wildlife!

The boys get introduced to tubing.....

....still smilin'.....

....this ended much like it looks like it's going to end!


Beauty evening on the beach!

It's pretty handy when the daughters bring their boyfriends!

The boys pitched in with the water line repairs.

They look like beachcombers on the walk back from the spring.

Beach fire..... Oooops - you didn't hear that from me, folks....


Drinks on the dock.

Soon-to-be parents!


Our horseshoe pit supervisor.


An after dinner sup!


The fun little neighbor showed us all of his kneeboarding tricks.

A lovely day for a boat ride!


Herald Beach Park

Let's go for a hike, shall we?

Me and my posse.....

Boys will be boys....

Amazing foliage on the way to Margaret Falls, where
Jordan and Jonas braved the icy water.....
 
 
Near the Narrows, on the Seymour Arm,
we stopped at Unnamed falls.

"If Jonas were to fall, then it could be
called Jonas Falls!" - Norm Simpson


Gotta love the floating stores!


Woot! Cliff jumping at the Indian Paintings.
Can you spot Jonas?

After the children left, it was just us four boring adults. So we golfed, toured some wineries, played tons of games, had a few beverages, and in general had a fantastic time!





Geronimo!



I have to brag here for a minute....
My shot of the day.... Hyde Mountain....
hole #14.... I landed 'er less than a foot
from the pin!

Supper after the round - check out the view!

Night lights in the channel.

The Marina

Fore! What we didn't do to entertain ourselves....

Be afraid.... I am actually driving the boat....

Recline Ridge


We learned a lot about grapes! Mmmmm.... Wine....




Larch Hills


This was a really yummy white - love the name!


Larch Hills - the highest elevation vineyard in North America.

Cheers! (There was a lot of this by the way).



Not sure what was happening here. Some of
us look much happier than the others....

Yes that's right... nearly +35 Celsius IN THE SHADE!

He's such a trooper... didn't win a
game but kept on tryin'.....

Ahhhhhh, life is good!

Until next time!

So in the blink of an eye, yet another holiday has whizzed right by. It was fabulous, all of it - the people, and the places - and I'm so looking forward to the next one! Thanks so much Chris, Norm, Michelle, and the offspring (Nichole, Lindsay and Jonas, Kristen and Jordan, Janelle and Ty) for an awesome Shuswap vacay!

Cheers!