Canada 14

As you can tell by the above picture, today wasn't a great day for sightseeing.  But when you are here for only a day you do with what you've got.  We've got Tropical Storm Nicole bringing all her lovely water.  Oh well, off to the city we go.

We stopped at the Citadel in Quebec City and had a nice tour of the facility.  We couldn't tour by ourselves because it is still a working garrison.  This is where the governor general of Canada stays when she/he is here.  The current governor general is just now retiring and the new one is in Britain learning how to be a governor general.  This is also where Churchill, FDR and PM King met to discuss their strategy for WWII.  Within some of the buildings there are a couple of museums that hold artifacts and medals.  One room (a converted jail cell) holds all the medals given to former military that have passed away and the families don't want to keep them at their residence.  Stories behind the medals are also stored there.  Each family has their own personal key that they use if they want to come and visit the medals.  There is also another full building that holds the records, medals and stories of every medal holder, including the Victoria Cross - the highest medal in Canada.  And in the same building the ashes of three of the five Victoria Cross holders are interred there.  The other two are still living, but when they pass their ashes will also be interred there.

Then the rain started a little harder, so we decided to drive through Vieux Quebec for a little until the rain let up just a bit.  It decreased long enough so that we could park for about a hour to have some lunch and walk the streets to window shop.  This is a very unique town in that it has an upper section and a lower section.  But it is a very beautiful city and one I would love to have spent more and drier time in.  Facing the St. Lawrence River is a HUGE building that dominates the skyline and that is the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac - a very classic hotel.  We asked our Citadel guide how much rooms are and he said they start at $200 and go up to 4 figures!  I guess if you have to ask you can't afford to stay.

Canada 13

We took a break from French-Canada for a few days.  My brain was on overload trying to translate things with high school French.  We moved the MH to a small town that had a campground by a lake.  When we pulled in the lady informed us that they were closing down on Weds and if we could leave by noon on Weds she would give us a break on the nightly price.  Our original plans were that we would spend Monday at the campground then take off for Vermont Tues and Weds.  We were to meet a Blue Knight who lives between Montreal and Quebec City for lunch on Thurs.  Well, when we were told that the camp was closing on Weds we changed plans real quick - closed up the MH and took off to Vermont that day.  We drove down to St. Johnsbury for Monday night then on Tues we drove a drive around a 300 mile circle to check out the foliage.  It wasn't at peak yet, but the colors were still great.  They didn't "pop" like they would if the sun was shining on them, but we figured that we will be coming back through VT and NH in about 1.5 weeks and we will see more.  I have posted some of the better pictures I took.

An albino deer - very unusual

One of the many OLD cemeteries we found - the oldest stone in here was 1743

Canada 12

Quebec drivers are rude and impatient!  They are worried just about themselves and to hell with the rest of the public.  I am surprised that there aren't more accidents.  The highway speed is 100 km/h which is about 70 mph.  If you go any slower than 85 you will be run over.  And heaven help you if you stay a fair distance from the car in front of you!

Our last day in Montreal found us at Exporail - Le Musee Ferroviaire Canadien (The Canadian Railway Museum).  For those of you living in SAC and have gone to the Railroad museum in Old Town - well, I think this one will outdo it.  It is a HUGE place that has about 40 restored engines and railway vehicles located in a warehouse that you can walk among and in, and another warehouse that holds about 30 more that haven't been completely restored, but you can still walk among them.  Then outside the warehouses are old engines and cars that need a lot of work.  All in all, they have about 150 vehicles that were used with the Canadian Railroad.

Now after you browse the first warehouse you can take a working streetcar that was used in the early 1900's in Montreal to take you to the other warehouse.  One of the stops of the streetcar is what is called Miniature barn.  It is full of miniature trains like probably most of you guys had when you were young.  Then the kids can take a ride on  a miniature train around the area.  Once you've seen that then you can catch a passenger train for a short ride around the property.  We also saw a short film that was filmed to be an IMAX film called The Rocky Mountain Express.  It is supposed to be shown in the fall of 2010 so watch for it.  And sitting in the mail warehouse were two  old gentlemen (probably in their 80's) that were telegraphing notes to a military camp down by the other warehouse.

The greatest part was that when we showed up, there were a bunch of cars in the parking lot and tons of kids!  We weren't sure what was going on, but we decided to go in anyway.  When we got to the ticket counter we were informed that yesterday and today were free culture days between 10am and noon.  So we got in free!  The way we look at it is that we were able to get into two museums free and that covered about two days of our campsites.  Not a whole lot, but better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Canada 11

Went into Montreal today and did our touristy thing again, but first I have to tell you about the ride into the province of Quebec.  Just west of Ottawa you will start to see a few bi-lingual signs, usually road signs, in English and French.  Then as you drive around Ottawa you will see that more and more things have both languages written and spoken.  In fact when you converse with someone they will say, "Bonjour, Hi," just to see how you will replay and that is the language they will use.  What we didn't know is that just across the river is the community of Gatineau which is in Quebec and that is why they speak both languages.  Anyway, just before you cross the province border from Ontario to Quebec, on the Trans Canada you will see a welcome sign welcoming you to Quebec.  The difference?  It is only in French!  So from that moment on I have had to try and rely on my bad high school French to get by.  Thank God most of the people speak English also.  But the funny thing is, now I don't feel like I ever need to go to France anymore - I've already been there!

The first thing we did this morning was take another Grey Line Tour around the city.  It was a great 3 hour tour and we got to see some things that we had on our "want to see" list.  We even stopped at some of them so we could visit and take pictures.  Plus we got to see things that we "thought" we wanted to see, but after going by and taking a look, changed our minds.  One case in point was the Olympic stadium used in the 1976 Summer games.  It is a very weird looking structure, but because of all the architecheral problems and flaws it isn't used anymore except for the swimming pools.  A billion dollar building sits rotting.

One stop we made that I wanted to see was the Notre Dame Basilica.  It is a gorgeous church.  I have been in many, but this had to be the most beautiful.  The original church was constructed in 1672 and then reconstruction began in 1823 because the original was too small.  All the wood is rosewood inside and gold inlay on the altar.  The organ has 4 keyboards, 99 stops and 7000 pipes.  The wedding chapel is dominated by a bronze sculpture which consists of 32 bronze panels cast in England and the organ has 25 stops and 1648 pipes.  It is a very impressive and beautiful building.

Next we picked up the car and drove around "Old Montreal" for a while.  You can tell by the pictures that they still keep the cobblestone streets and small alleys are used for the artists to sell their wares.  Unfortunately most of the shops are souvenir sellers.  You see one, you've seen all the rest.  Still, the town was great to walk through. 

Then we had to wait for a couple of hours before we were to go to dinner at a dinner "theatre".  It was in an old 1700's restaurant and they put on a show in both languages.  The ambiance was great even though the dinner was so-so.  As we were leaving an older gentleman who was sitting with a group in front of us stopped us outside and wanted to know where we were from.  I didn't think this would ever happen to us, but when we said we were from New Mexico he wanted to know how we said, "Good to meet you."  So Karl and I look at each other and say, "Good to meet you."  He shook his head and said, "Not in English, but in your language."  We tried to get him to understand that we are part of the US and we speak English.  We finally left him, but I think he still thought we should have spoken Spanish.  Oh well, like they say, one of our 50 is missing.  Que sera, sera.

Canada 10

Here is an interesting fact for your trivia book - Ottawa is the national capital of Canada, but not the provincial capital of Ontario, Toronto is.

Ottawa is a big city full of people and buildings - just like any other city.  But it did have some great places to visit.

Our first duty was to grab a Grey Line tour bus and tour the city to get out bearings.  This is a great way to do your first day in any large city.  It helps you to find where things are and to let you decide if you want to stop any see anything later.  We were trying to catch the 10am bus, but the AAA book gave us the wrong directions to meet the bus.  So after I called Grey Line they told us we were a block away and only about 5 minutes to walk.  While she had us on the phone she called the supervisor to see if he could hold the bus for us.  Off we got hot-footing it to the next block only to discover that we had missed the bus, but the next one would be at 11am.  As we were deciding what to do, the supervisor walked up and asked if we were the people that were called about.  He took us to his car, radioed the bus and told them to stay where they were and drove us to meet them!  We missed about 10 minutes of the actual tour, but the supervisor gave us a short tour as we were racing to meet the bus.

After the tour we walked to an Irish pub that we passed on the tour and had a great lunch with a glass of brew.  Then off we went to see the Rideau Canal and Locks.  The canal, which was built in 1832 is 123 miles long and was hand dug by Irish immigrants to connect the Ottawa River and Lake Ontario.  To go from one end to the other you will have to pass through 45 manual locks and it will take you three days because you can't go any faster than 10 miles per hour.    He ran out of money twice and the second time he asked London for more money they refused him.  His workers were on strike and he had no cash to finish his project.  Before he started digging the canal he was to buy up millions of acres of land for England.  So he got smart after their refusal to pay him and he promised the Irish workers that if they would finish the canal he would pay them in land.  They accepted and he finished the canal.  When it was done he was ordered back to London where he was branded a thief because they thought he was stealing the money they sent for the canal.  He died alone and disgraced.  A few years later some prominent Englishmen came over to look at the canal and they agreed that he had done a remarkable job and gave him the recognition and respect he deserved, a little too late though.  It was built for the purpose of military defense for the British.  But like all things that government gets involved in the first vessel to travel the canal was a shipload of pigs for slaughter and was never used for the military!

We then walked to the Currency Museum of the Bank of Canada.  This museum has all sorts of coins and paper money.  It even had things that were used before money was "invented".  Most of the artifacts were real and had dates on them from as far back as Egyptian times.  I even saw a $50,000 bank note made in 1924 for Canada.

Getting in the car we were able to drive to the last destination which was the Canada Museum of Civilization.  This has got to be the best museum I have ever seen!  It is HUGE!  We showed up at 3:30 and the clerk was sweet enough to tell us that if we wait until 4pm the admission is free on Thursday!  So we went to the cafe and sat until 4pm.  We didn't leave the museum until 7:15pm and we didn't really take a lot of time reading everything that was there.  It was on three floors - floor 1 dealt with First Nations from all over Canada and upper Alaska, floor 2 was dedicated to changing exhibits and this current one dealt with horses, fur trading and gold rush - the third floor was called Canada Hall and had displays set up like pictogram's with buildings you can walk in and see artifacts.  We could have spent a lot more time in this place.

Today was a travel day to Montreal - and that is an experience I will tell you about tomorrow.

Canada 9

Today is a travel day as we move from Nipissing to Ottawa so I think, after what I have observed, I will get on my soapbox.

Now I'm a person with, I hope, a hot of common sense.  I know what to do and how to do it that, to another person, would seem logical.  Today I have determined that road engineers have absolutely NO common sense.  None, nada, zilch, zip, zero.

In the US we have stimulus money flowing though the system.  In Canada they have revitalization money that was to be used by, I think they said, December of this year.  Because of rain and bad weather they've had they are trying to get the Prime Minister to extend the deadline.  So far he hasn't agreed.

Now, in Eastern Ontario the roads could compete with CA in being the worst roads ever.  They punished the MH pretty badly when things were shaken out of their normal places.  Think of going up I-80 to Truckee in a school bus in the back seat.  That's how they were.  As we are rocking and rolling on these horrible roads we come upon a long stretch of very smooth, rut-free sections that go for about 10-15 miles.  Then - BAM - road construction!  And here they are REPAVING AN ABSOLUTE PERFECTLY GOOD ROAD!  Yet not 5 miles back is a road that will knock your alignment out in a heartbeat.  Now, here's my question - why are they paving a road that doesn't need it in the least when they should be paving roads that need it in the worse way?

Like I said, road engineers have no common sense.

Canada 8

Sault Ste. Marie - a Tale of Two Cities.

Sault Ste. Maire (pronounced SUE Saint Maire) is really two cities - one is in Ontario, Canada and the other is in Michigan.  We were about 2 miles from the US.  When I started mapping out things to do earlier this year I never noticed that some of the things we wanted to see were on the US side!  Our passports were back with the MH so we decided to do what we did in Winnipeg - wing it!

We first stopped at the Sault Ste. Marie canal locks.  They are doing major work so the locks weren't in operation, but we were able to walk around the grounds and look.  They were first used in the mid 1800's for "big" ships to move between lakes Superior and Huron.  Now "big" ships are too big and they have to use the locks on the US side.  The Canadian locks are only used for pleasure craft.  Still in operation today is the original swing dam.  That is a mechanical "bridge" that will swing into the channel and drop steel "fingers" that will stop the flow of water in case the locks fail.

Stop #2 was at the Sault Ste. Marie museum which is housed in an old post office.  This was a great place to get to see the beginning and on-going development of the city.  Three floors of history.

After lunch we are off to discover the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.  For plane nuts (which I'm not) this would be a great place to hang out for a few hours.  It has everything you would want to know about bushplanes, bush pilots, and bush fire fighters.  They had a couple of short films that were interesting to watch, but that still doesn't make me really interested in planes - bush or otherwise.  Karl said it was a great museum.

Our last stop was at the Ermatinger-Clegue National Historic Site.  This piece of land housed the Ermatinger Old Stone House (original site) and the Clegue Block House (moved to this site).  Both were residences of prominent Sault Ste. Marie businessmen of the 1800's.  Ermatinger owned shares in the Hudson Bay Company and Clegue was an entrepreneur - sometimes successful, sometimes not.

Canada 7

We are now into the large province of Ontario and we are starting to see the trees changing.  Not a whole lot yet, but it won't be long before they all have their fall colors on.  This is really the only time I miss on the East Coast, especially in New England.  There is NOTHING like a New England autumn.  Karl is checking the Vermont Fall Color Watch website and they are stating that the colors are starting early this year due to the temps and water.  So we may have to drop down into Vermont before we continue into Quebec.  That will be the closest to the state.

Now, after saying that, I wish I was here in Summer to visit Fort William.  Not so much on the West Coast, but especially in the East, they have living history museums.  We stopped at one in Thunder Bay that I wish I was here earlier.  Fort William was a fur trading headquarters for the North West company - competition to the Hudson Bay Company.  It is a recreation of the original fort that was built farther up the Ottawa River.  During the summer months they have actors living at the fort to give the visitors an idea of what life was like back in 1815 during the heydays of fur trading.  They even have a fur store house that holds real furs!  This is one of the largest and best recreated fort because they have all the buildings that were in the original fort.  And all are working buildings.  But since it was off-season only a few people were still there and they were the tour guides.

I had to include a road sign that I thought was rather funny.  You need to remember what a "Beware of deer" sign looks like - a graceful antlered deer trying to jump up or over the car, right?  Take a look at the moose sign they post.  Notice anything?  Look at how the moose is poised.  Gracefully jumping?  No way!  That sucker is poised to ram the car full on!

Today was a travel only day and we ended up in Wawa, Ontario for the night.  No, really I'm serious.  The town is called Wawa - look it up.  Stop laughing!

Canada 6

Our last day in Winnipeg consisted of us trying to find things to do because one museum I wanted to see, the Costume Museum, had closed it's doors.  So off we go to the Manitoba Visitor's Center.

Our first stop was at The Forks.  It's called such because it is where the Red River and the Assiniboine River meet.  It is a huge shopping and events area.  For Tom and Debbie: take a look at the picture and see if that doesn't remind you a little of Santiago.  It's very similar in that it has your fresh fruit and vegetables and in amongst that they have eating areas.  As soon as Karl and I walked in there we both thought of Liz and our shopping day.

Anyway - The Forks has been a gathering sight for over 6,000 years and has everything - restaurants, shops, food markets, river walkway, sculptures, pictographs and historical items.  It has been (and still is) a railroad center, steamboat docking area, immigrant debarkation point and a stableyard.  Most of the original buildings are still standing and after much renovation, are being used today for Via Rail Canada depot, The Forks Marketplace (once the stables) and boat tours on the river (once the steamboat docks).  A lot of history in that place.

Stop #2 was the Manitoba Legislative building.  Perched on top of the dome is "Golden Boy".  It is a bronze statue covered in gold and represents Mercury holding a bunch of wheat in one hand signifying prosperity and a torch in the other hand signifying the bright future for Manitoba.  They are very proud of that boy.  While we toured inside we were lucky enough to be there during the showing of The Magna Carta.  I'm quoting from the information sheet we got - "The document here displayed is an original Magna Carta - not a copy, but an official engrossment or exemplification of the Latin text, sent out by the royal chancery to Oxfordshire in 1217.  No master prototype has survived from King John's ceremony at Runnymede.  Instead engrossments were distributed to county courts across England by the chancery, both in 1215 and as official reissues another five times before 1300."  This one was brought over on the occasion of the visit by Queen Elizabeth to Winnipeg on July 3 of this year.

Our final stop on our tour was to the Dalnavert Mansion.  It is a beautiful old restored Victorian house.  When we showed up we just missed the start of the tour by about 5 minutes.  So instead of trying to catch up with that group Karl and I were given our own guide and we had our own private tour!  The house was the residence of Hugh John Macdonald, premier of Manitoba and son of Sir John Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister.  It was completed in 1895 and was on the cutting-edge in technology in that it had central heat, indoor plumbing, telephones and electric lights!  It was built for around $10,000 and was considered a middle-class house.  When the Canadian Historical Society bought it and restored it in 1979 it cost $500,000.  Most of the work done was donated.

So that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our tour of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  We hope you enjoyed your time here and please recommend us to your friends.

Canada 5

If you look at a map you will see that Winnipeg is almost exactly north of the North Dakota-Minnesota border.  And boy can you tell!  The Scandinavian accent is carried up to here.  And so far, since we left Calgary, the terrain has been very muck like Nebraska - FLAT with lots of wheat fields.  Also in the Winnipeg area we are surrounded, literally by hundreds of thousands of migrating Canadian geese.  They definitely do have the sound of autumn. 

Yesterday we made two stops on our visiting.  Our first was a nature center called Fortwhiyte Alive.  It's a 640 acre center that has a 30-head Bison herd, 5 lakes, 7km of trails, Prairie Dog Town (with 21 inhabitants, they think), bird feeding stations, a Prairie sod house, tipi encampment, floating boardwalks and an aquarium.  The sod house was fun to go in until you read that this "house" which consisted of one room probably no bigger than an average kitchen in today's houses would hold, during winter, 6-8 family members and 2 oxen!  It was a beautiful day for a hike with blue sky and temperatures hovering around 15 degrees (that's about 62 for you non-metric types).

Our next stop was at the Royal Canadian Mint where I got to hold about $500,000 in my hands!  In the lobby, under armed guard and chained to the floor, was a gold bar that weighted about 30 pounds, was worth about $500,000 and was 999.9% pure.  This site creates all the circulation coins for Canada and 60 other governments (including us).  A little info we were given that you probably haven't heard, but the US is in talks to this mint about creating another dollar coin for us.

During the tour we were told that ALL coins made are usable currency, even those that are "collectibles".  You could take your collectible coins to a bank and they would accept it just like regular currency.  They create all circulation currency here while special and collector pieces are done in Ottawa.  The paper currency is actually authorized to be done by a private company.  Hopefully today will be great weather again for our next outside adventure.

Canada 4

On Monday we ended up in Brandon, Manitoba, the 2nd largest city in Manitoba with a population of 50k, which was a short drive from Regina.  That was good because laundry really needed to be done.  But during lunch with a couple of Blue Knights (gee, surprise) one mentioned that there was a great WWII museum to visit.  Those of you who know me know my philosophy - you've seen one airplane, you've seen them all.  So with my blessing I told Karl to go visit and have fun while I washed clothes.  When he returned I asked him to be a guest blogger and let you all know what he saw.  His response?  And I quote - "What?  It's a WWII museum with WWII stuff.  That's all."  So I guess if you would like to know what he saw I guess you'll have to ask him

Today we made Winnipeg and will be here for the next 3 days.  After we set the MH up we set off to visit The Manitoba Museum which was very well done.  It took you on a journey from the beginning of Manitoba to present and future.  It incorporated pictures, artifacts, relics, dioramas and replicas.  The most impressive display was a 58' replica of the Nonsuch Ketch that sailed to and from England for the Hudson Bay Trading Company.  On the upcoming 300th birthday of the Hudson Bay Company in 1969, they had this replica built in Seattle, trucked overland to Manitoba and sailed her in and around Canada and upper United States.  It was manned by 12 crew and one of the crew was on the ketch while we were there to give us information about the Nonsuch.  The display of the Ketch and the facades of buildings around it reminded me of Disneyland - "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"

Canada 3

I'm sorry guys - but, girls, you've got to love a man in a uniform.  Especially if it's got a bright red jacket with gold buttons and gold braid.  OMG!  To die for!!

Well, okay, maybe not this guy. 

We visited the RCMP academy in Regina today and it was a very interesting museum.  It traced the history of the Mounties which really started out as the North West Mounted Police in 1873.  This academy is where EVERY wannabe goes to become a Mountie.  This November the Depot Division will celebrate it's 125 year anniversary .  It is the oldest RCMP establishment that has not moved or relocated or restarted.  In one of the theaters it showcased how the Klondike gold rush really established the Mountie as we know it today.  Previously it was a police force that used police force action to keep the peace.  During the gold rush the Mounties changed their tactics to become more of a peace-keeping force using peaceful methods instead of force.  During the summer they have guided tours of the actual academy (which is HUGE), but because there are cadets there now the academy is closed to visitors.  One interesting fact, that I didn't know, was that the "mounted" part of the RCMP was ended in 1966.  Now the horses are only used for the musical ride and special events.  If you are interested in getting more information about RCMP you can go to their web site www.rcmpheritagecentre.com.

Tomorrow is a travel day to Brandon, Manitoba.  Oh, for those who are curious about the weather we've had - it's been very cold at night (as low as high 30's), but average in the day (low 60's).  We had rain for the first two days, but nothing since then.  The province of Saskatchewan has had torrential rains for most of the summer so they are very waterlogged - rivers and streams have flooded and there is still standing water all around.

Canada 2

What do you think of these?  Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Bucking Horse, Horsefly, Salmon Arm (fish have arms?) Flin Flon, Cow Head.  These are names of towns/cities in Canada!  Canadians sure do have a sense of humor.

Today we ended up in Regina (pronounced ridge-EYE-nah) and will be here for the next two nights.  On our way here we stopped at Moose Jaw because someone told us that we needed to see the Tunnels of Moose Jaw.  That sounded intriguing so off we go.  Do you know how stressful it is to take a 38' motorhome down the main street of town and try to find a parking lot big enough for us to stop in?  Well, it's VERY stressful.  Good thing Karl does the driving there and not me.  I would probably wipe out a few cars.

The Tunnels of Moose Jaw are two guided tours that take you underground and under the main street of Moose Jaw.  The first tunnel we went in is where Al Capone used to go when he came up to Saskatchewan to get away from the heat (cops) in Chicago.  It is a labyrinth of twists and turns that will get you real lost if you don't know where you are going.  The tunnels were also used to make and hide bootlegged liquor from the government of Canada.  Capone would make it in Moose Jaw and transport it back to the US because he couldn't make any profit selling it in Canada during Prohibition because the Canadian government was making and selling their own!

The next tunnel told of the Chinese immigrants that came to Canada and helped build the railroad.  But after the railroad was done they were out of jobs and out of money.  The tunnels were actually built by the railroad to connect steam pipes to heat rooms.  An Englishman employed immigrants for his laundry to rich white people.  He abused them, took their earned money by making them pay for everything they needed to live and made them live in the laundry.  They were kept in the tunnels so that the rich public couldn't see them.  The persecution of the Chinese continued until the late 1960's!  But working in laundry in the tunnels was preferred over living "up top" with the terrible discrimination they faced by the public and their hatred of the Chinese people. 

All in all it was a very interesting 2 hour time of visiting Moose Jaw.  Tomorrow the Royal Canadian Mounted Police museum.

Canada 1

And so we begin our Canadian journey.

Our first stop is:

Al's I-5 RV Sales and Service in Bellingham, WA!!!!!!!!

Regular followers of this blog will notice a trend everything we start out on a new journey.  For those of you who aren't regulars, just read back a few trips and you will see that every time we start out on a new journey we seem to either have problems that cause us to delay our start or something goes wrong with the coach that causes us to visit an RV shop.  This time it was a problem with our connection between the car lights and the coach.  It seems that a fuse was blown (not naming names!) for the car lights and Karl couldn't find where it was located.  So in the AM off to the RV service go.  Within 3 hours we were finally on the road.

For those of you who would like to follow us through our trip I would suggest that you may want to bookmark this page or even put it in your favorites because I am going to try and do a daily blog since we are trying to sightsee at each place we go.

So here we go!!!!!

We left on Sept. 7 and drove to Revelstoke in British Columbia for the night.  Didn't do anything since we've been into BC most of the summers we are up at the farm (which as of this post is SOLD)!

On the 8th we drove up to Calgary in Alberta and was going to stay there for two nights because there were some things we didn't get to see while we were up here last year during a Blue Knight convention.

Our first stop was Calgary Olympic Park.  It was at this sight that, during the 1988 Olympics, was the host area for ski jumping, freestyle skiing, bobsled and luge events were held.  Now it is used as a practice sight both during summer and winter.  The largest tower is 90 feet tall and is now used as a zip line tower in summer.  They don't use it for ski jumping because, remember, it's been 22 years since ski jumping there and the sport has so evolved that the end jump area is too small and it would cost tons of money to extend it.  The Ice House was closed for renovations while we were there because they are building a huge 4 arena complex for hockey.  But that is used for training on starts in luge and bobsled that is always covered inside in ice.  During the summer months you can try the bobsled/luge track, mountain bike park and the above mentioned zip line.

We next went to the Calgary tower for lunch and a great view.  It rises 626 feet above the city and has a revolving restaurant that has great food and even greater views.  The full rotation can be programmed to be either 45 minutes or an hour to complete.  Above the restaurant is an observation deck what gives a great view also.  But for those who know me and my fear of heights it was a rather scary sight, so the picture that I took of my feet above the city was a traumatic picture for me to take.  I am just very uncomfortable standing on something I can see through 626 feet above Mother Earth!  On top of the tower is a torch that was continually aflame during the Olympics, but now is only lit during special events.

Our last stop for the day was The Military Museums.  According to Karl is was a very well done museum that dealt with all things military in Canada.  You could take a long time in there, but we did a little rush because we didn't have much time.  They separated the different branches of the military and how it developed during time and wars.  For someone interested in military campaigns, weapons and strategy it would be well worth the visit.

Today we drove a short distance to Medicine Hat in Alberta and visited the historic Clay Industries district.  Because of the abundant amounts of clay soil and natural gas a clay factory was started in 1912 to create pottery and bricks for the area and exports.  They are in the process of trying to recreate the factory, but time and definitely money are in short supply right now.  For collectors the name Medalta pottery may ring a bell.  Unfortunately it didn't me.  But they created a lot of crocks and progressed into dishes for the Canadian Railroad in later years.  By the 1960's the factory was closed and didn't receive any help for preservation until the 1990's.  It is now owned by the city and they are starting to redo the factory.  They even have resident artists that stay there a year to do their art and will sell it out of the gift shop. 

Our final stop was at the Saamis teepee - the world's largest teepee.  It stands 20 stories high and inside each storyboard is 12 feet high.  The storyboards are done by First Nation artists that depict Indian history.  It was used during the Calgary Olympics then moved to Medicine Hat where it stands on  the Saamis archaeological site - the location of a 16th century buffalo camp.

Tomorrow we drive to Regina, Saskatchewan and plan on visiting the RCMP museum on Sunday.

Stay tuned!

When is a ditch a stream?

The end of the road is at hand.  Tomorrow we will be done with the farm clean up and ready to hand it over to the "new" owner.  But in answer to the above question: it depends on who you ask.  Here is what we've had to put up with since we've been back from our motorcycle trip.

Let me start from the very beginning.  On the farm's property there is a ditch that was hand dug in 1906 as a runoff for the farms uphill from us.  Over the years the ditch (which has water in it only 3 months a year) started to erode the bank so that it was undermining the tree next to the house.  In July the county decided to put in a new culvert to "help" the flow and make the "ditch" fish friendly.  Fish?  What fish?  Anyway, they installed this HUGE culvert, so large that a six-foot person could walk through it without bending over, and thought they (the county) were great.  Fast forward to September, right before we left, and the Ditch District wanted to improve the ditch to make the flow better and make the ditch look better.  For the last 50 years Karl's aunt and uncle never allowed the district to come on their property.  After talking to the district Karl and his aunt decided that what they were proposing looked and sounded good.  But to go around the permit process, which would have taken 3 YEARS, they waited until we left the property so that we weren't there and wouldn't get involved.  Karl came back in December and saw what a great job they did and was happy with the result.

Now fast forward to 2010.  His aunt has agreed to put the farm up for sale.  It was on the market for 2 weeks and we had a perspective buyer.  We think everything is going great and suddenly a wrench is thrown into the works.  Now remember, this ditch has been here for over 100 years and nothing was ever done or said about it.  Suddenly SOMEONE notices that the ditch has been greatly improved, but not according to the county, Army Corps of Engineers, Conversation Corp or Washington Fish and Game's specification.  All of a sudden everyone was involved!  Their contention is that the rock that is lining the ditch's banks isn't "fish" friendly and would endanger new species.  Again - fish?  What fish?  "Supposedly" Fish and Game found "evidence" of fish and now the ditch has become a stream!    Now, on top of everything else the buyer's real estate agent is giving them all sorts of wrong advice.  She is finally FIRED!  Can you imagine how bad you must be if you get fired from real estate?  Now Karl is becoming very angry about the whole thing and is ready to tell all agencies involved to take the "offending" rocks  out then "get the hell off my land"!  I had to stay in the motorhome while he was having the meeting with all the agencies because I would have gotten myself in a whole lot of trouble with my mouth.  Finally we went to the county ourselves and got the true answers from all involved then went back and let our real estate agent know so that he could give the information to the buyer.  Then, in an unheard of move, our agent suggested that Karl talk to the buyer directly so that he could give the answers he got and who he talked to at the county.  BTW - even the county people think this Fish and Game District is going way overboard in calling certain things as a stream.  In the meantime an agent from the Conservation agency brought out their own engineer to test the rocks on the banks and even they said that it was done very well and would hold up.  Plus it would cause more damage removing them.

As of today Fish and Game, Conversation Agency, Whatcom County and ACorE are all in agreement that if the rocks are removed and they are allowed to plant native foliage along the bank they will approve the sale.  FINALLY!!!!!

Tomorrow will be the last run of things out of the house and then everything will be done.  After three years we will be free of the farm, Aunt Myrne is happily settled in her assisted living and this mess called Whatcom County in Washington State run by flaming liberals will be out of our hands forever!

LET'S PARTY!!!!!!

So the answer to the question is:  if Fish and Game gets involved, no matter what it looks like, if it has "evidence" of fish it becomes a stream, whether there is running water or not.

Reflections

Flight miles = 5800, motorcycle miles = 3700, car miles = 800, number of states visited = 12, number of days this all took place = 37.

That has been our travels.  So far.  What I didn't include were the number of hours of sleep which weren't enough.  It has been a very busy month with traveling to get from one place to another due to commitments.  I also didn't include the number of days we spent in our own houses which were probably less than 10.  At this point I really don't care to see another hotel room for a very long time.

What I have discovered on this journey has to do with the terrain and foliage and how long I have been away from or exposed to it.  I grew up in Upstate New York which to many doesn't mean a whole lot.  Most people hear the words New York and they think of the city.  Upstate is where you find farmlands, dairy cows and a very laid back way of life.  And lots of trees, i.e. greenery everywhere.  I lived there for 18 years and didn't know any other kind of landscape.  Then I moved to Southern California.  Not as lush, not as green.  I really missed my green stuff for a long time.  When I would fly back home I would notice that even the air smelled different (and I don't mean smog).  It has a very different smell because of all the types of trees and the odor they give off.  It's a very musky, but great smell.  But I learned to like California and it's differences.  

After a few years we moved up to Northern California (Bay area) and there was a new terrain to learn to be happy with.  Did I miss the New York green?  Sure - especially during the summer when California becomes brown and dry.  Then a few years later we moved up farther north and ended up in the foothills of Sacramento.  Again a different terrain.  It's amazing how different California is as you move up the state.  Anyways, I thought I had found the closest thing to home when we built a house in the foothills area - farm house, land, and some trees.  But as fate would have it we were doing more and more things down in the valley so we waited until Brian was in his senior year then with his approval we moved down to the valley to be closer to our church and friends.  We let him make the final decision because he would have to commute the final year of school.

After Walt passed away and I began a new relationship with Karl we started looking for a house that would accommodate the motorhome.  As it was it had to be stored about 25 miles away and that was a pain when you had to get ready for a trip.  So the search began and we ended up buying in Albuquerque.

At the beginning of this month I flew back to my mom's who still lives at home where I grew up.  My sister, her daughter and granddaughter were also there.  We wold often take drives around the area to see how is has changed - not much, believe me.  When my mom asked if we saw any difference the only thing my sister said was that everything was overgrown.  I never noticed, but she was right.  Except that now, in my mind, the whole "green thing" that I used to love was overgrown.  I was missing the brown, open spaces of the west.  On our motorcycle trip that included all of the western states I loved seeing the desert and the open skies.  And I really missed that while I was in New York.

Now we are back in Washington state and I am back to the "green thing" again.  I guess my tastes have changed since I was a child.  Now I hear Brian wishing to find a place like where he grew up.  It's me I'm hearing all over again.  I have a wandering spirit - my mom will be the first to tell you that - but I always want to come home to the desert that I have grown to love in New Mexico. 

Convention #2 - DONE!

Convention #2 is done and out the door.  We finished in Grand Junction Tues. night with our banquet where the Southwest conference held a drawing from the early registrants for free room at their 2011 convention in Prescott, AZ.  Guess who won?  We did!  What a surprise.  At the banquet Karl was the MC and he was kidding about wanting his name to be pulled.  The Police Chief's wife drew the paper and said the name - we had her repeat it and then the SW chairman verified it.  What a hoot!  Also a very special drawing was done for a quilt, but I don't want to spoil the surprise on who won that.  For the CA-1 readers ask at the next monthly breakfast.

We left Grand Junction on Wed. morning with ourselves and 4 other friends from CA-1 and drove to our house in NM.  I will admit that I very glad to get there Wed. night and be able to sleep in my own bed and be in my own environment.  We stayed there until today (Sat.) when we left and are stopped in Flagstaff tonight.  While we were in NM we got our fill of New Mexican food and took our friends on a balloon ride (a first for three of them) and a trolley ride around ABQ to see the sights.  The weather cooperated with us - very still in the AM for the ride, mild temps and sunshine.  Any rain that was predicted went around us and hit other parts of the area.  Today as we rode we were about 30 outside of Flagstaff when we noticed a very, VERY dark sky in front of us.  Knowing that we were going to be heading right into it we stopped at a rest stop and donned our rain gear.  That was a good thing because even though we skirted the large thunderstorm there was still rain coming down.

We are going to take a couple more days to get back to CA because we really don't want to be riding a long time in the heat that we know will catch us to us.  When we get back home on Mon. night we jump in again to get things at the CA house before we take off back to WA.  I know you would  probably never thought you would hear me say this, but I am very tired of traveling at the moment.  I want to put down roots for a while.  Guess that won't happen until we get back up to WA in early August.

Billings, Montana - DONE!

Convention #1 is done and in the history books.  We are now at convention #2 in Grand Junction, Colorado.  For the most part Blue Knight convention have two  purposes - #1 to meet and renew relationships from other regions and #2 to deal with political crap.  There are some days where we do get out and rides our motors, but when it's close to 100 degrees you really don't want to leave the cool hotel.

During our stay in Montana we did take a ride up to - nope - down to Cody, Wyoming.  Wanted to take a ride that we hadn't done before and since I had never seen Cody, off we went.  We went through some very  picturesque country and came upon a town that just tickled Karl to no end.  As we were pulling into a town called Belfry Karl wanted to know if Belfry had any bats.  Just then we passed the school where it stated on their marquee "Belfry School - Home of the Bats".  And here in front of the school was a VERY large flying bat hanging over the school entrance.  I have a picture, but I didn't bring my camera cord to transfer pictures so you will just have to imagine.  Anyways, in Cody we went to the Buffalo Bill Museum which is actually 5 museums in 1.  It is a great place to see things about Buffalo Bill, Western Art, Western heritage and all things cowboy.

In Billings there was just Karl, myself and two other Blue Knight friends who rode.  But here in Grand Junction we were joined by about 11 other Blue Knights.  As an added note, there is a rumor going around that Mike Martin is planning on a ride to go to the 2011 International Convention in Hampton Roads, Virginia.  Karl at first said that we weren't going, but he has been overruled (by me) because I have a brother and sister-in-law that live in VA that I would love to see.  So we are going, probably with Mike's group.  And if you have never been on a Mike Martin ride you don't know what you are missing.  Just anyone who has ever ridden with him.

We will be in Grand Junction until Wed. morning then we are riding to our house in NM with 4 other people and staying there for a few days before riding back to CA.  Hopefully the temps will be kinder and cool down a little for us.

Freeway Cat, Refrigerated Crab and United Airlines

Title sounds intriguing, huh?

For those who have followed this travel log they will notice a common occurrence when we get ready to start a trip.  For those who haven't followed until recently, take a quick tour of previous blogs and you will see what I mean.

After our great 4th of July holiday up at Donner Lake we returned home (California) on the 5th and were there until the 10th.  At that time Karl flew back up to WA to attend his 49th high school reunion and I flew out to NY because my mom "requested" a command appearance from my sister and I.  So off we both went, but before I left I was smart and started to put together my clothes that I would need for our motorcycle trip that was starting on the 16th.  I was to return home on the 14th which gave me only a day to finish packing and get ready for our next adventure.  Karl got to WA, I got to NY and not problems occurred.  Now is when the trip monster reared it's ugly head.  Remember that whenever we get ready to travel, no matter what mode of travel, something ALWAYS happens.  This time it happened to me only.  My niece, her daughter and I were all leaving  NY within an hour of each other - her and baby back to GA and me back to CA.  So I get to my gate, sit down and pull out my computer.  I had an hour to wait so I was going to play awhile.  After about 15 minutes I hear a PA announcement but didn't pay much mind until I heard it repeated about my flight that was supposed to arrive within 45 minutes.  They announced that the plane (which was coming from Chicago) was still stuck there because of mechanical problems and wouldn't arrive until 8:30pm.  What??!!  But I was to catch my connecting flight in Chicago at 8:05pm!  Well, that wasn't going to work.  So up to the counter I go and stand in line.  When I get to the agent I am told that all flights to the West Coast will have ended by the time I get there and I would have to spend the night in Chicago!  What could I do?  So I take the new flight - arrive in Chicago at 10pm, grab a hotel shuttle and go to the hotel that they gave me a voucher for.  BUT the next morning my flight will leave at 6AM!!!!  So I get to the hotel around 10:40, take a quick shower, set my alarm and crawl into bed around 11:15pm.  4am arrives really early.  I get down to the lobby at 4:30 to catch the 4:40 shuttle back to the airport and leave at 6am.  I finally arrive in CA at 11am and I still have to finish packing for our motorcycle trip which is now leaving the next day.  By 9pm I am have asleep on the couch.  Goodnight, Karl, I am off to bed.  Never did hear him come in.  Now the alarm goes off at 6am so we can be up and gone by 7:30am to meet a couple of other Blue Knights who will join us on our trip to Billings, MT.

Since we have left no problems have occurred except the heat in the desert.  We made Elko, NV. last night and were riding in about 100-103 degrees heat - BLAH!  Today wasn't as bad and we have arrived in Idaho Falls, ID for the night.  We will make Billings tomorrow late afternoon.  There we will sit until Fri morning.  I will update the blog as things progress. 

I guess I need to get used to the idea that whenever we leave to travel something will always happen to upset plans we have made and have a backup.  Or just smile, laugh and go with the flow! 

Our walking wounded

I need to start this blog out on a serious note for a change.

I was in the Denver airport waiting for my connection back to Sacramento when a wounded vet sat beside me in the waiting area.  He was only about 23-24 and was walking with two arm crutches.  I was on the one side of him when he started talking to a gentleman on his other side.  I didn't get all of the conversation, but what I did hear was that he was wounded in Iraq from a roadside bomb and had lose the feeling in his left leg.  He was supposed to have another operation and "hopefully" he would get the feeling back.  As he sat there talking the gate agent came up to him and handed him a boarding pass and told him that an anonymous passenger had surrendered his first class seat and took the vet's economy seat instead.  The young vet was very moved and didn't really know what to say.  When it got time to board the airline they invited the first class section to board from the red carpet.  Let me back up a bit.  On United they seat you by sections - first class, elite, 1k, etc is boarded first - then seating section 1 which is economy plus, then seating section 2, etc. up to section 4.  As most people do they will huddle around the gate area and wait for their section to be called.  As I was waiting for my section to be called I noticed that the young vet, who could board first, hung back because there were about 4 people standing in front of the boarding area and he really couldn't get through easily.  Seeing that and being the timid and shy person that I am, I walked up to them, excused myself and pushed them aside (gently of course).  Then I turned to the young vet and motioned him forward.  At first he didn't want to go ahead, but I said, "You are first class, you deserve to go."  He looked at me and thanked me, then slowly boarded.  It was about 5 minutes later when my section was called and I boarded the plane.  As I entered the plane I saw this young man sitting in the first seat in first class and catching his eye I smiled at him.  As I passed his seat, he grabbed my arm and asked, "Ma'am, are you the one who changed seats with me?"  Smiling I replied, "No, sir, I am not.  But I am a vet too and I appreciate you."  Grabbing my hand in a tight grip he looked at me very humbly and said, "Thank you, Ma'am.  And I appreciate you too."

Usually a random act of kindness doesn't affect me very much.  But this one put a lump in my throat and brought tears to my eyes.  I sat back in my seat and had a tightness in my chest for most of the flight.  Arriving in Sacramento I deplaned quite a while after him, but as I got to the baggage claim I saw him slowly going through the door surrounded by his family.  And as Karl drove past him I said, "There goes one of our walking wounded."

May God keep our young men and women safe from harm and bring them all home safe and sound.  And if you ever get a chance to do a random act of kindness, I hope you remember this one humble veteran on his way home.