Stop #8: Cow Town

Day 18 continued:

We enjoyed a quick three-hour drive from Medicine Hat to Calgary, arriving around 4:30pm - just before rush hour. Since Shi and Tess were still at work, we parked on 17th Ave and went for a stroll.









Along the way, we came across a restaurant named after my dear friend, Warren. Thinking of you!










We met Tess back at their awesome house around 6:00pm and enjoyed some laughs. Shi didn't get home until after 10:00pm (what a hard worker!), so we just relaxed and watched TV. (Can you believe Jeannette got voted off "So You Think You Can Dance"???)


Day 19: Jeff got up early (again!) to golf with Shi, Bill and Doug. One of Jeff's best games - he shot 80! Ash slept in to a whopping 8:30am (Tess, you were right about the heat and the noise!) and then read through her school district info. There is a lot to know when starting out with a new board! She drove out to Bragg Creek to meet the golfers for lunch. Although Jeff doubted her ability, she followed Shi's excellent directions and made it! We enjoyed a lovely meal on Madrina's lovely patio.














Following more directions, we headed out to Tess' job site. She is currently planning the World Waterskiing Championships and Drenchfest, happening August 3-9 here in Calgary (http://waterskiworlds.com/). It's so neat to see her so excited about her job! She had shown us the map of the site yesterday, but it was really something else to see it in person. She has done an excellent job and I hope she continues to find happiness in this profession. It certainly makes a difference when you enjoy what you do for a living!!!!

We came back home for a nap and a shower, fixed the TV and the printer (what would we do without our handyman???), picked up Thai food for dinner (delish even though my mouth was on fire!) and watched "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" on TV. I love watching Jeff laugh so hard!

Day 20: Since Shi has to work weekends, Tess agreed to entertain the out-of-towners and take us to float down the Elbow River. (Hey, Penticton Lazy River fans, you gotta see this!) Tess had the exellent idea of reserving a raft for us, which turned out to be very important since they ran out by the time she made it there to pick it up! Jeff prepared the snacks while Ash put on her 60 sunscreen. Tess had checked online, asked the raft rental place and checked a map, all of which told her to start at Glenmore Park. We followed Tess down to Stanley Park to park her car at the end of our ride, then drove back to our departure point in our car.

At around 2:30pm, we parked and got out:
the raft (one of those canvas rubbery ones),
the paddles (are we really gonna need those while we're floating???),
the life jackets (required by law to be in the raft, not necessarily on your person),
the snacks (very important to refuel!),
the towels (not planning on getting wet, but you never know!),
the sunscreen (they don't call me "Burns-Through-Jeans" for nothing!)

and carried it all down a rather steep cliff to the water's edge. There we inflated the raft, re-applied sunscreen and organized the contents of our boat. The girls got in and Jeff pushed us off.




Looking around, we saw sailboats, kayaks, canoes and rowers... but no other rafts. We were getting looks from people, but couldn't quite understand why. It wasn't until we went around the bend and saw... the dam! We started on the wrong side of it! What kind of a tour guide did we hire??? We paddled for a good hour and a half before reaching the Glenmore Trail bridge and seeing just how far away the dam was. Beats me how Jeff maintained his smile! Now, there is no path for boaters through the dam, which meant we had to go around it. Unfortunately, there was no path for that either! We pulled up to the rock wall and Jeff scaled it to see if he could find a way up the bike path. He did, but it was going to be a challenge! Each of us put on a (smelly) life jacket and carried the stuff up first, through the bushes. This would be too narrow for the raft, so Jeff figured we would have to cross the highway! Tess and Jeff drew the shortest straws to go back down to get the raft. They put it over their heads as they navigated the rocks and I played documentarian! The best part was drivers' faces as they saw this raft being carried alongside the highway!
























































We made it through that obstacle, but we still had to cross the dam and get down a bunch of stairs to finally reach the water again.



















We let the group of young guys and their pirate ships (they even had inflatable pirate hats!) go first and then we hopped in.





There was a nice current and some gentle "rapids", but what my derrière found out was that it was also quite shallow! We began using the cue "ASS UP!" so that we wouldn't be scraped by the rocks on our way over them.




















It worked out well since Jeff doesn't really like to (or know how to) relax, so he was in charge of navigating.














We had a lovely float, dodging the groups of rowdy teenagers and another stragglers and finally made it to our destination at around 7:00pm. It was a long yet enjoyable trip.





Since Shi's BBQ still isn't hooked up (two trips to Barbecues Galore and still got sold the wrong pieces!), we decided to pop in to Kim's and borrow her BBQ for dinner. (Thanks, Kim! Too bad you are away this week!) Shi made us delicious steaks, potatoes and salad, which we enjoyed on the deck.

After all was cleaned up, we sat around the fire pit for more laughs. We came back home for dessert (mmm drumsticks!), while the House Husband put the new fan together. We had a cool sleep that night after a long, hot day!

Day 21: A local restaurant called "Nellies" was our stop for brunch. Tess told us that it's always busy, so we weren't too surprised when we had to wait in the line-up all the way outside.



Jeff and I ran some errands (Barbecues Galore, Canadian Tire, groceries) before heading to Craig and Debbie's for dinner. Brock and Blake joined us for dinner. Wow, are those boys ever tall! And what HIP parents! ;) It was great to catch up with them. Adam, you missed an amazing dinner!


Day 22: Jeff and Shi were up early again for another round of golf at The Elks of Calgary. Tess was off to work, so Ash hung around and enjoyed her morning coffee and some Bugs Bunny cartoons. Now this is a vacation!


When Shi went to work at noon, Jeff and Ash went back to CT and got a key cut and a new screw to hold the licence plate on the car. Not sure how we lost the other one. Then we found My Favourite Ice Cream Shoppe which Deb had recommended the night before. Good call, Deb. "Merci Ceaubou!!" ;)



That evening, Tess had to work to prepare for a big meeting and Shi was still at work, so Jeff and I went to see "Harry Potter". So good! And no burning off the reel!!!! Thanks for the g cert, Sandy Bullock!

Day 23: The weather was not really cooperating and there was a mix-up with the house keys, so we decided to postpone our day trip to Drumheller until tomorrow. Jeff took to the internet to see what there is to do in Calg and we decided to catch up with old friends at the Calgary Zoo! A few hours of gawking at God's finest creations is always a good time. We were able to catch some of the free talks they give throughout the day and learned new things about Asian elephants and baby koalas. Have you been to the zoo lately?




Après zoo, we ran a few errands and picked up Swiss Chalet for dinner (thanks Carl, Sylvia and Sarah!) and brought it back to the house.


We relaxed in front of The Bachelorette finale and the After the Final Rose special. I love PVRs!!!!! I'm a bit disappointed that Jillian chose Ed, but she sure looks happy, so I guess it's ok!

Day 24: Drumheller high water, we were going today! Drumheller is a tiny town about 139 km north east of Calgary in the Badlands and is famous for dinosaur bones. They have the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleantology (http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/), with an impressive display of artifacts collected over the years in the Alberta area, plus a very detailed display of the way things were millions of years ago. You also get to see actual paleantologists working on separating fossils from the earth that has been their home for millions of years. Neat. The architecture of the museum is set nicely in the unique landscape of the Red Deer River valley. If you are ever in the area, it is a must-see.

The town is dinosaur-crazy! From the world's largest T-Rex... to dinosaur statues on every corner. They also have lookout spots that show the uniqueness of the landscape.

We went to the Horse Thief Canyon lookout at the west end of the Coulee (the giant gorge that was created 10,000 years ago by fast moving glaciers that exposed the earths' layers and gives the fantastic looking landscape). From the west, we went to the east end where they have "Hoo Doos". These are pillars of earth that have been created because their top portion was made of a more durable stone while the earth below was softer and eroded quicker. There we met a former Ontarian named Stan. He was more than happy to point out the petrified trees and then talk our ears off for the next 30 minutes about bow hunting cougars, gysers in Montana, Yetis and the Ogopogo! Actually a very interesting guy that loved to share his experiences. Too bad we had to cut the chat short and head back on the road for home.

We got back into town and decided to use one of our g-certs at Moxies on 17th ave. Thanks, Daddy! We headed back to the house to pack up after this long week and get ready for Banff tomorrow.

It has been a very fun week in Cow Town! Thanks again to Shi and Tess for having us! See you in August! (Can you believe they are having their 10- and 20-year grad reunions this summer???)