We Are Marching To Victoria, Part I

I had that song stuck in my head the whole time we were in Victoria, British Columbia. (Yes, I know it's "Pretoria," Mom!) It's a 14 hour drive to Victoria, which is on Vancouver Island. And it's not an easy 14 hours- lots of winding mountain roads and a ferry ride to consider. We decided to stop in Kelowna on the way over and Kamloops on the way back, to break the trip up.

We did a lot in three days so I'm gonna do my recap in several posts and concentrate on the drive and the ferry ride today. I'll do it in pictures because words won't do them justice no matter how...um...you know...goodly I am with those words.

And, just for fun, let's get "Marching to Victoria" stuck in your head, too! Click on the video and listen while you look at the pretty photos:



I was obsessed with these low clouds we saw during the drive-












And finally, an hour and a half on a ferry winding through these little islands on our way to Vancouver Island. Fantastic!




More to come!

William and Kate's Visit to Calgary

The hat I made for the parade. I didn't get to wear it! It obstructed people's view.

Calgary's been all a-buzz about the visit of William and Kate to our city this week. They flew in yesterday afternoon and flew out again this morning, on their way to California. Yesterday The Royals toured the University of Calgary and enjoyed a private rodeo performance at Stampede park. The public wasn't invited to either.

The best chance to see them seemed to be right before the official Stampede Parade this morning. Stampede is the annual rodeo here in Calgary and is a VERY big deal. The whole town goes western for a week, decorating with all things cowboy and dressing up in western wear.

It was reported that Will and Kate would travel the parade route in reverse at 8:30am, ending up at the point where the Stampede Parade would begin. This was our first Stampede parade but we're told the crowds were MUCH larger than in past years, obviously because the newlyweds were involved.

We had bleacher seats which usually guarantee a better view than being on the sidewalk, so I expected to get some great photos of Kate's streaming hair and Williams' brilliant smile as they rode by. We were in our seats by 8:00. Unfortunately, this was our view:



The bleachers were behind a mesh fence! But I knew I could deal with that by standing up and raising my camera over the fence to get the shot. No biggie. But then all of a sudden, there were police cars escorting a line of black town cars and everyone was standing and someone said, "It's them!!" and my husband pointed to one car in particular and I was snapping pictures and they flew by and then all was quiet. Someone said, "That was it?"



Everyone sat back down, looking at one another, puzzled. The woman next to us said she heard they'd be coming by in a carriage. "Instead, we get a drive-by at 50 miles an hour?" We all laughed. 50 mph was an exaggeration, but it certainly was quick. Amazingly, though, when I zoomed in on the above photo, you can see Kate in the back seat, wearing a white cowboy hat:



That was something, I guess. Though incredibly disappointing, our little bleacher group forgave the 'drive-by,' assuming the closed car must have been used for Will and Kate's security. Someone said, "There are a lot of crazy people out there." Nods were exchanged and we all settled in for the actual parade.

Yeah, well, I didn't really. I couldn't let go of the fact that William and Kate were in my city and I wasn't going to see them. This young couple is a part of history. I wanted two seconds to look at them in person, even if it was in the middle of a crowd, from far away.

I wasn't sure what the plan was for W&K after they reached the starting point for the parade but I knew I had to find out. I told my husband I wanted to walk over there in case they were making a speech or sitting at a dais or something. He was up for it.

The first few blocks were a piece of cake, but as we got closer to the beginning of the route, it got harder to maneuver around people. I pointed down an alley which took us behind some buildings and then finally, back out on the street about a block from the parade. Unfortunately, because of construction, it looked like we'd have to head in the opposite direction in order to work our way back to the parade route.

We wound up at an intersection across from The Hyatt. At every corner there was a crowd, cameras aimed at the hotel doors, ready to shoot. Heavy police presence. I asked someone what was going on and they said simply, "William and Kate."



I actually had a great spot with a clear view of the doors diagonally across the street from us.



We waited maybe ten minutes and were finally rewarded with these photos:



Look! He's waving at me and she's smiling at me! (...and the rest of the people standing with me-lol)



That's all I wanted. *happy*

Lake Annette Hike

Yesterday, July 2nd, I walked through a snow drift. We took a hike that was 8 miles round trip and wound up high enough in the mountains to be where the last remnants of snow are. Freaky, man.



Besides the snow, here are the highlights of this hike: We saw 2 porcupine. Not together, we saw them in two separate locations. They were bigger than I expected them to be. And I didn't know that they're blind. The first one scurried away when Greg said, "Hey- look at this!"





When we saw the second one, we stayed quiet while he sat, 'looking' in our direction.



The second incredibly cool thing that happened was when we reached our destination: Lake Annette:





We walked around the lake a little bit to get a better look at the glacier high up on top of the mountains.



While we looked around we heard a loud roll of thunder. "Great," Greg said. We were about an hour and a half away from our car. While we were both looking up at the sky, Greg said, "Oh my God, it's an avalanche!"

No danger to us- it was way up on the highest mountain and not very big. But there was snow, falling down the rocky cliffs like sugar flowing out of an over turned bowl. Greg grabbed some shots:



One thing I like about these hikes is that we always see something new. The porcupines and the avalanche were pretty interesting. This hike wasn't as steep as Johnston Canyon, so it was a little bit easier even though it was a mile longer.

















Lake Annette: 4 hours. Cranky Meter (how cranky did I get at some point during the hike?) 4 Frowny Faces out of 5. Why? Too long. Scary part where I had to walk over a snow drift on a cliff. Afraid I'd slip and fall. Felt woozy when we got to the lake and had trouble keeping my balance jumping from rock to rock in the water. Finally sat down and was stranded for about five minutes on a rock in shallow water until my head cleared. Nobody cared.

Johnston Canyon Hike

I went on another forced march- I mean, lovely hike- with Greg yesterday. It's called Johnston Canyon Hike in Banff National Park. This one is not for the faint of legs (like me). My thighs were actually quivering during the last hour.

Let me confess straight away that I picked this hike from our hiking bible*. I noted that it was seven miles, one mile longer than the last hike, but I figured I could handle it. I liked the description:

"Ascending the narrow canyon, you'll cross steel catwalks attached to rock walls. The chasms and cascades are fantastic. Continue beyond the falls to the Ink Pots, where cold springs bubble to the surface."

My only real concern were those catwalks. I'm afraid of heights and when placed in a situation where the fall will kill you, I start to wonder what it would be like to jump. haha! A lot of people who have a fear of heights say this. It makes no logical sense and you would never actually do it, but I guess we enjoy scaring ourselves. Greg's only concern was that the hike might be too easy. *sigh*

We started out on the trail by some rental cabins and a big ole coffee shop. Greg saw this as a bad sign (crowds) but I was already ordering some fabulous coffee drink in my head for the ride home. The image made me so happy, I fairly floated across the catwalks without fear.






You can't tell from these photos, but there were a lot of people. (I waited for a break in the line to grab a picture.) When we passed families with young children on their shoulders, people with dogs and the elderly (I think I saw a guy with a cane! Greg says it was a walking stick. Whatever.), I figured I would do OK on this trail.

We walked along a raging river. I'm not kidding- it looked really mad about something! Probably the crowds. Maybe if it could have had some privacy, it would have merrily babbled. But it flowed by fast, throwing up spray and making a heck of a racket. It made me laugh. I can't help it. When someone's angry, I giggle. Nervous habit.



We saw what they call the Lower Falls which had a very cool tunnel carved out of the rock by the pounding water. We were able to walk through it and look The Lower Falls in the face. The Lower Falls looked back and splashed us. Greg gave The Falls a dirty look in return but I kind of liked it.




We continued walking upwards and made it to the Upper Falls. That uphill climbing is hard for me, especially if a hot flash strikes in the middle of it. The temperature was about 57, but I wound up trudging along in a tank top, my jacket tied around my waist. And, of course, I always had to make an announcement: "Hot flash! Hot flash!" Greg loves that.

The upper falls were interesting because there was a catwalk that took you right down to the river and in front of them:





OK, that was fun. The catwalks weren't scary, the falls were pretty and although some of the rises were difficult, I felt OK. But the guide book said that there was more to see if we continued along the trail. I was game.

We walked a short way and found a sign pointing to the Ink Pots-the next natural wonder. "2.7 kilometers," it read. Kilometers mean nothing to me, but I can understand an arrow, so I headed in that direction. The trail sloped upwards. (damn!)

Between huffs and puffs, I asked Greg how far 2.7 kilometers is. "Oh, a little more than...a mile and a half," he answered. (A mile and a freakin' half??? Uphill? In your brain no one can hear you scream.)

But here's the thing: no way was I going to let this hike win. I didn't want to be a quitter, so I put my head down and placed one foot in front of the other. I told myself, "This is my life now." I don't know how long we walked upwards. Two, three days? Oh wait, Greg says it was about 30 minutes. Mercifully, the trail started to head back down.



"It's a long way to the Ink Spots," Greg remarked.

I corrected him, "We're not going to see the singing group. It's Ink POTS." *GASP giggle GASP* "Unless you start to hear music. Then I'm wrong."

"Oh, OK," he said.

Sometimes he just doesn't get me.

Anyway, we made it to our destination and decided it should officially be the definition of anti-climatic.



Greg took a break and I took pictures.







Then we walked back.



The End
















*Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies by Kathy and Craig Copeland

Cranky Meter: 4 out of 5 Frowny Faces. Too long, too much uphill climbing.