We’re back on the road for the next little while, in fact we have been the past week. We trundled through the prairies for a few days, before heading into Kananaskis at the end of the long weekend. As we ventured in, we saw quite a number of campers leaving early. We wondered why?
Was it the weather? Maybe!
It grew distinctly cool as the weekend progressed – more snow anyone? Yup, that happened. Thank goodness we didn’t have to worry about keeping our evening beer chilled. Who needs ice or a cooler?!
Alberta cooler
By the time this is posted we should be somewhere in BC, searching for some warmth and a little less snow…
“Snow? Behind me? I don’t believe you!”
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We do! If you ever have the opportunity, traveling the Hoodoo Trail in the Drumheller, AB region is an interesting way to discover some amazing geological formations in an arid location.
Near Drumheller, AB
I imagine it gets pretty busy – and very hot – in the summer months, but we were lucky enough to stop at the formations shared here on a relatively quiet and pleasantly warm midweek spring day. Early in the season as it was, it felt hot after the long slow start to spring – no complaints!
“Hoodoo? I do!”
It always amuses me that the area is known as the badlands, and I understand why, but they are some of my favourite lands to visit, with such a different geography and geology. Dinosaur territory if that kind of thing interests you…
Spotted this one roaming our campground
We ended our morning with a fine lunch and cold pint at the Last Chance Saloon in nearby Wayne. As with the rock formations, if you ever have a chance to visit, it is great place to stop and cool off.
One of my finest photographs ever, taken through a dusty windshield
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Apparently, this is the good stuff? (Yes it is! Mrs. PC)
I’ll keep it brief this week, and confess we’ll be having two out of three of the above this coming long weekend!
Apparently, this is the good stuff? (Yes it is! Mr. PC) A wee heavy (a Scottish beer style) and what I’ll be after too much beer and chocolate.
If you choose to celebrate Easter this weekend, enjoy, and even if you don’t, perhaps you’ll have a beer, some chocolate, or maybe even enjoy some spring sunshine where you are?
It is sunny, and it is calendar spring! Taken earlier this week – technically, three for three?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Yes, I know dogs can’t have chocolate. No, I’m not sulking…)
PS:
Nope, two out of three! Taken yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
And so on. It’s winter. It’s spring (sort of!) No, it’s winter again. Thaw-freeze-thaw! Or is it freeze-thaw-freeze?
As I write, it is more springlike, although the forecast is calling for snow by tonight and through Friday. We’ve gone from wearing our warmest coats to beat the -25C last week, to not needing a jacket at all today for +9C! March is about to roar in like a confused polar bear (I think that’s the saying in these climate change challenged times?) and we’ll aim to enjoy it either way.
Minus 25C on the wobbly bridge over the Bow – but where is everyone?!
Much of the warmth has come from repeated chinooks, and, for out this way, that’s not unusual at all, although the frequency is irritating if you like the snow… I took a snap of part of the chinook arch stretching across the sky to the west of the city yesterday. The wind was barreling in along the Bow valley, warming everything up. Slush city!
Chinook arch to the west
The birds definitely enjoy the warmer weather – the moment the temperature goes above freezing and the sun beams down, you can hear the little brown birds singing in the shrubbery, flitting from bush to bush and asking is that it for winter?
Geese, chilling out last week – honk if you’re feeling the cold
The resident geese on the river look a bit happier than they did last week, when they sat huddled and shivering in the arctic temperatures. Midweek, we saw a bald eagle fly over the bluff and turn to head west along the Bow. I’m guessing it nests somewhere on the edge of the city? We’ve seen it a few times this winter, and it’s quite the sight with the high rise blocks in the background!
How about both?
As for beer choices, with the topsy-turvy temperatures, do we go with a darker winter oriented beer, or a more suitably springlike sipper? Decisions, decisions… I know – how about both?! Freeze-thaw-freeze, thaw-freeze-thaw, and so on!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
What a relief it was to arrive at Baker Creek, check into our little cabin, and smile when we were told internet was spotty at best due to limited satellite uplink capacity (or something) and cell phone service was basically zero. Imagine our disappointment…
No cell service?! Oh our disappointment, teehee…
It was hard to see who was more gleeful to be out in the mountains, and to be running helter skelter through the deep snow, but I think Scout edged it. She was able to make slightly faster progress with four leg drive than we did on two. And yes, instead of dumping bags and heading straight out the door to explore the immediate surroundings, a short pause to don snow pants and snowshoes would have been sensible. Sensible? Nope, no time for that!
Sensible? No time for that!
We stumbled and postholed around the perimeter, trying to stay in the middle of snowmobile tracks, but with Scout leading and pulling, we weren’t able to keep from drifting into drifts. Mother had mentioned, before we left, not to fall into any deep drifts. Good advice! (We saw, from the road on the way home a few days later, an elk caught in a deep drift and bulldozing – elk-dozing? – it’s way out. Hope it made it…)
A still space to sit and think
Poorly equipped for even a short walk as we were, we still enjoyed how silent and still (our mad stumbling aside) everything was. The blanket of snow was so pretty, muffling most noise. Winter mountain hush! Blessed quiet! We could just about hear the tinkling chuckle-gurgle of the creek, and, luckily, see it in a few places where it hadn’t been snowed over. Scout desperately wanted to get closer, odd for her, given she doesn’t enjoy the water, but we resisted her efforts. Sorry, Scout – wet feet and minus fifteen don’t mix!
The creek
Eventually, slightly wet legged due to snowmelt on lower jeans, and ready to admit we should have put on snowshoes, we returned to our cabin to unpack, find dry pants, and get warmed up by the fire. Oh, and crack open a red ale we’d been saving as a fireside sipper. It was just the thing as we planned a proper snowshoe adventure for the following day!
Planning aide
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We thought we’d head out for a brisk walk in the park, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the start of the year, continuing a week of walks enjoyed in bright, if a tad chilly, conditions. Oh:
A lovely view of downtown – it is there, honest!
The view from where we live looks out over the downtown, and at night we can enjoy the lit up Calgary skyline, even if the waste of electricity makes us wince a bit. Yesterday, it was as if Calgary had disappeared!
Bright on other days, low winter sun and all
We’ll be disappearing ourselves for a little while, as we head out into the mountains for a short stay. Looking at lots of snow, quiet trails, and a warm cabin at the end of the day! New year, same old us…
Essential cabin supplies. Dry January? Nope.
Thanks for reading, happy new year, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Style – if you haven’t got it, then there’s no need to worry about it. That’s what I tell myself. Belgian style? Not sure what it is exactly, but having investigated, I think I could get to like it?
From up on the bluff, and it really was a bit chilly
Oh, ok, this isn’t a fashion thing, you’ll be relieved to know. It’s a beer thing, you’ll be shocked to read. We set off on a quite chilly late morning last week to discover for ourselves a nearby microbrewery promising beers in a Belgian style. Given the properly seasonal weather, we were hoping for a glass (or two?) of strong, dark, monkish beer, and we were not disappointed!
A strong golden, and a strong dark, my strong recommendations
Should you be in the area, and you like a well made big beer, then Two Pillars could be for you. We liked it! If we were feeling the cold and had to move fast to keep warm on our walk over, we were well insulated (or even ever-so-slightly inebriated – those were some mighty big beers in small glasses) and taking extra care in the slippery conditions walking home. We might have dozed off for the rest of the afternoon – must have been all that exercise…
We bought a few fireside sippers home with us in preparation for a couple of winter cabin trips we’ve got coming up soon, and they’ll be just the thing after an hour or two of snowy playtime. Yum!
Imperial porter and a Christmas red ale – yum
Let’s keep it short and sweet, not unlike a shared after dinner winter porter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
As we wait, and wait, and wait some more for real winter, I’ll be up a ladder, trying not to fall and doing some redecorating around our apartment. Since this will take far longer for me than properly competent decorators, I’ll be taking a short blogging break to get things done and be back in December. By then, the paint will have washed out of my hair and be scrubbed off the floor, and there’ll be more snow than I can imagine to go play in. Dizzy new heights up a ladder, and dizzy new heights on xc skis…
Brewed nearby, and very, very good!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend and rest of the month. Yeah, I know – what hair?
I’m working hard to stay patient, same as always this time of year. The most colourful part of the fall season is behind us, and it’s not quite properly cold enough for snow and snow related activities. November is, or has been, my boredom season!
An empty head? Don’t be childish, PC…
Boredom season? That’s quite a childish approach to an entire month, but I’ll own it – years of teaching mostly Junior High and elementary school means childish is often my comfort zone. Still, this November I’m trying something different, and going for a glass half full (or more) month – it won’t be empty, not this time…
Fill my glass! Trust me, this one was excellent!
Getting out and about in the city, we’re aiming to fill the month with music, coffee, hockey, and some new beer haunts. We’ve already been to see a friend’s band, Magnolia Buckskin, play, and an added bonus was a new to me performer, Rory Makem, on the same bill. Both recommended if you get the chance to catch them live.
Coffee! And perhaps a flaky almond croissant to go with it?
Getting along to watch some junior hockey is always a fun afternoon or evening, and our first Calgary Hitmen game in years was a good ‘un, with a fine home win!
Good game, good win
Since the last time we lived here, it appears umpteen – possibly more – new microbreweries have started up, with at least three within walking distance of us. More to follow on those!
Ok, not within walking distance, but this was pretty good!
So perhaps November won’t be quite the empty month I sometimes think it is, and maybe I won’t have an empty head. I’ll go steady on the new beers though – wouldn’t want a sore head…
Winter will be just over the far side of this month
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Honestly, not too many horrors and this won’t be too scary; it’s mostly a collection of some frightful sights we’ve seen around the neighbourhood the past week or two. Many thanks to our neighbours for the fun seasonal scares! (Having downplayed the frights to come at the start of this, a word of warning to those of a sensitive disposition: the final image contains absolute horror, an unspeakable terror, as will become clear if you dare make it that far…)
Headless horror – eek!Headless plant based horror – eek-o horror?Pumpkin pie will leave you like this
Are you still here, with a racing heart and slightly sweaty? Ok, here comes the real scare – brace yourself:
I have no words for this one… let’s agree we shall never speak of it again…
Thank for reading, and I hope you have a great Halloween if you choose to celebrate, as well as a great weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 