Phew! We got through the somewhat dull days of November, helped enormously by the very much appreciated end of month snowfall – for us, everything looks better with a light (or heavy) dusting of snow! Once the last leaves drop, it might as well snow, and, for now, it has!
Happy dog dance and an odd gnomish-looking fellow. (Photo: Mrs. PC)
So it’s goodbye November and welcome to winter!
Did someone say winter? Woof! (Photo: Mrs. PC)
I’ll keep it brief for this post and limit things to a few photos taken out and about the past week or so.
A light dusting
We have our fingers crossed that the temperature dip to more seasonal numbers is consistent, and that the promised snowy winter predicted by forecasters this season comes to pass…
Cool temperatures and a layer of ice beginning to creep out from the shore
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Creaking? Like old bones? Is this an early Hallowe’en piece? Or an excuse for a poor pun later in the post? Hmm, I wonder…
We were camping in a southern section of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park a week or two ago, having set off from Calgary on a spectacular fall day. Goodness, that day – the light was so bright the aspens were shimmering gold and it felt as if you could reach out and run your hand along the mountain top horizon, they appeared so close. Razor sharp!
Gold
We stopped in the foothills for a lunchtime picnic, in shirtsleeves and sunglasses. Clearly, the forecasters had got it wrong – snow?! What snow? What a day, bright fall in the mountains:
Sun, sun, sun!
Oh:
Erm…
Yes, I was cold and creaking, at least until the sun cleared the treetops and most of the snow melted away. A short, sharp shock for sure, but in a good way, it being a reminder that fall is brief out this way, and the brilliance of winter is almost here!
Clearing and warming up!
Extra layers on (meaning I wore all the clothes I’d brought, being poorly prepared compared to Mrs. PC) we did a short loop hike, not much more than a few kilometres, up one side and back down the other of nearby Boulton Creek. Creeking, hehehe. Very quiet, with just a couple of other hikers encountered on the trail, bear tracks and scat everywhere, but no bears spotted. Perfect!
Boulton Creeking
We thoroughly enjoyed our last camping trip of this season, sunshine, snow and all, and look forward to the spring – but not until we’ve enjoyed winter!
“Winter, you say? I think it is just ahead – I can almost see it from here!”
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Thanksgiving is here this coming Monday, and, once again, amongst all the ever increasing madness in the wider world, we’re very aware we’ve so much to be thankful for.
Kananaskis, last weekend
As I’ve written before, thanksgiving weekend more or less marks the anniversary of when we moved to Canada, a move we’ve never once regretted (well, maybe some regret related to my first and probably last slice of pumpkin pie all those years ago, shudder… the horrors of pumpkin pie – apologies to outraged traditionalists – but no, no, never again, I can’t, I just can’t…)
For carving? Yes! For pie? No!
Pumpkin pie aside, each passing year we love where we live more and more. So if you choose to celebrate the coming holiday, happy thanksgiving!
Full foothills fall
Ok, let’s keep it brief this week – there’s an apple pie that needs our attention! The next photograph was also taken last weekend and I think it signals the end of the brief Alberta mountain fall and our current camping season?! More to follow…
No more camping this year?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Silly? Silly?! Oh no, dull, dull, and dull… What’s going on? Have you had a vocabulary breakdown, OldPlaidCamper? Silly? Ugh… is silly the new dreary? It’s not a word I use very often – most likely because I’m distantly acquainted with one or two people I’m not overly fond of who do use it (they’d probably say I’m silly if they were being kind, although kindness isn’t really one of their strengths…) Anyway, why silly? What prompted this silliness? Why, because I couldn’t resist this beer:
Reappropriating silly. The new sensible.
We’ve certainly found the weather a bit silly throughout September, in that it was way above seasonal almost every day. Trips along the river and to nearby parks have been pleasant enough, and the planted gardens have certainly held on longer – perhaps due to the silly weather?
Very warm days, but fall is here
In just the last few days we’ve seen more of a fall arrival, and most definitely on our quick trip earlier this week to see friends in Canmore. The cool fall temperatures were a relief, and the dashes of colourful larches on the slopes were very pretty. A deciduous conifer? Is that a bit silly? Not at all!
Very sensible (taken a different day, west of Canmore)
We’re off to K country for a few days of quiet camping – no cell coverage or wifi, some beer, some short hikes, a few good books, and maybe spotting a bear or two in the distance. Not too silly…
On watch – beary sensible
Thanks for reading – I’ll aim for a wider vocabulary next time – and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Fall-ty memory? Forget-fall? (This is bad – apologies…) Yes, quite aw-fall. I’d promised to share some more colourful and less misty images from our recent trip to the coast. The main attraction for us was the foggy atmosphere and early hint of autumn, especially as summer here in the city has held on and on, heat wise, even if leaves are finally turning and falling at last. C’mon, summer, you’ve had your go; step aside and let autumn have a turn!
Cool coastal green
Mrs.PC ordered fall in a glass when we visited the Ucluelet brewery. A lovely Berliner Weisse style pepped up with a dash of fruity colouring – it was delicious, tart and refreshing, and a can or two might have made it into the back of the truck and all the way back home for enjoying this coming weekend…
Yum – is it the weekend yet?
We spent many a happy hour at our harbour side campground sitting and staring at the boats and birds, the occasional light breeze prompting some early leaf fall. It was almost autumnal.
Autumnal? Almost
The log provided a great foot (or beer/coffee) rest, and once or twice a day a gang of feathered friends came a-pecking and strutting for tasty insect morsels hiding in the wood. Entertaining companions.
Colourful characters
We caught up with many old friends this trip, and it was hard to tear ourselves away, but we did eventually find ourselves back on the ferry, crossing the Salish Sea and heading to and through the mountains. We stopped a couple of days in Revelstoke, just to soak up the mountain atmosphere and get wet – finally – in a rainstorm or two, rain that had eluded us the entire island trip.
Moments before a mountain deluge
Now we’re back in the hot city, we’re lining up a nearby mountain trip or two to cool off in the next couple of weeks, and perhaps catch the high fall colour there if the leaves have held on…
Back here next year? Why not?!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Spending so much time at the coast can get a person dreaming of owning a boat…
Boats, boats, boats!
…but knowing a few boat owners helps prevent daydreams turning into reality. They’ll often tell you the best two days of boat ownership will be the day you buy one and the day you sell it! And then there’s the cost or costs – I bumped into my buddy R on his way to fill a few jerry cans with marine fuel, and he just about managed to avoid bursting into tears at the price…
Aluminum – practical and lightweight!
Another friend told of how, when she was growing up, she’d “enjoy” sailing trips with her father. Today, her partner would like to buy a small sailing boat, and when I mentioned how they might enjoy sailing together, given her nautical family background, she laughed (or grimaced?) and said yes, she knows which rope to pull and where to square things away, but sailing is not necessarily fun for her. It’s task, task, task, and then task, task, task.
Dreaming
Oh! Maybe our (Your – Mrs. PC) boat dreams will remain on hold for now? And possibly forever?
Speedy? Pricey!
In the meantime, we can always stroll around the inner and outer harbours in Ucluelet and admire boats we’ll never own – sailing boats of all sizes, aluminum fishing boats, fibreglass fishing boats, wooden boats, rigid inflatables with enormous outboard motors, small paddling boats for pottering around the inlet, and those vessels that are rusting and flaking away – RIP Tromso!
Old photo – she wasn’t there this visit, sob…
I can, and have, wasted hours hanging around marinas and harbours admiring boats. I love the busyness of it all, the screeching gulls, clanging masts, creaking ropes and splash of water. The aromas aren’t always pleasant, but they’re certainly distinctive; seaweed and salt, fish guts and cigarette smoke, bird shit and marine fuel. Lovely!
Distinctive
Boats, boats, boats! I do have my Small Vessel Operator Proficiency certificate, and the boats I admire are all less than 12 metres long and under 15 tonnes and— (Nope, not happening! – Mrs. PC)
I mean, is it that expensive, really? (Yes! – Mrs. PC)
We’re away from the coast now, and with each passing kilometre the allure of boat ownership diminishes (You’ve got that right, mister! – Mrs. PC) and common sense returns. Time for something more manageable – now, where are those canoe brochures?
“Get a boat! Get a boat!”
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We’re away for the next little while, living on the edge, getting our feet wet and going coastal.
Going west coastal
It looks and feels a lot like fall here, with mists billowing in, shrouding the boats and trees and making for moody beach scenes.
Misty morning, Ucluelet inner harbour
It’s nowhere near as cold as the photos appear – shirtsleeves by lunchtime, and feeling pleasantly mild and humid in between the chillier bouts of fog.
Humid
What a blast to log time in the fog – hazy delights!
We’ve logged off
I’ll share some different scenes another time, with less mist and fog and more sunshine – but we came hoping for that particular PNW atmosphere, and we’re thoroughly enjoying it, as well as the time spent catching up with old friends in one of our favourite places.
Favourite characters
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We went to see Jaws the other day – it was showing near home on a big screen and with a cleaned up super saturated print. Goodness, what a treat!
Get out of the water!
If you like the movie and you get the chance, do go and see it on a big screen. It really stands the test of time (50 years? Eek, that’s properly scary…)
Super saturation
What a movie, and an excellent (if unnecessary) reminder that I prefer to be on and not in the water. As for needing a bigger boat, that’s fine when taking a ferry – we caught one just the other day – but I don’t mind those smaller craft if that’s all there is.
Any of the above works for me!
Yup, a small craft is great! With all this water, you never know what might be lurking in the deep… or in the shallows:
Hungry lurker
Hmm, I think I need to work more with the new camera, but at least the heron was so focused on lurking it didn’t realize I was lurking nearby and struggling with my own focus!
Focused – the heron, not the photographer!
Enough for now – I’m off to reflect on boats. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I’m still not walking any great distances, and certainly nothing with significant elevation gain, but we did take a brief trip into nearby Kananaskis last week. Why? Mountains!
Reaching up
We parked up at what we still call the Delta Lodge (it’s had a makeover or two, a name change and has sometimes hosted the great and not so great and good since we last stayed there – looking at you, G7 1/2) and trotted off at a brisk pace – well, Scout and Mrs. PC managed a brisk pace – to take a turn around the hotel perimeter walk. Hmm, that last one was a messy sentence. Oh well. Let’s look at a photo.
Things are looking up…
If one has reduced or restricted mobility, then this is a place to come and see many mountains from an already elevated perspective. The pathway is paved and mostly flat. You’re above the river (the Evan Thomas Creek that flows through the golf course and beyond) and beneath the tallest peaks, and it is spectacular! We were quite dizzy…
Dizzy
We couldn’t believe how quiet it was, visitor-wise, and sat on a bench eating our lunch with no more than a few passersby. The sun was warm but not too warm just like our cheese sandwiches, and it felt like a very pleasant way to return to a favourite spot. We aim to be back in the not too distant future and venture down some of the very inviting trailheads we passed heading back to the truck!
“We were snowshoeing last time I was here! Can we do that again?!” Soon enough, Scout, soon enough! (Photo: Mrs. PC)
Let’s leave it here for this week – dizzily optimistic! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Slow down, summer, you move too fast – but it’s been mostly colourful and groovy, at least when it hasn’t been raining!
July has been a relatively wet one for Calgary, one of the five wettest since counting the previous four wettest or something. Definitely damp, I’ll say that.
The rain has been good for this garden
We have enjoyed a couple of mighty thunderstorms in between the drier days, that’s for sure. Scout doesn’t much like the thunder, tough as she looks. On calmer days she’s been catching up on old p-mail haunts and meeting old friends.
Cat and dog days – two old friends meeting up (photo: Mrs. PC)“Yeah I’m tough, a top dog! And, erm, you won’t mention the thunder thing, will you?” No, Scout, not one word… (photo: Mrs. PC)
I’ve been slowly (oh so slowly) tottering about our immediate neighbourhood, getting reacquainted with familiar streets and some new scenes. Life is good in Calgary, and often colourful, but I did not know about the beach!
Just beachy! Vibrant sunny yellow! With bonus childhood summer holiday weather!
Here’s some bubbly colour I’ll be enjoying this evening – a first new-to-me Calgary beer since returning home, the beer style a predictably unsurprising choice, and the can design recalling those lovely ski jackets from the late ‘80s. If summer is racing by, it can only mean winter is fast approaching! I don’t need a new ski jacket, but if I did, these colours would look great on me. And grate on everyone else nearby. Sold!
Just my style! Oh, have I been looking forward to this!
I’ll zoom off now, to get ready for a top down long weekend – we’ve never spent August in Calgary before, so we’re excited about what it might bring.
Will it be a top down weekend? Go on, risk it! (It wouldn’t be my first choice colour, but if I had to have a vibrant sunny yellow car…)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 