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!
Seems a good place to start – and finish (scroll down to the last photo for “…and beer!”) On second thoughts, perhaps beer isn’t the best place to start – it’s still early. How about a coffee instead?
Strong and dark, like my first g— oh never mind, let’s just enjoy the coffee
Since the advice has been to take things steady, that’s what we’ve been doing. Walks in the different local parks have been enjoyable, with mornings cooler, sunnier and drier than the more humid and sometimes stormy afternoons. The colours have been a welcome sight!
Centre Street bridge in the distance BrightSo brightReally bright – and thirsty, too… a drink would be welcome?…and beer!
I’ll be popping in later today, see what Ol’ Beautiful delivered yesterday. I’ll let you know what I find, but I’m thinking probably a bottle of wine? And beer?! I could get used to overdoing the not overdoing it.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how much we enjoyed our stay in Irricana, AB, and that I’d include a bit more, so here it is. I’ll let the pictures do most of the heavy lifting, due to laziness or maybe being too relaxed to scribble very much.
I will say the Irricana campground is a great place to stop a few days. It has a rodeo arena (is that the right term? I’m no cowboy…) and there are a couple of baseball diamonds. Little league baseball on a Thursday night is a big draw locally, and there are often horse boxes turning up with young riders making turns in the arena. One quiet afternoon – no horses – I clambered up above the chutes and snapped a few photos. It’s the closest I’ll get to bronco riding…
Hold on to your hat!
Back to the campground. Clean and tidy, it’s run by Norm, former Stampeder and all round good guy. Zipping about on his ATV in sunglasses and Stetson, he couldn’t have been more friendly or attentive. I saw him help out so many campers, be it assisting with parking a large trailer, lending an axe for firewood, or rooting out a water hose if someone had forgotten it. What a guy!
“Hey, Adam, wanna beer?” “Maybe later, Norm – we just had breakfast!” OK, not strictly true, and I jest time wise (it was always after lunch), but an indication of Norm as a great host!
Eight seconds? How hard can it be?!Horse power
If you’re ever out that way and looking for a quiet (outside of Monster Truck weekend) place to stay, then Irricana might just be for you!
Monster, oops, I mean our modest truck, Irricana, AB
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
No trucks, no monsters, just larks and gophers – a lovely prairie trail to hike or bike Not just for cowboys – and how hard can it be?! Sadly for them, I can think of one or two who struggle with this…
We’re absolutely loving being out west, traveling under (mostly) big blue skies. We spent a week in Irricana, AB, a tiny town northeast of Calgary, and a sparkling prairie gem. I’ll write more about Irricana another time.
Detail from Irricana mural
Very spotty internet and an unwillingness to hammer my phone plan have combined to keep this very brief. So here are a few photographs that might give you a prairie high – and it’s legal and chemical-free (assuming ranchers and farmers are doing the right thing…)
Good morning to you!
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend! And Happy July 4th to our southern neighbours!
Rockyview County?! (Not in this photo, but on a clear day, you can see the Rockies in the very far distance)“Can we go to the mountains, cool off?!” Soon, Scout, soon!This will get you to the mountains – eventually – no rush!
It’s Canada Day next week (Tuesday) and, as always (perhaps more so given the recent distressing nonsense from near and far) I’m so happy this is my home. It’s not perfect, but my sense is, as a nation, we are mostly trying to paddle in the right direction (it would need a large canoe, but all are welcome to climb in)…
A lake somewhere in Saskatchewan
So, if you’re Canadian and choose to celebrate, have visited Canada, maybe would like to visit one day, or simply like maple syrup and the big outdoors, Happy Canada Day!
It’s good to know there is a small town in northern Ontario called Moonbeam. You’ve probably heard of it – it’s known throughout the entire galaxy:
Yup
I’d read there was a UFO monument in Moonbeam (we were camping a few kilometres away) and didn’t tell Mrs PC about it, not wanting to spoil the surprise. I think it was probably more than she could ever dream of?
“Take me with you!”
After all that excitement, we had to stop for refreshments.
Stellar!
Oh yeah, and we’ve camped in some lovely spots – this might be my favourite, so far:
Somewhere near Val-d’Or, QC, Canada, the world, the solar system, the galaxy, the universe
It’s big out here! Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 