Dinner in the montains

Today, Stephan was home from work. He had a doctor's appointment he had to get done for his permanent resident application. He was scheduled to work out in the mountains, in Canmore, for the week. So after work, we drove there to drop him off, since the rest of the crew was already there. Its under 1.5 hours away, so its not too bad.

Once we got there and got Stephan checked into his motel, we decided to go for dinner before I headed home. Last week (he was in Canmore as well), he had found this restaurant he loved, so we went to try it out together.

The Restaurant was called The Grizzly Paw, and it was delicious! I highly recommend it, if you are ever in Canmore! I kept it simple, and just had a chicken ceasar salad. But it was exactly what I wanted, and it hit the spot! This was Stephan's 3rd time here, and he had the bison burger. Again. for the 3rd time. He says its that good. The best bison burger he's had ever, very juicy and not dry like it can be sometimes. Also, the food is pretty well priced!

We finished dinner, and I dropped Stephan back off at the motel and headed home. The drive home was gorgeous, with the mountains and the sun setting behind me in the rear-view mirror.

Not a bad way to spend a Monday night!

Our weekend in Waterton!

This will be a long post! But I can't wait and want to do it all at once! (ok, so I'm impatient...I prefer to call it excited). Mostly its pictures! I promise!

Our trip started off on Friday morning and leaving Calgary it looked like this:

Good thing my winter tires were already on! And luckily, it cleared up.
First stop was to Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump...Stephan hadn't seen it yet and I knew he had really been wanting to. He enjoyed the museum as much as I did the first time, and I had no problem seeing it a second time. Sadly, the trail at the bottom of the jump was closed due to a cougar being spotted 5 days earlier. I still haven't seen the bottom trail!

Second stop was over to Crowsnest Pass to see Frank Slide and the museum there. I had been before but not into the museum. Stephan hadn't seen it all. Needless to say he was really impressed with the museum, and how big the rock slide actually was. About 90 were killed in the slide.

We also checked out a cemetery in the area where the dead of a mine blast in the early 1900's were buried....189 were killed, Canada's worst mining disaster.
Then we headed into Waterton Lakes National park. We stopped on the way into drive through the Bison paddock where there was a small herd.

We checked into our hotel room, which turned out to be a really small room but it was very quaint and nice...country style with a wood bed and a quilt comforter. It was cozy, and we loved it. We went out for dinner to the only restaurant still open in the park. It was a very nice place, decently priced! We quite enjoyed it.

On Saturday, we went for a few hikes. The first on our list was Red Rock Canyon and Blakiston Falls, both were in the same area.

We stopped through town to check out the view from the Prince of Wales Hotel (very fancy place best view in town!).

Then we headed out to Cameron Lake, where grizzly bears abound at the south end eating in the meadows. We hiked on a trail by the lake, until we came to a sign that told us not to go any further because of the mass amount of grizzly bears in the area (yikes!!)!!

Then we went back to town to explore the town sites, and decided to hang out at the beach for awhile.
We headed out to dinner at the restaurant again where we watched my Habs game (yes, seriously...highlights anways).

Sunday, we decided to climb up Bears Hump...part of a mountain that over looks the trail. I think the climb was about 700m up, and it got steeper as it went. I thought I was going to DIE...and it was MY crazy idea. It was the hardest hike of my life. But the view was totally worth it.

Lastly, we checked out Cameron Falls right in town before heading home!And that was our trip to Waterton! Sorry it was so long, there was just so much to share. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

1 more sleep!

Tomorrow we leave for our weekend away in Waterton Lakes National Park!! WOOHOO!!!

And, now I can officially say what I wanted to say in my last post! Johnny and Rachel announced at Johnny's birthday on Sunday that they are expecting a baby! You can read their news here!

See you when I get back from my trip! Happy weekend everyone!

A Fall Saturday in Kananaskis

Since Saturday was really Stephan's only day off before he had to go back to work, and the weather was gorgeous, we decided to spend the afternoon driving around Kananaskis in the mountains. I wanted to see fall in the mountains before all the leaves fell off the trees.

We went without any plans, just drove around and explored. The first place we found was a place called Barrier Lake, and it was just gorgeous! The colour of the water was amazing, and it was crystal clear. It was just a beautiful spot. It also happens to be one of those rare lakes you could put a motor boat on. There were little trails and picnic tables all over the area, it's a really nice place.

Then we headed over to another spot, on the river this time...I don't remember the name. We walked down along the river bank, and came to a shallow spot where the river split, with an island in the middle. And then Stephan had the great idea to try crossing the freezing cold mountain river to the island! We rolled up our pants and took off our shoes...and I made it half way across before turning around! It was SOOOOO cold, and the pain from the cold was surprising. Stephan still wanted to try to go across by himself. Me, not wanting to be left behind (for fear of bears and angry moose), and wanting to prove Stephan wrong decided to attempt the crossing again. And on the 2nd painful, excruciating try I made it across the river onto the island. And then, to get off the island we had to cross it a 2nd time! CRAZY! But, the 2nd time was a narrower section and so it didn't take as long to cross, and Stephan held my hand this time. I was quite proud that I did it! Never did I expect it to be THAT cold!! And I surprised Stephan. After my first failed attempt, he was almost 100% that I wouldn't make it across. Well, I proved him wrong! I can be tough!

TRIUMPHANT after crossing the river a 2nd time from the island to the mainland

We drove a little bit more and then headed home to pick up some groceries. I made Stephan a big meal since he was leaving for work again on Sunday (today): stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce and a salad. Yummy! Stephan is already on his way to his next job, 3 hours away. He'll be gone until Saturday, but then he'll be in the area and working his normal Monday-Thursday shifts and our life will be a little more normal. AND it will be that much closer to our weekend away! Can you tell I'm excited?!

PS: hotel is BOOKED! Now we get to start planning what we are going to do while in Waterton!

October love

Everybody is gushing about October now, and rightfully so. It's a fabulous month. The weather has been gorgeous, this weekend its supposed to continue. But, that is not why I am gushing about October today. October is the month in which I will be going away for a weekend.

In two weeks, the weekend after our Canadian Thanksgiving Stephan will finally be working in the area and home on weekends (He's gone Monday mornings to Thursday nights, that's his normal schedule). And so, we have decided that in two weeks we are going on a vacation, just the two of us. And do you know, we have never gone away for a full weekend trip JUST the two of us?!! It has always been with friends or family, never just us. Isn't that crazy?! The entire time we've been dating and we've never done this...although we've been wanting to. So we've booked the weekend off! I've booked Friday off of work, moved my piano students around and got out of playing piano for church. It's a done deal!

So we talked, and had two plans in mind: To head into the mountains into B.C, or to go visit Waterton Lakes National Park. Well, everybody we talked to about this just kept gushing about Waterton Park and how gorgeous it is, even more gorgeous then Banff is apparently. So that's what we've decided on: Waterton Lakes National Park. But we've been told to be careful hiking around. Apparently there are more bears (black and Grizzly!) in this area then here in Banff, and they are much more active especially given the time of year. So no letting Stephan wander off into the bush to track down wildlife!!

This weekend we will book our hotel, and plan out what we want to do! And I'm really excited...the pictures are just gorgeous. And I can't wait for my little weekend away! YAY!!

This is where we will be going:

weekend events

This weekend Stephan got stuck working overtime. He got home from work on Thursday, and was scheduled in Fort MacLeod for Monday. However, they are way behind out there and his boss basically begged Stephan to go, so off Stephan went. And after I finished work on Friday, I followed!

I got to Fort MacLeod just before 9pm, and we just had a lazy night and watched some TV, went to bed early because Stephan had to work on the Saturday.

While Stephan was gone during the day on Saturday, I took advantage of the beautiful weather to do some sightseeing (after I slept in). I headed out to see Head-smashed-in Buffalo Jump, which we've been wanting to see for awhile now. It's too bad Stephan couldn't come, he would have loved it. It was very interesting, the museum was very well done. I was really impressed! I plan to go back there again with Stephan. And I highly recommend it to everyone, go check it out! It's worth the drive!

The buffalo jump

After, I headed out to see the Fort Museum in town...this was a bit disappointing. It was also very interesting, but short and small. I was done the tour in less than an hour, and I have to say I've seen better Fort museums. But, I'm glad I took the time to check it out.

I liked the stained-glassed windows in the church

I made a new friend at the Fort! He was absolutely ADORABLE and I totally wanted to take him home

Stephan got back by dinner time, and so we headed out to grab a nice dinner together and checked out a restaurant called The Silver Grill that one of his work buddies told him about. It was pretty good, not top of the line but good food and for a decent price. I would go back there again. We had another lazy night watching tv and then bed.

Sunday morning we both got up early; Stephan for work and me to head back to Calgary for church, which followed with a choir practice. I spent the rest of the day lazing about doing laundry, and made tacos for dinner, YUMMY! I have to say, it was a pretty good weekend and I'm glad I followed Stephan down to Fort MacLeod and got to spend time with him.

How was everyone's weekend? What did you do?

weekend recap

Sadly, I don't have any pictures. They are all on Stephan's camera, and he does not have time to transfer them to my computer tonight, as he's packing to go back to N.B for work for the next 8 days. When I get them (mid. next week) I will update this post with the pics! I promise!

Friday was a relaxing day at home. Stephan requested his favourite, Rouladen, for dinner. We rented a few movies and just stayed at home enjoying the night.

Saturday we slept in a little, and then made plans. We decided to go back to Drumheller to see the dinosaur museum. The entrance fee was a decent price, but the museum was packed. We only spent a couple of hours there, as Stephan is not comfortable in crowds. We would have liked, and could easily have spent, more than a couple of hours there. We plan to go back. The museum is definitely worth the price. It is phenomenal and very well put together, with loads of information. It's all well displayed and easily understood. We were very impressed.

We still had some time after the museum, so we decided to go visit the Atlas Coal mines. We got there and discovered there were several different tours to choose from, like the train tour, the tipple tour, the tunnel tour and the ghost walk. We decided on the tunnel tour, it was about 1.5 hours and cost was $12. It was also well worth it! They geared you up with a hardhat and light, and a battery pack and then took you through the tunnel and up to the mine entrance. You can't go into the mine entrance yet, they are still excavating it and hope that it will be up and running by next summer or the summer after. But still, it was really cool and interesting. I highly recommend that if you are in Drumheller, you go check this out!

Sunday we had some friends in from church: Derek, Lana and their kids Ethan and Mikayla (age 7 and 4). Lana was sick, so sadly she wasn't there. But it had been awhile since we'd seen them, and the kids were dieing to see Stephan. They came over and just hung out with us. Me and Derek worked on picking out some congregation songs for church while Stephan took the kids grocery shopping for dinner, and wrestling with them on the bed. They somehow convinced Stephan to buy them some chocolate. They adore him, its the absolute cutest thing in the world. We watched a movie, and had some dinner and then they returned home.

I just love to watch Stephan play with the kids, especially Mikayla. Stephan is such a big guy, and she's this tiny little girl with blonde BLONDE hair, big eyes and the sweetest smile. Although, when she's around she puts all claim on my boyfriend and I don't stand a chance. But its ok, its too cute! In the grocery store, she held his hand the entire time. Correction...she held onto his index finger the entire time, all through the store. Way to sweet. I love those kids.

Parents & Ian's trip out: Part 3: Banff Day 3, and the last few days

Ok, so I'm gonna finish off my family vacation/visit in this post!

Banff - Day 3
Sunday, we decided to just do some driving around this day, not in Banff though. We took a gravel highway up behind Canmore that my parents found on their first trip here, they said it was really nice. It was the same road a pamphlet had recommended, and it led into another highways. It was all gravel, and it was apparently the highest road in the mountains (or gravel one anyways). Eventually, this road connected to Highway 40 through Kannanaskis country (and a BUNCH of provincial parks). All in all, it took us about 4 hours to get home to Calgary. But that's because we spent a lot of time driving down random side roads to do some exploring, and to stop for some good photo opps. And man, was there a lot to take pictures of!

We saw 4 moose, 4! Including a cow and her calf, who walked out from the bush and passed right in front of our car. They then stopped on the road to stare down a coyote that had wandered onto the same road, until momma decided it was safe and led her baby back into the bush. We also saw a young bull, and an older bull (although he wasn't huge, he still had bigger antlers then the little bull we saw). Here is the coyote...its very small, on the road near the top. This was as far as I could zoom in

Staring down the coyote

young bull

older bull

And, miracle of miracles, WE SAW A GRIZZLY BEAR. And the most amazing part was he was on top of a hill, on one side of a small bushy area that joined up with a parking lot on the other side. 100 meters on the other side of this little forest area were people in a parking lot, with kids and dogs, totally unaware of how close they were to a grizzly. And he just sat on top of the hill (I decided it was a boy), eating berries off of bushes. And we just sat and watched him in the safety of our van for about 20 minutes, taking tonnes of pictures. It was unbelievable. And relieving, because Stephan was fully prepared to drag me through the bush for the next 2, 3, 4 years until he found his bear. So thankfully he saw his bear without getting either of us killed. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever.wandering into danger (really, they never went past this spot! Its a joke on Stephan's dad)

Then it was back home for the night, where we stopped for dinner on the way. At home, we watched a movie all together before heading to bed. Oh, and did laundry. Fun.

On Monday, we went to the Olympic Park. We bought tickets to go up the ski jump, where there was a little museum of Olympic memorabilia, it was quite informative. We also got to observe people zip-lining down the ski-jump. We also took a look at the bobsled/luge/skeleton course, and then played a game of mini-golf. It sucked. It was an extremely difficult course (I didn't know this, although I've been wanting to do this course for awhile). It was beyond difficult, it was ridiculous. It wasn't much fun, and I quit on the 15th hole. I've never quit a game of mini-golf before, but I was just to frustrated and starting to get angry. Stephan, who is quite good at mini-golf, even had difficulty. My dad too.

Then we hit the road again, to go down to Fort MacLeod. Stephan had to go back to work. But first we planned to visit Heads Smashed In Buffalo Jump. Sadly, none of us were smart enough to check the hours of the museum online before we left, and it was closed by the time we got there. So we just went for dinner in Fort MacLeod, we found a nice little place called Johnny's. And then we spent sometime wandering around their little downtown, they have very old buildings there. Including a theater from 1912, with original seats and everything! I want to see a movie there sometime...

After we dropped Stephan off, we headed back home so my parents could finishing packing. It was back to work for me the next day, and my parents left Tuesday morning.

It was a wonderful time with my parents and brother, we did and saw a lot and made many wonderful memories. I'm really glad that they were out here and we got to spend some time with them. And I'm really glad that my Mom had such an awesome birthday...I know its one she will remember for a long time.

Parents & Ian's trip out: Part 2: Banff, Day 1 and 2

So I need to break Banff up. We spent three days there. I'll cover day 1 and 2 in this post.

Day 1
We decided on day 1 (Friday) to start off with a trip to the Columbia Icefields. Google said it was 2.5 hours from Calgary...turns out it was 2.5 hours from Banff. On the way, we saw the first of our wildlife:
The Icefields itself was really cool. They took you out on an ice explorer, down the steepest drive-able hill (only by these machines) in the world and onto the toe of the glacier. The area we were on made up only 2% of the entire icefield, which you couldn't seen beyond the top ridges. The part of the glacier we stood on was the deepest, and it was as deep as the Eiffel Tower is tall! They were also very concerned with the glacier, the tires were really soft rubber so it wouldn't damage the glacier, and they plowed a road out there through the snow. Every few years they moved the road so it wasn't in the same spot, so it wouldn't weaken the glacier. They also said the glacier receding was a natural process, and that it has been receding gradually forever. We also got to try the glacier water. All in all, it was a great experience. Oh, and we saw big-horned sheep on the way to the glacier (females and their babies).


On the way home from the icefields, we stopped to look at Peyto lake. Yet another pretty glacier lake in the mountains.


We checked into our hotel in Canmore, which was brand new and actually was a condominium with a fully equipped kitchen. It was so awesome, we immediately booked for a 2nd night. It looked like this:
It also happened to be Mom's birthday (she turned 52), so we gave her her presents, and then took her out for dinner in Canmore. We came back to the hotel for a swim, and then went out to buy dinner to bbq for the 2nd night.

Day 2
We drove out to Lake Minnewanka (spelling?) on the way to see Lake Louise. By the lake, we saw another big horned sheep and did some exploring on a trail down the hill overlooking the lake. It was very pretty. Then we headed out to the Lake Louise Gondola, hoping to see some grizzly bears since it was a hotspot for them. We didn't see one, but there was one in the area and as a result we weren't even allowed to walk down the road to the interpretation centre, the gondola people drove us down. After the gondola, we took Ian to see Lake Louise. Sadly, it started raining so we didn't get many photo opps, nor did we get to explore with Ian around Lake Louise. So we headed off to Lake Moraine, my parents really wanted to see it and the rain let up for it! Mom and Dad liked it better than Lake Moraine, Ian too since he could climb up rocks with Stephan and do manly guy tough stuff.


We also saw another black bear, but he ran across the road too quickly to get a picture of.

We also made a stop in Banff to show Mom and Dad the Cascade Gardens. Since me and Stephan found it the first time I've been wanting to show them, I knew its something they would really love. And they did! Dad has quite a few pictures from the garden that he would like to turn into puzzles.
Then we headed back to our lodgings for the night and had a wonderful BBQ overlooking the mountains, and a swim in the pool. We finished the night off with a few drinks and a movie.