Our chilliest vacation yet

I'm still catching up from my June moodling break... in these beautiful summer days, it's challenging to spend time at the computer. So I'll keep this vacation summary short on words and a bit longer on pictures.

We drove to Southern Alberta on the last day of May,

and after a brief visit with my father-in-law in Lethbridge,

set up camp in Waterton Lakes National Park on June 2nd.

It was so windy, Lee had to drive the car in front of our tent

to protect it from 80 kmph winds. Windy and noisy! 

It wasn't easy to sleep, hearing the wind roar up the lake like a jet plane!

I wore my long underwear for all but the last day 

of our Southern Alberta vacation. Glad I did, too

-- it was cold at Cameron Lake, but we had a good hour's hike

along its edge. We were almost the only ones there.

Waterton Lake remained rainy and windy except for the day we left!

The Blakiston Creek hike was an easy, lovely walk 

and didn't disappoint, though, like much of Waterton Park

after the 2017 wildfires, the forests were gone.

When we got back from our walk, the view from

the Prince of Wales Hotel was promising... 

but windy and cold. I guess that's why Waterton

is more popular in July and August!

We moved on to camp at a warmer spot at Beauvais Lake

and had a beautiful climb up Baldy Mountain

-- there were bear warnings for the other two popular vistas, 

so we satisfied ourselves with this view.

Near Beauvais Lake we found the carefully preserved gravesite of

kind and good Metis settler John Whitford

and a pair of Trumpeter Swans! Beautiful birds!

(I wish I had a better camera...)

We spent some time driving through Castle Provincial Park

(recently protected from destructive recreational vehicles)

and I soaked my feet at Castle falls, 

which was running too cold and fast to be a good

swimming hole at the time!

We enjoyed watching wildlife from respectful distances,

and I took lots of wildflower pictures.

On our way back for another visit with Lee's dad , we stopped at

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (a UNESCO World Heritage Site)

and took our time in the visitor's centre. 

The cliffs above were hidden to the buffalo...

until it was too late, and down they plunged,

a feast for indigenous communities 

who carefully herded the buffalo to this place.

After a brief return home, we drove to see a few uncles and aunties 

in rural Saskatchewan before driving on to Saskatoon

to visit my godmother and my second-favourite river city.

I especially enjoyed watching an Oilers' playoff game with Auntie Jo!

Saskatoon's Bessborough hotel, a landmark from my youth.

Though those early weeks of June were the chilliest vacation Lee and I have ever taken overall, we made many good memories, and I managed to read a few good books while sitting in our car in the  worst of the lashing rain and wind. 

It was great to get away and see old and new places, but the best part was seeing the faces of Saskatchewan relatives. And, of course, enjoying the beauties of Creator's nature, human and otherwise. I think, though, that we'll pick a warmer time for our next trip to Waterton!

A week in Jasper

Lee and I are celebrating 30 years of marriage this summer, and decided to mark the occasion by visiting Jasper, which was the first stop on our honeymoon so many years ago. It was a lovely week except for the ever-present wildfire smoke in Western Canada this summer. Our tent trailer filtered the air a little, but we did sleep and hike in our masks on occasion. 

We had intended to camp for ten days, but on the 8th day, the smoke got so thick that we could hardly tell that we were in the mountains. After breathing varying degrees of smoke for a week, we decided to head home early and give our lungs a break. 

Climate change is here, and we have no choice but to live with it, to accept the challenges it offers and the sacrifices it demands. In the middle of our week away, I participated in an Alberta Beyond Coal walk with our eldest, Christina, who is helping to spearhead the ABC campaign. 

We and a half dozen folks from Jasper strolled up and down Jasper's main drag with signs that say "Protect our Water," and on the whole, people were cheering us on. Nobody in Jasper wants to see rivers full of selenium or the strip mining of mountain beauty of the eastern slopes... but Hinton, a coal town just an hour away, is a different kettle of fish.

Since these moodlings are my way of recording some events in my life as well as sharing thoughts with readers, I post a few pictures and comments here that I can look back on to remember my 30th anniversary week. 

If you've never seen the Rocky Mountains, Jasper is a jewel of a place, worth a visit!

Pyramid Mountain and Lake in the smoke...

and on a clearer day...

Lee at Edith Cavell glacier...

Cavell Lake...

a happy couple...

hiking the long way around Old Fort Point with our kids...

A view of the mighty Athabasca...

my favourite tree...

Saskatchewan Glacier as seen from Parker Ridge on a smoky day...

Who is that masked mountain man?

Lake Edith...

my favourite trailer/home...

and heading for home...

I am grateful for a good week away.

I'm back -- after a wonderful trip

Did you miss me?

I've never abandoned Simple Moodlings for so long. Usually, other times that I've been on vacation, I took time to pre-schedule posts for the time I was away from my loyal readers. But this time, what with kitchen renovations and too many June events, there was no way to get everything done, and  moodlings lost out. No big deal. Nobody noticed, right?

So what's been happening in the past month or so? Plenty. Lee and I went off on our own, no kids, and had a wonderful holiday. We spent almost a week near Jasper, then headed for Vancouver, the Seattle area, and Vancouver Island. Our furthest point from home was Port Alice, 1637 km (1017 miles) away, according to Google maps. It was a wonderful three weeks, but rather than tell you, I'll show you with some pictures...

Our first campsite was a short walk from this wonderful tree

overlooking the Athabasca River... my favourite sitting spot...

We visited the Athabasca Falls...

and the Athabasca Glacier on a sunny afternoon. 

It's shocking how much the glaciers are receding...

take note, climate change deniers!

Another day, we had a good hike to the far end of Jasper's Pyramid Lake...

And I fell in love with this amazing stand of poplars...

In Vancouver, we toured UBC's 

Nitobe Japanese Garden (above) and Botanical Gardens...

where the cedars were massive

and sometimes covered with equally huge climbing vines!

And the UBC rose garden had some pretty showy flowers!

Canada Day found us in Langley, BC, 

visiting with my uncle and aunt, 

going for a gorgeous walk 

and picking Saskatoon berries!

Auntie Lucy is an artist, and we visited her studio

and brought home this lovely painting for our dining room.

We drove to Issaquah, Washington, on July 2nd

to visit my longtime friend, Julie, and her family, 

and she took us for a hike up to Rattlesnake Ledge 

for some gorgeous views...

At Marymoor Park, we were entertained 

by Great Blue Herons nesting in the trees...

(but the best part of the visit was chatting with Julie into the wee hours!)

Back in Canada, we made our way to Vancouver Island

and set up camp at Goldstream Provincial Park,

which holds my favourite campground in the world

(I have a thing for big trees and shady waterfalls...)

Goldstream Provincial Park has plenty of hiking trails, 

a large picnic area, and an impressive interpretive cabin. 

It is also home to the other Niagara Falls, 

which is just a trickle compared to her sister in Ontario...

We also visited the Kinsol Trestle Bridge, 

an engineering marvel near Cowichan Lake.

It was built between 1914 and 1920, and was recently restored

to its former glory as part of the Trans-Canada trail system.

The trestles fit together like a big puzzle.

Lee's brother lives and works in Saanich, 

so we spent some time in and around the area

with Louis and his wife, Sarah, including at Butchart Gardens,

a favourite spot you may have seen in my moodlings many times!

The rose gardens were at their peak, I'd say,

and it was a very busy day (with an excellent fireworks display)!

We spent some time at the ocean near Parksville

with my best friend, Cathy -- swimming with seals 

and building silly little castles for the tide to wash away...

She also took me on a tour of Duncan, BC's many totem poles, 

and shared a lot of fascinating Salish folklore 

about thunderbirds, orcas and other creatures...

Cathy's husband, Jim, gave us his gorgeous painting of Lake Minnewanka,

which is perfect for our living room. We're just fixing up the frame.

We had no idea this vacation would be an art collector's trip!

It turns out our Edmonton neighbours, Richard and Bridget,

were also on the Island at their summer place in Port Alice,

so Lee and I decided to make an eleven hour drive 

(both ways) to see them. We weren't sorry...

Port Alice is a gorgeous place, and we really enjoyed 

our morning out on the inlet with two excellent fisher people.

Richard and Bridget spend their summers catching prawns, crabs, and local fish.

Here's Richard letting out a crab trap...

We ate a lot of rock cod in our 27 hours at Port Alice 

-- Bridget makes it taste so delicious! --

but my favourite thing was watching the eagles 

(there were three besides this one) 

taking fish right out of the water!

(Plus it was great to get to know our neighbours better!)

We caught the Duke Point ferry and stopped overnight near Merritt, BC,

then drove through the Okanagan (where we supported a local winery)...

 and drove through the always gorgeous Rogers Pass...

We drove on to Lethbridge to see Lee's parents (950 km in one day!)

Dad took us out to Coaldale to check out the farm...

and we had a good, if short, visit with both Mom and Dad.

We arrived home nearly 6000 km later and three weeks to the day we left to find that our kids held the fort pretty well while we were away. It was a wonderful holiday.

And I'm back, with more moodlings in store... just in case you missed me, heehee!