HOly man!
i seem to have hit the jackpot weatherwise....after having a record breaking winter i am now experiencing a record breaking summer....it has been killer hot ie 36-38+ and its not the nasty humid hot either but a loverly dry hotness....now im normally would be loving the great weather, its reminiscent of the good ol HB summers when i was growing up...BUT....the problem is that canadian summers dont stay hot...there are 15 degree swings in one day...so even though it is still 20 something degrees you are sitting there with a sweater on shivering...well i am anyways...the locals dont seem to notice it so much....
because of the hot weather i have spent A LOT of time on the river, one spot in particular we go to has rather large rapids nearby and a nice sandy cove...what with the sound of the water and the sand i can almost mistake it for the beach...
because of the hot weather i have spent A LOT of time on the river, one spot in particular we go to has rather large rapids nearby and a nice sandy cove...what with the sound of the water and the sand i can almost mistake it for the beach...
travel makes you REALLY poor
ahhhhh so i finally took the plunge and booked it...
yup for all you that didnt know i am spending WAY too much $$ that i dont have on an almost month long trip to visit some friends and to see some sites...
first stop is Wausau, Wisconsin to stay with my first room-mate in mammoth (i had more than one) and then i am jumping down to Nashville, Tennessee to see the loverly Renee, a friend from the HB that moved out to the states about 5 years back..*it seems that it takes me about 5 years to get round to catching people up but i was always a bit of a procrastinator;)*
and then i am jetting in to Vancouver for a bit of the tourist thing so that i can then catch the train over the Rockies to Jasper before back here to G.P.
its going to mean one whole lot of time spent in the Chicago airport (thats where all my lay-overs are) and not much sleep but hey isnt that what travel is all about..im sure i will have many a story to tell...
In the mean time i have been occupying myself with trying to teach Ashleys cousin how to play cricket..and given the lack of cricket sets around here we were forced to get somewhat creative with the bat (a cut off hockey stick) and wicket (a box with bowling pins on top) but all in all baseball skills came in handy and though most of the rules were lost on him and he couldnt stop calling the batter the goalie it was a really funny time....
yup for all you that didnt know i am spending WAY too much $$ that i dont have on an almost month long trip to visit some friends and to see some sites...
first stop is Wausau, Wisconsin to stay with my first room-mate in mammoth (i had more than one) and then i am jumping down to Nashville, Tennessee to see the loverly Renee, a friend from the HB that moved out to the states about 5 years back..*it seems that it takes me about 5 years to get round to catching people up but i was always a bit of a procrastinator;)*
and then i am jetting in to Vancouver for a bit of the tourist thing so that i can then catch the train over the Rockies to Jasper before back here to G.P.
its going to mean one whole lot of time spent in the Chicago airport (thats where all my lay-overs are) and not much sleep but hey isnt that what travel is all about..im sure i will have many a story to tell...
In the mean time i have been occupying myself with trying to teach Ashleys cousin how to play cricket..and given the lack of cricket sets around here we were forced to get somewhat creative with the bat (a cut off hockey stick) and wicket (a box with bowling pins on top) but all in all baseball skills came in handy and though most of the rules were lost on him and he couldnt stop calling the batter the goalie it was a really funny time....
still trucking along
still living life the prairie way...bin soaking up the sun as much as possible...
bin boating and swimming...though the water is a lot dirtier than i would like coz it tains soo much...which by the way i love...the weather here changes 50 times a day...well not really but you get the idea...the saying is 'if you dont like the weather just wait 5 minutes' and its no joke....the sky is so animated and big...horizon to horizon there just arent any hills to be seen....
and there are the killer thunderstorms...they just keep getting better and better...
tons of rain, thunder and the best part lighteneing...in fact i have taken to sleeping with my window and blinds open to get the best effect out of all the storms...
this weekend is a funfilled ROCKin weekend...there is a three night concert of all rock bands...a good change from all the country ive bin forced to listen too :)
bin boating and swimming...though the water is a lot dirtier than i would like coz it tains soo much...which by the way i love...the weather here changes 50 times a day...well not really but you get the idea...the saying is 'if you dont like the weather just wait 5 minutes' and its no joke....the sky is so animated and big...horizon to horizon there just arent any hills to be seen....
and there are the killer thunderstorms...they just keep getting better and better...
tons of rain, thunder and the best part lighteneing...in fact i have taken to sleeping with my window and blinds open to get the best effect out of all the storms...
this weekend is a funfilled ROCKin weekend...there is a three night concert of all rock bands...a good change from all the country ive bin forced to listen too :)
A busy weekend life
soo since last time...
i have witnessed a non-fatal though very serious car crash...the truck sitting at the lights next to us ran the red light and smashed into the side of a cab full of people, i will never forget the sound of the tires screeching, we were obviously pretty much on the scene so we went up to the car to check that everone was alright...the front seat passenger had some shoulder wounds and the girl behind him had a pretty bad head injury and kept repeating 'i just want to wake up' and all i could do was squeeze her hand and try and keep her awake....and then after this fairly traumatic incident i was trying to give a statement to the police who were grilling me on all the small details of the crash..and all i could think was the poor girl and could barely remember what happened before...
but on a happier note...i attended a real live full-contact jousting match with the knights wearing 125Lb of armour and smashing their lance tips and falling off horses ...it was all very exciting but a little repetitious...before this there was also a gala feast where we got to meet the knights in person and watched some sword fighting and fencing, as well as listening to harp music during dinner which of course we had to eat with our hands....
Grande Prairie also hosted the speedboat competition...where the jet craft race about 1 and a bit hours downstream and then all race the same course back upstream...the cumulative time of each leg determines the winner...i found myself as a ring in sitting on the start/finish line with all the time keepers helping to record the placings....
This last weekend was July 1st or Canada Day...where everyone gathers to shout 'happy canada day' as they watch a rediculously long parade of trucks and unimogs and people on horses...and then have fireworks at like 12.30pm because it is just too light out before-hand....also we undertook an extreme backyard makeover...unfortunately the temperature was 30+ most of the day...
however we managed to cut out flower-beds around the fenceline, construct a raised flowerbed in the corner (in which i transplanted a tree, dad you should be proud) re-layed patio tiles and generally cleaned up the existing flowerbeds and path tiles....all in all the job was all but done...a HUGE task in 3 evenings by two girls..i am super proud of us....before and after pictures are to come...you will be impressed too....
i have witnessed a non-fatal though very serious car crash...the truck sitting at the lights next to us ran the red light and smashed into the side of a cab full of people, i will never forget the sound of the tires screeching, we were obviously pretty much on the scene so we went up to the car to check that everone was alright...the front seat passenger had some shoulder wounds and the girl behind him had a pretty bad head injury and kept repeating 'i just want to wake up' and all i could do was squeeze her hand and try and keep her awake....and then after this fairly traumatic incident i was trying to give a statement to the police who were grilling me on all the small details of the crash..and all i could think was the poor girl and could barely remember what happened before...
but on a happier note...i attended a real live full-contact jousting match with the knights wearing 125Lb of armour and smashing their lance tips and falling off horses ...it was all very exciting but a little repetitious...before this there was also a gala feast where we got to meet the knights in person and watched some sword fighting and fencing, as well as listening to harp music during dinner which of course we had to eat with our hands....
Grande Prairie also hosted the speedboat competition...where the jet craft race about 1 and a bit hours downstream and then all race the same course back upstream...the cumulative time of each leg determines the winner...i found myself as a ring in sitting on the start/finish line with all the time keepers helping to record the placings....
This last weekend was July 1st or Canada Day...where everyone gathers to shout 'happy canada day' as they watch a rediculously long parade of trucks and unimogs and people on horses...and then have fireworks at like 12.30pm because it is just too light out before-hand....also we undertook an extreme backyard makeover...unfortunately the temperature was 30+ most of the day...
however we managed to cut out flower-beds around the fenceline, construct a raised flowerbed in the corner (in which i transplanted a tree, dad you should be proud) re-layed patio tiles and generally cleaned up the existing flowerbeds and path tiles....all in all the job was all but done...a HUGE task in 3 evenings by two girls..i am super proud of us....before and after pictures are to come...you will be impressed too....
