Tag: Canada

Travelling Alberta – Vulcan

After a rather lengthy hiatus, it is time to get back on the beat.  Took a few months off to concentrate on some other things.  Had some fun, picked up on skiing again, made some decisions on the future and started to move forward on those plans.  One of those plans included a new vehicle, one that can pull a boat or a trailer.  Mission accomplished.  No trailer or boat, yet, but a very nice, sparkling new Nissan Pathfinder.  We intend to make use of it this summer while we work out the next part of our plans.

Making use of it will create a new offering, Travelling Alberta (or Saskatchewan, BC or wherever we end up).  The first instalment, a trip to Vulcan, Alberta.  Vulcan is a town of 2,000 people, 130 km south-east of Calgary on Hwy 23.  Why Vulcan.  Let’s think Star Trek.  Yes, little Vulcan has one the best Star Trek museums around.  Forgot to take a picture of the museum,, no snow the day we were there.  The name of this gem, the Vulcan Tourism and Trek Centre.

Visitor centre in the town of Vulcan, Alberta,...
Visitor centre in the town of Vulcan, Alberta, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Inside are many treasures, many donated by past cast members of the various franchises. The town holds an annual event “Spock Days” which highlights appearances by various cast members.  This year’s event goes from June 13 to June 15, 2014 and features Nana Visitor (Major Kira Nerys on Deep Space Nine) and Rene Auberjonois (Odo on Deep Space Nine).  Tickets for the event are available at this link.  A nice road trip for a shakedown cruise.  We did manage to remember to take a few pictures.

Bilingual Welcome Sign
Bilingual Welcome Sign

 

Enhanced by ZemantaThey know how to be friendly.  They have even built a replica of the Enterprise.

The Enterprise

And, after a quick coffee at the Town Cafe on Centre Street, we are off to Calgary.

Meanwhile In Canada

To put things in perspective……

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Canada’s Time To Shine – February 14, 2013

Apology

As predicted the Canadian men’s hockey exacted revenge on the Norwegians on Thursday with a 3-0 beating that was more complete than the score would indicate.  Canada followed that up with complete blowout against the Austrian team today, 6-0, presenting the country with a Valentines gift.

On the medal front, not so good the past few days, with only a silver medal by Patrick Chan in figure skating.  A mini-slump I’m sure and one that will not last long.

Overall, we are holding down 3rd spot with 4 gold and 11 total medals.

To round out today’s post, I bring you 2 things.

First, an article off Yahoo news outlining the USA’s case of Olympic envy – here

Second, free beer in Sochi, but only if you have a Canadian passport, or a Canadian friend I guess.

 

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Canada’s Time To Shine – February 12, 2013

Apology

A bit of a down day for medal count, 1 silver, but even that has a story.  Denny Morrison won the silver in the 1000 metre long track speed skating, that is the fact.  Now the back story.  He is our best skater at this distance, but, fell during our Olympic trials and did not qualify for this race.  Fast forward to today,  The Canadian who did qualify, Gilmore Junio, decided that for the team, Denny should run the race rather than him.  Good choice, we won a silver.  Another example of Canada at it’s best.

Even with this medal, we still trail the Viking (Norway) hordes in total medals, and the Germans in gold medals.  Having said that, we are about to exact a measure of revenge against the Norwegians.  Tomorrow morning, those robust northerners will have the crap beaten out of them in men’s hockey, as Canada flexes it’s ample muscles against the hapless Nordics.

Speaking of hockey, I fart in the general direction of the USA women’s hockey team,  HAHAHA on you, as the Canadian woman beat up on you today, allowing us a potential match up with the German women to exact revenge upon them as well.

Go Canada Go.

 

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Canada’s Time To Shine – February 11, 2013

Apology

Woke up this morning to the sound of a gold and a bronze medal.  Once again our skiers put 2 people on the podium, this time in the Women’s Ski Slopestyle.  Congratulations to Dara Howell for the gold performance and to Kim Lamarre for her bronze.  At the end of the day, we fell from first as those accursed Norwegians, the scourge of the northern seas (and discoverers of Canada) passed us with a total of 11 medals, including 4 gold, to our 9 with 4 gold.  Tomorrow is another day, and we will defeat the Viking hordes.

On a more friendly note, a Canadian showed the world what sportsmanship is today.  A Russian cross-country skier, Anton Gafarov, broke his ski when he crashed early in the race.  He was so determined to finish, that he carried on, basically on 1 ski, with no chance to win.  A gruelling decision.  From out of the crowd, Canadian skier Justin Wadsworth came forth with a ski, which he gave to Gafarov.  The Olympic spirit personified.  Anton went on and finished the course.

Sportsmanship

 

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Canada’s Time To Shine

Sochi_Winter_Olympic_Opening_36
Sochi_Winter_Olympic_Opening (Photo credit: KOREA.NET)

I think I may be insufferable to non-Canadians for the next week or 2.  It is Sochi 2014, the Winter Olympics, and Canadians own winter.  There is every chance that our nation of 33 million will take on the world and come out on top of said world.  Day 3 is now complete and we are leading the way in medals and gold medals, positioned strongly to take even more tomorrow.  Today we set a personal best 3 day total ever and now have 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 bronze.  For the second time in moguls, we put the gold and silver medallist on the podium.  Congratulations to repeat gold medallist Alexandre Bilodeau and to silver winner Mikael Kingsbury.  Congratulations as well to Charles Hamelin who won the first of what Canada hopes will be 3 gold medals, this one in 1,500 metre short track speed-skating.

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La Ronge, Saskatchewan

Back in the day, we used to make a yearly trip to Lac La Ronge in Northern Saskatchewan.  The purpose of the trip was to spend some great times with great friends aboard a houseboat that one of them owned.  La Ronge is wonderful in that it is a big lake with hundreds of islands and is secluded enough that chances are good that you will not see another person for the time you are out there.  And the fishing is terrific.

The Houseboat
The Houseboat

The boat couldn’t sleep everyone, so we would find a spot on Bear Island (our favourite) and pitch a bunch of tents.  We would use the spot as a base of operations for the time we were up there.  Speaking of bears, there are definitely bears on Bear Island.  If you squint real hard, you can see the bear that destroyed our tent as it runs off into the forest.  Needless to say, we did not spend the night on the island this time.  The tents were struck and we moved on.  Unfortunately we had to rename the next island Mosquito Island.  A pretty miserable night, thank heaven for beer.

La Ronge - The Bear
La Ronge – The Bear

The next shot is Rapid River. This very short river connects Lac La Ronge to Hale Lake.  The significance is that the people who owned the boat are Hale’s.  The back story is that lakes in Northern Saskatchewan are named in the memory of soldiers who died in Canada’s wars.  All of them have a plaque noting who the lake is named for. This lake is named after their uncle, who was an airman in WW2.  He died in the Netherlands.

Rapid River
Rapid River

All in all, a beautiful place to go, full of memories, none bad.

 

 

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The Grizzly House – Banff, Alberta

Something new, a review.  Lori and I were in Banff, Alberta over Christmas.  We went for dinner at a place we have frequented in the past, “The Grizzly House”, situated at 207 Banff Ave in the beautiful mountain resort town of Banff.

photo(4)We have been here a few times in the past, mostly based on our first time there, which was a very entertaining evening.  A rowdy crowd, with a local phone system that allows you to call the other tables.  Booze, phones and a rowdy atmosphere = great fun.

This time, we were a bit disappointed.  Still, a very fun place, just that we noticed some things we had never really paid attention to before.  First, the decor.  The place needs a makeover.  Very old-looking and approaching run down??

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The tables, chairs and decorating are very same old.  A first time diner might like it, but we are past that.  Another view.

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Very dark, and not just the lighting.

The food is still passable and the wine list is good.  The menu is basically fondue.  They drop a granite slab on your table, heated to 600 degrees and you cook your meal.  Again, fun.  The issue to us on this particular evening was the aura created by tables and tables of years and years of people cooking like this, in an enclosed place.  Honestly, the place needs a major airing out.  It took a week for the smell to leave our jackets, and I’m only assuming it has, as perhaps we are just not smelling it anymore.

 

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As a reviewer, I must close with the review.  The food, 3 of 5 stars.  Nothing spectacular and kind of pricey.  We enjoyed it, just wasn’t top-notch.  The wine list was pretty good, and reasonably priced.  The setting, maybe 2 of 5.  Renovations and renewal could revitalize the operation.  The atmosphere, I would still rate as 4 of 5.  It is still a fun place to go, especially with a group.  If you are dining as a couple, I highly suggest going elsewhere.

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Huge Bear Problem

English: A three-shot panorama of E. C. Mannin...
English: A three-shot panorama of E. C. Manning Provincial Park, part of the Cascade Range. I took the pictures with an Olympus FE-310 and edited with GIMP. The focal length of the camera was 6.2mm (31mm film equivalent). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pretty scary stuff.  Bear shows up during a commercial shoot at Manning Park in BC.

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Panorama – Last Day

View from very near the top. Good day again and I’ll stop complaining about the snow. Out of here in the morning. Bought some skis and doing Sunshine on the 28th. See you soon.

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Bonus shot. Christmas game day.

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