Okotoks Alberta

Just a quick post to let you know I arrived safely in Okotoks in time for supper yesterday [Friday] to a raft of hugs; what a wonderful family I have out here!

Pictures will follow as they develop...

Terrace Bay ON to Brandon Manitoba

After another 8:30 start, I discovered this 'lighthouse' on the neighbouring property. First, the view on the lighthouse, then the view from the top of the lighthouse.

Who one arrives at midnight, you don't see very much, the early morning views were quite spectacular.

A few kilometres down the road promised a canyon: isn't it nice when the advertisement is based on reality?  This is a deep canyon that dumps its water into Lake Superior,  just in front of the Sleeping Giant that you can see in the background.

Lastly, the monument to Terry Fox: he would have been 58 today, had he survived...

It's a stunning monument and visitors were very proud of this young man.

Once more, motel rooms were occupied by the construction crews that seem to be everywhere.  I stopped for the night in Brandon, Manitoba, but only after a meal at Montana's, since I didn't want to resort to fast foods...

Wellington to Terrace Bay Ontario

I left my friends in Wellington after a very pleasant but too short visit. It was even a decent 'crack-of-dawn' departure: 8:30 isn't bad at all.  The day was sunny with many different kinds of clouds off and on during the day.

The sunset was spectacular, over different bays and inlets on Lake Superior. You can't just stop on the TransCanada, and I kept driving hoping to find a motel with vacancies.  It turns out that the government is investing in infrastructure: roads, bridges, solar plants, and wind generators, so there are lots of contract labourers throughout the region.  That's good for the local economy, but not so good for the travellers. It turns out that local motels throughout the region are solidly booked during the week, but might have a spot or two on Friday and Saturday nights...

It's Wednesday so motel after motel was sold out.  There was one place with a few cabins left, but they were $225/night! I could have saved a lot of time if the outdoor signs just stated No Vacancy, but I gather that's not cool anymore: the current practice is to have a hand drawn and basically unreadable sign on the office door...

All this to say, I drove well into the night and found the last room available in Terrace Bay!  The owner was about to leave for the night, but he drove back in when I parked by the office, just minutes shy of midnight. He had just received a cancellation so he had one room left: mine!

It's now 1:00 am and I think I'll hit the sheets.

Friday in Moab, the on the road to Maumee Ohio on Monday night

This is the local hospital, just across the street from our condo. Fortunately, we did not have to go there for any body work.  Better still, we never even heard an ambulance siren. All this to say that mountain biking doesn't seem to generate much business for the hospital.

As mentioned in the last post, it never rains in Moab, except on Fridays when the guys went out for their final fling off the canyons.

This is Blair removing his filthy bike from the roof rack: there will be laundry...

A closer look: surprisingly. the chain and gears are basically clean and shiny.

Of course, analyzing mud and reliving moments is a required social function of mountain bikers, much like après-ski.

Bikes and people were washed, supper was gulped at a Thai restaurant [very good and filling], packing was started and pillows were hugged early.

Blair and I were on the road well before sunrise and our trip homeward started. Saturday was rainy and misty most of the day. I'm sure that fog on the canyons is a rare sight and it was a compelling photo-op. The next picture even has God rays!

This next shot was of a hugs lump of rock quite different in colour than its surrounding cousins. The early morning light just shaped it nicely.

Rain then dropped in to add some mystique to the fog.

Further along the Interstate, we found the westbound lane above to the left, while our lane ran alongside but about 20' below it. On the right are many people enjoying getting wet rafting the Colorado River: the same river that is responsible for much of the chiseling of these canyons.

There were a few tunnels though the stone mountains: all were in excellent shape and saved us miles, I'm sure.

Here we are back below the westbound lanes.

Note that the westbound lanes came through their own tunnel, while we skirted the mountain and continued along the Colorado river.

We drove by the Vail ski resort where they still has a few stubborn patches of snow on their hills.

Sometimes, further information is just too much...

On our westward trip, we had encountered a few traffic slow downs, but nothing like the parking lot of the oncoming traffic to our left.  This condition continued for the better part of 10 miles. That was another reason we were glad to be headed home...

This morning, Sunday, we left before dawn again. We drove on a basically empty Interstate.

Here are just four of the hundred or so fans we saw this morning: they were quite effective since it was pleasantly cool all day.

The landscape flattened out, mountains were replaced by plains and rolling hills, and idyllic farm scenes were everywhere. Here are two for your consideration.

All the 'on the road' pictures were shot from the moving car while Blair was driving. Some may have window reflections that I may have missed, so I hope you can forgive any unintentional sloppiness on my part.

Tomorrow? Home is the target! What a great trip, so far...

It never rains in Moab

It's a desert, right? So it never rains, right?  WRONG!

It was just spitting when I left for a return visit to Arches NP, it won't last, so I left anyway. Spitting became stronger as I entered the Park. By the time I stopped at an overlook, it was raining pretty steadily, so I returned to the visitor centre to buy a raincoat.  Guess what: they don't have raincoats for sale, why? because it never rains in Arches National Park either.  Go figure.

On the way back, I snapped this overgrown bicycle fence. I think the tall trellis on the right is for growing hops, good for them.

Tomorrow we leave early and head for home. It's looking like three long days ahead so there may not be regular updates.  To be continued...