TnA's Excellent Adventure!

pictures!!

Ash — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:34:02 +0000

So… I finally managed to upload bunches of pictures to facebook. Some of the pictures turned out amazing, and there are lots of funny ones out there too. I have them all stored on here, so, if for any reason you want to print one, let me know and I’ll get them to you, since facebook quality for printing is not so hot.

Check it out:

updates and missing pictures

Ash — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:14:52 +0000

Hi Guys:

Well, Tony and I have finally both made it to our new respective homes. I’m settled in (well, getting there) in my new place in Victoria. Just clothing and a few misc. things to get sorted before I’ll finally feel like I’m organized and ready to go. The major things are done and ready – with SO much great help from Tony, I got my bed, desk and chair all assembled and put where they live in my room. My closet is coming together, I have groceries and now it’s just to settle down into the life of a student again.

I think the last post that was written was about Jasper. We made it down from Jasper to Vernon. And that was a really pretty trip out of the mountains, along part of the path of the Yellowhead Highway, which was a major route for fur-traders for over a hundred years. So that was pretty cool. Vernon was pretty, but rainy. Yes, more rain. Ergh. But we managed to not wake up in puddles, which is always a nice feeling – waking up dry! The site was really quite nice, we were at only our second non-provincial or national park of the trip, Cedar Falls Campground. Apparently the owners are from out near Georgetown, ON, so it was neat to run into some people that were sort of from around home. Vernon itself was a weird little town, but right in the heart of lake and wine country – so it had some nice views. The hills were all scored with burnt up trees, so it seems like there was a major forest fire in the area in and around Kamloops/Vernon/etc in the recent past. The country side had a strange feel of being halfway between the mountains and the badlands. It was really cool.

From Vernon, we headed on off to Seattle for Tony’s interview with Northwest Harvest. It went really well and Seattle is a cool town. I think Tony’s going to really enjoy living there, and I know I’ll like going to visit.

We met Tony’s new room-mate and saw where he’s going to be living, and it’s a great place and Michael is really great. I was really happy to see that he’ll be in a nice neighbourhood where it’s quiet and there’s lots of nice places to get outside.

My new “home” is really great, too. My new room-mates are great – and one is even in the same MPA program as me! Which is really good news. I’ve met some new people through the Grad Student Orientation that was on the 29th. So far, the campus seems great – very green, big, lots of bunnies (yes, bunnies – everywhere!) and the people are really cool, laid-back and interesting. The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that there is lots of organic, fair-trade and healthy hippy options around town and the campus. There’s lots of choice and ways to stay really good to your health and body and to make smart decisions about how your purchases affect the world around you. It’s great – love it!

Sorry about the lack of pictures so far, but they are coming – I promise. I’m still trying to get them all organized and put into the right albums. And then I will figure out some way to get them out there to you!

Anyway, I’m starting to plunge into the academic side of my life now, and am trying to work on an assignment that’s due in the second week of classes! Yes, I have something due already!

Talk soon!

jivin’ jasper

Ash — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:36:57 +0000

So far, Jasper is a lot more chill than Banff was. Maybe the major improvement in weather is helping, or the smaller town and bigger mountains are the reason, but we’re enjoying Jasper a lot more than we liked Banff.

The trip up through the Icefields Parkway was amazing. The trip from Banff up to Jasper took most of the day, since it was all we had planned. We took our time to explore a lot of the interesting terrain around the Parkway and the Mountains. Still no wildlife, though. I think these people are lying to me! So far, we’ve only really seen 3 deer in Banff, 1 on the parkway, a marmot at the Cascade Pond and there is a squirrel who lives at our campsite here at Wapiti. He just hangs out in the trees and I swear that he’s been throwing wee pinecones at my head! Seriously!

Anyway, back to the drive up here – we stopped at several little places to do some hiking and exploring. First up was Lake Louise – GORGEOUS! I’ve always wanted to see Lake Louise and the Chateau there, so this was a particularly surreal experience for me. The water was so blue and clear, it was almost unbelievable. Framed by the Victoria Glacier and the sloping mountains on either side, Lake Louise is almost like an oasis in the middle of the Rockies.

After Lake Louise, we went a bit further and stopped at the Bow Summit and Peyto Lake. The scenery in this mountain range is simply amazing. The water is all clear, turquoise or deep blue and you can see all the way to the bottom in most spots. It’s cold and clear and just wonderful. The Bow Summit and Peyto Lake were a bit crowded, but beautiful.

We made our own trip up a small waterfall beside the Parkway. Well, it was actually quite large. And we got most of the way up. Tony just takes off and then I start thinking, hey, I wanna go up there, too! So we did!

After our impromtu climb, we found our way through the Parkway to the Athabasca Glacier, part of the Columbia Icefield that sits in the middle of these mountains. We climbed up almost to the toe of the glacier, which had been restricted due to extreme melting and crevasses forming – ie. DANGER! So we got *thisclose* to the thing. It was freezing cold and windy, but so very worth it. Very cool to be that close to 10,000 years of history.

After that, we decided to just push on through to Jasper to get the tent up and some food before it got dark. After Drumheller, neither of us has much desire to put up the tent and cook in the dark! So we pushed past the Athabasca Falls and some other sites to get to Wapiti.

The campsite is really pretty – right next to a bubbling (yes, bubbling) little creek and with a huge space. Thanks to some sun today, and some warmer weather, we’re drying the Banff right out of our stuff.

Today we got to the Athabasca Falls – the most powerful flowing falls in the Canadian Rockies. Pretty amazing. All that clear, blue water rushing over rock. Then it was on to a little trek back into the woods to see Horseshoe Lake – we forgot our suits and couldn’t dive in, although it looked like a bunch of the locals were doing just that! Jumping off the rocks and into the clear water below. It was stunning, actually.

We’ve cooked around the town for a little bit, picking up groceries and ice and getting some town-time in – and picking up some chocolate! Mmmm!

Tomorrow we’re off to Vernon, BC – after 5 days, we’re finally leaving Alberta. I’m glad we took that long to explore a bit, Banff and Jasper Parks are amazing. Vernon is right on the edge of the Okanagan Valley – wine country in BC. So it should be really lovely. Then we’re off down to Seattle so Tony can get a nice rest and prepared before a job interview and we can check out the IKEA in Vancouver afterwards to spend that lovely gift certificate that the NRP folks gave us!

Anyway, that’s most of the news from Jasper!

Love and miss you!

Ash

pinic table gourmet, the midnight truck to brandon, trees and water, trees and water – ontario never ends, and the windy city: medicine hat?

Ash — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:25:45 +0000

Sorry guys – all these posts from the first day somehow wound up as separate pages in our blog here. So I fixed that by putting them all into one big post. I’ll be adding some pictures soon – we couldn’t get flikr to work with my iPhoto stuff for some reason. But I’ll put up whatever I can for now!

Love from Jasper,

Ash

—

So we survived the trip to the middle North. Leaving from The Farm early Sunday (7am), we stopped a few times on the way to stretch out the legs, get gas and food and see the Big Nickel, and when it was all said and done, we rolled into Agawa Bay and our campsite for around 5:30/6pm.

The drive was actually beautiful with no traffic. We were basically alone on the road for most of the trip – especially once we got north of Barrie/Parry Sound and then even more so when we got to the west of Sudbury.

The landscape changed gradually from rolling green hills and leafy trees into stark rock and lots of evergreen types. The lakes in and around Lake Superior are frequent and the views from the window of the truck are spectacular. Someone described northern Ontario to us as being like a mini version of BC. If this is true, the farther west we get, the more beautiful it will be. I can hardly wait!

We stopped in Sudbury to see the Big Nickel – it’s pretty much exactly like it sounds. A giant nickel in the middle of town.

Our campsite was gorgeous. We were right on the water of Lake Superior at Agawa Bay. We had fantastic views of the sunset and the water, and the campground was quiet, even though it was busy. Camp got set up pretty quickly, with the tent and tarp and everything going up without much trouble (Thanks, Tony!).

I cooked a great little pasta supper on our mini camp stove. Tony said I had set up a kitchen on the picnic table. Here’s the recipe for Agawa Bay Penne:

1 nalgene mostly full of water – boiled over the camp stove.

1.5 dixie cupes of penne pasta

a handful of baby carrots and turkey pepperettes, chopped

a pinch of olive oil, salt, pepper, mrs. Dash hot & spicy, and Italian seasoning

1/3 jar ragu

Cook pasta in water

Warm Ragu, pepperettes and carrots over stove with seasonings and olive oil

Mix all together and serve on neon IKEA plates!

It was actually really tasty, filling and it was nice to have a warm meal in our bellies after the first day driving and knowing we’d be facing another grueling day on the road – only this time, Day 2 would mean driving twice as far (or thereabouts) as we had on Day 1.

We discovered that the water in Lake Superior – though spectacularly clean, is spectacularly cold! Me with just my toes, Tony with a full body submersion! The daft man decided to swim just before sunset and then spent the next little while shivering!

We got a thunderstorm and rain over night at the camp. But everything stayed dry and it was actually not a bad night. The storm rolled by and we were able to pack everything up in the morning without having to do it in the rain. We ran into rain again just north of Wawa.

Well, we’re heading into day 2 now… so look for that post, soon!

—

Day 2 – So Far!

So we woke up to the moon still hanging low over the water at 6am this morning. The campground showers were a welcome site this morning, and were actually quite clean and warm. We were out of the campground by 7:45a and on the road!

We’ve seen a giant Nickel so far (Sudbury) and have now seen a giant Canadian goose in Wawa! Apparently the further north you get the more likely things are to be made into giant sculpture versions of themselves!

We’ve seen a lot of mines, trees, rivers, creeks, lakes, craigs, rock,s, trucks… and moose signs. But no moose – yet anyway. The construction on the roads is likely to slow us down a but more, since it’s Monday and a new work-week – we didn’t hit any yesterday, since it was Sunday.

It won’t be long until we time travel – once we hit Thunder Bay and visit the Terry Fox monument, we’ll be turning back the clocks an hour as we head toward Manitoba.

We’ve been listening to a LOT of comedy albums – they seem to help the time pass quicker than just songs and it’s nice to giggle a bit despite being a bit groggy!

It’s cold up here though – it really is NORTH! It feels like the middle of November back home – chilly and sunny. It’s about 10C or close to that. Time to start layering the sweaters! And it’s AUGUST!

—

So as we’re heading across northern Ontario, Tony and I begin to think that there’s no way we’re ever going to make it to Brandon, MB by the end of the day. Ontario was stretching beyond us like a never-ending abyss. But we kept at it. We passed Thunder Bay and stopped to say hello to the Terry Fox monument on the highway there. And then we just kept heading northwest, with a few stops to fuel up and get some food.

No moose or wildlife sightings beyond a roadside crane, as of yet. But I’m sure we’ll see something.

We made it to Christine’s house by about 1am. So that’s 18 hours on the road from Agawa Bay to Brandon. Whew! The last hour was a bit of a stretch, since we were so close, but there was only flaaaaaat highway in our way. Seriously, people aren’t joking. Once you cross the border with Manitoba and Ontario (please see requisite cheesy pictures at the sign), it all flattens right out. It turns into a flatter, farmier version of south-west Ontario. And it happens in a way that you don’t notice until, holy crap, the sky spans your whole vision and you can see things 10km into the distance or more. I’ve never seen sky this big. And we’ve still got all of Sask. To cross!

Anyway, Christine has a lovely house in Brandon and we were so grateful to be able to stop and sleep in her spare room. It’s the last time we’ll be in a real bed before we hit Victoria (and buy a bed!!).

Tomorrow we head into a smaller drive than today, with our next stop at Drumheller – to visit the dinos, of course!

—

So right now, you’ll have seen a barrage of posts go up. That’s because Tony and I are hunkered down in the Tourism Medicine Hat office using their free wireless to catch up on our trip details and stay out of one crazy windy/dust storm that’s blowing over head. The truck was actually rocking at one time! So, we’re hanging out in here while the dust blows by. Plus, free internet.

We stopped in Herbet, Sk, where there was some internet at their library – but that was a quick check on other computers. So this is the real deal.

Yesterday was punishing. It seemed like the impossible task to reach Brandon. But we did it! And Christine was so wonderful – thanks for the strudels and juice to go!

So we’re in Alberta now – having gone through the endless, flat, farmy, wheaty, grainy land that is Saskatchewan. There were marvellous shirts that said “Saskatchewan: Hard to Spell, Easy to Draw” – Love!

We did a stop in Moose Jaw to see Mac the Moose and just because the name of that place is fantastic. Then a brief stop in Swift Current to grab a real burger (mmm) to hold us over til we get to Drumheller.

We’re on route to Dino-Central! Can’t wait to see the giant T-Rex and the museum. We’ll try to keep updating this whenever we can – after Drumheller, we’re off to Banff for a couple nights and then up to Jasper for a couple nights.

There’s been a slight change in plans for the end of the trip. We’ll be landing in Victoria a day later than planned, since Tony has a job interview in Seattle on the 26th, and taking the ferry back and forth, back and forth just seems plain silly. So I guess we’re off to Starbuck City before we finally land on the island.

Anyway, it’s back on the road, with fingers crossed that the dust blows over and the wind dies down before we need to set up the tent. Eat our dust is taking on a whole new, literal meaning!

Lurrrrve!

Banff…fhannff

Ash — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:41:34 +0000

After 3 days and 2 nights in Banff, Alberta we’re leaving. Heading west then north to Jasper. Banff is a gorgeous area where it SHOULD be legal to hunt tourists. Lots and lots of tourists who are very oblivious to the fact that other people walk as well. They should create a law that allows for the hunting of them. Then they could sell the meat at that restaurant that serves buffalo and caribou meat (there actually is one). Wow, this post just got really dark and grim.

Well the nights have been very cold and wet, but we’ve survived. Hopefully Jasper will be dry, and possibly a little warmer. I think that’s an honest ho[pe because if it got any colder it’d be snowing. No joke. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. Beyond words. Hopefully some of the pictures we’ve been taking will be availible soon, but there seems to be a flickR/iPhotos glitch going on.

We hiked up quite a steep little mountain yesterday, to the base of a falls that fell what appeared to be maybe 1000 feet. That’s just a guess though it was way up there. Immediately evident was the thinner air, but we made it and even made it back down. Ashleigh did a GREAT JOB of navigating her feet through some pretty tricky stuff.

Well time for another scenic drive, up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper, Alberta.

From Herbert, Sask…

Ash — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:22:41 +0000

Well on our third day of driving we’ve finally found a place with the internet…in Herbert Sask. I’d spell out the whole province but I’d get it wrong and look silly. We covered 18 hours yesterday, our longest day yet, and had a really nice day one camping at Lake Superior. Very rocky and lake-y. Lake Superior was really cold, for some reason I decided to jump in. Right before sunset.

Well we have more road to cover, and even more ground. Ashleigh has taken over 500 pictures of grain elevators and wheat, and written a bunch to post, so stay tuned. As soon as we find a wi-fi site she’ll be able to get more stuff posted. As for me, more driving.

peace.

Tomorrow morning…

Ash — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:53:11 +0000

We leave tomorrow morning, a simple 10 hours north then a little bit west.

Time for the last comfortable sleep for awhile.

a watched clock never ticks…

Ash — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:26:14 +0000

Yeah, yeah… I know that I’m mixing my old-school sayings here. But it seems to be that time is actually speeding up over here. I’ve got lots of little loose ends and bits and pieces to take care of, and I’m so over the packing issue that I’m having a hard time staying focused. This is where I wish I could borrow some of Tony’s ability to stay so single-mindedly on task!

I spent my last days up at the cottage – it was really nice to just hang about, be completely lazy and away from the chaotic mess of bins and bags and boxes that I’ve been buried under for the last couple of weeks. I wish there was an airport near there, or I’d be flying into there instead of the farm at Christmas!

So, two days from now, Tony and I will be on our merry way! Leaving at some ridiculously early hour in the morning, I bet. Because we’ll be facing a 10 or 11 hour trek to get to our first night’s stop. Hopefully we’ll make it in time to see a lovely Lake Superior sunset! At least, I know we’ll likely catch a sun-rise the next morning when we prep to head to Brandon!

Anyway, I should go back to packing away socks and spoons and cables (oh, my!).

As Tony would say, ticktock!

One Day Closer…

Ash — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:32:26 +0000

Well we’re getting closer and closer…ticktock, ticktock. Had some work done on the vehicle, more tomorrow. Just safety stuff mostly, making sure we don’t run into any vehicle related troubles out in the middle of nowhere. Tomorrow everything on this end gets packed into the car, along with all the camping gear, then it’s up to Buffalo, then we’re gone!

It was nice tonight to see some family before I leave, but I really wish I could’ve seen more of them. Namely the ones who happen to live far away. But that’s just not realistic at this stage, so I’ll have to settle for phone calls and the occasional e-mail. I went for ice cream with 2 nephews, and one of them drove, which was just…weird.

a sigh of (re)lease!

Ash — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:24:25 +0000

One MAJOR item checked off my to-do list just this evening – signing the lease with A&S, the couple from near here that I’m renting from in Vic. *whew* Now I definitely have a place to rest my head in between manic study sessions. Since Tony seems to think that the only time I’ll have to pause is when he comes over to make me dinner (and pie? – or is that pushing it? because pie is realllllly yummy!).

Anyway… things are progressing. Clothing is a third of the way packed, all my books are done, all the kitchen things, my printer, a small TV… etc etc with the boring “what have I packed” details.

I wish I could pack my cat and the goat, though. I don’t think they’d like being in a rubbermaid bin very much. But I’ll miss them terribly. Those animals have been a major presence in my life – the cat since 2002 and the goat for a year, but they are such a huge part of it. I don’t think I’ll realize how much until they’re not there, being all furry and crazy every day. Le sigh.

Tomorrow night I’m going up to The Cottage for my last look at a Southampton sunset for another summer. It’s possibly the most relaxing place in the world. I guess when I’m looking out at Lake Huron I’ll just have to imagine that, in around two weeks, the sunset I’ll be watching will be over the Pacific Ocean straight between Victoria and Vancouver, with the Rockie Mountains in the background…

Jealous yet?