Hitherlands of Ontario

the next three days we will be in the back woods of Ontario (literally). First, Thunder Bay which is on the west coast of Lake Superior. Then we drive the coast of the Lake to Wawa which is on the east coast. here, I hope to persuade Asha to Kayak. Asha has been swearing up and down for the last week that she is NOT going to Kayak in the second deepest lake in North America (Crater Lake,by the way, is the first). But, I am still hoping she'll come with me. I imagine it will be a hoot.
But, I am guessing no internet so we'll be updating out blog when we reach Huntsville (also in Ontario). If you look at a map, you'll appreciate just how ginormous this Ontario is!

Book Review: Guernsey Literary Society

Asha and I discussed this book over Indian last night at the East Indian pub where we enjoyed a buffet of 29 items (we enjoyed about six of these items, "ate" another 5 and bypassed the rest). All in all, however, the food sufficed even if the atmosphere was a bit unpleasant, I think primarily because the people who worked there were either uptight or pathetic in this kind of weird way.

Anyway, the book. We both enjoyed listening to it, but we also found that once we started to discuss the book, it's flaws were readily apparent. Why did most of the people Juliette wrote never write her back (or if they did, why didn't the author want to show us that perspective); it made the book too Juliette one sided. The good people were too good (Elizabeth was like a saint); and the bad people too bad (just what did Juliette see in Mark? Can anyone say completely self absorbed and controlling). And, while we were glad she ended up engaged to Darcy (sp?) we realized we knew so little about him (except he used to stutter and everyone was persuaded by him when he wanted to persuade them except he almost never talked so how could he persuade anyone of anything?) it was hard to think that was a good choice except that it wasn't Mark. And while we get a feeling for Sidney we don't know anything about sophie except that she keeps having babies. So, our ultimate evaluation was that the book was not complex or well developed but still engaging.

Winnipeg, really

So, this was my intended schedule today (I have an intended schedule for each day)
6-7 walk
7-8 breakfast
8-10 walk the town
10-12 Manitoba museum
12-1:30 lunch
1:30-4 wander the Forks, explore Manitoba museum
4-5 tea/coffee
5-6 hang out at hotel and blog
6-8 dinner
8-10 6 feet under (Asha and I are watching the series)

So, first off I didn't get up until 8:30!!!! This is the latest I've slept the whole trip. I blame this on the 19hours of driving over the last two days which must be more exhausting than walking 10 miles because I certainly haven't slept that late after our hikes. I jumped out of bed, dazed and confused. Half the day was gone already! Somehow, I managed to recover, ate a quick breakfast, got dressed and hit the streets at 9:15--only a bit behind schedule (I'd have to walk faster, that's all). So I headed out to make a circuit of the city (I like to see as much of a city as I can walking) then I'd hit the museum, come back and get Asha and go do lunch (surprisingly, asha was still sleeping when I left at 9:15--she does not seem to worry about losing hours).
So, I headed first for the river (The Assinboine and the Red river run through Winnipeg and their intersection is called "the forks"). Well, the river had runneth over so much that the river walk was closed (and, I have to say, the river area looked really seedy and I didn't really want to walk down there). But I walked along the street abutting the river to the government area which had some nice gardens, statues and stone buildings with cupola's (as most city government buildings have). Then I headed over to Osborne village which I had read was a trendy area. it looked a bit like a run down seedy strip of restaurants, bars and massage parlors. Hmm. it did have a safeway, however, and I made a quick stop there to get a few snacks (there are no hot fries in canada in case you are wondering and still no unsweetened tea).
then I wondered back towards downtown and decided to go up Broadway this time. Lining the street were all these great lunch trucks. I love those places. It's such a great way to sell food. I want to have a truck someday to drive around and sell food from. Anyway, I didn't buy any of the food but I enjoyed looking at it. I was hungry by now and the hotel was nearby so I thought I'd stop by and see if Asha wanted to go with me to the museum (she didn't). But, she did want to go have lunch, so she was willing to go to the museum with me as a precursor to lunch. Somehow, however, when we went outside the hotel, we headed in the other direction from the museum and ended up at the forks where we luckily found some healthy food we could eat in the crappy food court in the crappy tourist attraction. Asha pointed out the second museum on my list but we both acknolwedged that it existed and bypassed the doors. As we were eating it occurred to me that if I really wanted to know about Manitoba (and I did and in fact I did actually know quite a bit already from READING about it--which has never bothered me as a means to learn about something as much as going to museums) I just needed to go back to the hotel and look at my notes. Thus relieved, we bypassed the museums, did a bit of a walk over to the St. Bonaventure district (the French Catholic area of winnipeg) where we thought we'd find a nice little french cafe and have a tea. But all we found were little crappy stores and chain restaurants.
Back to the hotel where we read, played on the computer and got ready for dinner. Such are the attractions of Winnipeg.

Winnepeg or some notes on museum hating

A note on the pictures: the first is a picture of graffit on an interpretive sign to indicate the state of the city. The second was this great garden of polar bears that the interpretive sign had been destroyed so I don't know why the garden is there or what it means.

The verb I would use to describe Winnipeg is "edgy". Of all the Canadian places we've visited, it seems the most run-down, the most like a US city, in fact, with graffiti and homeless people and run down, closed up buildings. I was thinking as i was walking around this am that it's like Rogers park in Chicago (or at least like Rogers park in the 1980's when I lived there). It's got lots of 3 and 6 flats and commercial areas mixed with housing and like west Rogers park feels (felt?) a bit unsafe and more than a bit unsafe at night and east Rogers park felt more like a vibrant ethnic community, so too does Winnipeg (or at least the part we've seen). And, they have an area here called the Forks which is just like Navy Pier in Chicago (well, there's no ferris wheel) but it's got all the little shops (selling junk and cotton candy and t-shirts) and tons of little restaurants (selling generally crappy food to eat in a generally crappy, crowded, loud eating area) that tourists seem to love (do tourists really love these places?). I tried to love it and get into the whole crowded, looking for crap to buy scene, but it just wasn't working for me. (Now that I think of it, it also reminds me of a similar place in Boston--can't think of the name). Sometimes I think visiting cities is an exercise in repetition: they all offer the same stuff. it's like some master plan for city that all cities subscribe too. But small towns don't seem quite so similar, do they?
So what distinguishes cities? How did I end up in a philosophical debate about the nature of cities when I started out intending to discuss Winnipeg? Generally, I don't like cities, and Winnipeg is why. Cultural attractions is one potential difference in visiting different cities: in Chicago you can go to the Art or History or Science and Industry museums; in NY, the same; in San Fran you can go to golden Gate park or Ghiradelli Square (hello shopping for crap scene). Hmm. But, as much as I would like to get into visiting cultural attractions, I am trying to come to terms with the fact that I generally don't like them (and this is almost inclusive--I don't like the theater, I don't like ballet, I don't like concerts--with the exception of Bruce, and I don't like art.
This is embarrassing. I used to think that once I "grew up" I would like them. And for years I would force myself to walk around them nodding sagely at the art and the Indian stuff and the dinosaurs but I just never could appreciate enough the differences. All the Indian stuff looked the same (clay baskets, straw baskets, beaded stuff, hatchets, etc.); the art (with few exceptions) was similar; and the dinosaurs just seem kind of silly--what's the point at looking at recreated animated dinosaurs in a museum? Okay, I must sound like quite the "fun sucker". Geez, she can't even enjoy a fake dinosaur or two. But, I guess I'd just rather be somewhere else. So, either I haven't grown up yet, or even as a grown up this stuff will never interest me, or I haven't found the right museum, or some other yet to be discovered explanation.
Winnipeg will be the subject of my next post since I got a bit side tracked here.

Cat hairs in my breakfast & moths in my pants...

We had a really long day, but then finally got to Regina. The bed & breakfast was in a nice little neighborhood. The lady who ran the bed & breakfast was kinda weird. But we got all our stuff inside and then asked where we should go for dinner. The lady led us out the door and down the street, I was thinking, oh man, she better NOT be going out to dinner with us! She showed us a path that would lead to some places to eat. We got rid of her, and went to a place called Brewsters. I got pasta and mom got a bison burger. We went back to the bed & breakfast after, and mom did laundry and I uploaded pictures. We watched an episode of Six Feet Under and went to bed! In the morning, mom had laid out my clothes on the bed so I could change into them. I put my sweat pants on and t shirt and went out to breakfast. When I sat down, I felt my leg tingle or something. So I itched it, I thought it was just a bug bite or something, because I had gotten a bunch of bites the other day. But then the tingling got worse. So I leaped up from the table and ran to change my pants. When i got my pants off, two HUGE moths. It was so gross and scary. The lady made us toast with cheese, tomato, and ham. I found like 10 cat hairs in mine. It was really gross. I didn't wanna eat it, but then I didn't wanna make her feel bad. So I ate a piece of it. After breakfast, we took off for another long day of driving, and at night, got to heaven. Aka, a Hampton(:

Country Fare Bed and Breakfast, Regina

Country Fare Bed and Breakfast, Regina
Well, when we drove up to our lodging in Crescent City we were worried, and somewhat rightfully so. When we drove up to the duplex in the suburban neighborhood of Regina our worries were quickly disabused upon entering the home. Cathy has managed to run a mediocre little duplex into a welcoming place for a couple vacationing. The house is bright with light hard wood floors and an open floor plan leading back to a tiny little bedroom with a very comfortable queen bed (the two pillow rule follows here, though so bring extra). She’s put in a room darkening shade, a plethora of tourist stuff including a fantastic local street map hung on the door (this seems like it would be a great idea for all bed and breakfasts), stamped postcards of Regina for sale, bus schedules, etc. This was literally the best prepared bed and breakfast room I’ve had.
There’s no air conditioning but Regina tends to be breezy and the window can be opened. A ceiling fan helps cool the room, but it never got really cool. Cathy let us use her laundry and we hung it up on the laundry line in the yard. The house has Wifi and Cathy prepares unusual breakfasts that are completely unpredictable. She asks if there is anything you won’t eat and whether you are a light, moderate or heavy eater and goes from there. We said we were light to moderate and we wouldn’t eat coconut (me) or bacon (Asha). We got lovely broiled toasts with somekind of lightly spicy mayo, chopped ham and fresh tomatoes and a saskatoon berry smoothie. Both were quite tasty; however, Asha found cat hairs in hers (yes, Cathy has a cat, more on that later) and we both had this kind of furry feeling n our throats afterwards. No idea what that was. We weren’t sick or anything.
Cathy is also a font of information (a font that could become tiresome if you are not the information seeking type). I am the info seeking type so I was fascinated by her stories and interpretations of politics and culture. Asha was not. She talked about how Alberta is most like America: if they want something they go get it and the hell with everyone else. Saskatchewan, in contrast, is more communal a result, she stated, of the settlement patterns. All of Western Canada was initially settled around the railroad which runs about 60-100 miles from the border across the country. And, Canada’s Western population is clustered in that region. In Alberta, ranching was the main draw and communities weren’t so important. In Saskatchewan where people came to farm, they needed one another and they had to get along. So, they developed a more cooperative approach to government and policy. (Ironically, Cathy went to the trouble to explain what a credit union was to me, suggesting to me that she thinks in the US we are so individualistic we don’t even have credit unions). The cultural misunderstandings between Canada and the US are probably even more set than those between countries further away and more ostensibly different, just because we think we are so alike. I’ll write more about this in another post.
Finally, some words about the potential cons of the bed and breakfast. The cat. I don’t like cats and I have allergies so I am predisposed to be critical. However, this cat was very “good” from my perspective. It never rubbed up against me, jumped on my lap and I never saw it on the counters or tables (something that makes me gag-sorry cat lovers out there). And, best of all, no sneezing so obviously the cat is either well groomed, not prone to dander or outside more than inside. Also, no yucky cat smell. So I did not find the cat aversive. Asha, on the other hand, did not like the hair in her food (I didn’t find any in mine).
The other potential negative is Cathy’s intrusiveness (or extreme friendliness might be a better way of putting it). She’s very engaged in her guest’s plans and lives (she walked us to the corner to show us how to get to dinner) and as we were driving away she came out to the car and showed me the map and how to get where I was going (this was helpful). It’s not that she isn’t helpful. She also sat with us while we ate. Some people might light this level of involvement, others might not.

Regina

Regina
After a VERY long day of driving from Waterton, we crossed some of the prairie to arrive in Regina. The best thing about the drive was a stop at the Zucchini flower café in Medicine hat. This little café off the beaten path (and more off the beaten path because the bridge was closed and the GPS didn’t know it) has a daily changing menu of Panini, pizza, salad, quiche and soup. We shared a salami Panini and a loaded slice of pizza with all kinds of great stuff on it. Both were good but the Panini bread was kind of strange and flavorless and the pizza dough was too doughy. Still, we were happy not to have to eat at a chain and to be somewhere with an atmosphere. The café only has about 8 tables and is located in a little market. I’d go back again. Oh, we also got carrot cake which was actually good even though it had coconut in it.
We had been warned that the drive from Waterton to Winnipeg would be totally flat and boring. But, that’s not so. It’s just a different kind of beauty. I was thinking back to the redwoods and their kind of all encompassing silence and beauty—almost as if you are in a terrarium, then the beauty of the ocean is loud and immense and the beauty of the mountains is like the contrast of the jagged against the sky, and the prairie the prairie is like the vast immenseness of the universe spread before you—where there aren’t any boundaries (more like the ocean). Our bed and breakfast lady, Cathy, said that when you drive West toward the mountains, they make such an impression on you that you miss the more immediate prairie. I think there is something to be said for that explanation in that we often think beauty is in the momentous and not in the small. Now, this may be because beauty IS in the momentous, but I do find the prairie beautiful. The rolling hills, the vastness, the yellow of the Canola plants (I know it would sound better if I wrote the Lillies or roses—Canola sounds a bit crass), the canyons, and, if you do look closely you can see distinct differences in the prairie hills that always spark my curiosity. And, I do find beauty in that which makes me curious as well (not always). We also passed these evaporating ponds with piles of white stuff (mountains of it almost, like great snow drifts). I asked Cathy what those were and she thought they were sodium chloride. I’ve got to look that up and see if that makes sense.
We only saw the suburbs of Regina and they reminded me kind of Chicago’s near suburbs, with small houses and alleys and trim yards in cozy little neighborhoods separate from shopping. Regina also has a series of parks connected through trails along the “river” (read creek or ditch). But the path makes a great place for walks and the trails abut the schools so I imagine it’s great for kids getting to school as well.

Pictures from Alberta

The heat has arrived

The heat has arrived
We’ve been very lucky up to now with very moderate to cool temps, but yesterday and today are going to be hot. This morning at 6:40am when I went out to walk I didn’t really need even my sun layer (to keep me warm, but I did need it to keep off the intense sun). Not a cloud in the sky.
Yesterday morning, we headed out after an 8;40 breakfast (I would prefer 8am and Asha would prefer noon, so we compromised) to hike to the US border. The trail is about 4 miles one way and it is lots and lots of ups and downs. It took us about 4 hours to do the 8 miles with one lunch stop and a couple of stop and catch your breath stops. The trail is often out in the sun, but there was some shade, thank goodness). When the trail is low along the water, it is cool, but most of the time it was hot. But, it was cool to get to the US border and see the two posts marking treaties with Canada and just stand for a few minutes enjoying the lake views. The trail offers views of the lake at lake level but also views of the surrounds from higher points. You don’t ever get a 360 view, however. We chatted with some older women who were making a flower inventory of the trail, writing down every single flower they found as they walked. The said they were up to 70 different flowers when we talked with them. This part of Waterton, they explained, had the most flowers in one place, and more diversity then all of Alberta. The wildflowers were beautiful.
We were wiped when we finished but we managed to waddle to the ice cream store (this small town has at least three ice cream stores and one chocolate shop and I haven’t been able to find a bottle of unsweetened tea in Canada yet). The place was packed and slow but I enjoyed my peanut butter shake. Asha wasn’t real fond of her cookies and cream ice cream, stating that the cookies weren’t like in the US. But the prices weren’t bad (which was surprising, given how expensive everything else is in town. Perhaps because there is so much competition!). We made our way back to the car (very slowly) passing many deer along the way, and did the Redrock parkway drive which, I have to say, wasn’t anything special. It led to some hikes which might have been nice, but the views from the parkway mimicked the views from the local roads except for two cases of red rock (nothing like the red rock of Utah). It’s a slow road 50km for 10 miles. Then it was back to the B and B for some rest and recovery and showers.
Dinner was at the Twin Buttes store and café which had been recommended to us by our waitress the night before. I had asked her what the second best restaurant was and where did she go when she wasn’t here. It was also mentioned on some internet sites. It was about 7 miles east of the B and B. It’s just this little dinky road side grocery/café with a very small selection of groceries (mostly candy and potato chips

Shintangle Spring Bed & Breakfast

Shintangle Spring Bed and Breakfast, Waterton
I have mixed feelings about BB. On the one way, you get a bit closer to the place you are visiting when you stay with a local; you get breakfast; the accommodations are usually unusual. On the other hand, they often do not have the extras a motel/hotel has (laundry, internet, etc.), they serve breakfast (which we often don’t really eat beyond fruit and cereal) and they serve it on their time; you may end up breakfasting with people who have a severe case of logorrhea; the lodgings are often unusual.
Shintangle is actually an excellent bed and breakfast. It is located about 6 miles east of the entrance to Waterton and about 10 miles from the downtown itself. So, the location is not ideal, but the views are spectacular overlooking the park to the west and the prairies to the east. It really gives you a sense of the two dramatically different environments. The house is spacious with four guest rooms and a common room with access to a fridge, micro, television, DVD/VCR (but no internet or computer). Breakfast is served at two times, 8 and 8:30 (we did not get to pick) and every fourth day, it is served at 8, 8;20, 8:40 and 9am, when Heather is making omelets. The two breakfasts we were there for were omelets and French toast. The first was fine. Clearly, Heather is not a gourmet cook and the omelet was simple with no special presentation. It was served with potatoes and rye toast. But the best thing about the breakfast was the Saskatoon berry jam. We declined the French Toast, something we just don’t eat and instead asked for fruit and toast.
Heather is flexible, but she also is conscious of what people are eating and both Asha and I felt a bit guilty about not finishing the omelet. She said not to worry about it, but still I don’t want to feel like I’m hurting someone’s feelings when I’m paying for the breakfast. There is a selection of tea and coffee always available and heather puts out cookies and fruit in the evening. The cookies looked liked the mixed selection from the Walmart. I didn’t try them. We did imbibe of the tea, hwoever. And popcorn is also available.
Our room was the Parkview with a twin and queen. The beds were very comfortable with excellent bed covers (not the slippery kind at cheap motels that fall on the floor) but layers of several blankets to adjust for the temperature. It does get cool in the nights, and we opened our window to let some of that air in. There are no outside noises ( a nice thing about being outside the town).

Waterton

Waterton
Many people do not know what Waterton Park is. I know when we told people we were going there, they often looked at us blankly. Waterton is the Canadian sister of Glacier national Park and lies immediately north of the Canada/US border from Glacier. In 1932, the two parks were joined as the first international park and it is called a “peace park” as a symbol of peace between the US and Canada. While our relationship with Canada has always seemed peaceful, I was reminded that this wasn’t always the case by an interpretive ranger at The U Bar Ranch who explained that much of the early settlement in the Western provinces was motivated by the fear that the US would claim those lands as our own. The Canadian government in the early 1900’s encouraged settlers to claim the prairie and cattle lands for Canadian settlement in order to ensure that the US would not move its own settlers in. ironically, at Cave and basin National park, I learned, further, that many of these settlers were immigrants that in WWI were locked up at Cave and Basin, an internment center for “enemy aliens”. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants who had come out to the prairies enticed by promises of land ownership ended up in prison.
In any case, peace is always a good thing to shoot for (maybe someday Guatanamo Bay will be a peace park with Cuba? Stranger things have happened).
Okay, so this is what you see as you come up to Glacier across the relatively flat plains of southern Alberta: huge green fields, cattle, and the rising peaks of the mountains, melted glaciers in their crevasses, lots of lakes, few towns, little traffic. Upon arriving in Waterton, our elevation is still relatively low, and like in Banff, the town is in the valley below the mountains. So, most hiking is up. We started our first hike, however, doing the town circle. Waterton is not very large, but it’s perimeter makes for a nice walk, most of which is along the lake shore. Today, it is incredibly windy.We have this great picture of Asha with the wind blowing her hair from the back. But, once we move away from the lake the wind dies down. Asha HATES this picture, but she let me put it on here, so you all can get some good laughs.
Waterton is filled with deer. I mean there are literally deers interfering with everyday operations. People are shooing deer away from their doors, cars must wait for the deer to cross the road and we saw deer sleeping on the front door mats of people’s homes. The first deer is exciting, because they let you walk right by them. The tenth, not so much. The deer are obviously habituated to people. I’m not sure what the Canadian park service’s response is to this. One response we noted was the signs all over the town warning visitors that deer will and have attacked people’s dogs, so keep them close. No warnings about attacks on people. But these guys are big and intimidating.
For dinner, our bed and breakfast lady, heather, recommended three places: the pizza place, the trappers grill and the Italian place (bel something). We decided to go for the Italian place which in a different incarnation had been recommended on some internet sites. We were disappointed but neither were we wowed. They had no Italian wines by the glass (strange) so I could have a Cab or a Merlot (California) or a mixed drink. I had a “sloe gin” which I ended up really liking. We started with bruschetta, a traditional tomato version. The tomatoes were chopped very small with pieces of basil, balsamic vinegar and LOTS of garlic. The garlic was a little overbearing but I was assured the tomatoes were local and they did taste fresh, clean and tangy. The bread upon which the tomatoes sat sucked, however. It was soggy and tasteless. For our mains, we had lasagna and osso bucco made with lamb with a Milanese risotto. The lasagna looked and felt horrible to me (Asha ordered that). I couldn’t even get my fork through the layers, the bottom noodles were so hard. The beef sauce was tasty and Asha said she liked the cheese. There was an enormous layer of ricotta in it. That’s what she mostly ate. I had a nice presentation of my meal with two purple carrots, three green beans and a very tasty piece fo corn on the cob (strange, but must have been locally available). The restaurant emphasizes on the menu that it tries to use local ingredients (but it seems that these days everyone does. I did not see any corn fields in Alberta, I must say).
The osso bucca I would give mixed reviews. The lamb itself was moist and nicely cooked, but the sauce tasted like beef bouillon with this rather off after taste. The risotto was tasty, creamy and al dente so points for that as well. And I loved the veggies, even if they weren’t local. The place was expensive but the waitress was friendly and engaging without hovering and the place was packed. They were turning people away without reservations.
For our big Waterton hike, we are packing lunch and heading for the US border. This should be about a 10 mile round trip hike (more or less).

On the way to Waterton

On the way to Waterton
A note on the Hampton and our location: The Hampton was great with a spacious room, real pillows and all the chain things we have come to expect. The location is crappy from an aesthetic view point; it’s like motel row or something, but it’s literally across the street from the train and from University of Calgary. The one notable thing about this hotel was the security. Mind you, this is in no way an iffy neighborhood and yet in order to get from our car in the parking garage (the parking garage in itself was strange—no other hotel in the row had one) to our room, we had to insert our room key into four different locks: first to get into the lobby to the hotel lobby, then to get into the hotel lobby, then to get the elevator to go anywhere, and finally, to get into our room. The place was like Fort Knox.
We ended our afternoon with a visit to a used bookstore. I had bought Asha five books to read but she’d already finished them and we needed to load up. We found, within walking distance, an excellent used bookstore called Twice Sold Tales. Huge inventory, well organized, well lit (not at all the stereotype of the used bookstore). But, we made the mistake of asking the proprietress for help. She was the victim of one of the worst cases of logorrhea I’ve ever encountered. And she literally followed us around the store giving us the name of every historical fiction author she could think of and all of the books she/he and written. We finally just headed for the cash register to get her to stop, but she still did not stop talking. We left the store as she was still speaking to us feeling as if we’d just fled a natural disaster. But Asha had some good finds, so it was worth it. I f you do make it the store, just don’t make the mistake of speaking to the owner.
Last night, we mourned the absence of our third member and ate a quiet meal of leftovers in the hotel room reminiscing about all the good times with Grandma and bidding her a fond farewell (until the next trip!). We know she won’t be having as much fun on her four week cruise to Athens and Russia. First of all, she’ll miss wine tasting, and the hour long wake up ritual with Asha, and the smells of the rotting food in the car and the moldy car rug (that I spilt my water bottle on) and all those other fantastic parts of road travel. Readers may think that this was not a sacrifice but we were in Calgary and they are rumored to have great restaurants, but in respect for Mom, we passed those up (I only drank ginger ale for heaven’s sake).
Today, we are adapting to our twosome. I’m driving and Asha is riding side saddle. Asha would prefer to sleep in the back then read to me the itinerary, hand me things, take pictures out the window and perform other mindless tasks for me (as well as repeatedly having two notebooks filled with travel notes flung into her lap everytime we turn the car on or turn a corner). She’s a good trooper though and I am hoping I can get her to stay up front a bit longer. She’s already said that when her brother comes he can have the front seat the whole time (if you have teenagers you can appreciate this: the two of them constantly fight each other for the front seat).
We wanted to visit one of the city parks: Prince Island. But we nixed that idea once we ventured out of the hotel parking lot into Calgary traffic. Now, I can drive in traffic, but this is something else all together. Calgary has very few freeways (I’m sure it must have at least one but Sally (our GPS) has yet to direct me to one on our driving around the city) and so all driving is on city streets. And Canada speed limits are very low and there is all kind of road construction (like the Midwest in summer) and it takes forever to get anywhere. By the time we had driven two or three miles we were in agreement that the best plan was to abandon this city and head south to Okotoks.
Okotoks is the home of a wonderful honey farm that I had read about on the internet. It’s off Hwy. 7, off the beaten path, but well worth a visit. We were the only customers and got a wonderful tour that started with a description of the bees hiving and a look at the demonstration hive. The thing has four panels and the queen had just been put in about a week ago (they shipped the bee and her minions in this tiny wood container from Hawaii in order to decrease the risk of hive disorder). One of the panels was simply packed with bees. It looked like an enormous bee festival or bees at a rolling stone concert or something. Some were smashed to the side fo the glass. I wasn’t horrified by the bees but I was horrified at the thought of ever being anywhere that was that crowded! We got to see the queen bee, busily working. She was huge. They make all kinds of products from this wonderful smelling soap and lotion, to honey syrup and Mead.
I tried the Mead and have to say I wasn’t too fond of it. It’s nothing like wine—it’s sweet and not very complex. She said Mead is the oldest fermented beverage. I don’t know if that’s true, but I am betting they were quite excited when they realized they could ferment grapes. The bee stuff was great though and I bought an assortment.
Route 40 soup company
Waterton town trail
Bel Lago

Calgary part II

today, I headed out to explore the University of Calgary campus which is just across the road from our hotel. It's a huge, sprawling place, at least 1/2 filled with athletic buildings and fields. Everywhere I looked was a building or field devoted to soccer,football, baseball, skating, hockey, etc. There was also a large emphasis on engineering. After roaming campus for an hour, I could not find one humanities building. I'm sure they must be there somewhere. the campus is a standard 1970's campus with lots of ugly poured concrete structures without any architectural interest. There are a few more contemporary buildings but they don't fit with the other structures. One thing about the campus is how green everything is. so far, all of Canada has been startlingly green. I don't know what the rain fall up here is, but if this is a normal year, they must get considerable amounts.
The Union was huge. At least 10-12 food purveyors ranging from DQ to Sushi. the Calgary stampeders are the athletic team. I wanted to get Kesh one of those shirts. they are bright red and look great, but I couldn't find an open store at 7;30. However, students were clearly going to classes at this early hour, which surprised me (given that my school can't even get students to attend 8am classes).

Notes on Calgary:
Great train system for the few places the train goes ($2.50 adult, $1.50 child)
Great city parks system with trails that run along the Bow River connecting the parks
Every parking space in Calgary is metered (perhaps not in people's drive ways). On campus, the parking was $16-20 a day. And, a day is not until 6 or even 9pm but 24/7. Even the handicapped spaces are metered! I would love to know if this system has increased the use of public transportation or walking or biking. Darn inconvenient for tourists.
Apparently, Calgary has problems with theft from autos. All over the city, you see these signs warning you about securing your valuables.

Notes on canada:
So far, I have been amazed at what seems to be the Canadian love of sugar. In Hood River, there was one, tiny chocolate shop (that was excellent). In Banff there were at least five chocolate shops and 5 additional candy shops (these are something else--shelves and shelves lined with starburst, gum, candy bars, etc and then all that candy you can buy by the pound. Literally, hundreds of choices. In Calgary, even the union has one of these shops (the union also had a DQ and an AW and a Tim Horton's).

Food News

Looks like GM (not the car company, but genetic modification) is back. At least that's what the article in the Globe and Mail had to say this morning(buried pages deep due to the front page story on MJ). Why is this relevant to this blog? Well, because it has to do with Canadian food culture which is particularly important as we begin ourlong drive across the prairies home to Canada's bread basket (and potentially the site of all this GM). Apparently, declines in food production have made the once rejected GM grain more feasible. The problem for the Canadian growers, however, is that export markets don't trust GM (which is why Monsanto had initially given it up).
Other food news from the Globe and Mail is eco-certification for seafood in Canada. Canadian fisheries that have achieved sustainable fishing practices will be eco-certified. The certificate lasts for five years and are subject to independent verification at least once a year. Potentially, this could increase fish stocks as well as developing healthier fisheries.

Superstars and their deaths and vacation

This is a bit of a diversion from our usual posts, but Asha and I have been talking about first Farrah Faucet's death and then its extreme overshadowing by Michael Jackson's and it just seemed worth posting about, briefly, if for no other reason than how Hollywood and Celebrities seem to infringe on everything. I use the word infringe with some trepidation. We didn't have to see the announcements on yahoo (although that would require that we access our email without the yahoo front page which might be possible but is beyond mine and Asha's internet knowledge); it wasn't forced on us, and it certainly won't change our trip in anyway. And, yet it feels strange to me that their deaths are so important that they pervade all the media and will for days.
Ironically, about 10 years ago on another road trip, Princess Di died and for at least a week, Asha (who was then 4) was obsessed with this. I wish I could dig up the picture we have of her sitting in a hotel room with her little legs crossed holding Time magazine with the cover of Princess Di on it (this was what she picked out at the bookstore). She wasn't a very competent reader as yet, but she poured over this magazine whenever she got the chance and listened and watched raptly to any broadcast about her. In fact, today in the bookstore we saw princess Di's biography and immediately both of us remembered her infatuation with the dead princess.
Now, what's up with that? She didn't even know "who" princess Di was and yet her image and story captured her imagination. Most of us don't know Jackson (and perhaps wouldn't want to, really) or Faucett, but their death is a national (international) calamity.
OJ Simpson also carried out his famous chase during one of our road trips back in 1994 (I think that's the date?). The only time I have television is on road trips so I don't know if these kinds of things tend to happen in summer or if they are happening all the time but I only know about the ones that happened in summer.
I'm sure there are all kinds of psychological explanations for this response, none of which would go far to fully explaining the human interest in these stories, but I find it fascinating (and somewhat scary) every time.
Okay, hopefully now that I've posted about this I can forget about it and stop thinking about why these events are so important and other events that seem much more significant (like Global Warming, for example) tend to get so little of the people's attention.

Calgary

Calgary seems to me to be the quintessential, contemporary, useful city. It doesn't appear to be a tourist attraction but a city populated by the people who work and live there and as such it bustles with energy and purpose. Traffic congestion, construction, pedestrians darting between cars, parks and the essential closed off "mall" in the midst of it all. While we were there, the mall housed a farmers market (yes, a farmer's market not a junk market) selling bread, veggies, fruit, flowers etc and between the canvas canopies covering the goods, people rushed by on their way to work, eat, hang out on the patio restaurants jutting into the bustle.
There is nothing unique about Calgary unless this type of lively city is unique, one that thrives on the locals and isn't dependent on tourism. When I think of San Fran or NYC or Chicago's downtowns, the needs of tourists are so apparent. there was little of that in Calgary except for the rather ugly monstrosity of the Calgary tower jutting high above the skyline in the middle of the city.
Calgary is a relatively new city, starting as a fort in 1876 for the Canadian Mounties, serving trappers and traders through the end of the 1800's, and morphing into a town in 1894. But, it didn't really begin to grow until oil was discovered in 1902 and then everything changed. What was once a cow town became a bustling metropolitan area (and this is somewhat horribly evident when you attempt to get to Calgary's airport from the west side of the city which requires you to drive through suburb after suburb on local roads at speeds approaching someone on a bike and we weren't driving during rush hour).
Apparently, in the 1980's like cities in the United States, Calgary was hurt by the drop in oil prices, perhaps more so than many cities because of its dependence on oil. The downtown apparently declined rapidly but Calgary was able to diversify its economy in the 1990's and begin to grow again.
For the visitor, there wasn't much to do downtown if you didn't want to shop (once you visited the museum, which seemed suitable for Calgarians as much as for out of town visitors). But it was a great place to soak of the energy of a living, breathing metropolitan area (even if I could only stand if for a couple of hours).

Calgary -- Asha's

Calgary is a lot like Seattle. There is a nice downtown. Full of people walking everywhere. & Of course, there was a Starbucks on the corner. We also went to a museum that had all different sorts of things, like Native American stuff, and Hinduism and Buddhism and also a lot of paintings. It was a very nice place. For lunch, we went to an Indian restaurant, that got great reviews and said that you needed a reservation to go there. We didn't have one, but we tried it out. To our luck, they said we could come eat. No problem. There was only one other couple in the place and it closed in a half hour. Maybe everyone ate before us? We drove to our hotel and dropped everything off and then walked to a book store. Mom bought me 9 new books! Yay! We dropped the books off at the hotel and went to... DAIRY QUEEN! I'm sitting here, writing this, and eating my Oreo blizzard. I have to say though, it's not amazing. There aren't enough Oreos in it! But still, it's good! Mom is sitting here reading a book. We're having dinner in the room tonight. We have left over pizza and we picked up a salad. Then we're gonna watch some episodes of Six Feet Under(:

Cupcakes 2

I had to do this tasting all alone. Mom has left us (and we are so missing her!) and Asha refuses to have any more cupcakes (what kind of kid is that?). So, it's just me. I was going to get more cupcakes in Calgary to try today but i don't think I will. I'm kind of cupcaked out too.

but, I did force myself to try the three we had left:
chocolate peanut butter: yucky. It has this weird peanut butter flavor that things sometimes have and I can't get past that. also the nuts on top are soggy (our fault because we waited until today).
chocolate caramel: the best one of all with rich caramel filling and deep, dense chocoalte frosting. That's the one i wanted to eat the whole cupcake.
Chocolate raspberry: raspberry was pretty mildly flavored. I think there might have been some raspberry in the chocolate cupcake but I couldn't tell because the flavor was so mild.

So, if I were buying any of these again I would purchase the caramel and the carrot cake. I don't think I'm that big a fan of cupcakes.

Calgary

Did a nice walk this am along the Bow River in Banff with Mom towards Cave and Basin national Monument, Canada's first. The place was closed but we could smell the sulfur from the springs that created the monument and we saw our first "bear" warning signs. So didn't do much trail over there, hoping to avoid a run in with a sow and her cubs that the sign said had been hunting Caribou babies in the area.
We got out of Banff about 9:15 and arrived at Calgary airport by 10:45, leaving Mom plenty of time (we hope!). Then we headed into the city, letting trusty Sally guide us to our first stop, Glenbow Museum. Calgary streets are a mess. First off, they are a mish mash of one way streets and there is major construction and Center street does not go all the way through but is interrupted by a mall, so getting to where we were going was an endeavor.
After spending an arm and a leg to park on the street (All parking is paid in Calgary by those little machines) and only being able to park for two hours, we headed to the museum. The museum is very nicley done. The exhibits were great but the museum itself, located inside what seemed to be an abandoned convention center or meeting center, was very modern and well-kept. The exhibit space was spacious. the only problem I had was trying to figure out where each exhibit began; we constantly found ourselves popping into and out of exhibits in the middle of them which made it difficult to follow their chronology.
The exhibits were diverse: we saw an Asian art exhibit focused on Buddhism and Hinduism and Asha and i tried to figure out the difference between the Chinese Buddha and the Indian Buddha (which we never definitively did); there was an oil drilling exhibit about the rise of oil in Alberta which is (or was) the largest oil bearing province in Canada; a First People's exhibit which was excellent on the art, history and culture of the Native people's in the area; and, finally, there were paintings that depicted the areas that the train traveled through from Banff west to Vancouver. This exhibit was fascinating to see what Banff looked like at the turn of the century since we had just been there.
We had to go back and move the car in order to get lunch. we'd read all these good reviews about an Indian place called nawab. One review said you must have lunch reservations but we decided to give it a shot anyway. we found the place, parked and got there about 1:10. It was empty but they said we could get our food (so either the review was wrong or everyone clearsout by 1pm. The place closes at 1:30). The food was good if somewhat limited for a buffet: we had butter chicken, cabbage subzi, naan, beef kofta (which just tasted like beef meatballs), chole, salad, pappadums. All the food seemed fresh (no frozen peas and carrots), flavorful and not high in fat. The place is very upscale and fancy and not cheap (whatever happened to the cheap indian places?).
We decided to give up our downtown excursion after all this difficulty with parking and driving around and headed to the hotel where it looks like the "subway" comes almost to the door so if we had come here first we could have saved ourselves considerable hassle. Live and learn.

Banff part III

this is the greatest place. I could stay here for at least a week. The hikes are beautiful, fantastic and the setting itself is so spectacular.

We finished up our hike off of The five glacier trail and got some tea in lake Louise. There isn't much in Lake Louise but this little mall, some restaurants, gas station and hotels. We are glad we decided to stay in Banff. more and more we are appreciating our hotel, particularly for its location. When we need to run back for something, it's right there.

After returning to the hotel, we settled in for some reading, showers, laundry, etc. And at 6pm, headed out for dinner. Mom and I had already done about 8-10 miles so we weren't sure we wanted to walk up tunnel mountain (1.1m one way) for dinner, but the restaurant, Cilantro, sounded so good we decided what the heck. the road offers great views (but all of Banff does) and eventually there is no side walk so we had to single file along the bike lane until we reached the Buffalo Mountain Lodge. The menu for cilantro looked fantastic with wood fired pizzas, salads, burgers but then Mom noticed a sign that said, open Thurs, Fri and Sat only. We were so bummed and thought we'd try the restaurant in the lodge. Nothing on the menulooked good, the restaurant was almost empty and the prices were outlandish (these Canadians seem to think nothing of paying $38-40 for an entree at most of the restaurants--not just the super good ones. Well, maybe this is why all the restaurants are empty . . .).
So we walked back out to the road and gazed down the hill, took a deep breath and started down. I have a back up list of restaurant sin my pocket at all times (in case of emergencies like this. A girl cannot be caught without a known great restaurant otherwise someone might make her go to subway or something and then I'd miss a dining opportunity!!!). So, I consulted my two back ups: Maple Leaf Grille for traditional canadian food and Nourish, for non traditional veg.
On the way down the hill we contemplated what "traditional Canadian" food might be: beef, berries, wheat, fish were all we could think of. And, when we got to the restaurant (foot wearied and starving) we found that the menu consisted mostly of those ingredients with a huge emphasis on fish, but what really put us off was the smell when we entered the restaurant: it was like stinky fish. Not surprisingly, this restaurant was also empty. Nourish was now our final option. We could not find it. We walked up and down the street and were just about ready to abandon our search when I spied the name in tiny letters on a mini mall board. Inside, the cheezy mini mall was not impressive. The board said the restaurant was on the second floor. Most of the store fronts were empty on the 1st floor and on the second floor only one was doing business, Nourish. but we decided to give it a go.
We were very, very glad we did. Asha has evens aid this is the one place she'd like to eat again (now, if possible). The tiny restaurant had many 7 tables and one friendly, hippie-like waiter who we chatted amicably with about where he got his produce (his window herb box and Calgary), where he was from (Regina), his favorite restaurant there (Willow or 13th st. Bistro) and other important topics. The restaurant serves the food as it is done unless you request everything at once. we were fine with this and started with chips and strawberry pineapple salsa (the salsa was finely blended, tasted slightly sweet and could have been eaten like a soup). Fresh coconut was sprinkled on top. This looked pretty but didn't have much taste. Our second course was gazpacho, what mom ordered. it was fresh with lots of chopped veggies and fruits, slightly sweet and perhaps with some of the same flavors as the salsa. Third was my stuffed red pepper with so much stuff in the stuffing I can't even name it all, but there was cheese, blueberries, quinoa, spices and tomatoes and it was really fantastic. The pepper still had a bit of texture in it even though it was baked (I don't think it was roasted but forgot to ask), the fruits and veggies that filled it were distinct and flavorful. But the real winner was Asha's dish: her ravioli's were something else. They were mushroom with a lavender cream sauce. Sound a bit weird? it was fantastic and the three of us gobbled these down without speaking for several minutes, surprised and amazed and just how good each bite was.

Banff part II

got up early and did a walk on my own up to bow valley falls. I was a bit worried to hike on my own because of the bears but decided it didnt' really matter if someone was with me. The bear would still win. When I got up I ran to the window to see if the sun was out. The morning was gorgeous with blue skies and fluffy clouds, a pleasant change from the two days of rain. I quickly donned my hiking gear and headed out, leaving Mom and Asha sleeping.
I returned at 8 to let everyone know that today was "tea house" day. We were goign to hike up to five glacier tea house in Lake Louise. Asha could not motivate herself to get out of bed, so we set off. We took the highway to get there knowing we'd take the local Bow Valley drive on the way home (the more scenic route). We did see a moose on the side of the highway however, attempting to navigate the road construction.
The trail was phenomenal. I would love to do this hike again. First, the scenery is incredible. You start behind the Fairmont lake Louise which is an eight story hotel of the old style (something like The Lodge in The Shining) and it towers over lake Louise. Japanese tourists literally surrounded the patio but we quickly moved through them and onto the path. Most people did not venture past the beginning of the path, even though it starts out paved and we were soon on our own. Towards our left were multiple towering moutains, jagged as if their other half had abruptly plunged into the lake leaving raw mountain face. Waterfalls tumbled down from the glaciers and clouds and fog moved in and out leaving moments of sun and clouds that provided a variety of scenic opportunities. Behind us we could watch the Hotel recede and ahead of us a ginormous glacier towered above us (we were later told that the ice on the top of that glacier was 300-500 meters thick (and that the 8 story hotel was about 100 meters thick). It was incredible.
The walk itself started on a paved walkway and then after about 2.2 km it started to climb over glacier moraine so lots of rocks to maneuver over. Immediately to our right was more of the jagged rock face. Little was growing on these mountains. I don't know if that was a result of the rocks themselves or their age or some other factor but the trail was mostly open with few trees as we continued to climb for a total of 1000 feet. We crossed large snow fields and encountered rain on and off, mostly on as we approached our final destination.
When we arrived at the tea house we were hungry and ready for something to eat. The tea house has a limited menu of tuna, cheese and hummus, rice krispie treats, scones and jam, carrot cake, tea and a soup of the day. It all sounded good but we had the tuna and cheese. The cheese was simply cheddar cheese with a piece of iceberg lettuce and butter, but it was fantastic. The food is brought in through a combination of helicopter, backpack and mule. At the beginning of the season, one helicopter load is brought in of all the non perishable stuff. then mule trains bring in scheduled loads and workers haul up other stuff (of course, stuff also has to be hauled out). They did request you take your garbage or leftovers with you (which we stuffed in the fanny pack). The workers stay up there for four to five days in small cabins on the premises (without electricity or running water) and then they spend three days down the mountain and come back. the tea house itself is kind of perched on wooden stilts with a ladder leading up to a small wraparound deck with a kitchen inside. The deck is covered so you don't get rained on and the views are unbeatable. A ranger happened to be up there when we were and he talked about the calving of the glaciers and some local friendly bears that hang out on the hotel's lawn.

Some things to keep in mind when traveling to canada (or what I've learned so far from my own mistakes):
Some cell phones do not work in Canada (buying a Canadian cell phone is an expensive substitute)
Canadian stores will gladly take American money but they do a 1/1 exchange and give you change back in Canadian coin
Canadians do not seem to care if their pillows are hard as rocks or soft as cotton balls.
Beds may not have blankets only bedspreads and the bedspreads may weight as much as a 12 year old (imagine your 12 year old lying on top of you all night . . .)

Cupcakes in Banff

Our first cupcake tasting: We selected vanilla, lemon, peanut butter chocolate, chocolate caramel, chocolate raspberry and carrot.

Vanilla
Mom: hmmmm hmmmm good. this is so good. Very vanilla-y. Subtle vanilla flavor in the frosting.
Mary: bit of lemon or something in the flavoring, moist but kind of like a sponge cake. Frosting is quite sweet but doesn't have much flavor
Asha: yummy, very good vanilla taste, better than Daddy's favorite cake.

Lemon
Mom: wish there was more lemony stuff in it. The filling was very intense
Mary: cake same as in vanilla, but had a bit of lemon filling, kind clear like lemon curd. Didn't taste any lemon in the cake. frosting was light and mildly lemony. The lemoncurd was quite intense.
Asha: Very good, intense flavor, good frosting, yummy cake, same as the vanilla, but with lemony filling.

Carrot
Mom: could be a little more moist. it's a little dense
Mary: moist but seemed to lack salt or some underlying emphasis, some light spice, but the frosting had light cream cheese and too much sugar in it, almost crispy sugar
Asha: Not my kind of cupcake. There were chunky things in it, like apricots. Tasted ok though.

Stay tuned for more cupcake reviews--we have to take a sugar break.

June 22nd -- Asha's

WE SAW OUR FIRST BEAR TODAY!!! She was by the side of the road as we were driving to Banff; she was grazing on the side of the road with her two baby bear cubs. They were absolutely adorable! Before all that though, we got up early and packed the car and started our drive to Banff. It was about a six hour drive, not including stops. We listened to our book tape, Lady Elizabeth almost the whole way there. It rained almost all day. We were going to have another picnic lunch but it was too rainy, so we just pulled into a park area and ate in the car. Mom and I shared a pastrami sandwich and grandma had a tuna sandwich. I slept some of the car ride and then woke up as we were about to go through customs. It was a little wait, but was very fast once it was our turn. They just asked us a few questions and then we were on our way into Canada! We stopped at a visitor center to get a National Parks pass and a Historical Sites pass. The people there were very friendly. It was too rainy to take the hike that mom wanted us to do, so we got back in the car and drove to our lodge. When we got to the lodge, I took a quick shower and then we got ready to go out to dinner. We walked there, since our lodge was right downtown. The downtown here is really nice; it has a lot of cute little shops and restaurants. We ate at a place called Fuze. I ordered Bangalore-style chili prawns, mom got an Alberta top sirloin burger and grandma got South Indian bbq pork ribs glazed with mango chutney. It was really yummy, and I ate off everyone’s food. Mom also got a pomegranate martini. She seemed to like it, because she ordered a second. After dinner, we walked around the town a little bit and then headed back to our room to watch the last episode of Friday Night Lights!

Banff Part I

Banff Part I
What a fantastic day. We arrived last night after a full day of driving and rain, but we could still tell that Banff was going to be fantastic, and so far it hasn’t disappointed. To start things off, on crossing the Canadian border (after a long wait in a short line where we were asked if I had vive's written permission to bring Asha to Canada and where the clerk finally decided that "she's old enough to get away from you if she wanted to" and let us in) we stopped at this great little cafe in Yahk. they made me the strongest tea I've ever had. it was so strong, that after drinking part I added water and today when I got some hot tea at Lake Louise I added it to the remains and it still was overpowering. But the cafe was great and if we hadn't gotten sandwiches to eat on the way, we'd have had lunch there (great little menu of buffalo burgers and soup and hot dogs and ice cream and homemade waffle cones).
then, we were greeted by a bear and her cubs as we entered the area. We pulled over and observed their antics for several minutes, thankful for the lack fo traffic on the highway.
We checked into our lodging: Banff lodge. A word on lodging which I haven’t really talked about. We’re not too particular about lodging and have found that more expensive does not necessarily mean better, especially given our needs. We want to be central (we like to walk), we want internet and parking and we want to get in and out of the hotel easily, etc. Here we are in a 4 star Canada select property (which is not at all like a 4 star American) and it’s more hassle than its worth, but we got a good deal . It is central, but parking is a pain in the ass, the hotel is huge and we get lost in it when we are trying to find our room or the laundry and the pillows are lousy. So, I’d rather pay $60 for this pleasure (and usually do, when that’s available). When it’s not, then we go with what is available that meets our needs.
After checking in, we poured ourselves a glass of the wine from Foris which Mom and I proceeded to almost demolish in one sitting (it took us four nights to finish the Eberle). It was an excellent Grenache, that got better as it was open. And, unfortunately, was the only wine they do NOT sell retail. Wish I’d bought more. Then we headed to dinner at Fuse. The dinner was excellent (I believe asha wrote about it). One of our favorites. And the atmosphere was very nice, sophisticated with leather booths, low but useful lighting and friendly waitstaff around a great lounge menu. But the place was empty. We showed up at 7:30pm and stayed until 9:30 and there was only one other couple in the place that entire time. I asked if this was a slow time, and they said yes. Last week was packed because of a bike event and she hoped things would pick up again in July. I hope it wasn’t indicative of the recession. Ironically, tonight we stopped by several places and they were mostly empty as well.

Spokane part II

Got up early this am to check out Spokane before we head out. Wish we had another day here. This is a great place for roaming. The riverfront walk is beautiful. If my kids were four or five years younger, I could see spending a weekend here. along the riverwalk are multiple parks geared at every level, a ferris wheel and small amusement park, an IMAX theater, lots of waterfalls and even a giant wagon with a slide (which I had to try). towards the end of the walk are the Spokane falls. We wandered back and forth over several bridges just to get different views of this phenomena. It's so nice to have nature so present in the middle of a city.
Also downtown, which is right along the riverfront is lots of shopping including two great stores: Aunties and Uncles. Aunties is a huge, borderesque bookstore and Uncles is a wonderful toy store that emphasizes puzzles, board games and other problem solving games (no electronic games at all). They all looked great to me but I didn't think my kids would play any of them, unfortunately. I think younger kids could practically spend a day in these two shops (we wandered into them yesterday to get a break from the rain).

spokane and our first rain

We headed out for Spokane today after a brisk 6am walk to downtown Hood River (we did the trip five times yesterday for a total of about 15 miles). It's a great walk taking you through the garden like homes to the downtown which overlooks the Columbia river. This early in the am, however, we don't see any of the kites but it's still beautiful if a bit overcast today.
We head to Maryhill museum, a mixture of Kitsch and kind of sort of high brow art: think Hudson river school meets the Simpsons, or Russian royalty meets American Indians. So, we got to see a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. I'll have to say that my favorite part of it was the outside sculpture gardens and the peacocks which yelled at us continuously and the views of the Columbia river. the sculptures were those created by Northwest Artists invited to submit their creations and they ran the gamut from a wood shingled "privy" like thing to a beautiful colored steel flower.
I wasn't so enamored with the inside.
Next, we attemtped to stop at a monastery that promised Greek pastries, but they were closed (Hello, it's sunday!). then we were going to have a traditional native American meal at the yakama Cultural Center in Toppenish, WA. However, they were serving a pancake breakfast which I am not too keen on. People were lined up outside the door, however. We left and had a picnic at the Vernita Bridge overlooking Hanover Reach. Mom had peanut butter and pickles, Asha had slices of salami and a pound of fresh Hood river raspberries, I had the best! I had a slice of bread (the heel which is my favorite cause it's so tasty) topped with sweet hot mustard (lots of it) and hot and sweet pickles and salami and after each bite a few hot fries. Yum. My favorite picnic food. i also had some fantastic Hood river sweet cherries. We stopped yeserday at the apple Market, a farmers market like stand where Mom had the best huckleberry shake.
About 10 miles out of Spokane, we hit the rain.