Rocky Mounty High

Hey there loyal readers of this blog o' mine. The visit by Emilie to Calgary continues. Some of you may remember that I promised the first person to visit me in Calgary a free night at a resort in Canmore, Alberta. Well the obvious recipient of this fabulous prize was my friend Emilie. So the adventures continue and we are on our way to Canmore and the Rocky Mountains. We took off early Tuesday morning to get to the hotel, check in and check out the room. The place wasn't half bad, but some of the excitement was quelled by the fact that this was the NHL trade deadline day. The biggest news was Ryan Smyth being traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the New York Islanders, but Emilie didn't care. After enjoying the hotel and some trade deadline highlights for a bit we were back on the road and making our way to Lake Louise, Alberta. You readers of the blog may remember me and my folks checking out Lake Louise in the summer.



It is pretty cool in the summer because of how green the water is, but snow capped mountains are still pretty darn impressive. The only problem is that you have to actually get their to enjoy them. On the way to Lake Louise, Em and I got to talking about the way french appears on signs and how the translations seem a bit too complicated. Well while reading the sign for the turn off to Lake Louise I actually missed the turn off, but I did not realize this, and a few short minutes it said we were in Yoho National Park. That was a bit unusual considering that Lake Louise is in Banff National Park. Soon after the Yoho sign we were being welcomed to BC. So unintentionally I have now been to 9 of Canada's 10 provinces with only Newfoundland being the odd man out. Anyway we only spent a few minutes in BC before turning around and going to Lake Louise. It was good time. After we had our fill of Lake Louise we headed back down the highway and made a stop in Banff where we toured some of the gift shops and took in the experience of a mountain town. So we had a good time seeing the Rockies and it would only get better the next day.
After enjoying a complimentary buffet style breakfast at the Chateau Canmore I was convinced by Emilie that going on a hike in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains would some how be a good idea. Em was overly excited by the prospect of just walking into the mountains and didn't seem to have any worries about the type of wildlife we may encounter. I have to say that the hike was pretty cool and despite the 10 or 12 falls we took during the adventure it was still a good time. You see we went on the Grotto Canyon hike.It took us along a frozen river up into the mountains. Now if we knew what we were doing we may have actually went and got the proper spikes sandals to make the walk along the ice easier, but where is the challenge in that. No instead we went just with the shoes we had and it made for some exciting times. I think Em went down at least 8 times during the hike, but there were no serious injuries. I had a couple of falls myself and luckily no injuries. The best part of the hike is how it just didn't want to end. If I didn't become a curmudgeon and complain about going on I think we may still be walking. Sure the map said the trail ended, but I doubt it. We saw some cool rock formations, but did not get to see the rock paintings we attracted by, but I know Emilie definitely enjoyed the experience. Still I don't know if this was the highlight of her trip.

Thursday would be the last full day that Emilie would be in Calgary so I thought we should check out the zoo. That place can really smell at times, but that spoil our fun. Like any zoo visit we saw animals and enjoyed their antics. This zoo visit though would have an added bonus. The zoo was about the shut down for the day and we were seeing the last of the animals when the camel trainer asked us if we wanted a closer look. We moved in and were allowed to feed some nuggets to the pair of female two humps. The trainer then asked if we wanted a kiss. Oh not from her, from the camels. Although it could have made one of fantasies to make out with a camel trainer come true. Anyway no we got kissed by camels. Can you believe it? Anyway that was it the trip of Emilie. Em would leave the next day and I couldn't believe how quick everything went. Thanks for visiting Emilie. I really enjoyed your company and hope you can visit again. Hey bring some friends.

Well that was the adventures with Emilie. I know I keep promising the adventure of Bingi ja Ryanii and the ferocious Karhu, but something even more amazing happened to me recently. I was able to meet a WWE diva and insult a Canadian Comedy legend all in one day. So stay tuned as I go on a quest for the next comedy legend.


Later

Come Fly With Me

As you wait to hear about Bingi ja Ryanni and the ferocious Karhu there is another tale that must be told. That of Ryanni ja Emilie and their adventures in the Sandstone City.
Yes, mon ami Emilie made a visit out west to see her old friend, The Bearded Backpacker. What fun we had in such a short time. We travelled to Edmonton and back and then took our road trip west to Banff and Lake Louise and where we even had a chance to stop in British Columbia for a touch. Wow. It was a whirlwind week that just never seemed to stop.

Em arrived in Calgary on February 24th, if my math is right. She arrived in the afternoon and we took it easy that first day because we were heading for West Edmonton Mall bright and early the next morning. We had to visit the world's first largest mall in the world. It would seem to be a waste to come all the way to Alberta and allow a mere three hour drive keep you from visiting the Mecca of commercialism. So we went there and checked out the great expanse of retail space and checked out some weird peg throwing tournament and even had a chance to catch the seal show. The seals were quite entertaining with their dance moves, dives and their friend the penguin. Good wholesome family fun. We hit a few stores, but window shopping was more the order of the day for us. We spent 6 hours in a mall and only had a couple pair of shoes to show for it. Alas it was a grand ole time. The trip home though would be where the real adventure would begin.

In between Edmonton and Calgary there is a small city known as Red Deer. Home to the world's biggest teapot or at least that's their claim. It is at this teapot that you will find Glenn's Restaurant. Now Glenn's has 150 varieties of teas from all over the world ready to serve and purchase. So Em and I stood around smelling tea for awhile and then bought some and then took time to sample Glenn's cuisine and more of their tea. A super happy fun time was had. I think the worst part was when we walked out of Glenn's to find that it was snowing and hard. That would make the next hour of driving quite fun. The highway between RD and Cowtown is quite open so there are many wind gusts and combined with the snow, it made for one heck of a drive. Headlights on low or high were of no use and the only reason I knew where I was going is that the road is quite straight and I could see the tail lights of the car in front of me. The winds also put a little slick on the roads and it was fun as the car swayed back and forth. I had to pretend that everything was fine so that Em wouldn't go into some sort of shock, but luckily we returned to my place without incident. Terrific.

So that was the trip to West Edmonton. Anyone else who happens to visit me out here in the west will have a similar opportunity. Does this entice you? No? Well maybe a professional sports game will sweetin' the deal. I thought so. So yeah that's day 1 and 2. As I enjoy some of the White tea I bought during the stop in Red Deer I am reminded about the day after West Ed where we would see the Calgary Flames actually win a game.

White tea is supposed to be good for you. Even better than Green Tea. So on February 26th I would show Em some of the sights in Calgary, such as the local Ikea. Its a top tourist attraction. We also saw some back roads of Calgary and a taste of the local hobo population. The highlight though would be taking Em to her first NHL game in person. I had fun, the Flames scored a bunch and we were toasted by the Enmax flame everytime the good guys scored. I don't recall the final score, but I am sure the Flames put up 5 and I even scored a free program. Wow it was one of my best hockey going experiences ever. Did Em have? I dunno? Em did you enjoy the hockey game? I think she was looking forward to the Rockies. Camore, Banff, Lake Louise and Yoho National Park are coming up so enjoy this read and I promise to continue the story shortly.

The Ballad of Bingie ja Ryanni

The following is the story of a boy and his dog, as played by his uncle’s dog Bingo. Its been a long time since we could hang out with that orange fur ball. Bingo has been gone almost 20 years now and still the memories remain. Bingo was the greatest dog any Suomilainen poika could have the pleasure of being friends with. Maybe he wasn’t technically my dog, but I sure did hang out with him a lot and still miss the good times we had together.

Old McDonald had a dog and Bingo was his name-o. Yes that children’s song may or may not have been the inspiration for Bingo’s name, but I really don’t know. You see Bingo wasn’t always a part of my family. He started his life in less than ideal conditions. As a puppy he was taken home by a terrible family who had no respect or concern for the well-being of this excitable chap. Being unprepared for the responsibility of a dog this family was easily annoyed by the untrained pups wild antics. They treated him very poorly and even once sprayed him with the hose in the middle of winter. The old saying that there are no bad dogs only bad owners could not be anymore true than in the story of Bingo. His original owners were so fed up with Bingo and his impish ways that they were ready to put him to sleep. Fortunately my uncle would step in to save the day and give this rusty coloured mutt the love he needed.

My uncle may have saved Bingo from certain doom, but I think my mumu has to be given credit for making him the well-behaved dog we all know and love. I just can’t imagine my grandmother putting up with any garbage from this dog. Bingo always knew his place in mumu’s home. He never went places he didn’t belong and listened to every command without question. I may have not learned how to speak Finn, but I definitely did know ulos or out. All mumu had to say was ulos and he was out, no questioned asked. He knew who was in charge and he respected her. It could also be that he just loved getting out.

My grandparents lived outside of the city in a very little developed area and there was nothing but stretches of land for him to run on and get into trouble. Bingo loved to fight and loved the ladies and that skamp would go running through the fields meeting up with all sorts of characters along the way. As is the case with any free-range dog he had his run-ins with skunks and other dogs and is likely to have children out there, but despite all this he was still probably the most behaved dog I have ever known.

So this is just an introduction to Bingo or as I remember him, Bingie (Bing-guy, guy as in lafleur). Mumu and her finiss accent led to this variation and I like it. So that’s Bingie for you. He has had my back on a number of occasions and there is not much more I can do to repay him but share his story. I would like to start by telling you the story of ‘Bingie ja Ryanni and the Ferocious Karhu.’ Enjoy.

'Bingie ja Ryanni and the Ferocious Karhu’ will be coming soon, but there may be a little detour to follow the adventures of me and mon ami Emilie. My first Ottawa visitor. We sure had fun, or did we? Stick around to find out.

Later