My niece, Kate, learned about Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump at school and has wanted to visit for more than a year. She received a "coupon"  to visit the site as Christmas gift and the. Kraft-Mullane's decided to visit this week. They invited us for the day trip and we were happy to tag along!

The canola is blooming and when the sun decides to peek out from the clouds, it is absolutely stunning. Actually even when the sky is moody and grey, the canola fields glow. If you have never seen a glowing canola field, make sure to put it on your list. The prairies are spectacular in July.

We drove to Calgary the night before to break up the drive. When we left Calgary Tuesday morning, it was raining but our journey two hours south brought us to sunshine - for a little while at least!

Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump is a UNESCO site. It is located about two hours south of Calgary, 18 kilometres North and West of Fort Macleod on secondary Highway #785.  

The site and interpretive centre tell the story of the Plains Buffalo culture for the past 6,000 years. The entrance fee was $15/adult.

We started by looking at the site where hunters drove the buffalo off the cliff to their demise. Over the years (thousands of years) the earth has built up so it doesn't look as steep as it once was. 

Inside the interpretive centre we learned the creation story (Napi's World), all about the buffalo hunt culture and how important the buffalo were to the survival of the Blackfoot.

We watched a short movie that showed how the communal hunt was planned and executed. The Plains people carefully studied buffalo behaviour and the topography of the area and used it to their advantage for the hunt. It was fascinating and a little sad. BUT, the people used all parts of the buffalo - nothing was wasted and it really was what allowed them to survive through the harsh winters. 

We also learned about the eventual demise of the hunting culture. Europeans crossed the ocean with horses and guns which totally changed the hunt. The Europeans mass killed the buffalo for their hides and almost brought the species that was so important to the survival of the Plains people to extinction. Fortunately the species has been protected and there are herds found in Alberta and other areas in North America.

Archeologists have dug up bones that date back almost 6,000 years. It is a fascinating place to visit. You can also do a hike around the site to see the drive lane (kind of like a runway to run the buffalo off the cliff) but it was raining when we finished inside the centre so we headed back toward Calgary.

All the learning made us hungry so we made a pit stop at Roy's Place in Claresholm for a late lunch. It was soooo good. We highly recommend a visit to Roy's Place. We didn't know it at the time but the owner has been on Chopped Canada and was featured on an episode of You Gotta Eat Here. 

We had a fabulous road trip down Highway 2. There is so much to explore in Alberta. Next on our list (again, thanks to Kate) is Writing on Stone Provincial Park. It received UNESCO designation just this month. 

As a footnote - the night we returned, I had a horrible dream. I dreamt that our little dog Westley fell off some very steep steps and splat on to concrete below. It gave me a sick to my stomach feeling and I couldn't shake the dream or the feeling. I told my sister about the dream and she thinks the spirits were talking to me. I'm not sure what they were trying to say but they have a scary way of communicating. So, just a warning - learning about buffalo falling off a cliff may mess with your sleep.

Monday we celebrated James’s birthday.

James won $91 on the BC lottery. We think it’s pay back for the ridiculous gas prices here.

Happy Birthday!

The Easter lamb cake is a family tradition. Mom baked the cake before I arrived and this morning we decorated it. We are in direct competition with the Kraft-Mullane clan in Canmore. Since I was on team Kraft-Mullane last year, my niece made me swear not to reveal any of their lamb cake baking/decorating secrets. The icing we made this year tastes delicious but I learned cream cheese icing is not great for decorative lamb wool curl. Here is our finished cake...

Here are some before shots. I didn’t take photos when we took off all the icing because it was too soft, made it thicker and tried again.

It was a beautiful sunny day so we headed out to Butchart Gardens to see and smell spring in bloom. In my opinion, spring is the best time to visit the gardens. The gardens are bursting with colour and there are so many different varieties of spring bulbs and trees in bloom. The hyancinth and flowering trees smell amazing.

The dogs bought James a Butchart season pass for his birthday so we will be back!

The highway was quiet and dry. Perfect driving! Except for a bit of rain and fog on the Coquihalla. At least there was no snow.
The devastation by the pine beetle in Jasper National Park is astonishing and sad.

We visited St. Mary’s in Metchosin- a grave yard full of fawn lilies. So pretty and peaceful. When you visit Victoria in April it’s hard to believe you are in Canada. We left 249 shades of brown and roads full of gravel at home. We are hoping for some green by the time we return. .

The dogs enjoyed their first run on the beach and are now crashed on the couch.

Another day seized.

The dogs saw the suitcases packed and weren’t sure how to react. They were thrilled to be loaded in the car with all the gear instead of waiting for their dog sitter to arrive after we leave. They love their dog sitter but they also love a good adventure!

We had the best view for dinner and drinks. Just don’t look at the prices on the menu and the evening is more enjoyable!

We were all pretty tired after seizing the first day of vacation. Tomorrow we head to the coast.

Wow - where did 2018 go? We had a great summer of camping with Phoebe the Airstream (blog here), and finally decided that she was a bit too small for the way we camp so we sold her and Red the truck. We purchased a 2007 Airstream in October and are looking forward to the spring.

We had a great time in September cruising through the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Budapest on a Viking River Cruise. Blog here.

It's time to book another trip!

Here is a look back at our year...Happy 2019!

I am excited to have a trip in the planning stages. We are heading on a river cruise in September 2018. Our itinerary is here.

Now we are in preparation mode. We've booked most of our (free) excursions, we've been watching videos about the ports, we've been researching river cruising - which is not as easy as ocean cruising - and this past weekend we decided to go for German breakfast.

We went to Barb & Ernie's Old Country Inn which has been in Edmonton since 1975. It has a lot of character. If you are going for breakfast, I recommend you get there early. They don't take reservations and when we were leaving at about 10:30 am, it was lined up outside.

The potato pancakes were very good.

We didn't have beer. But we could have.

How is it Winter Solstice already? It's a good time to reflect, express gratitude and set intentions for the new year. This year seemed to fly by - I wish we could slow down time!

We don't have any adventures planned for 2018 yet. We have to do something about that very soon.

I always enjoy going through photos and putting together a snap shot of our year. Here is our 2017. As always a disclaimer - if you are not related to us, you will likely find this very boring. No hard feelings!

We are heading to the mountains to enjoy a few days with family.

All the best of the holiday season and cheers to many more adventures...

We are back home now and already talking about when can we go back to Maui? Is Christmas too soon?

I caught a cold when I got home - probably on the plane - so it has taken me a while to get this post done. Today while lounging around, we watched The Endless Summer. It's a fun, around the world surfing documentary from 1966.

Here it is, my account of our last day and trip home.

Tuesday August 15, 2017
I was up early and James told me if I get up and go for a walk to wake him up. So I did. It's so nice to walk first thing in the morning. It's a bit cooler and you see all the dogs out for their morning walks. We brought home warm cinnamon buns from the Cinnamon Roll Place down the street.

We also popped the bottle of prosecco to celebrate our last morning. Actually we weren't celebrating, more like acknowledging our last morning. Or trying to drink the alcohol we bought on our first day at Costco and didn't drink.

I love this bumper sticker.

We were out of the condo by 11 am and brought all our left over "stuff" over to Aunty Mary-Lou's. The person she rented from allowed them to have the condo for the day which was very handy!

Erin was thinking of walking down the beach to sell her left overs...

We made it home safe, sound and tired. We were happy to see the dogs and like always, they were well looked after while we were away.

We had such a wonderful trip. Maui was perfect! It's a magical place where stress seems to melt away. Must be the tropical air. Or the Mai Tai's! 

Thank you to my family for an amazing vacation together. It was the perfect way to celebrate mom and dad's 50th anniversary and Aunty Mary Lou & Uncle Rick's 40th anniversary (and retirement). We shared lots of fun times and made lasting memories!

Aloha.

Monday August 14, 2017

I was up really early and decided to go out for a walk. There are a lot of people up early in Maui. Must be the squawking birds.

We were at the beach by 8.30 am this morning and put in a solid four hours of boogie boarding and snorkelling. While out snorkelling we saw a couple turtles. One was huge and majestic. S/he floated through the water around us and then came back to our beach area as if to say goodbye. James thinks it was because he bonded with the turtle. Who knows.

Kate built a fortified sand fortress. We all felt safe by the added protection of the sticks. We  enjoyed sunning ourselves and cooling off in the water.