First plane ride, first foreign country, first huevos rancheros

Last month I had an opportunity to head to Denver for leadership training provided by the charity I like to volunteer for: Water For People.  The more I learn about them, the more I think they are doing things correctly, and that it is worthwhile putting some time towards them.  In a nutshell: they are working to give people in developing nations what we have.  Turn on the faucet, clean water comes out, a healthy place to go to the washroom, and hand washing routines that reduce the incidence of disease considerably.  All of this is provided by local people working on committees, in their jobs, and the people that benefit pay a fee, much like we do with our water and sewer bills.  If you get something for free, you don’t tend to appreciate it as much as something that you pay for, and work for.  It is also better for local people to help themselves, rather than foreigners to swoop in on a week trip, build something, and then swoop out.  Other innovative programs include starting a repair person business so that people have someone to call when something breaks.  They are basing many of these programs on business models, rather than giving things away for free.  Their latest goal is to start a business in crap.  Yup, crap.  Let’s say you get a lovely new latrine, which works great for 7 years but then it’s full.  Now what do you do?  Who do you call, how do you pay to get it cleaned out so that you can use it another 7 years?  If you can call a local business that has advertised in your area so that you are aware of them, and they you can sell your s^%t to them, and they turn around and sell it somewhere else for a profit, then the whole thing keeps going doesn’t it?  Water for People gives opportunities for people like me to volunteer in their monitoring work; they monitor each program for 10 years after completion to ensure that it is still working and operating properly.  One day, one day I’ll do this. 

But back to the trip to Denver, Althea did wonderfully on the 2 hour plane ride down.  She checked out everything, but everything.  Towards the end of the trip she started getting a bit fussy, and  I was standing up in the aisle with her rocking back and forth.  She then filled her diaper to capacity, and felt much better as our sunny girl came back.  I had to go to the front of the airplane to change her, and I believe I scared the front row people into never having children due to the sheer number of wipes it took to clean her up.  Hee hee.  While I went to the training, Mr. J wandered around Denver with the baby in the stroller, getting mobbed by women.  Even some men, one guy complimented him on his genetic prowess “Good job man, she’s really cute”.  Ummm, I helped to, in fact one might say I did a lot of the work?  Mr. J somehow manged to fight off all the women and get Althea down to me at the training a few times, I fed her in the back of the room once or twice while presentations were going on.  The people putting on the training were very baby friendly, which was wonderful, but Althea couldn’t stay long as she was delighting in her shrieking voice.  Over, and over!

I had vowed to eat Mexican (Tex-mex actually I don’t like real Mexican food) every day since it is good in Denver, and crap here.  Unfortunately I discovered or remembered something else, it upsets my stomach.  Yup, my old guts are back, all the benefits from my pregnancy are gone and I have to start watching my fat intake again.  Even though we were eating on a budget we still managed to find yummy things to eat, but we didn’t find a Chipolte’s so that Mr. J could have one of their burritos. 

During one of Althea’s naps we wandered by this construction site, and I was awestruck but the artistic yarn bombing.  Here is my confession, be upset with me if you want, I don’t like most yarn bombings.  One good rain storm and they look ragged and dirty to me.  But this one was different, this one was a work of art, and brought colour, life and beauty into the ugly construction site. 

 Breckenridge was so beautiful, whether due to the alpine setting, the beautiful building styles they have obviously preserved, the flowers everywhere, or the fresh air.  I know it seems silly to almost need a vacation from our vacation, but I really relaxed here after two months or running around, and being buried under “To Do” lists.   I can’t relax like this at home where I’m constantly staring at things I need to be doing.  Mr. J went for a bike ride, we went for walks with the stroller, had naps, watched tv, and explored the town.  Unfortunately the yarn store wasn’t that great, but that is good for my pocket-book.  I ate huevos rancheros as much as  I could, it is so damn good.  So good.  Not as good as in Moab, but pretty good none the less.  I think the trick is with the green chili sauce, it needs to be hot, but just the right level, and also very fruity to give a robust flavour.  Smother the tortilla, refried beans, potatoes and scrambled eggs just so.  So good.  It will be my mission to find a recipe and try to make some up here, if I can find the correct chilis. 

On the way home Althea was again a champ, and even slept a bit on the plane.  People complimented her behavior, as I’m sure they had the mental thought “Oh no a baby, she is going to cry the whole way”.  But nope, she is a world traveller just like her Mummy, and now she has the passport and foreign country visit to prove it.  Plans are afoot for us to go back to Breckenridge next year for Mr. J and some friends to enter one of the endurances races in the area.  I’m looking forward to it immensely.

Some Salty Dogs

Last weekend we headed over to Salmon Arm, British Columbia for the first mountain bike race of Mr. J’s season, the Salty Dog six hour endurance race.  That meant that he rode around the course for six hours, and completed a very respectable six laps.  He probably could have done another lap, but by the time you get off your bike and take a little break, it becomes very difficult to get back on it again!  Especially when you get to hold something so cute:

Althea and I stayed for the beginning of the race, and came back for the end, with a walk and a bit of a lounge in the hotel in the in between time.  She was by no means the only baby there, nor the youngest, and with over 60 little bikers taking part in the mini-race, the Salty Pup, the place was teeming with kids.  These mountain biking events are truly wonderful places for families, hanging out in the outdoors, getting lots of exercise, and having a lot of fun.  Only six years until Althea can be a Salty Pup. 

The baby is now at the age where it is getting difficult to feed her in public, as there are way, way too many other things to look at.  She eats a bit, pulls off, looks around, eats a bit, repeat.  When I use the cover she is generally grabbing it and stuffing it into her mouth pretty quickly, unless she is really, really hungry.  Once the edge is off however, away goes her attention again!  I have discovered I can feed her in the passenger seat of the truck, and it is fairly private, or as we did, head back to the hotel for a few hours.  On the way out there I even fed her in the Lake Louise visitors center in a nice quiet secluded spot, that was until Mr. J turned on the educational display in front of us.  I’m still training him not to make distractions! 

We absolutely loved Salmon Arm, or the Shuswap Valley in particular, which I think is part of the Okanagan Valley area.  In Calgary things are barely, barely getting green, whilst a short six hour drive away, over the continenal divide:

Lush green, lilacs out, warm air, sweet smells, flowers everywhere, big trees, beautiful hobby farms, mountains, lakes, so nice.  It seemed like Ontario but with mountains, which for those of us from Ontario you will know what that means.  No matter how much we like the dry climate out here, we miss the lush greens of where we grew up.  We will definitely be coming back here, and if we had unlimited money we would be buying a little place, I can understand why so many people retire over here.  I’m hoping Mr. J and I can enter as a team next year, hopefully I’ll be able to pull off a lap or two.

Saskatchewan Adventures

 A big road trip like my boss and I made last week is always an adventure, but this week the adventure was more of the snowy, icy, I sure hope we don’t end up in the ditch like that guy adventure.  The good news however is that we drove around safely, made it to all of our meetings (mostly) on time, and my boss was happy with all the progress we made.  I’m also pretty sure I didn’t manage to annoy him, or piss him off too badly which is good considering the hours in the car together, and the four business meetings a day we participated in. 

It snowed every day, and the temperatures were down close to -20 oC until it warmed up on Friday.  Christmas is in the air however, and seeing all the old fashioned decorations up already and covered in snow made it easier to believe.

On Thursday we finished our business meetings, had a late lunch/dinner, and my boss made the decision that we could stay in Saskatoon for the evening, heading back to Calgary the next day.  I was happy about this as driving late into the night, through the new snow that was falling, plus the icy conditions would have made for a very tiring drive.  But since we were done so early, and since we were so close(everything in Saskatoon is relatively close since it’s a small place) to the yarn store, could we perhaps stop by for a quick visit?  It worked, and off we went to find the store which is tucked into an older Saskatoon neighbourhood.  I didn’t have a huge urge to visit the yarn store in Regina, but the Wool Emporium is special. 

 They have lots of “regular” yarn and products, but they have special stuff, local stuff that you can only find here from the small farms that dot Saskatchewan and Alberta.  Alpaca yarn so black that you can see blue in it, greys, brown so deep, brown almost orange in tone, and so many variations thereupon.  My promise to my boss of “just ten minutes” made me a focused shopper, and this cream/brown blend was irresistible.  I can’t find a link to Jubilee Alpaca, which seems to be a local company that consolidates fibre from various farms into their yarn.  It doesn’t seem to be one specific farm.  But since the shipment was recent, I had a huge variety to choose from.  It was hard, very hard.  This creamy colour is going to  make a beautiful sweater, soft and warm, and neutral enough to match many outfits.  I’m actually considering remaking one of my sweaters that my Grandmother made, which I wear all the time.  Its getting a bit ratty, but its the perfect length, fit, colour, and design.  We went back to our hotel, I was high on yarn fumes, and I merrily knit away the evening!

Baby’s First Potash Mine

This week I’m in Saskatchewan, which is actually kind of fun.  That is if I ignore the freezing temperatures, constantly blowing snow, icy road conditions, and various other signs of an early, long, and especially cold winter that we are now deeply into.  I think when I was visiting Saskatchewan once a month it was wearing on me, but now that I haven’t been here in over 9 months, and I haven’t traveled anywhere in about the same time, going on a road trip is a lot of fun.  So far we’ve done Calgary-Moose  Jaw-Regina-Moose  Jaw-Regina-Esterhazy-Regina-Saskatoon.  That is a lot of driving.  My boss has figured out that I prefer to knit over driving, and I feel a bit bad as he drove all day yesterday, I need to make sure I do my driving shift today!  Driving conditions are dicey to say the least, and we’ve been playing a rousing game of ” spot the vehicles in the ditch”.  As the roads are elevated here, and the ditches are deep, this is not always easy!

We’ve been visiting mostly engineering offices, but yesterday we went out to a potash mine, and got a bit of a tour down to where the water plant is.  So, baby’s first water plant tour!  I think she enjoyed it, even though she seems to be kicking through the meetings, and was asleep through the tour.  It can be hard to concentrate on business meetings when someone is trying to stick her foot out your belly button.  So far none of the people we have visited have mentioned the pregnancy, even those people whom I’ve met before!  Is that normal?  I can’t figure out if its stranger that no one mentions it, or if everyone had mentioned it.  I comfort myself knowing that at least I will be memorable, because not only are there few female sales people, but there are even fewer female sales people with a giant belly in front of her.  The receptionists keep bringing me water, and showing me where the toilet is, which is very good. 

The name of the game today is to go to our meetings, and figure out how to get my boss to go close to the Wool Emporium so that I can have a quick visit with the “Wall of Saskatchewan”.  We have a meeting close by, and there is a sandwich shop in the same plaza, which may work on my unsuspecting boss.  Wish me luck!  Photos that are mostly snow next week!

Fernie Weekend

The mountains around Fernie are very green this time of year, and just bursting with life.  It was so good to get out of the city and wander around in the woods, cleansing my lungs with some nice fresh air.  We had beautiful days and rainy evenings with a fair amount of mosquitos which inclined us to skip the campfire and instead play cribbage inside the tent before falling asleep.  We got our wedding business out of the way by noon on Saturday, which is the benefit of only having two places to visit.  We have decided on one venue, and are now deciding on which weekend next June will be the lucky one.  One venue was better for guest accommodation, but the other (Elk Valley Lodge) had such beautiful locationsto  have the actual ceremony and reception.  We can either get married outside on the lawn surrounded by trees and mountains, or inside the loft with the mountain view.  Can’t lose there.  The lodge will do all the decoration with candles and wild flowers on the tables, and what will hopefully be excellent food.  I’m already looking forward to it. The rooftop hot tub doesn’t hurt either.   After the tough decisions were made we took ourselves into the mountains!

Ahhh, the babbling brook, the wild flowers, the breeze, the sunshine, the constant calls of “yo bear” as I worried about stumbling onto a black or grizzly bear.  There have also been cougars sighted in the area.

On Sunday I took myself up to the incredible Island Lake Lodge.  If we have about  a million dollars budget we would get married here by the lake, but alas we don’t.  I started around the lake loop, which is well used by tourists, and close into the lodge.  I suddenly glanced up and noticed a giant bull moose about ten feet down the trail, silent gazing at me, already stopped.

He had the huge antlers, the beard, and rather a calm demeanor which didn’t fool me.  As a wise Canadian I didn’t stop to take photos, but instead gave up the trail to him, as he was obviously going my way.  I went about 10 feet off the trail and hunkered down behind some rather sturdy looking trees that I figured were close enough together that he couldn’t get through them with his huge antlers.  I was hoping he would keep going down the trail so that I could get a better photo, but after around 10 minutes he did  a sharp right turn and went off into the woods.  He seemed very peaceful and not too worried by me, but better safe than sorry!  And here I was worried about the cougar sightings!

Wedding Planning Weekend

The heat has finally found us here in Alberta, and its glorious.  It cools off just the right amount at night in order to sleep.  This weekend Mr. J and I are heading down to Fernie for a weekend of camping among the cedars and a bit of wedding planning.  The good thing is that in a small town there are only two possible venues to look at.  I don’t think I have the patience to look at any more!  The first one is called Elk Valley Lodge, and may also be a Raw Food retreat venue.  However those among my family who just jumped to the conclusion that at the wedding we will be serving all raw food and have declared your intention to not attend the wedding, don’t worry.  They serve all kinds of food!  So far we’ve justed perused the website, and have been very impressed by the lodge itself, and the views down the valley.  We could get married in their loft, or outside on the balcony if the weather is nice.  Then everyone goes inside, has tapas, and then dinner.  So easy!  Around 2/3 of the guests can probably stay right at the lodge, and Fernie with all its numerous hotels is 4 km down the road. 

The other location is at the Fernie ski resort, the Lizard Creek Lodge.  Again its a beautiful place, with indoor locations and outdoor wedding locations.  I couldn’t plan an outdoor wedding without an indoor back-up plan.  We’re going to have breakfast there on Saturday, and look around. 

We’re staying at the provincial campground, which doesn’t have many facilities.  By Saturday morning we shouldn’t be too stinky.  After that we’ll jump in the local creek a few times.

I just made rice crispy squares as our camping treat.  And not just any rice crispy squares, I put fruit loops in them.  Another reason why Mr. J wants to marry me!

Knitting in Montana

This past weekend was a holiday weekend in Canada, where we celebrate not only Queen Victoria’s birthday, but the current Queen’s as well.  And I say, if it means an extra day off, Happy Birthday to them!!  Around six months ago I had signed up to take classes with Nancy Bush down in Montana, at a cute little fishing camp south of Kalispell, which is about six hours drive from Calgary.  I had signed up for an Estonian colourwork class on Friday, and a twisted stitches class on Sunday.  I had already taken the lace class she offered on Saturday.  I had to make the hard decision that asking for the first friday off at my new job was not a good idea, and instead just go down for the Sunday class.  Mr. J came with me and went on some bike rides.  We camped even though it was a bit chilly.  We’re Canadian, we can handle the cold!  Plus we’re cheap and we saved money.

We arrived pretty late on Friday after avoiding the various deer and large horses on the road, and curled up in our snug tent.  First thing Saturday morning we wandered over to meet the owner of Camp Tuffit.  Now this does sound funny and a coincidence, but honestly it wasn’t.  Within 5 minutes we were talking about water treatment, and he was taking us over to see his water plant.  I usually ask if the water in the washrooms is potable at a rusticy place like this, because sometimes it isn’t.  I usually ask further questions because sometimes “potable’ is lake water with some chlorine thrown in.  I have sold a few water treatment systems by taking this “potable” water, filtering it for an hour, and showing the people drinking the water what was removed.  It normally looks a lot like thick mud.  His system was having problems, and it reinforces my theory that this type of system isn’t the best idea.  He has a multi-media filter which is a fibreglass tank filled with gravel, sand, carbon/anthracite/ and sometimes garnet.  This is a good “rough” filter and removes particles above 10-15 micron (move the decimal point six times to the right of a meter).  He then had a 5 micron filter, and a 1 micron absolute filter, which kept getting plugged up.  Here is the problem: with lake water like this, most of the particles are under 5 micron and go right onto the 1 micron absolute filter, and it plugs up quickly.  He is on the right track, he is taking out the 5 micron filter and replacing it with a 1 micron nominal filter.  Perhaps on another blog post we’ll chat about the different between nominal and absolute filters, because it is SOOO interesting.  Long story short, as he had the 1 micron ab filters out, with just the 5 micron filter, I didn’t drink the water.  Crytosporidium is 3-5 micron and can resist chlorine, and I didn’t feel like getting sick! 

Oh, but this was about knitting!  On Sunday we learned how to make twisted stitches.  Now I need to start a project to practice them.  During the class I made a finger cosy, which cracked Mr. J up to no end.  As always taking a class with Nancy Bush is not only fun, but you learn so much as well.  Our hosts from Camas Creek Yarn in Kalispell were adorable, and their store was just about as perfect as a LYS as you could get, very well rounded.  We did stop on our way home, but I was so good, all I got was some leather moccasin bottoms.

Threshing Machine Graveyard

As I was ready to leave the prairies and return to Calgary on Thursday, I knew a storm was coming my way, not only because of the weather reports, but the strong wind whipping around already.  I am however glad I followed the operators directions, and stopped at the Threshing Machine Graveyard.  After all, how often does one get to see a collection of over 50 threshing machines from all over.  Or, how often does one discover what a threshing machine actually is!  (It’s for threshing wheat!  I think.)

Not only was there plenty of antiquey farm equipment to look at, but also, an entire barn full of baseball caps.  When someone mentions “barn” to someone from Ontario (that’s me!) we tend to picture a relatively large structure meant to house all the cows, horses, pigs, chickens etc. with space for hay up above.  In Saskatchewan the barns run smaller, but they can still hold many hats.  The last people to sign the guest book were from South Africa, back in the 1990′s. 

And for those of you who know me, you could probably guess something like the next photo would show up pretty soon:

Farmer Anne, driving her tractor off into the sunset!  It wasn’t really cold enough for a toque, but it kept my hair from blowing around like crazy.  Just after this I took off east, and had a good drive (except for the strong, strong winds) until I hit Drumheller.  I then hit almost complete whiteouts, and thought for awhile that I was going to have to find somewhere to pull over until morning.  Once I made it through I hit thick ice around Calgary – over 1 inch of it over all the roads.  The highway was closed due to propane truck rollerover, and further north a 50 car pile up.  I stuck to the back roads, and slowly, slowly, inched my way home.  It was white knuckle all the way.  During the white-out portion I was probably driving on ice, but I couldn’t see far enough to tell.  Many thanks to all the nice drivers who let me crawl along without trying to zoom around me dangerously.  I saw many cars way down in the ditch, most of the roads here are elevated, with extremely steep drops on either side.  Scary!  Spring, where are you?

Hitting the Road

As much as I don’t want to, I’m getting up early tomorrow, and heading to Luseland Saskatchewan.  Aren’t ya’ll glad you are learning about small town Saskatchewan geography with me?  Think of the next time there is a question on Jeopardy about it, we will all know and you’ll be so thankful.  “Which town was named for Sam Luse”?  “What is Luseland Saskatchewan for $1.4 million!”.  I looked the town up, as small town websites are always informative.  I don’t need a map to find the water plant in these places, I generally just drive around a bit and I find it if I don’t see it right off the highway. 

Let’s say I have some time to kill (which never happens as I’m usually heading to a hotel to find internet as someone always wants an answer about something) there are a number of attractions in Luseland I can check out.  I think the Threshing Machine Graveyard is worth a visit, because honestly, who collects over 50 threshing machines, and sticks them in a field for you to drive around?  I am in all seriousness interested in the Prairie Park Reserve, as I think that preserving the prairie as it used to be with its native species is a worthwhile endeavour.  But the threshing machines may make a better blog post…

Once I return from Saskatchewan, I’m off to Boulder Colorado for a wedding of a dear friend I had met in Boston.  I’m desperately trying to ignore the fact that Boulder probably has amazing yarn stores, as I’m not supposed to be buying more yarn until at least June.  (Olds Fibre Fair anyone?)  My plans there involve visiting the shopping area of downtown Boulder, and going for a nice long walk at least once or twice.  I love walking, meandering around a good path, looking at houses, heading into the hills.  You can also take a tour of the Celestial Seasoning Tea factory, which always makes an engineer’s heart happy.  Food factories are usually fascinating!  I can also tell you tour guides hate engineers, we ask too many questions. 

These may be my plans, but who knows what else could happen?  I love traveling with open ended “maybe I could do this plans” and then seeing what I feel like doing.  Life is so much more adventurous that way!

Final Moab Report

Just to wrap-up, here is a final photo of Mr. J and I in Moab, on our first day of mountain biking on the sovereign trail:

About 5 minutes after we got engaged.  As in to get married.  Summer 2011 is the estimated date.  The most perfect engagement ring was placed in a bag of energy candy, by Mr. J when we stopped for a rest, after biking around 3 hours.  He then handed me the bag of Wild Berry snacks, and being the brat I am I almost asked for the pineapple instead.  Our joke is now that Wild Berry is my favorite flavour.  I then dumped the candy, with the ring, into my hand, instead of reaching in delicately.  I’m so glad I didn’t drop it over the cliff!  I was very surprised to see the ring in my hand, and insisted he put it on my finger, proper like you know. 

Life is an interesting road, and I’m very thankful that I’ve been out there following the twists and turns, hills and valleys.  I was never sure I would meet a man that I could get to a point at which I could say without any hesitation “Yes I will marry you”.  Mr. J is that man, and I love him very much! 

I think the knee/shin pads add extra ambiance to the photo, don’t you?