Howdy y’all! Jon and I left Calgary and are headed to Drumheller. There we went to the Royal Tyrrell Museum and saw lots of dinosaur fossils. The coolest dinosaur fossil we saw was the tyrannosaurus rex because this dinosaur was one of the best preserved, had the most complete skull, but was one of the smallest t-rex and was covered with manganese which gives it a rare black colour. We also saw the Albertasaurus which is named after Alberta, where fossils are prevalent. We then walked around the Badlands where some fossils were discovered. The reason why it’s called Badland is because the land is not fertile enough for agriculture. Here, they had very cool layered rocks. The camera was running low on batteries and Jon was about to take a picture with the both of us while the camera was on a tripod. Well, when Jon set the camera so that it would count 10 seconds before it took the picture, the wind started blowing relatively hard and my hair was all over my face. So when the camera took the picture, i was sweeping my hair and it turned out to be the last picture because the camera ran out of batteries. We charged the battery in the car, and it looks like Jon’s hand is on my head. Haha
Today I drove for 30 minutes. It wasn’t as scary as you think. The roads were fairly quite and half of the time, i was driving less than 50km/h because we were in construction zones. Jon said he’s more relaxed when he drives than when i’m behind to wheel but he wants to practice driving. I’ll only drive on straight roads so it shouldn’t be too bad.
Jon and I arrived in Vulcan which is about 2 hours away from Drumheller. They had a spaceship statue from star trek. Funny! We had A and W here. I had a mozza burger and Jon had a Papa burger. It was DEEEELICIOUS! In the morning, we had a can of soup and a plum. For lunch, we had an apple, cheese crackers, nutella sandwich and tuna on crackers. So it wasn’t very substantive. Anyways, i full now and happy.
As of today, we would have driven over 2000kms in 8 days. Crazy eh?! We saw lots of field of yellow while driving. Jon said it was flowers from canola but he’s not quite sure.
We drove to Fort Mcleod where Head Smash in Buffalo Jump is. This is a historical site because 5600 years ago, aboriginals used to drive buffalos off the cliff for food and clothing. When we arrived, the center was closed. However, the path leading to the jump was still open so we walked there. It didn’t take that long to get there, about 10 minutes. When we got there, I felt uneasy because we were standing on the site where the buffalo died. It’s kind of grim don’t you think?
Anyways we’re heading to Lethbridge where we’ll stay the night in a hostel.
Artists of the day: Kings of Leon, Michael Jackson, Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, Jon singing “say my name” by destiny’s child and “impossible”
Punch buggy running count: Jon 38: Lily 30
Live long and prosper!
Edit: Jon and I arrived at our hostel. The owner didn’t finish furnishing the house so the house is completely empty except for a roll of toilet paper. As such, the owner decided not to charge us for it. Since Jon booked this hostel online, we had to put a deposit of $4.91 which is all we had to pay. Jon brought sleeping bags so we’re not sleeping on the floor. Essentially, we have the whole top floor to ourselves for $4.91. Good deal! I’m getting really good at showering in strangers’ houses. That sounds terrible and I feel terrible but it’s sadly true. Before we got here, i was getting very nervous jervous because i don’t like staying at home hostels. The one in kelowna was gross. They literally fit as many people as possible under one roof so you can just imagine the outcome. However, the past few (golden, calgary, lethbridge) have been a delightful surprise.
Another thing is that i’ve been quite a few mosquitos lately. I can’t help that i’m so delicious! It’s a curse i tell you!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
calgary stampede
July 13
Yee haw cowboys and cowgirls! Jon and i just came back from a long day at the stampede. Boy was it fun. It’s like the PNE but with a rodeo and cowboy hats...lots of them! It had carnival games, food stands, and home lottery. It has an agricultural area that describes the process of milking a cow, how eggs are processed, different cuts of beef, the use of canola oil as biodiesel, etc. It was quite informative. They also had different animals like horses, cows, and sheeps. Near where the sheeps were, there were ladies making sweaters with wool. Then we went into the show home and bought 20 tickets for $20. If we win, we’ll be living in calgary...or selling it.
We had a really delicious firestone oven. It had bacon, pineapples, sweet peppers, bbq sauce, and chicken. After we finished, we went to the grandstand to see the rodeo. It was very interesting. They had several competition during the 2.5 hours it was on. There was steer wrestling where the cowboy enters the stadium on a horse with a running calf. The cowboy then jumps off his horse and pins the calf down so that the calf is upside down. It’s was saddened when watching this because the cowboy leaps on the calf and grabs its horns, then twists the head around so that the body follows. There was novice saddle bronc where the cowboy tries to stay on the horse while it’s bucking (going crazy). The cowboy has to stay on for at least 8 seconds to get points. There was barrel racing where the cowgirls run around 3 equidistant barrels the fastest. There was steer riding is where the cowboy tries to stay on a crazy bull. So one thing i didn’t mention yet is that when the cowboy falls off or when the cowboy reaches 8 seconds, he usually gets off the bull. The bull sometimes continues to buck even after the ride. So there are 2 officials on horses that lead the bull out of the stadium. Well for one bull, it was being so frisky that it was chasing after the officials on horses. It was quite funny but only because no one got hurt. There was a really cute one called wild pony racing where 3 kids under 12 have to hold on to the pony wild 1 of the 3 kids jump on the pony and ride it. It was so cute!!!
All day the weather has been yucky. It was raining. There were no golf ball sized hail so we were lucky. After the rodeo, we walked to BMO centre where they had the stampede market. This is similar to the PNE markets. They also sell backpacks filled with goodies. I was thinking of getting one but the food was not that good so we decided not to get one.
We went to Big Four building which has a western-styled food floor called the range. We had a corndog here. At this building, we also went to the stampede slots. They didn’t have the betting wheel that the PNE has so we didn’t gamble.
We watched a rock n roll acrobatic ice show which had elvis stojko, tessa virtue and scott moir. It was quite good. The acrobats were fantastic. There was a guy who was holding himself perpendicular to a pole while pretending to walk. Before we left, we had a poutine.
We’re staying at deerfoot inn thanks to andrew and nina! It’s very nice. The nicest place we’ll probably stay in during this trip so thanks a lot. This place has a waterslide, free cookie and water. We’ll try to have a relaxing night because tomorrow, we’ll be off to drumheller and lethbridge.
Jon's Edit: We're getting hungry again, so instead of going to the casino or hotel restaurant like normal people, Lily and I have brought out our two element eletric stove and a can of chef boyardee and carrots and peas. Lily is just finishing cooking...time to eat.
Good night
Yee haw cowboys and cowgirls! Jon and i just came back from a long day at the stampede. Boy was it fun. It’s like the PNE but with a rodeo and cowboy hats...lots of them! It had carnival games, food stands, and home lottery. It has an agricultural area that describes the process of milking a cow, how eggs are processed, different cuts of beef, the use of canola oil as biodiesel, etc. It was quite informative. They also had different animals like horses, cows, and sheeps. Near where the sheeps were, there were ladies making sweaters with wool. Then we went into the show home and bought 20 tickets for $20. If we win, we’ll be living in calgary...or selling it.
We had a really delicious firestone oven. It had bacon, pineapples, sweet peppers, bbq sauce, and chicken. After we finished, we went to the grandstand to see the rodeo. It was very interesting. They had several competition during the 2.5 hours it was on. There was steer wrestling where the cowboy enters the stadium on a horse with a running calf. The cowboy then jumps off his horse and pins the calf down so that the calf is upside down. It’s was saddened when watching this because the cowboy leaps on the calf and grabs its horns, then twists the head around so that the body follows. There was novice saddle bronc where the cowboy tries to stay on the horse while it’s bucking (going crazy). The cowboy has to stay on for at least 8 seconds to get points. There was barrel racing where the cowgirls run around 3 equidistant barrels the fastest. There was steer riding is where the cowboy tries to stay on a crazy bull. So one thing i didn’t mention yet is that when the cowboy falls off or when the cowboy reaches 8 seconds, he usually gets off the bull. The bull sometimes continues to buck even after the ride. So there are 2 officials on horses that lead the bull out of the stadium. Well for one bull, it was being so frisky that it was chasing after the officials on horses. It was quite funny but only because no one got hurt. There was a really cute one called wild pony racing where 3 kids under 12 have to hold on to the pony wild 1 of the 3 kids jump on the pony and ride it. It was so cute!!!
All day the weather has been yucky. It was raining. There were no golf ball sized hail so we were lucky. After the rodeo, we walked to BMO centre where they had the stampede market. This is similar to the PNE markets. They also sell backpacks filled with goodies. I was thinking of getting one but the food was not that good so we decided not to get one.
We went to Big Four building which has a western-styled food floor called the range. We had a corndog here. At this building, we also went to the stampede slots. They didn’t have the betting wheel that the PNE has so we didn’t gamble.
We watched a rock n roll acrobatic ice show which had elvis stojko, tessa virtue and scott moir. It was quite good. The acrobats were fantastic. There was a guy who was holding himself perpendicular to a pole while pretending to walk. Before we left, we had a poutine.
We’re staying at deerfoot inn thanks to andrew and nina! It’s very nice. The nicest place we’ll probably stay in during this trip so thanks a lot. This place has a waterslide, free cookie and water. We’ll try to have a relaxing night because tomorrow, we’ll be off to drumheller and lethbridge.
Jon's Edit: We're getting hungry again, so instead of going to the casino or hotel restaurant like normal people, Lily and I have brought out our two element eletric stove and a can of chef boyardee and carrots and peas. Lily is just finishing cooking...time to eat.
Good night
Monday, July 12, 2010
Calgary
Good evening!
We’re in Calgary right now. The drive from Canmore to Calgary took about 45 minutes so not much driving today. When we arrived, we immediately drove to the Calgary Zoo because on their website, it said that they have over 1000 animals. They did not disappoint. We saw tigers, elephants, giraffes, hippos, snow leopards, ostriches, kangaroos, muskox, and many more. It was definitely worth it. Jon would like to thank his dad for his zoom lens as it came in handy when taking close up shots of the animals. Even more so because we found a 2 for 1 coupon in an information/travelling book. He he. I guess there are pluses to hoarding. Anywhere i saw a visitor’s book, i would take it because you never know what you may find e.g. a good trail, good food, good coupons.
While we were looking at the elephants, there was a zoo keeper that was giving a presentation about them. He was holding up a ball of elephant poo (elepoo – ele like elle) made up of mainly hay (elephants digest about 50% of what they eat and the rest comes out in their poop). He told us that in india, some people use the elephant poop to make paper. It’s kind of a funny idea. They were selling some at their gift shop but it was expensive. A stationary set of about 10 pieces of paper for $14.99. I don’t know about you, but i don’t think you can convince me to pay $14.99 plus tax for poo paper. Maybe $4.99 but not $14.99. That’s like 12 items from the $1.39 mcdonald’s menu, as jon would say. Ha ha!
When we finished looking at the giraffes, it started to hail. Large chunks of ice were coming down hard and fast. It was an unbelieveable sight for the both of us. So it’s not just vancouver who has odd weather patterns.
After we had finished at the zoo, we drove to Eau claire market in downtown calgary. In several of our travel books, they mentioned this market. They described it as “brightly coloured warehouse...[with] specialty stores selling a fine variety of gourmet foods, contemporary arts, street entertainers, craft markets....” and so on. When jon and i arrived, it was a poor
After we had finished at the zoo, we drove to Eau claire market in downtown calgary. In several of our travel books, they mentioned this market. They described it as “brightly coloured warehouse...[with] specialty stores selling a fine variety of gourmet foods, contemporary arts, street entertainers, craft markets....” and so on. When jon and i arrived, it was a poor man’s version of tinseltown. NO JOKE! At least tinseltown has mcdonald’s, 7-11 and a starbucks. Eau claire market had not much. Most of the stores were non-existent and we
paid for parking ($3 for 1 hour). Boo!
We drove around downtown calgary to see where its main street was. Once we figured that out, we were trying to find cheap parking. Well we did find some, about 6 or 7 blocks away from main street and guess where we parked...at Eau Claire Market. After 5pm parking was $2. By the time we drove back it was 4 so we paid $5 plus tax to park there until the 6am the next day. We strolled along stephen avenue walk and 7 avenue. Stephen avenue is like granville street downtown. We saw lots of stores selling cowboy hats, boots, and such so we went to take a look. They had some pretty nice boots but some of them were over $200. I was thinking of getting a cowboy hat because it has a wide brim and provides excellent sun coverage. However, i have a tilley hat already. Jon said he will tape up the sides of my hat so it will look more
like a cowboy hat. Har har!
We took pictures of the calgary tower. Then we went to chinatown which is more appropriately called chinablock. It was very small. Jon did buy some cola candies there. It became quite windy during our walk around downtown that my tilley hat almost flew away. Good thing it had a chin strap.
We’re staying at the dorms in U of calgary. It’s quite spacious. We ate dinner not too long ago. We had frozen pizza and clam chowder soup. The frozen pizza turned out funny (part of the pizza started to form a large bubble) because we used a bad pan. It we delicious nonetheless. Jon and i will plan for the 14 and 15th. We will try to sleep early because we’re going to the stampede tomorrow!!!
Well boys and girls, have a good night!
We’re in Calgary right now. The drive from Canmore to Calgary took about 45 minutes so not much driving today. When we arrived, we immediately drove to the Calgary Zoo because on their website, it said that they have over 1000 animals. They did not disappoint. We saw tigers, elephants, giraffes, hippos, snow leopards, ostriches, kangaroos, muskox, and many more. It was definitely worth it. Jon would like to thank his dad for his zoom lens as it came in handy when taking close up shots of the animals. Even more so because we found a 2 for 1 coupon in an information/travelling book. He he. I guess there are pluses to hoarding. Anywhere i saw a visitor’s book, i would take it because you never know what you may find e.g. a good trail, good food, good coupons.
While we were looking at the elephants, there was a zoo keeper that was giving a presentation about them. He was holding up a ball of elephant poo (elepoo – ele like elle) made up of mainly hay (elephants digest about 50% of what they eat and the rest comes out in their poop). He told us that in india, some people use the elephant poop to make paper. It’s kind of a funny idea. They were selling some at their gift shop but it was expensive. A stationary set of about 10 pieces of paper for $14.99. I don’t know about you, but i don’t think you can convince me to pay $14.99 plus tax for poo paper. Maybe $4.99 but not $14.99. That’s like 12 items from the $1.39 mcdonald’s menu, as jon would say. Ha ha!
When we finished looking at the giraffes, it started to hail. Large chunks of ice were coming down hard and fast. It was an unbelieveable sight for the both of us. So it’s not just vancouver who has odd weather patterns.
After we had finished at the zoo, we drove to Eau claire market in downtown calgary. In several of our travel books, they mentioned this market. They described it as “brightly coloured warehouse...[with] specialty stores selling a fine variety of gourmet foods, contemporary arts, street entertainers, craft markets....” and so on. When jon and i arrived, it was a poor
After we had finished at the zoo, we drove to Eau claire market in downtown calgary. In several of our travel books, they mentioned this market. They described it as “brightly coloured warehouse...[with] specialty stores selling a fine variety of gourmet foods, contemporary arts, street entertainers, craft markets....” and so on. When jon and i arrived, it was a poor man’s version of tinseltown. NO JOKE! At least tinseltown has mcdonald’s, 7-11 and a starbucks. Eau claire market had not much. Most of the stores were non-existent and we
paid for parking ($3 for 1 hour). Boo!
We drove around downtown calgary to see where its main street was. Once we figured that out, we were trying to find cheap parking. Well we did find some, about 6 or 7 blocks away from main street and guess where we parked...at Eau Claire Market. After 5pm parking was $2. By the time we drove back it was 4 so we paid $5 plus tax to park there until the 6am the next day. We strolled along stephen avenue walk and 7 avenue. Stephen avenue is like granville street downtown. We saw lots of stores selling cowboy hats, boots, and such so we went to take a look. They had some pretty nice boots but some of them were over $200. I was thinking of getting a cowboy hat because it has a wide brim and provides excellent sun coverage. However, i have a tilley hat already. Jon said he will tape up the sides of my hat so it will look more
like a cowboy hat. Har har!
We took pictures of the calgary tower. Then we went to chinatown which is more appropriately called chinablock. It was very small. Jon did buy some cola candies there. It became quite windy during our walk around downtown that my tilley hat almost flew away. Good thing it had a chin strap.
We’re staying at the dorms in U of calgary. It’s quite spacious. We ate dinner not too long ago. We had frozen pizza and clam chowder soup. The frozen pizza turned out funny (part of the pizza started to form a large bubble) because we used a bad pan. It we delicious nonetheless. Jon and i will plan for the 14 and 15th. We will try to sleep early because we’re going to the stampede tomorrow!!!
Well boys and girls, have a good night!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
in canmore
hello followers,
jon and i are in canmore right now. we're staying at a very nice resort thanks to mr. philip wong. :) in our suite, we have our own kitchen, tv, and air conditioning. as well, there is free laundry facilities. when we woke up today, we went to see other hoodoos which were not as impressive as hoodoo creek, the one that took us 2.5 hours to get to. then we walked around downtown banff. we went to see a garden and banff spring hotel. they were both very nice. we won't upload pictures tonight because 1) we didn't take very many and 2) we're using a public computer.
tonight, we will plan for activities in calgary and the subsequent days. also, we bought pasta sauce, cheese and ground beef to make pasta :)
have a good night and may the force be with you.
jon and i are in canmore right now. we're staying at a very nice resort thanks to mr. philip wong. :) in our suite, we have our own kitchen, tv, and air conditioning. as well, there is free laundry facilities. when we woke up today, we went to see other hoodoos which were not as impressive as hoodoo creek, the one that took us 2.5 hours to get to. then we walked around downtown banff. we went to see a garden and banff spring hotel. they were both very nice. we won't upload pictures tonight because 1) we didn't take very many and 2) we're using a public computer.
tonight, we will plan for activities in calgary and the subsequent days. also, we bought pasta sauce, cheese and ground beef to make pasta :)
have a good night and may the force be with you.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
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