Potpourri for $1,000, Alex

At the end of this trip, there are a few odds and ends- stories I intended to tell or fun facts I wrote down, but forgot to share.  In the tradition of the game show Jeopardy, and because Alex Trebek is Canadian, I thought I would create a Potpourri category.  I’ll let you know if we hit the daily double.

The Douglas Fir: A real jerk in a forest fire

When Cas and I went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, part of our day involved a trip through the temperate rain forest.  We actually did a nature walk with a guide who told us about the different trees and the forest in general.  Forest fires are a part of the regeneration process of such a landscape, and the Douglas Fir has a particular behavior in these situations that demonstrates a real will to survive as a species.  What they do in the event of a fire is go up like everything else, but there is sap inside the tree.  The sap heats way up, then explodes out onto other trees around the fir.  It also acts as an accelerant, or so our guide tells us.  This ensures the demise of other trees in the area, so that when regrowth begins, the Douglas fir has a spectacularly good chance at survival.  Their seeds fare well in the fire, depositing themselves in the entirely cleared off ground, thanks to their predecessors making sure nothing else survived the fire.  It’s genius, but it seems to me that, if you were just a regular tree, you’d want to be anywhere but near a Douglas Fir when the flames start up.   

The Canadian

Via Rail is the name of the company that operates the cross Canadian train.  They named it with the obvious choice: The Canadian.  While we were on The Canadian, we watched a special- I think it was aired on the Discovery Channel at some point- that gave lots of facts about the train and its journey.  I wrote down the fact that we crossed 670 bridges, but I had to look up the distance later on, because I forgot.  We went 4,466 km, which is 2,275 miles. We traveled through four time zones and slept four nights on a train.  I didn’t learn about the differences between the accommodations until we were underway, though.  Some folks traveled in fancy, reclining chairs.  This is the economy section.  Not really where I would wish to be for four nights.  There are also upper and lower berths in the sleeper cars.  These are in the hallway everyone walks down, and the people who sleep there are protected from strangers only by a curtain.  During the day, the curtain is drawn back and the space is converted into a seating area.  

We were in a cabin for two, which had bunk beds or chairs, depending on what the porter had set up and what time of day it was.  The cabin for two has a door that locks from the inside, and that was nice.  We also had our own toilet and sink, but we had to share a shower with other people.  It all worked out fine, and again, I really didn’t know what to expect.  We didn’t see until the last night of the trip what high end train travel really looked like.  When we watched the TV special, the narrator mentioned the park car.  It’s at the back of the train, and it is very elegant.  

There is a full bar that looks like it was plucked from a nice steakhouse.  There is a very comfortable seating area, and to get there, you have to walk past the prestige cabins.  That would be the super-high-end cabin.  We didn’t get that fancy... 

There is also a Panorama car, but they only keep that attached from Vancouver to Jasper.  It’s the perfect way to see the Canadian Rockies- the windows start on the left and right just where you’d suspect, but they go all the way across the top of the car.  It’s all glass and all fantastic.  

When the Panorama car goes away, you can get a reasonably similar experience in the Dome car.  It’s a regular car most of the way, but there is a staircase to an upper seating area that is all glassed in.  Thought I would mention the Park, Panorama and Dome cars, as I was so impressed with the dining car earlier that I failed to mention the others.  

Dollar store rain ponchos

I have a pair of extremely well traveled rain ponchos.  I have had them for at least five years.  They have been to Hawaii, Boston, Hot Springs, Fredericksburg, Big Bend, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Greece, and now, Canada.  They’ve probably been to Pensacola Beach, Beaver Creek, Duluth and Austin.  I’m pretty sure I took them to San Antonio once.  They’re very worldly for a pair of dollar store ponchos, but they are, in fact, magical.  I realize that writing this down will probably break the streak, but I think those ponchos have had a good run.  What I am about to relate is the equivalent of saying “no hitter” at a baseball game.  Those cheap ponchos prevent rain.  There have been so many times in my travels- both with Cas and before his arrival in my life- that those ponchos were tucked into a bag, just in case.  I have been places where it was supposed to rain.  I have arrived at airports to leave a place just as the rain began.  I have watched the rain fall on the roof of a tour bus, only to clear up when it was time to disembark.  The rain ponchos are absolutely a good luck charm, and so far, I have never felt the need to unfold them from their little, plastic containers.  I thought about them as we donned our red ponchos for the Hornblower and our yellow ponchos for the Journey Behind the Falls.  I wore two ponchos on the trip, and still, it didn’t rain.  Mine are still in their pouches.  The one moment when it did rain in Toronto was a moment when Cas and I were about to step into a bar, so we went ahead as planned- still had the ponchos with us- and the rain stopped before we finished our beers.  I’m taking them back home, certain that my luck will run out as soon as I post this on the Internet.  There’s just no way my luck and my magic ponchos will hold out.  I just had to post a photo of them, as the label on the front of the packaging is weathered.  It’s been a good run, rain ponchos.  I am sure we will need you on our next trip, but until then, I hope you’ve enjoyed the far flung destinations!

Poutine

Finally, I wanted to report that we had some really good poutine.  We kept having great food on our trip, and the option to eat gravy covered, cheese curd laden French fries just didn’t present itself.  We waited until the last minute, having our honest-to-goodness Canadian poutine at the Toronto Union Station just this morning.  We had to stop for lunch, because we had already taken a taxi, a bus and a train to get to Toronto Union Station from Niagara Falls, and we still had a train to the airport and a shuttle between terminals to go.  It was time to eat lunch somewhere in the middle, there, and we knew it was time for some poutine.  

We picked a place at the train station with some really good chicken and surprisingly yummy, heavily accessorized fries. Goal accomplished- we ate lots and lots of maple syrup, and we really enjoyed a nice plate of poutine.  

That does it for the odds and ends, or as they call them on Jeopardy, potpourri.  No daily double, I’m afraid.  We’re waiting at the gate for our plane to board, and we will be back in toasty warm Dallas before you know it.  With that, we hang up the travel blog and get ready to go back to work.  Catch you on the next trip!

(One last time, here is the photo album link) https://photos.app.goo.gl/MyfqUt8bbqJLQinD8

We goeth behind the falls

Pride goeth before, we goeth behind- everybody’s got to goeth somewhere, I suppose.  We took a more leisurely pace today, starting with a Sunday brunch at a place called The Famous on our way to the main strip of attractions.  The breakfast was pretty spectacular, and our choice of French toast was entirely due to our desire to eat more maple syrup.  

When we left there, we headed in the direction of the Journey Behind the Falls attraction.  You go in, don a complimentary poncho, head way, way down in an elevator (Cas seems to remember that it was about 125 meters, though my brain isn’t hard-wired to know what metric measurements mean) and step out onto a very misty, practically rainy pair of decks.  You wander the upper one for a while, they you go even lower with a flight of stairs.  There are also a pair of tunnels with guardrails at the ends of them, leading to portals where you can watch the falls right in front of your face.  It’s pretty amazing.  I know the water looked powerful from way up in our fancy hotel room, but standing just a few feet (meters?) from it- well, it was quite impressive.  

Cas noted that we kept getting gradually closer to the falls themselves.  The first day, we had a beautiful view from the 10th floor of a hotel.  The second day, we were on a boat right next to the bottom.  Today, we were feet from the water as it pounded down.  

We decided to wander a bit in the afternoon, looking at various souvenir shops and buying virtually nothing.  We both enjoyed having no particular commitments on our time in the afternoon.  It wasn’t rushed, and we didn’t have anywhere to be at any particular moment.  Perfect, actually.  We had dinner at a restaurant with an outdoor balcony- the same place we had lunch yesterday, actually.  We just really liked the place.  This time around, we had a little bit of sparkling wine.  We raised our glasses and toasted to another great summer and another really spectacular trip.  Canada accomplished, we said.  

We’ve just got to get out of town and back to Toronto tomorrow.  After that, it’s just a little bit of time on an airplane, and we’re back in sweltering Texas July.  I’ll check back in once or twice more before I hang up the old blog this summer.  We’ll be back on our next trip, I’m sure.  Until then, make sure you check out Cas’ photo album.  He does a great job putting it together: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MyfqUt8bbqJLQinD8

The Falls

Wow.  I don’t think Cas and I have stopped moving all day until this very moment.  Where did I leave off?  We decided to have our anniversary dinner in our extremely fancy hotel room via room service.  I don’t know where you’d find a better view anywhere, and this town is so crowded everywhere that it was very nice to just sit with Cas and have a great meal.  There is a Tony Roma’s attached to the Radisson, and we had them bring us dinner.  We had picked up some wine on our walkabout adventure earlier in the day.  It seemed the smartest thing to do- when you have a room that nice and a view that spectacular, you should eat in the room and enjoy every bit of that view.

This morning, we got up and checked out of that hotel at the last moment they allow it.  We weren’t in any hurry to surrender that view.  We asked them to watch our luggage at the desk, and we headed to the falls.  The first thing we did was have lunch.  Our breakfast was hotel room coffee and a pair of the granola bars we had purchased way back in Jasper, so lunch came early today.  We were at a restaurant right by the falls with a fantastic view.  Essentially, everything in this town either has the great view or it has to compensate with some other appeal or draw.  

After lunch, we went to the spot where they book the Hornblower cruises.  Most people have heard of the Maid of the Mist boats.  Those are the ones that depart from the American side.  The Hornblower departs from the Canadian side.  We had actually booked our Hornblower cruise while we were on the train from Toronto to Niagara, so we were all set, there.  We did see an exceedingly long line out front, though, so we kind of noted that for later.  What we did accomplish while we were in that area was booking our trip on the zip line.  There’s a really long line they have that goes parallel to the river and sails you in the direction of the horsehshoe falls.  We couldn’t go right away, though, so we booked the first time they had- at 5pm.  We had the Hornblower at 9pm, just in time for the fireworks show they do over the falls.  It was all working out great.  

Cas wanted to try a helicopter ride, so we called the place and asked about wait times and such.  They said you could just show up and go, so we took a very crowded bus to their out-of-the-way location.  When we arrived, we had just enough time to go on their tour and accomplish everything else we had on the books for the day.  That’s when they hit us with the one hour wait.  On the phone only 20-30 minutes before, they said we could just show up and go.  We didn’t have that extra time in our schedule.  We had to go to the Radisson, retrieve our bags, go to the far less fancy hotel, check in and make it to the zip line place by 5.  The extra hour wasn’t available.  We just left and went about the business of switching hotels.  

When we finally had our bags in the correct hotel and our room for the night secured, we headed to the zip line place.  It was pretty great.  We had filled out the waivers in advance, and we were wearing helmets.  Cas and I love a good helmet-wearing, waiver-signing event.  This zip line wasn’t like the ones we had done previously.  This one was extremely simple,  You sit down into a harness and you’re gently sent on a glide over the water.  Previous zip lines we’ve done require the user to jump off and occasionally, manage his own harness, right down to slowing the zip and stopping at the end.  This was the self-driving car of zip lining.  No worries, though- it was completely pleasant and fun.  

When we finished that, there was the obvious effort to sell us videos and photos of the experience, but we both agreed that we looked awful in the video, and several of the photos were unflattering.  We said a thing our niece Zoey says sometimes- and we’ve grown fond of the very polite decline it provides.  “No, please.”  Honestly, it’s cuter when she says it, but we like it, too.  

From that adventure, we went on a mission to find dinner.  The walk took us up a bit of a hill, and by the time we selected a restaurant, our feet were pleased we had found chairs.  We sat at an outdoor bar attached to a seemingly fancy pizza place, and were dismayed to find the bar area swarming with bees.  They don’t bother me much, but Cas’ face looks different when there are bees around.  He looks (and is) very uneasy.  I offered to sit elsewhere, but when it was clear that the bees were all around that restaurant patio with no break in sight, we figured we should head down a few doors.  We ended up at a place with outdoor seating, and apparently, only two or three bees.  It still bothered him, but not as much or as often.  The real bother to me was the snail’s pace with which the food and drink were served.  By the time we got our dinner, we asked for the check as soon as we could get it.  We explained that we wanted to be in the boarding area for the Hornblower well in advance of its departure, and that meant a hasty retreat back down to the river.  With that, we paid as we ate, then we walked very quickly to the boarding area.  

We got there in time, donned our red ponchos and headed to the top of the boat.  It was really great.  We went past the falls and got close enough for the mist to hit our faces.  I was happy for the cheap, plastic sheet, as we were wearing shorts and short sleeves, and it would have been a little chilly without protection from the moisture.  We booked the 9pm cruise because that one sails around during the nightly fireworks show.  It was a really neat experience.  We stood on a boat in our red, plastic ponchos, watching fireworks in the sky over Niagara Falls.  Wow.  Just wow.  

Of course, afterward, they tried to sell us photos they snapped on the way in, having used a green screen to make us look like we were out on the falls in perfect sunshine.  No, please.  

As for the rest of the day- well, we got back to our hotel, and it’s almost tomorrow.  So much to do.  I think tomorrow, we may try the “Journey behind the falls.”  Mostly, I want to avoid feeling like I am in a hurry tomorrow.  Cas is down with that plan.  No rushing around.  It’s the very end of an extremely good vacation- no need to make it more work than it should be.  

Fallsview

We’re in Niagara Falls, having just checked into the first of two hotels.  We’re at the Raddison Fallsview for one night, and we move to a more reasonably priced place tomorrow.  But, since it’s our two-year wedding anniversary today, we shelled out the bucks for a very fancy room with one heck of a view: 

We are on the 10th floor, and that’s what we see out the window.  I don’t want to linger here and write all day- I just really wanted to share that photo. It’s amazing. 

The Loose Moose

Cas and I just got back to our hotel room after a very full day, wrapping up with a drink at a place called the Loose Moose.  I think they got us in the door with the funny name, really, because we were both so tired that we could have gone either way on stopping in.  Still, if you are in Canada and have an option to enjoy a beer at the Loose Moose, you are almost obliged to go.

We did that at the end of a very full day, as I said.  The day began on the train, as we were scheduled to arrive at 9:30am.  We missed the mark, there.  Apparently, this is pretty common and fully expected by the train crew.  Ideally, the crew serves breakfast the last day of the trip, and everyone is off in Toronto by lunch.  Today, that was the case, but just barely.  The woman who told us about the meal service ending with breakfast this morning was practically giddy.  She said they have served lunch on every trip she has worked on that route since October.  Freight trains really delay them.  We were about four hours off schedule, which is impressive, as we were seven hours behind in the middle of the journey.  I think the conductor stepped on the gas in the middle of the night or something.  

Cas had researched some walking tours before we arrived in Toronto, and most of the standard ones began before we got to town.  We actually opted for one that started at 3:30- mostly because it was convenient for us to check into our room, put our things down and make our way to the meeting spot in time.  We ended up going on the graffiti tour.  

Toronto, we’ve been told, is the fourth most prominent city for graffiti in the world.  There had historically been a big graffiti problem, and when the mayor of Toronto was a guy I remember hearing about a lot- infamous crack cocaine enthusiast Rob Ford- he wanted to crack down on graffiti.  Sorry- couldn’t resist the crack about crack.  It’s late, and I am tired.  

Nothing makes graffiti artists more frustrated, it turns out, than being told that they can’t do what they wish.  The whole problem increased in intensity, and finally, the city came up with some standardization.  They have space dedicated to these artists.  It’s even got a street sign marking it Graffiti Alley.  

Sure, there is a bunch of this stuff in other spots in town, but the alley is pretty special.  It’s become a tourist draw in its own right-and honestly, we only choose that tour for its convenient timing.  It turned out to be pretty great.  There are even a few different depictions of the anti-graffiti crusader, Rob Ford.  They’re not terribly flattering.  

After we wrapped up the tour, we ducked into a spot to avoid what turned out to be about ten good minutes of slow, fat raindrops.  Just enough time to order a beer and plan out the rest of the day.  By the time we left that bar, we had plans to eat dinner and go to the CN tower. Toronto’s take on the giant 360-degree-thing-on-a-stick building.  We went up after dinner with great ambitions to see the sun set from the top of the tower.  We weren’t sure we could make it, though.  We were getting tired and pretty fed up with the other people who had the same idea, but in the end, we managed to stick it out and watch the sun go down at the top.  Since we’re farther south now than we have been, it went down before nine.  In Jasper, it was after ten.  

We walked back to the hotel by way of the Loose Moose, and we’ve returned to our room.  Having made quick work of several time zones this week, it’s hard to get a grip on when we should be tired and when we should be awake again.  We’ve got to get it straight, though, because our train leaves the station for Niagara Falls at 8:55am.  We’re just about an hour and a half from our second wedding anniversary at the moment.  We’ll be in Niagara Falls to celebrate.  I know it’s a cliche place to go, but Cas has a point- he supposes there’s a reason for the cliche.  

By the way, he took some really great photos today.  Enjoy: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MyfqUt8bbqJLQinD8

The biggest little honkey tonk

The Via Rail system has to share the tracks with commercial freight trains, and we now know that freight traffic has the right of way.  I suppose we had heard that or read it somewhere and let the information just slip on by, but it’s no joke.  I guess I’m saying you should build a day in at the end of any sizable Via Rail journey just to allot for the delays.  Our original arrival time was to be 9:30am tomorrow, but that’s not even within the realm of possibilities.  In fact, today at lunch, the staff explained how tomorrow’s lunch would work.  That was them just presupposing we would still be on the train around lunchtime.  

No matter- there are worse places to be than a scenic train across Canada. We didn’t have anything booked in Toronto during the day, and the only place expecting us is a hotel tomorrow night.  

Every time the train stops for more than a few minutes, Cas and I get off and walk around outside. The last time was in Sioux Lookout, which is such a speck on the map that I had never heard of it before.  The people of Sioux Lookout do have a rather enticing sounding bar, though.  It’s just a shame we didn’t have time to visit: 

I think I would have liked to visit the biggest little honkey tonk in northwestern Ontario.  Alas, we had to get back in the train.  

That town was also the last time I had cell service or Internet.  In fact, this bit I am writing right now will have to wait to get posted until we have some Internet again.  Just the way it goes.  That would be the one upgrade I would recommend to the folks at the train company- a little WiFi.  

In the meantime, it’s nice to unplug a little.  Cas and I have talked with some Australians, a couple from New Zealand, several folks from Montreal and a guy from somewhere in England on this leg of the journey.  When the conversation gets to the “Where are you from?” pleasantries, most of them respond to the idea of Texas with whatever their preconceived notion is.  Usually, there is an association with cowboys, both professional football playing ones and horseback riding, cattle roping ones.  Honestly, though, I have seen more horses from the window of this train than I ever see in my hometown- and before today, I hadn’t seen a honkey tonk in a while.  

Sunny Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Greetings from sunny Saskatoon!  I don’t entirely know what there is do to in Saskatoon, nor did we have much time to find out.  We stopped there on our train for about 45 minutes to resupply and allow for a little walking outside and fresh air.  I was pretty excited to set foot in a spot with such a strange name.  Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  I mean- it sounds made up. 

Anyhow, we’re chugging along on our path to Toronto at the moment, having left Saskatoon in the dust.  We are predictably behind schedule, as we assumed we would be.  The passenger trains have to yield to freight trains on these tracks, and when that happens, it slows us a little.  It’s okay, though, because we’re not on a super-tight schedule.  Our original arrival time on Thursday in Toronto was 9:30am, so even if they’re way off, we still have time to enjoy a little bit of that city before we head off to Niagara Falls the following morning.  

But while we’re headed away from Saskatoon, I wanted to talk about the old-world luxury of the train.  It really is something special to ride across a country like this.  I took an Amtrak ride once, and elegance was the farthest thing from my mind, but here, it almost seems that elegant is a word you may use.  

We have a room in a sleeper car, which is very nice.  On the way from Vancouver to Jasper, we had a room, as well, but this time around, we got the end room in a row of rooms.  They don’t tell you this, but it’s not hard to figure out when you see the end room- it’s a little bit bigger than the other ones.  

Part of what is included in the ticket price is someone to change the sheets and bring fresh towels, but the more impressive thing you get as a part of the package is the food.  They apparently have multiple professional chefs working for the train company, and different ones cook in different legs of the journey.  The food so far has been pretty remarkable.  Today’s lunch was shrimp and scallops over salad.  Typically, Cas and I get two different things and share half of each, but we both went for the same item this time.  It just sounded too good.  

Three meals a day in a fancy dining car makes this feel like so much more than just transportation.  This is a real experience.  I snapped a quick photo of the dining car just before lunch began, because I wanted to capture what I meant: 

We’re headed to our next spot along the path when we may be able to get out and walk around- Winnipeg.  I think the guy we asked said we would be arriving at around 1am, though, so we may sleep right through it.  No matter, we have dinner reservations, you know, and because we have a room, they said we could bring our own wine on board, provided we don’t leave the room with it.  Sounds like our night is all figured out.  

Un deux trois

When Cas and I went to Australia and New Zealand, we had a French tour guide.  She would load all of the members of our tour up on the bus and count the heads to make sure we’d all made it.  Her counting was just above a whisper, but always done in French.  When we went to Greece, we somehow ended up with another French woman as our guide.  She also liked to count heads in French.  Cas and I are making our own path across Canada without a large tour group, so we figured this sort of thing would have come to a stop, but today, we were on a wildlife viewing tour complete with a trip around Lake Maligne.  The woman who drove our bus was a French Canadian named Marie, and when she tallied up all the members of our party, she did so in French.  We were so amused that we had to tell her about our history of being accounted for by native French speakers.  

But, no matter.  We were present in both French and in English for a bus tour out to Lake Maligne.  On the way, we saw elk and a few bald eagles.  We stopped at a beautiful waterfall and took a walk around.  We got to the lake, and our group split into those wanting to go on a hike and those who were going on the lake cruise.  We had opted for the lake cruise at the strong recommendation of a nosy, off-duty employee at the travel booking shop.  Good thing, too, because we managed to see Spirit Island, which was actually part of an advertising campaign by the Kodak company back in the ‘60s.  

Here’s my atttempt at the same photo: 

I hope I did okay...  Then again, with a place like that, it’s hard to take a bad photo.  Spirit Island on Lake Maligne is the photographic equivalent of training wheels on a bicycle.  

The cruise and island visit was about an hour and a half, and after that, we all reboarded the bus, were counted in French, and headed back to Jasper by way of a spot called Medicine Lake.  It’s beautiful, of course, but on the way, we were treated to a real live and totally unusual (if Marie is to be believed) animal encounter.  This little lady crossed the street right in front of our bus: 

None of us expected to be that close to a black bear or see it so clearly, but she was headed across to the patch of berries on the other side- or so we imagined.  It was pretty cool to get that up-close-and-personal with a bear while still feeling safe in a bus.  

When we got back to Jasper, Marie dropped us back off at the hotel, where the staff was kind enough to hold our luggage after check out.  From there, we walked across the street to the train station, got the latest information on arrival and departure time and headed back to the other side of the street to have a snack at a sidewalk cafe.  

We’re back on the Via Rail train now, heading through Alberta toward Edmonton.  It’s 10pm local time and still pretty bright out, and dinner wasn’t that long ago.  

The food on the Via Rail train system is pretty great.  I had lamb chops tonight, and Cas had chicken.  On the way to Jasper, we had salmon and a Yorkshire pudding.  They don’t mess around.  We probably shouldn’t have had a snack in Jasper, though, because we really overdid it at dinner, and it’s not exactly convenient to take a nice walk after a big meal around here or anything.  

We’re getting ready to settle in for the night, though.  We knocked out a crossword puzzle, and I finished reading one of the books I brought with.  We should be in Toronto in a few days, but I think that will be just fine.  It’s a very relaxing way to travel and we are covering some really beautiful ground.  

A 1.3 million dollar Mercedes

Today was our adventure out to the Columbia Ice Fields.  We booked a whole trip that started with Athabasca Falls, then took us to the Athabasca Glacier and finished up with the Glacier Skywalk.

Before we went on this trip, Cas and I got a lot of advice on what things to visit in different parts of our travels.  I kept a notebook and wrote down all the best suggestions, then I looked up a bunch of them and kept a list by location of the things I wanted to look into.  The trip today hit the top three items on the Jasper list. Here’s what they do- We had a very nice bus pick us up from the front door of our hotel.  That bus took us to Athabaska Falls, which was gorgeous.  

We left there on our bus and headed to the Columbia Ice field.  There was a guide telling us about the things we saw along the way, of course, and it was all very informative.  There are plenty of stories in the history of the Canadian Rockies, and we got a few of them today.  

Our standard bus arrived at the ice field, and we transferred to a snow-coach.  Our new driver told us we were in a machine with a 1.3 million dollar Mercedes engine.  He also let us know the dimensions of the tires- they are five feet tall and three feet wide.  Taller than my own car, to be sure.  It was just too bizarre: 

Anyhow, we took that ride down a very precarious road and on to the Athabasca glacier.  We walked on the ice and drank from the small streams of water that flowed over the top.  It was pretty amazing.  

I hear it’s been well over 100 degrees in Dallas this week, but I digress...

When we left the glacier, we went to the Glacier Skywalk, which is a marvel of engineering over a very steep drop off.  We went out and took some selfies, of course.  The wind moved the cantilevered suspension platform just enough to remind us that we didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time on it.  Maybe that was part of the design, as well.  From there, we had a buffet lunch and a bus ride back to Jasper.

It was a perfect morning and afternoon, and we spent a little time afterward just wandering the town and picking up some groceries for our train trip.  After that was done, we went to seafood restaurant that was very well reviewd in town.  The reviewers were correct- the seafood was very good.  The service was pretty mediocre, and the atmosphere would have been a whole lot better if the man at the next table had bothered to take his volume down a few decibels or permit one of the other five people in his party to get a word in edgewise.  No matter, though, when we left, we had eaten some really good seafood.  We had lobster, shrimp and salmon.  It was all pretty spectacular.  Tomorrow, we have another tour activity- a wildlife viewing with a lake cruise.  Should be pretty great, eh? 

The Great One

If I remember my Canadian folk heroes correctly, former Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky is someone revered in Canada and referred to as “The Great One.” When we were in Vancouver, it was his image next to the Olympic torch statue shown lighting the flame on the adjacent plaque.  I didn’t know much about hockey as a child, but I knew his name.  

Wayne Gretzky gained his greatest notoriety as a player on the Edmonton Oilers.  Edmonton is in Alberta.  Turns out, Cas and I are in Alberta at the moment, as well.  

We got to town on our fancy train and got off in time to check into our hotel, ask around about some tourist attractions and wander about to pick up a bottle of wine on the way back to the hotel’s adjacent restaurant.  After booking a few adventures, we walked into a wine shop.  Not sure about Canadian wines, we shopped around until we saw what The Great One has been up to since he hung up his skates.  Just... look: 

I doubt we had much of a choice when we saw these options.  We had the wine this evening while winding down from the activities of the day, and we’re saving the Wayne Gretzky Canadian Whisky for the train.  We were thinking of having it when the tracks pass through Edmonton, in honor of their great hero.  

Jasper is a beautiful place so far, and tomorrow, we’ll check out some of the features of the national park.  Until then, cheers, eh? 

Why we travel

To some, travel is an opportunity to learn new things.  Others see it as an opportunity to meet new people.  There’s the just want to get away from it all crowd, and there are some who seem to be traveling on the same path as you with absolutely no idea about why they’re doing it.

We sat down to breakfast in the dining car this morning with a couple from Montreal who were the learn new things/meet new people travelers.  We liked them.  We just wrapped up lunch with a couple who seemed utterly unimpressed with everything.  I don’t know why they were on a trip.  I’m not sure they knew.  I feel for them, though, because they, like us, are surrounded with all of this amazing scenery and they seemed rather unmoved.  

Cas and I are more like the first couple- at least I hope we are.  We’ve had eyes fixed on the windows in every part of the train we’ve been on except the shower.  No window in the shower, I’m afraid.  I guess they don’t want you lingering there.  Makes sense.  

The train we’re on is 23 cars long- at least that’s what Carl the activities director said.  He answered lots of questions about the train in one of the two talks he hosted today.  He said that trains can run up to 30 cars long, and last summer, they had some that were 32 cars, but they become unwieldy at that point.  We’ve got a cabin for two.  It has two chairs in it during the day, and a train employee has to put the beds up at night.  The bottom bunk is a Murphy bed that folds down from the wall, and the top bunk comes down from the ceiling.  There’s a ladder for the top bunk, and I think they store it on the top bed.  

We’re actually about to get off the train in Jasper for a few days, but we’ve got this whole train thing mapped out for the next leg of the journey.  We’ll take a different train (same line) from Jasper to Toronto in a few days.  Thank God we’re experts, now, and we know what to look for when we’re trying to decide who to sit with in the dining car.  We certainly know how to look out thee windows in awestruck amazement- no practice necessary.    

And we’re off

Cas and I are on The Canadian, which is the name of the train line that goes from Vancouver to Toronto.  We spent the morning, though, checking out the Capilano Suspension Bridge and all the related activities, so before I get to this spectacular train, let me backtrack to the big suspension bridge that crosses over a pretty, little bit of water.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is made of cables and wood.  It’s about wide enough for someone to walk one way on the right side, allowing for traffic on the left.  It wobbles quite a bit, and it’s pretty spectacular.  Lots of folks lingered to take selfies and peer down from the large cable edges that acted as handrails. 

Up at the place where one has to go to cross this bridge, there are also treehouse activities and a thing called the cliff walk.  Behold:

Pretty cool.  Thee whole thing connects two sides of what they call a temperate rain forest.  

When we finished what seemed like death defying walks around on bridges and platforms, we had lunch up near the bridge before we took the shuttle bus back down to the water front.  Our shuttle bus driver was pretty charismatic- maybe she was related to the man who drove us yesterday.  Then again, her name was Heather, so we instantly liked her.  

Anyhow, from there, we picked up our luggage and made our way to the train station.  We boarded our train and were underway at close to the scheduled time.  This train is a good deal more fancy than the one my mother and I took years ago from Dallas to Chicago.  The sleeper cars are cramped, but they are jut about perfect.  The crew greeted us with champagne, and we had a seat in what they call the panorama car for a while.  That is one with windows on the sides and the top.  Pretty cool if you ask me.  We’ve got one night here, and we’re off in Jasper for a few days.  After that, it’s back on the train to Toronto.  

Cas has photos, of course.  Now, not all the photos in the album are his.  Some are mine, but only the very well composed, artistic ones.  :-) 

Here you go, either way: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MyfqUt8bbqJLQinD8

Lord Stanley, namer of Canadian things

Yesterday, we remembered our goals and ordered something for breakfast that required Maple Syrup.  No regrets.  It was amazing.  I ate more syrup on my French toast than I think I have ever eaten before.  Hooray, Canada!

When we left our bed and breakfast, we headed down to the waterfront to find the hop-on-hop-off tour bus.  It’s a highly efficient way to travel the noteworthy things in a city without too much worry.  We hopped on with a driver who was a non-native English speaker, and he recommended that we wear our complimentary headphones and plug them into channel two.  Not the most charismatic fellow. We left his bus in Stanley park.  

Stanley Park is named after the same Lord Stanley as the hockey Stanley Cup.  Popular guy for naming things.  His park is pretty spectacular. We got there and almost immediately got on a horse-drawn carriage tour.  The two horses pulling us were brothers from an Amish farm in Iowa, and they were named Tom and Tony.  Tom was highly distractible, while Tony was just a little bit lazy, and happy to let his brother do the work.  What a pair.  

Anyhow, after we parted ways with Tom and Tony, Cas and I walked through the park for a while, taking the opportunity to travel along several trails.  

We finally got back on the on-again-off-again bus, and somehow, we ended up with the same unenthused driver.  We got off again a few stops later and waited around (in a bar with good sangria) for a different driver.  Mission accomplinshed.  We got the very best driver that time around.  He turned off the tourist track that piped through the other driver’s headphones and told us about the city.  He was friendly, engaging and full of just enough local knowledge to make the trip very interesting.  We didn’t want to hop back off until his route was complete, so we didn’t. 

He took us to the spot at the waterfront where we started the adventure, and that left us just a little distance from the site of our dinner cruise.  We asked our friendly bus driver if he thought we could make the walk in the 30 minutes we had remaining, and he said we could definitely do that.  We failed to mention that we needed to factor in a bathroom break.  We just made it in time, but the pace was a bit rushed.  The supremely frustrating part, though, was that after the mad dash to arrive in time to board, the crew delayed boarding an extra 15 minutes.  We didn’t need to rush- we could have strolled along the sea wall.  Either way, we made it.  We boarded the Brittania, which I halfway thought could have been called the Lord Stanley. 

The dinner cruise folks must have picked up on something when they booked our tickets- maybe Cas and I give off a honeymooner vibe two years into marriage- because they stuck us at a table for two at the end of a row.  Kind of perfect, actually.  We pulled one chair around to the side and sat together, looking out the window at the city.We also took a few different trips up to the open air deck above the dining space.  

The meal was very good, the drinks were nice and the entertainment was fitting for the place.  They had an acoustic duo singing mellow music.  

Our whole wish was to see a pretty sunset out on the water.  Nailed it:

We’re just getting up for our last day in Vancouver now.  We’ll have our breakfast and head out to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge before moving on after dinner to the train station.  The Via Rail system is the name of Canada’s passenger train company, and they have a rather famous one that goes on an east-west track.  It heads through the Canadian Rockies and probably well past our final departure in Toronto.  The funny thing is that everyone here has heard of it, but nobody seems to know the name of the train.  Our booking information said it is called “The Canadian.”  Doesn’t get more straightforward than that.  Kind of a missed opportunity for old Lord Stanley, if you ask me. 

Anyhow, it’s time for some pancakes, I believe, and maybe a little syrup.  

Chinatown

When we left off, I was about to fall over, and the light in the room was still on, much to Cas’ dismay.  It was time to go to sleep.  Now that we’ve slept and the sunburn has had a real chance to make itself at home on our faces, necks and arms, I can offer another reason why we were so wiped out.  We have had our reminder to reapply sunblock.  Thanks, Grouse Mountain!  

Lest you think a little thing like having pink faces will stop us- we have big plans today.  Of course.  But let me finish up where I left off last night before we collapsed onto our pillows.  

The shuttle from Grouse Mountain dropped us off in the waterfront area, which is pretty much where we have been focusing our activities.  Cas had looked at a few maps (of course) and decided that we really couldn’t miss Chinatown.  Vancouver has a very large Asian population, and folks from many different cultures and traditions have made this part of the city their home.  Chinatown is just a handy shorthand, I suppose.  

We walked around a few streets until we found the rather low-key entrance to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.  We somehow walked in and bought our admission tickets right as a tour was starting.  A young man guided a group of visitors through the different parts of the garden, talking about the symbolism of yin and yang, the importance of serene gardens to aincient Chinese scholars and the architectural purpose of some of the building features.  

Sadly, we in the crowd weren’t very good students.  He would as a question about Taoism, for example, and you could hear the water flowing over the rocks with perfect clarity, because nobody answered a thing.  I think people eventually started volunteering guesses about halfway through the tour because it was kind of sad to watch him stand there and wait.  

It was a very pretty garden.  Cas has already posed our photos, I’m sure, but here’s one I particularly liked: 

I think that gives you the general idea.  

Following that, we walked past a few of the more interesting Vancover residents and found a place that claimed to specialize in Chinese dumplings.  Cas was pretty happy.  I am not near the dumpling aficionado he is, but I was game to try.  No regrets- it was an extremely delicious meal.  

While we had our dumplings for dinner, I shared my plan for the rest of the evening.  I wanted to find a botttle of wine and head back to the place where we’re staying.  It was a long day, and the kind of night that would be perfect for sitting on the porch with a bottle of wine.  And that’s just what we did.  Mission accomplished.  

Today, we have plans to go so Stanley Park, I believe, and take a hop-on-hop-off tour bus around the city.  We’re also looking into the possibility of taking a harbor dinner cruise and catching a British Columbia sunset.  It should be a pretty great day- but for now, it’s just about time to have some pancakes or some French toast or something.  Pretty much anything would do if it could deliver maple syrup to my plate.  We’ll come back here later on and let you know how it went.  

Don’t look directly at the grouse

For starters, here is a link to Cas’ photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MyfqUt8bbqJLQinD8

Enjoy.

Anyhow, Cas and I went to Grouse Mountain today.  I have been led to believe that a grouse is a bird. Beyond that, I have learned something about the grouse today.  It’s their mating season at this time, and there is a particularly territorial male grouse whose prime spot to scope out the ladies was in our tourist-path today.  It was the best sign I have seen in a while: 

When Cas and I woke up this morning, we had the breakfast that was promised in our bed and breakfast booking.  After we both sat down with fruit and eggs of some kind, it occurred to us that we missed the opportunity to order something that required real Canadian maple syrup.  Drat!  Tomorrow...  We eat all the syrup tomorrow.  

After our delicious but un-Canadian breakfast, we headed to Grouse Mountain.  I desperately wanted to see their lumberjack show, and it did not disappoint.  It was athletic, silly, corny and highly entertaining.  I needed to see it, though, because this is the sort of thing that simply does not happen in Dallas: 

After that show, we took a stroll past a pair of grizzly bears in a habitat at the top of the mountain.  Apparently, both bears were rescued from certain death somehow, and this place was their home.  They went into the tourism business.  Here’s one of them taking a bath: 

We took a chairlift to the tippy top of the mountain after we saw the bears, then we had a leisurely lunch.  Maybe we should have eaten faster or slower, because when we left the table, the line for the gondola back down the mountain was extremely long.  

Instead of waiting in the line, we elected to catch the first part of the bird show.  We saw Hercules, the bald eagle and a pair of hawks named Slightly and Lulu and a turkey vulture named Judge Dredd.  

It was a very entertaining show, and it wrapped up our mountain top time nicely.  When we got back down, we took the complimentary shuttle downtown and nearly fell asleep on the way.  There was plenty of sun at the top of Grouse Mountain, and the bus driver had to contend with plenty of rush hour traffic.  We were happy to sit and wait while all of that happened.  

We got off the bus downtown, and Cas had plans for a garden stroll and dinner.  I am pretty tired, now, so I will tell you al about the Chinese Garden and the really good dumplings when I get up in the morning.  It’s been a very long but wonderful day in Vancouver, and I may just nod off while typing if I stay up much longer.  

Until the morning, then!  

Homework

I am a student right now.  I am taking a series of graduate level classes, at the end of which, I will be able to work as a school librarian.   I actually woke  up this morning and checked in on my group project for the class I am currently taking.  

Cas and I really debated my decision to enroll in summer school.  Many of my cohorts are taking two or three summer classes.  I was debating between none and one.  I knew I wanted to be free to enjoy this trip.  Seems like I am all good- Cas slept away while I did my homework.  

Normally, homework has no place in a blog about a trip, but the place we’re staying names its rooms rather than numbering them, and strictly by coincidence, we were booked in one they call The Library.  Huh.  Maybe it’s a sign.  

Or maybe it has to do with this bookshelf:

This is my first try at a bed and breakfast.  I think I will wait for Cas to be clean and ready before I explore the breakfast part of it.  Then, it’s on to Grouse Mountain.  As always, there will be more later.  

Admiral, there be whales here

In the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, our old buddy James T. Kirk is an admiral in Starfleet, and they are plagued by a strange, alien entity who communicates through a series of odd sounds.  The closest approximation anyone has for the sounds is the song of the humpback whale.  The big problem is that, by this time in the future, the humpback whale has gone extinct.

And so, the plan is hatched.  The crew of the Enterprise will travel back in time to retrieve two humpback whales.  The whales will communicate with the alien entity, and after that, they can breed and bring back the humpback whale population.  Not too give too much away, but when Scotty beams the whales onto the ship, he utters the otherwise nonsensical line, “Admiral, there be whales here.”  

I told you that to tell you this: Cas and I had cause to repeat that same line, though there were no admirals present with us today.  We got on the train from our bed and breakfast and headed down to the water.  We stopped off at a tourism enter to ask questions, then we went to a nice casual restaurant for lunch.  When you are literally looking at the ocean, you’re pretty much obliged to order fish.  It was amazing, and they had plenty of local beer and cider on tap.  

From there, we went to the Prince of Whales boat for our tour.  We saw a pair of humpback whales.  It was pretty great.  

We also saw some sea lions, a bunch of harbor seals and a pair of bald eagles.  It was a pretty boat ride.  

When that ended, it was actually dinner time.  The woman at the tourism office recommended a place, and we went there.  We had some of the best shrimp dumplings I have ever had, along with a very nice piece of salmon that we shared.  We finished offf the night watching sunset from the tall, circular observation deck high above the city.  

We have big plans tomorrow- hopefully, we can watch a lumberjack show and meet the locally famous pair of grizzly bears.  For now, we’re completely wiped out.  We got up at 4am in Dallas, which is 2am here.  It’s now 10:30 here, so after midnight at home.  I think we’re both running on pure adrenaline from the spectacular day we just had, but that feels like it’s just about run its course.  

Cas is creating a photo album, and I am sure he will have a link to post tomorrow.  Until then, sleep well, and know that there be whales here.  

Checking in

Cas and I have arrived in Vancouver.  We got off the airplane, hopped onto their public transportation and made it to the city hall train stop.  From there, it was just a few blocks to our bed and breakfast spot, a lovely, little home called Windsor House.  We went ahead and took a selfie out front.  Enjoy:

Anyhow, that’s all you get for now.  We have a lot of exploring to do, and we’ve got a booking for a whale watching cruise later on.  There will be plenty to report at that time, but for now, I have to get a move on.  It’s time to play.  

Maple syrup and poutine

I've only tried poutine one time.  It was at a Canadian themed diner in Dallas.  It's just French fries, cheese curds and brown gravy.  Maybe I'll like it more when I travel to the source.

In about a week, we're back at it again.  Cas and I will take our now annual July trip, starting with a flight to Vancouver, British Columbia.  We'll be there for a few nights, then we'll get on the fancy train.  We'll get off the train in Jasper, Alberta for a few nights at a national park.  After that, it's back on the train to Toronto, Ontario.  We stay there for just one night, then we're on to Niagara Falls.  We've got a very fancy hotel booked for the night of our second anniversary, then we're staying somewhere a little more reasonable for a few nights. 

After all of that, we head back home.  Cas has looked up the average temperatures in all the various spots we plan to visit during July in years past, and the most excellent news is that the highs range from 75-85 degrees.  We may have chosen the precise right time to leave Dallas.  I'll be keeping everyone up to date as our adventure progresses, and I'll be on the lookout for good beer, maple syrup and gourmet poutine. 

A few details about our travels

There were a few things that we both noticed along the way. I thought I would mention them as we headed through the last stretch of the drive home.  First, we have to talk about the car.  

Turbo Wagon:

Cas went on a trip when he was still a single man.  He flew to South Dakota and rented a Nissan Versa to drive around.  It was silver in color, and he had fond memories of the trip.  When we got to the car rental place, they told us the car we would enjoy would be a black Nissan Versa.  Cas said he nicknamed his car in South Dakota the Turbo Wagon.  He said it was a reasonable mode of transportation, and our car for the last week has been perfectly fine.  It’s nothing great, nor is it awful.  We named our rental: Turbo Wagon 2: Electric Bugaloo.  

It’s comfortable enough, and the gas mileage is good. The man at the rental counter wanted to up sell us on everything- a car upgrade, added insurance and so on.  We just stuck with the turbo wagon.  It’s been pretty comfortable.  

The Javelina

When Cas and I were at the McDonald Observatory, the person who taught our last class of the day before the star party was a really spectacular teacher named Marc.  In spite of the fact that I have been taught my whole life to spell Mark with a k, this man was a very, very good teacher.  He was so good with the kids in the room- it was like he was a child whisperer.  As the class drew to a close, he cautioned everyone who was headed to the star party that it was awfully cloudy.  As he was discussing the arguments for and against sticking around.  He talked about how to leave so headlights won’t shine in the faces of the star partiers.  In this same speech, he warned about the probability of hitting deer in the dark- or what he called “Suicide Pigs.”  

Cas and I spent the rest of the trip looking for the famed Suicide Pigs of West Texas.  Everywhere we went after that, there were stuffed javelina toys in shops, books about them, We looked everywhere for a javelinas.  We looked on roadsides, during hikes, while floating down the river- no javelinas.  We struck out.

Why Cas can’t have nice things in national parks.  

Cas has apparently done the exact same frustrating thing twice in his life.  He went to Big Bend once many years ago.  When he was hiking there in his 30s, he managed to shred and destroy a pair of hiking boots.  Apparently, he spent time in that adventure waking around in duct-taped footwear.  

This time, I was walking behind Cas at the Chihuahua Desert Research Center hike, and I saw that the soles of his current boots were flopping about a little.  He has totally killed off two pairs of hiking boots in or around Big Bend.  Cas can’t have nice things, I’ve decided- not in national parks.  

Anyhow, we’re almost home.  It’s time to hang up the blog until this summer when we head to Canada.  I’ll get back on here then.  Until that, here is that link to Cas’ photos again.  A few of them are mine, but they’re mostly his: https://photos.app.goo.gl/l8PlrGxUhLMOcgi22

See you back home!

Checking out- room 214

The Chisos Mountain Lodge assigned Cas and me to room 214.  We handed the keys back in this morning and headed out to see if we could finally park the car close enough to the Lost Mine Trail and get one last hike in on our trip.

When we arrived just before 9 am, there were actually a few parking spaces open.  It was a miracle.  We took the fourth one from the trailhead entrance.  

We had no intention of making it all the way up and back down the whole trail, since we want to get home sometime when it is still Sunday, but we got to a spot with a really pretty view.  

If that’s not good enough, then I don’t know what is.  

We walked back down with considerably more comfort and ease than we had walking up.  Turns out walking down with the sun at your back is the way to go.  It was a perfect way to end our time in Big Bend National Park, and when we were walking down the last few feet of the path, I caught the eye of a passenger in a car that had just about given up its search for trail-adjacent parking.  I waved to signal that they should back up- we were about to vacate a space.  The couple was very happy to learn that a space would be vacant very soon, and even happier that I waved them down.  

Once we surrendered our parking spot, we headed on to the park exit.  It’s just lots and lots of driving from here to the rental car company, and we’re trying to make it in for dinner time.  We shall see...  Now that we’ve left room 214, I suppose it’s time to head back to area code 214.  

The $5,000 question

On the US side of the border, we call the river that separates the US from Mexico Rio Grande.  In Mexico, they call that same river Rio Bravo.  As a result of this name difference, we weren’t sure which river we were visiting today.  When we got in on the US side, it was probably grand.  When we stepped out in Mexico and got back in, I suppose it was bravo. Hard to say.

Today started with a really nice breakfast at the lodge resturant.  When we wrapped that up, we took a second shot at the Lost Mine Trail.  It apppears that it hasn’t been lost in quite some time, because whenever we arrive at the trailhead, the parking lot is full.  Somebody found it.  Our plan was to try parking at Lost Mine and hiking that.  If we couldn’t do it, we would go on the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.  When we slowly rolled past the totally full parking area, I looked at Cas and said, “Scenic Drive?”  He said, “Yep.”  

It’s a pretty great scenic drive, actually.  We pulled off the road and looked at things, walked out, took photos and saw lots of beautiful stuff.  We did that on the way to Terlingua.  We had a reservation at 1 pm to do a river float.  I called the company that does this while we were in  Marathon and booked the last two spots in their tour this afternoon.  We got to a place called Far Flung Adventures for our trip down the Rio Grande.  They do it with kayaks when the water level is good, which it was today.  I was initially a little worried about having to pilot a kayak.  I use the rowing machine at the gym, but I usually tap out after about 15 minutes.  The woman on the phone to whom I was expressing this concern let me know that 10 year old kids do this trip all the time.  I think she was trying to tell me that I was being a little too concerned about my rowing abilities.  

Cas and I had a really great time.  I am so glad we did that- we pulled up with our group on the Mexico side for a moment to have a mid-trip snack, then we got back in and headed downstream a little more for the return to the US.  Nobody even asked me for my passport.  I hadn’t planned to make it to Mexico on spring break, but there I was.  I guess there are lots of stories people have about accidentally ending up in Mexico during Spring Break, but none of them are probably this tame.  

When we got back to the point where the tour company was set to retrieve the kayaks and hoist them all onto a trailer for return to their facility, there was a sign on the side of the water that said unauthorized crossing of the border at other than a point of entry would result in a $5,000 fine.  I hope they don’t know where to send the bill, and I hope that ignorance of the law is a proper excuse, because I wasn’t entirely sure we were in Mexico until I asked the person from the tour company who directed us to step on foireign soil.  

Tomorrow ends our adventure.  I think we will take one more stab at the Lost Mine Trail- hopefully, it will be a little more lost to all the other visitors on a Sunday morning.  After that, we head back to Dallas.  Nothing like hanging out in a beautiful National Park to remind you how flat and dull Dallas is.  I love home, but it’s not exactly brimming with the splendor of nature or anything.  

Anyhow, I had yet another fantastic day with Cas.  He’s a whole lot of fun to travel with.  Here’s what he looks like when kayaking in International Waters, by the way:

See you back home.  

Always looking up

*I’m writing this on Friday night, but I will not get a chance to post it until Saturday morning.  I have no urge to walk across the parking lot in my pajamas just for the WiFi.*

The first time I ever really hiked, I was looking down most of the time.  I had to.  The terrain was pretty treacherous, and I was the slowest one in our group.  That was when Cas and I were making our way through the Samaria Gorge in Crete.  It was part of our trip to Greece, and I was in no way prepared to do it.  

I had a pretty negative view of the whole idea of hiking after that.  Apparently, that is a really tough hike.  It’s the kind of thing avid hikers put on their hiking bucket list.  I was just learning how to do it.  Talk about the deep end of the pool.  

Today, we went on something called the Window Trail.  It was so much better that I can actually see why people would get into hiking in the first place.  I could look up.  I didn’t need to stare at the ground to be sure of my footing in each individual step- instead, I could see what there was to see.  Even the other day at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Center, the path was uneven, requiring a great deal of my focus.  This was my best hike yet.  

Today, I could look up at the “window.”  This is what they were talking about:

The gap between the two mountains is a lovely window to the world on the other side of them.  It was pretty great.  

After we did that trek, Cas in his infinite wisdom recommended we check out the lodge for its bar and restaurant.  We had a few drinks and a really nice meal, though we kind of dragged the meal out so we could stay at our table near the window throughout sunset.  Again, I had to stop and look up.  It was a gorgeous sunset.  

After that, I had the infinite wisdom.  I suggested we take a post-dinner nap until it was totally dark out so we could bring Cas’ telescope out into the grass in front of our room and look up yet again.  Since our cloudy night at the observatory was still pretty thick with stars to my untrained city eyes, tonight’s sky was practically blanketed with stars.  The sky was so black and the stars were so bright- I think it’s a new moon right now, or something pretty close.  

Cas delighted in finding the things we had spotted in professional astronomers’ telescopes just the other day.  He did a pretty good job with his binoculars and his small telescope.  I wouldn’t have done nearly as well.  Then again, he is pretty good at most everything he tries.  

We have a plan to do a scenic drive tomorrow.  It apparently features lots and lots of places to stop the car and hike around.  We have a river float in the afternoon.  I hope we continue looking up all day tomorrow.  It’s pretty great to always be looking up.  

Room with a view

*I wrote this a few hours ago- just found some WiFi*

We’re in.  We got to Big Bend National Park and stopped along the road about a half dozen times to take it all in and snap a photo.  

When we arrived at the welcome center, we got some trail maps and a little advice, then we went to the Chisos Mountain Lodge restaurant.  They had indoor and outdoor options, and we chose to sit outside.  By the time we finished our meal, our room was ready.  It’s pretty rustic- I think that’s the word I want.  The walls are made from cinder blocks, the chair I am sitting in is wobbly and the whole place has a summer camp feel to it.  Still, it has one heck of a view.  

My definition of ‘roughing it” is probably not truly correct.  I am confused as to how I will proceed in a room with no WiFi.  If I want to connect and post this very sentence to the Internet, I have to go all the way across the parking lot to a different building where I can use the WiFi.  So tough!  

Anyhow, now that Cas and I are checked into our “rustic” room, we’re just about ready to gear up, slather ourselves in sunscreen and head out on an adventure.  We’ll be hiking a bit today, and we have a whole day in the park tomorrow before we head home on Sunday.    I think he’s even got a plan to be in a sunset-friendly spot when that time comes this evening.  After that, it’s back to the rustic room with a view, I suppose.  Talk about roughing it.

Heads I win

The Gage Hotel is so Texas that I think you can use the word Texas as a verb when you describe the hotel.  It Texas-es so hard.  When you first walk in the door of any building here, you will see some kind of animal head poking out of a wall in that room.  I had a theory that the hotel owner married into a family of taxedermists, and this place was the perfect opportunity to blend those talents.  

There are heads in every space.  Indoors, the heads are carefully preserved to look as they may have in life.  Outdoors, the heads are reduced to skulls and posted as exterior decor on buildings.  There are chandeliers made of antlers.  There are paintings of skulls when no actual skulls are present, but sometimes, there are skulls arranged in the shape of a head,  and that’s pretty entertaining.  

The part of the hotel we’re staying in has lots of common space for guests to use downstairs.  There is also about a half of an animal seemingly walking out of the wall at the top of the stairs.  Each room seems to be adorned with an animal head, but the strangest one of all is the horse head.  Until that moment, I thought displayed animal heads were hunting trophies, but a horse head would suggest that any animal who passes away for any reason is subject to stuffing and putting on a wall.  The horse got a spot just above a fireplace, and there were reins that hung down toward the mantle of the fireplace.  Poor guy has to stay ready for a rider eternally.  Can’t let it’s disembodied head be free from reins.  

Our guest room has only an antler-laden light fixture.  West Texas minimalist, I suppose.  Make no mistake, the hotel is beautiful, and our room is gorgeous, but the decor just Texas-es so hard.  

Needless to say, when we check out of here, I think I will have had my fill of heads poking out of walls for a while.  Maybe I just don’t Texas hard enough.  

Arthur

When you go to the White Buffalo Bar at the Gage Hotel, please be prepared to overpay.  We had some very good drinks, but they were nowhere good enough to warrant the prices the place charged.  The staff was efficient, and the drinks were good, but for a $15 old fashioned, you want a friendly, effusive staff and a spectacular drink.  We got prettty darn good.  For a $30 tab on two drinks, they needed to be oh-my-gosh great.  

Instead of a second round of drinks that would have had me unfavorably comparing our bar tab to our mortgage, we decided to take a walk through the Gage Gardens.  The hotel is pretty much the only game in town.  It’s a nice hotel with several buildings of guest rooms.  There is a fitness center on the other side of the railroad tracks, as well as a cluster of rooms.  There is also a garden.  I was skeptical- probably because I had been in a desolate desert botanical center earlier today.  This was a beautiful garden. It was clearly designed to look like a European garden.  It was really stunning and supernaturally green when you got there, but when you turned your head to the left, you saw a cow. 

It was completely goofy.  It didn’t go.  Here’s what the cow sees every day:

No logic to that at all.  It makes no sense.  I immediately asked Cas when I saw it if he thought it would support my weight and if he thought I could jump up on there.  He was so supportive... what a guy.  He said of course I should pose atop the cow statue for a photo.  When I got up to it, the cow featured a sign that said, “FRAGILE Do not stand or sit on art cow thanks.”  

A few things to unpack, there.  First, I was disappointed.  Second, I had no idea the cow was named Art.  Third, I did not know Art was a girl name, now.  Stranger things have happened.  Plenty of boys-only names have crossed over.  Arthur T. Cow could be a girl cow name.  I thought all male members of that species were bulls.  

Cas and I experimented with middle names.  We settled on T as the initial.  Guess the name as you go along.  It’s not Arthur Thomas.  

Anyhow, we spent enough time at the botanical garden with Arthur (Not Taylor), and we had it go back to the main drag where the restaurant was.  We got there in time for our reservation.  When we were seated, there was only one other person in the small room.  She paid and left, and eventually was replaced by another couple.  It was pretty much semi-private dining all night.  (Not Travis)

The place is pretty proud of their food, but the food is just that good.  In fact, it’s great.  It’s not Tantalizing, though. Nice try on Arthur T. Cow’s middle name.  It’s also not Trevor.  We had a filet and the quail. I’ve never had quail before, and we shared both dishes. Spectacular. (Also not Timothy) 

After dinner, we went back to our room and took a few things outside.  We grabbed a pair of binoculars, a bottle of wine and some plastic cups.  

We looked at a few stars, made a few new friends and drink some wine.  Tomorrow, we leave here and head to the park.  Finally, we are headed to Big Bend.  No more chatting with Arthur Tiberius Cow.  That’s the name, you know. 

Take a hike

This morning started quite a bit earlier than I had hoped.  At about 6:30 am, the people in the hotel room just next door to us turned on their television to a news program.  They also began a great philosophical debate about American Presidents, past and currrent.  They had lots of things to disagree about- and they were not shy to vehemently defend their opposing views.  I assume it was a married couple, based on the practiced rythym of their arguments.  I had planned to wake up a little later, but they decided for me.  Cas was only up to hear a little bit of the conversation.  

But no matter, that was all done when we checked out of the hotel in Alpine and headed down the road.  We went to that research center we’d scoped out yesterday, and when we got there, we went on a nice hike.  Given that my first hike was a less than pleasant experience, I have to psych myself up for this sort of thing.  I mostly enjoyed this one, though there were a few moments when I wondered why this activity is so popular with people.  Probably because everything is so darn pretty: 

It wasn’t the easiest walk I have been on, but this time, I had hiking boots and hiking socks.  It really made a difference.  I felt bad for Cas, though, because his boots had apparently decided to start shredding themselves on this particular walkabout.  I guess he’s adding a new pair of hiking boots to the old birthday list, because the ones he brought on this trip are not worthy of packing back in the bag and taking home.  I’m honestly not sure how they held together as long as they did when we were walking around.  

After the hike, we left and headed to Fort Davis for lunch.  After the multiple places we had tried to eat, only to find that the world grinds to a halt in spring break in a college town, we decided to try a different tactic.  Fort Davis was happy to feed us.  In addition to that, we stopped by an old fashioned soda fountain on the way out of town.  I had a proper root beer, and Cas had an old fashioned Vanilla Coke.  It was pretty cool.  We sat at the counter, and drank our sodas, just to have that experience.  When we went to pay for the drinks, they had homemade fudge for sale.  It’s like they saw us coming.  We’ll be enjoying that after dinner.  

After that, we went back to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute for a stroll through their mining exhibit and their botanical garden.  The mining exhibit was cool, and the botanical garden was full of things that were not having a great season.  There were few green things, and of those, the really interesting ones were few and far between.  At the end of the botanical garden, there was a greenhouse absolutely full of cacti.  That was pretty great.  

Anyhow, we took off from there and headed to Marathon.  We have checked in to our room at the Gage Hotel.  It’s several buildings, now, having been opened at first in 1927.  We’re in the Captain Shepherd house this evening,  and it’s pretty nice.  I can’t see much else to do in Marathon, but we have reservations at their fancy restaurant later on and we plan to check out some of the cool features of this sprawling complex.  There is an outdoor heated pool, a game lot, some walking trails and a bunch of other stuff.  I think we’re headed to the White Buffalo Bar in a few moments, actually.  It’s only a short walk, not a hike.  

In case you need it again, here is a link to the photos: 

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPO8ikKHEHPkImSA77sqhgs7050rEyuaN9SnT523PxkZGx08FXdMvIu396fu-7VAA?key=d1N1RmplaVUxX0FFcElfOWpvUlhfTXZaR1U4X0F3

Ain’t no party like a science nerd party

We started our day with a pretty good free breakfast at our hotel, and after that, we were on to the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross University.  It was a pretty good museum, and we got a lot out of it.  I specifically liked the maps, though the whole thing was pretty good.  Cas specifically was fond of the photography exhibit.  Apparently, a guy named Jim Bones has been to every beautiful place in this country, and he had a camera everywhere he went.  From a Star Trek perspective (since it is pi day, after all, and we did go to a pretty cool observatory), I would be remiss if I didn’t note that on the original series, Bones was the doctor, and he always called the captain Jim.  Jim Bones sounds like a made up name to me.  A made up name from a Trekkie.  But what do I know?

After we left the museum, we went in search of food.  We started at a grocery store to get a few things for our next bit of travel.  It’s nice to pick up fruit for a hike or some kind of chips for a road trip.  We took a moment to head to a grocery store.  The one we went to had really small pies for 79 cents, and I was almost required to purchase one for later consumption.  It is pi day, after all, and I am married to a math guy.  

From there, we went to the restaurant we had researched- the one we were sure would be open.  It was closed.  I am starting to think that the towns of Alpine and Pecos are trying to tell me and my husband something about our eating habits.  

We wandered a bit, did a quick Internet search and decided on a food truck option- Cow Dog: 

Having never eaten a Cow Dog before, I didn’t know what to expect, entirely.  The place did get really good online reviews, though, so I did expect good things.  

Mission accomplished.  Cas and I enjoyed our Cow Dogs and moved on to a park bench to eat our store-bought, tiny apple pie.  We headed in the direction of the observatory with a quick aside on the way at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute.  It’s got a lot of really neat walking trails and botanical garden features.  We stood in their visitor center for about ten minutes before we decided that we really ought to return in the morning.  In fact, the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute figures heavily into our plan for tomorrow.  We’re going to go there after breakfast, then head to Fort Davis for lunch.  Maybe we’ll have better luck finding open restaurants in that town.  

Anyhow, after our exploratory misssion to the research institute, we made our way up the mountain to the McDonald Observatory.  We had a whole day planned.  Cas booked tickets to four different things quite some time ago, and as it turns out, all four of the things were booked solid.  Spring break- who knew? 

Oh- here’s the view from the observatory: 

We started with a solar viewing.  It was a whole presentation about solar events and phenomena.  Since the live shot was pretty dull today (apparently, the sun isn’t doing much at this time), we got to look at years worth of solar footage, all condensed down to the really interesting bits.  

After that, we had tickets to a guided tour, done by the same astronomer as we had ding the first event.  He (Tom) was a super charismatic guy- quite the ambassador for the obeservatory, and quite the interesting person.  He took us through a little classroom work before we went up a little more of the mountain and into one of the buildings that houses a very large telescope.  It was extremely cool.  The telescope is mounted on two concrete pillars that have very deep foundation in the mountain, and are in no way attached to the building.  This keeps the scope steady.  Neat thing, too.  Tom moved the dome around, and it shook the building, but the scope stayed still.  

The twilight program was a classroom lesson again, this time headed up by a man named Marc.  He was about as good with kids as I have ever seen a person be.  He talked about the night sky in a way that was kid friendly to the point of being kid-centric, but it wasn’t dumbed down or insulting to their intelligence. He was a really, really good teacher.  

The final event of the evening was a star party.  That is supposed to feature some really great telescope time, a few indoor presentations and a big spiel out in in amphitheater.  It turned out to be very cloudy and a bit cold right at the beginning of the star party this evening, so I think a lot of people chickened out.  It was cold, but the clouds cleared for a pretty good chunk of time, and we dressed in layers.  Besides, one of the things we picked up at the grocery store was a package of single-serving wine bottles.  We had those in the midst of the star party.  I’m still not sure if we were supposed to do that, but my cousin Holly calls a glass of red her “wine jacket,” and any jacket would be welcome on a night like we were having.  Cas wanted to look through telescopes, and to do so, we needed all the jackets we could get.  

Anyhow, the scientist party with all the stars went on for a while.  A lot of the parents with small kids took off early, but it’s never good to be the last one out the door, so Cas and I took off after 10 but before midnight.  It’s pretty much time to get to sleep so we can get to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute tomorrow.  After that, it’s on to Marathon and the Gage Hotel.  Have a lovely evening, and be careful if you find yourself partying up with a bunch of science nerds.  They stay up entirely too late.