Banff in the Canadian Rockies, Sept 20 - 22

We had an uneventful drive from Calgary to Banff, about 2 hours west. Unfortunately, it is not sunny so the views are limited.

By Lake Louise hotel - flowers in the snow

  We got to our Blue Mountain Bed and Breakfast early (around 11:30) and it was too early to check in. It is on the corner of Caribou and Muskrat and has 5 parking spots. It is in a great location, just a block off the main streets, so we wandered to find food while waiting for the bed and breakfast to be ready. It is very very touristy here! Loads of shops and restaurants. Although it was only in the mid 40s and spitting rain, we ate outside (under an umbrella) at the open air market that is only held on Wednesdays, so that was fortunate. We wandered around it and then had some spicy Indian soup and Mark added a grilled cheese sandwich. After some more wandering, we went back to the bed and breakfast that let us in. A very modest room, but adequate. It feels like a hostel, but it is not cheap as it is still high season here.

   Despite the rain, we took a walk along the Bow River to the Bow River Falls and walked up the hill to the grand Banff hotel - palatial and expensive. In the 20s, rich people would spend the "season" there with its outdoor pool etc etc. We had a cup of tea and watched people, then walked back along the river to the bed and breakfast. We stayed in for the evening reading and eating sausage and a baguette.
     The next day we woke to snow and temperatures in the 30s. We had a surprisingly good breakfast (continental with well stocked) with several couples from England, as well as one couple from Virginia. One from Bournemouth, one from London and one from ? (Forgot). We expected most of our fellow guests would be younger, but these were all couples from middle age on up.
    We decided that, as we will probably never get back here, that we'd drive up to Lake Louise despite the weather. We knew that the visibility would not be great. We drove there and back mostly on the secondary road, the Bow River Trail. We stopped along the way and took photos, but they won't be stunning.

      Lake Louise is a huge tourist draw, so despite the weather, it was quite parked up. However, we were able to park by the lake and not at the satellite lot which would have required taking a shuttle. We did not walk far along the lake because it was just too wet. But, you could see that is must be stunning when the sun is out. The water is a beautiful and unusual color of blue from what is called "rock flour" which are small particulates from the glaciers that supply the lake. They add a blue reflective color.
     We walked into the big lodge there, but did not stay. We met a huge group of Chinese people and took their photo in a snow-covered garden...they took ours as well.
      Then we drove back "home" also along the back road. We rested for a bit and then went back out. We drove the Minnewanka loop which is not far out of town. The road goes by the bottom of the largest lake in the park, but it was so foggy and overcast that we did not see very much. Then we went up the road to the Norquay ski resort. Along the roadside we came across a small herd (9) of elk. The patriarch was huge - probably 10 points. Spotting them truly did make our day as we have not seen much wildlife.

Big elk - he was with about 7 others

      For dinner we walked to the Balkan restaurant, a recommended locally-owned Greek restaurant. We both had a lamb shank dish that was delicious, neither of which we expected we would have ordered, but the waiter talked us into it as the best dish in the house and it was truly delicious. But filling.
     The next morning, our last morning in Banff, it was still disappointingly overcast. But, we had a lively breakfast with a couple from Virginia. He is an airport architect and has been working in both Helena and Missoula.

Calgary, Canada, September 17-20

   At any rate, we finally got to a wonderful Bed and Breakfast called Westways. We are in a wonderful room with a little sitting room as well. It is gorgeous. We were too tired to do much and were delighted to find that there is a wealth of restaurants right around the corner. We ended up at Earl's Kitchen. Barbara had ahi tuna and Mark had Korean wings. It was all so good, especially the tuna, but we decided we'd to again tomorrow for happy hour and more tuna.

1 September 17 was a day of misturns. We had an uneventful drive up to the Canadian border and crossed at a very small border checkpoint.   We were supposed to stay on Canada's Route 2, but, somehow (I think we were chatting too much), we missed a tour at Fort Macleod  and ended up taking Route 3 west. We didn't realize it for an entire hour. We did notice

that we were getting into the mountains which we thought was strange, but we are not familiar enough with the geography to have it really stop us. We passed a huge mountain slide called Frank's Slide and just kept going. When we passed into British Columbia we knew that something was wrong. So, we stopped in Starwood found out that we had to backtrack over 60 miles. Sigh. It added over 2 hours to our trip. But, we had no choice and tried to be positive about it.  

    So, instead of arriving around 2, we arrived around 4:30. To compound our mistake, we also went to the wrong address for the Bed and Breakfast. Turns out that there are FOUR 25th Streets in Calgary - one in each quadrant. We went to the Northeast and we should have been in the Southwest. We rang the doorbell at the wrong house and finally called the B and B. Jonathan said that he hadn't heard the doorbell. It took a little while before he realized we were in the wrong part of the city. Mark was tired from all the driving, but had no choice but to drive through the city to the correct one. (Barbara is not on the car as it cost $90 extra for a second driver.)
     On the first morning, we had a sumptuous breakfast with a wonderful man from France who gave us many tips on places to stay in Brittany. We exchanged emails and we will call him when we are in Paris next year. There was also a nice young couple from Switzerland. It is the aspect of Bed and Breakfast that we most like - chatting with people, especially from around the world.
     On our first full day in Calgary we drove to Market Mall to ask some questions about the use of the new IPad and to buy an adapter so we can download photos from the camera. We stayed for an hour lesson on use of the ICloud and it was very informative.
    In the afternoon we walked along the Elbow River and ate at Earl's Kitchen where we both had ahi tuna for an early dinner.

    On our second full day in Calgary, we had a lovely and international breakfast once again....this time with a couple from the Netherlands. We decided to walk to into town - just over 2 kilometers each way. Our destination was the Glenbow Museum where we stayed about two hours. We spent the most time in an exhibit about "mavericks" of Alberta - those who helped settle it, the railroad barons and a diverse group of people. It was very interesting. In each room, there was a placard from the First Peoples explaining their take on the various things, such as the disruption that the railroad caused them. The second exhibit we lingered in was an exhibit about the First Peoples, also very interesting. We also spent some time in an exhibit about West Africa.

   Afterwards, we went to a supermarket called Sunterra where we had a coffee, bought some coffee for David and Maura and got some sausage for our trip tomorrow.
    Then we walked back to the B &B, took a bit of a rest/read and then went to Original Joes on 4th street where we both had fish tacos and Mark also had two tiny hamburger sliders.
    On the last morning in Calgary, we had another lovely breakfast with some more international folk and then took off for Banff.

Glacier National Park, September 15-17

  We left Maura and David on Friday morning, although Maura and I took Deniro for another blood test at the vet's first.
   Then, we drove to Glacier National Park via the east side of Flathead Lake. Similarly to the last time we visited Flathead, it was rainy and overcast.

Flathead Lake

    We took Route 2 East (which is the way we go from NH to visit Maine, too) into Glacier National Park. En route, we saw a bald eagle. We stopped at the West Entrance and took a few photos. That side of the park is closed due to wildfires which we could see burning in the distance. Then we drove to the Isaak Walton Inn in Essex which is quite remote. The Inn was built before WWII to house railroad workers. The Great Northern still goes through daily including two passenger trains. It is tradition to wave to it when it goes by.
   The Inn is rustic - no tvs, phone in the rooms and internet (of sorts) in the lobby.
    We ate dinner there the first night. (There is no where else to eat nearby, so it's a good idea!)

     When we woke in the morning of the 16th, it was 28 degrees! And, it had snowed! We drove to the West entrance of Glacier which was about 60 miles. It was crystal clear with blue skies and white snow, very beautiful. Route 49 was circuitous and gave us wonderful views into the park. The entrance to the eastern side of the Going to the Sun Road starts in St. Mary. It was only open to Logan Pass, about 17 miles. We stopped a lot along the lake, took a few short hikes and lots of photos as it was a perfect day to do that. But, as we approached Logan Pass, elevation over 6,000 feet, it got increasingly smoky and when we got to the pass, there was no point in taking photos. Luckily, we'd had such a lovely morning.
      On the way back down, we did take some photos of the only glacier that can be seen from the road, Jackson Glacier, but it was definitely in the haze. Glacier has lost the bulk of its glaciers which is very sad. They may all be gone quite soon, so we felt grateful to be able to see what we could.
     We also stopped at another entrance, Two Medicine where we took a short hike to a water fall, Falling Eagle and to see one of the Two Medicine lakes.

      We ate at an inn in St. Mary - very good.
       When we got back to the Izaak Walton we went into the outdoor hot tub which was fun and not something we normally get to do in the cold.
       The next morning, we drove back on the eastern side of Glacier and up to the Canadian border.

A few days in Missoula, Sept 13 and 14

  The big drama of these two days was Deniro consuming about a pound of grapes during the night. They can be highly toxic and deadly to dogs and he is puppy. David took him to the vets where they gave him a detox. The scary thing about grape poisoning is that it can take days to manifest itself, so even though he was active and normal, it did not mean that he was "out of the woods." So - there has been a lot of careful watching of him and he's had 2 blood tests. So far, so good, but very nerve-wracking.

Dinner on Discovery Way

   Maura's back is giving her issues after her fall last year, so she took some days of recuperating.
   We drove around Missoula, did some shopping and Mark made two wonderful dinners.
    Montana has had intense wildfires and the air has been very smoky.
    When we arrived, it was shorts weather, but the next two days were chilly and....on the 13th, there was actually rain which caused comments wherever we went as people are so happy to get rain after a very dry summer.

Mount Jumbo in Maura and David’s back yard. Steeper than it looks!

 The view from Jumbo toward their house which is in the distance.

Deniro, the grape eater

On the Way to Missoula, Montana Sept 10-12

    We started our next adventure by attending the wedding of Katie Sulzer, a lovely garden wedding. It was lovely with a wonderfully diverse crowd. Davide is Italian, so there was a contingent from Italy. Amita, Will's wife, is Indian, so there was a contingent born in India. Zarah, who married them, is Eritrean. Then, there were Katie's high school friends, her Wellesley friends and friends like us from the island. Both Jim and Barbara gave Katie away. Katie and Davide dispensed with some of the traditions such as maid of honor and best man as well as some of the traditional practices. Their vows included to "argue fairly" which we thought was a nice touch. Dinner was catered by Dylan and Claudia and served family style (also very nice). And, music was supplied by Miss Fairchild, a six-piece band led by Travis Richard. They were fabulous. (We went to hear them again at the Brewery the next day.)

Katie and Davide

      On the Monday Mark and I took the early boat off island. We stopped in Bridgewater to see Cal and Alice and went to Good Days Restaurant, one of their favorites. Then we stopped in Dedham at the Apple Store where Mark replaced his very old IPad. Then we drove to the Rodeway Inn outside of Logan Airport.
     We met Jecca, Willy, Otis and Hank at Redbones Barbecue in Davis Square which was a lot of fun. Otis just began as a student at Middlesex and Hank got a part in the next Concord Youth Theater Play - all good things.

     
We had a little glitch in checking our Delta flights as we got a notification that our flight out of Minneapolis was cancelled because our Boston flight was delayed. So, we got on the OLD Rodeway Inn computer in a hallway and managed to book a 5:40 am flight and rebook the Minneapolis flight. So, that meant a 3 am wake up call and a shuttle to the airport. It was a beautiful day and the flights went smoothly. We paid for extra leg room which was nice. We had a layover in Minneapolis and had a great breakfast.
    Flying into Montana we could see forest fires burning on several steep ridges. Missoula's air quality has been awful due to smoke and haze. It was interesting and awful to see the fires from the air.
     We arrived in Missoula and picked up a Nissan Sentra and drove to David and Maura's new house in East Missoula where we got to meet their new pup, Deniro. Mark made a wonderful meal for David and Maura to come home to.

Visit to Norman and Jane in Newport Center, August

We went overnight to see Norman and Jane in Newport Center. (Jane retired this year, so...reason to celebrate!)

We drove to Brownington, Vermont to the Old Stone House, a very early grammar school where students boarded in an amazing stone building built by hand by their teacher, Alexander Twilight, the first person of African-American descent to graduate from college (Middlebury) and a very early African-American teacher. It was very interesting and including a hill and observation point overlooking the area.

Lake Memphremagog in the distance

Brownington

Later we had a lovely meal and a campfire in their backyard.

The next day, we drove over the border crossing at Derby Line to Stanstead to have croissants, pastries and baguettes! We tested to see if Mark's passport has finally been fixed and...yay! it has. So, hopefully, we won't have to stop and be questioned every time we come back to the States. (Mark's passport was lost years ago)

Norman and Jane

And, the next day, we picked Hank up from Camp Billings at Lake Fairlee and drove to Bethel, Maine, where we met Jecca and Willy.

Hank and Charlie, a friend from Cabin 9

Binghamton Central High School 50th Reunion! Aug 11-13

Barbara attended her 50th high school reunion. Who ever thought that those words would ever come out of the mouth.....unbelievable to think that 50 years has passed. We went to the 20th reunion and didn't have much fun, so it was tempting to skip this. But, Bob Feldman made personal calls which convinced a lot of reluctant people to make the effort.

Cindy stayed with Barbara at the Doubletree hotel where the reunion was held.

The day that I arrived, I took a nostalgic walk around the old neighborhood and over to Recreation Park, a place that was important to my childhood. It was happy/sad. It was sad that Mom and Dad's house is still boarded up from a fire, but a neighbor told me that she was hopeful that it was being resolved as it has started to be shown by realtors.

The Merry Go Round - forever free of charge

Bandstand

The fountain that used to be for children. We were forbidden to go in during the polio scare

Recreation Park swimming pool on the site where we used to ice skate

The Woods - site of many happy memories

Statue to George Johnson who made the park possible and forever free of charge

The first night was a "mixer" - sort of a cocktail party. It was very enjoyable. First of all, we had a big class (450+). And, we had a January and a June graduation and the classes did not mix much. So, there were lots of people that I either did not know, or had forgotten. The nice thing about being 67 or 68 is that age is a great equalizer - no bragging, no cliques, no posturing. So, it was a lovely evening and memories were jogged and lots and lots of wonderful stories were told.

The next day, I met cousin Len and Carol for breakfast at Jody's on Upper Court Street where we often ate with Mom and Bob.

In the middle of the day, I went over to Kathy's and together with Judy Coleman, we went to Johnson City for Tom's 70th birthday party. Wow - what a production - a band, even. We only stayed a little while as we were going to the dinner for the reunion and the party would probably just be getting revved up by then. But, it was nice to see his house and to meet his partner, Jennifer, who is a nurse and a potter. (I got a few pieces from her.)

Laurie and Tom on his 70th

Tom, Laurie, Jennifer

Kathy, Laurie, Tom, Jennifer in Tom's backyard

Judy and Tom

Band tent

Kathy, Linda Reckow, Cindy, me

Girl Scout Troop 10

Kathy, Cindy, me

Then Cindy and I went down, met Kathy, and attended the dinner party for the reunion. The almost-40 people who have died, had photos on a screen which was sobering and sad. There were some nice speeches, including one by our favorite teacher, Mr. Lorden who is well into his 90s, but still very sharp. (He reminded me of Cal, Mark's dad.) He was the last principal of BCHS as it is now merged with North High School. Cindy, Kathy and I told Mr. Lorden how much he meant to us, especially Kathy and Cindy who said that their chemistry courses in college were easy because they had been so well prepared.

Cindy, Kathy and Judy Coleman at dinner

Mr. Lorden, former chemistry teacher extraordinarire and later the last principal of BCHS

Again, it was a lovely gathering - stories, stories, stories.

Then, on Sunday, I drove back to White River Junction and, amazingly, Mark and I converged at the Toyota rental within 4 minutes of each other.

The amazing gas mileage I got - $22 worth of gas for the whole trip!

Reunion of Childhood Friends, August 7-11, 2017

Barbara's closest childhood friends had their first ever reunion. Some of us had not seen each other since the early 1970s, so it was quite an occasion. We met at Cindy's family's Laurel Lake house south of Binghamton. Barbara and Kathy drove together from Binghamton and Diane arrived from Rotterdam, near Albany.

It was idyllic. We had no responsibilities - we talked, ate, talked, swam, talked, kayaked, walked, talked. The time we had been apart vanished and we discovered how much we still all have in common and love each other.

The cottage for 4 wonderful days!

Laurel Lake

We grew up in each other's homes and with each other's parents. Three of us went to St. Thomas Aquinas in elementary school. Two of us went to West Junior and three of us went to Binghamton Central High School. But, we always met in the neighborhood!

We went on a rather wet hike in the Salt Springs State Park only a few miles away.

Looking down at the brook

We were often hiking right in the river

This was more challenging a climb than it appears!

One of the falls in the park

Cindy led the way

Diane

Diane, Cindy, Kathy - best friends from the neighborhood

We walked around the lake more than once. By happenstance, one of Diane's nephews had bought a house just across the lake a few days before and we all kayaked over.

Diane on Laurel Lake, her first kayak trip

View from the cottage

Cindy

Diane

There was way too much food as we overcooked, but the menu was amazing - homemade cauliflower soup, chicken florentine, blueberry pancakes, pork tenderloin, spiedis, crustless quiche, homemade cookies, pie........ Luckily, one of Cindy's brothers, Marty, came over to mow the lawn and we gave him some.

Speidies about to go on the grill

Having fun!

Dinner on the porch

Everyone pitched in

Our selfie

We all hope that we can make it an annual gathering.