Canmore Snow Festival

Susie was out to visit for the weekend.  Our original plan was to go skiing on Saturday, but just after we started to head out, bad weather came in and we headed back to Airdrie.

On Sunday, we headed out to Canmore. They were having their snow festival and Main Street was blocked off to traffic and they had nordic tracks in the snow to people to cross-country ski up and down the street.

Here's some pictures of our day in Canmore:

View looking north on Main Street.  You can barely see the cross-country ski tracks.

View looking south.

One of the ice carvers.

We went to the Georgetown Inn for lunch - Dan and I have stayed there a few times.  It's so cozy and quaint, and part of the Charming Inns of Alberta.

Sitting in the Miner's Lantern Pub in the Georgetown Inn.

Better lighting in the lobby.

We threw little carrots to a bunny.  He gladly ate them up!

Gosh, he was just so cute!

We also toured around Canmore looking for show homes we could walk through, but didn't see anything.  That's another activity we love to do when we get together!

Seascape Stole for FictionKNITsta's!

I signed up for FictionKNITsta's! which is a book tour of authors across Canada teamed up with a knitter.  Us knitters received the book written by the author, and we had to read it and get inspiration to knit something from it.

My author is Dora Dueck, and her book is What You Get at Home.  It's a series of short stories, and I really enjoyed it.  There is a theme of water and rivers throughout the stories, so I decided to knit "Seascape Stole".  Here's some pictures of it.

Before blocking

During blocking.

Off the blocking wires, and a picture of Dora's book.

So that scarf is finished.  I'm also hoping to complete another scarf/shawl for Dora so she has options of what to wear when she is at her book readings.  There's also a chance the tour comes to Calgary, so I'll be able to meet her in person and get her to sign the book!

Grand Canyon and Las Vegas!

Susie and Steve were going to Las Vegas for the Red Flag event, and I tagged along for the adventure.  Steve went to Red Flag on his own, for Tuesday and Wed, but all three of us went to the Grand Canyon on Monday.  Here's some pictures:

Driving towards Lake Mead.

Steve taking pictures, Susie patiently watching.

Me at one of the outlooks.



Our picnic at the Grand Canyon.



Elk wandering around on the way back to the visitors' centre.



Like I mentioned, Steve went to the Red Flag event on his own, and on Tuesday, Susie and I went to a gun range and went shooting.  I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it! 

Determining my dominant eye.  It's my right eye, by the way.

They suggested a Glock 19 for me, and I'm really glad.  It was light enough and small enough that I felt I could handle it easily.

Susie did really well.  Here's a picture of her beside the target sheet at the end of the session.

Here's the hotel room I had at the Flamingo.  It was huge!!

Christmas 2012 in Kalispell

We went with Kevin and Marie to Kalispell for Christmas.  Here's a picture of the four of us at Famous Dave's on Christmas Eve (we went to the restaurant before the hotel, since it was on the way):

Dan, me, Marie Kevin at Famous Dave's.

We also went to Moose's Bar and Pizza, since we were told it's the best place in town for pizza.  It's right on the main street through Kalispell and easy to find.  Inside, was really dark, and on every hard surface, people had scratched in their name or initials.  You can see the carving if you look hard enough.  Oh, and the pizza really was good!

Dan and I

And Marie getting in on the action, too!

For Christmas dinner, we went to Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, about 15 minutes north of Kalispell.  It was either that or Chinese buffet in Kalispell.  Hardly anything was open.  Glad we opted for Grouse Mountain Lodge.  It was beautifully decorated and the food was great.  Sadly, I forgot to get the camera out and get pictures of ourselves. 

Pre-Christmas Dinner

We had Laurie and Jim, and Kevin and Marie over for dinner on Sat night.  On the menu - individual beef wellingtons with a wild mushroom cream sauce, Italian roasted potatoes, and sauteed brussel sprouts.  I'm not a fan of brussel sprouts, but I saw Jamie Oliver's Christmas special and he separated all the leaves, sauteed them in butter then added fresh ground pepper and freshly grated parmesan cheese.  It was a hit, and they were eaten up by everyone!

Here's a picture of us part way through dinner.

The next day, Kevin, Marie, Dan and I headed to Kalispell, MT for Christmas.  More to come on that trip.

Mexico! Part 3

Here's some pictures from the remainder of our trip:

View from outside our door.

Obligatory water shot! :-)

Here's one of the shuttles from the cruise ships that come into the pier beside the hotel.

Hanging out in the beach cabanas.

And this is our balcony - a full size hammock!

This was the night we went for the surf and turf dinner on the beach with a jazz quartet.  With a full moon!

There were about 10 tables set up for the special dinner.  I think they did a great job setting up.

And this was the main course.

This is the picture from the photographer that came around.  It was a bit breezy, but still really nice!

A view from our balcony towards the Gulf.

We took a day trip over to Cozumel.  Very pretty.

We came across this little bar while walking around Cozumel - that it was hilarious!

This fountain (that wasn't working) was just beside the ferry terminal.  The yacht you see in the background sailed into sight while we were there.



Here's a close up of the ship.  There's a helicopter on the back and at least two boats on it.

 

And that, folks, is the end of the trip.  No pictures of airports or the snow that awaited us when we returned.  We're looking forward to our next trip to the Royal.

Mexico Part 2

After the ATV Tour, we went speedboating and parasailing.

Just at the beginning and Dan can hardly contain his giggles! hahaha!

Cue giggles!

On our way to parasailing!

This is the parasail we went up on.

A little kiss while we were up there!

And coming in for our landing!

After our big day of ATVing, speedboating and parasailing, we stopped for a snack of tortilla chips, refried beans and green chili sauce.  It was fantastic!

And what better way to cap off a spectacular day than with a gourmet meal!  This was the best 50th birthday dinner ever!

We went fairly early for dinner before it got really crowded.  We had excellent service and I'm guessing it's because we were one of the only tables.

Mexico! Part 1

The trip finally rolled around - we had booked it in April, so waited seven months for it - and it was worth it!

Here's some pictures:

Here's a shot from the plane heading into Cancun.

Here's the entrance to the ferry pier at Playa del Carmen going to Cozumel.

Here's the hotel we stayed at - The Royal.

View to the Gulf of Mexico from the Lobby.

There's this little alleyway from the main building to the north buildings, and it's called Alley of the Kiss.

View of the room.

An insuite jacuzzi.

Looking into the room from the balcony.

There's a pier right beside the hotel, but regular people aren't allowed to use it.  It's only for the use of ferries from cruise ships to Playa del Carmen.

Here's a shot from the beach looking towards the hotel.

Relaxing at one of the many lounge/bars on site.

By the main fountain outside the lobby.

This is where we went for our big activity day!

Drawing in the sand  - CR + DR!

This is the beach where we went for ATV'ing, speedboating and parasailing.

The start of our ATV trip



Look closely - it's an alligator, not a log!
 

We had an unexpected stop on the ATV trail (the leader's ATV broke down) so we took a few pictures while we waited for a replacement ATV to show up.

Dan is taking a look at the ATV.  The guy walking in the blue shorts was one of the other guys in our group.  He was from Russia - interesting.

On our way back from ATV'ing, we saw this animal.  They called it a raccoon.

One of the leaders threw out a bag of doritos to bait the raccoon to stay on the side of the road for us to take pictures.  I think they felt bad that we had to wait 15 - 20 minutes while they got a new ATV.

Coming up to the end of the ATV tour.