Mt. Indefatigable

Our first official hike of the summer was at Mt. Indefatigable near Kananaskis, AB.  My friend Brooke invited us to meet her and her friends at their campsite, about 2 hours outside of Calgary.  We decided to bring Penny along with us on the adventure.  We arrived early in the morning and headed to Mt. Indefatigable.  When we reached the trail, we were greeted with this sign:

The trail was still open, but was basically 'hike at your own risk'.  Luckily, we had Penny with us to scare off the bears.  So, we started up the mountain equipped with bug spray, backpacks with water and lunch, and walking sticks.  The entire hike was about 7 km total but we didn't quite make it up to the summit.  It was an overcast day which was perfect, not too hot and no rain.  Here is the view from the bottom:

The beginning of the hike was shaded by the trees and the path was a nice steady incline, at first.

We crossed a stream and that's when our hike got increasingly more difficult.

After crossing the creek, the path got much steeper and guided us along the edge of the ridge.  We had amazing views of the mountains and lake below, but had to keep a close eye on our steps as we climbed up the mountain.

Penny did such a good job on her first hike.  As we hiked further and further up the mountain, the trail began to turn, winding up toward the summit.  We reached the tree line and found snow!  Snow, in July!  Penny was beside herself...

We decided to head back down as we realized that the snow made for a slippery, more treacherous hike.  So, we turned around and headed back down, looking for a nice place to stop for lunch.

You can barely make out a boat on the lake below.

Penny checked out the view below.

After lunch, we began the trek down the mountain.  It was MUCH easier but a little scary since there was lots of loose gravel.  We stopped to take a few photos on the way down.

View from below of our new friends heading down the trail

When we reached the bottom, we walked down to the lake.  Brooke decided to take a swim in the glacier-fed lake.  It was surprisingly not freezing and Penny decided to join her.

After the hike, we got on the road to head back to Calgary.  Thankfully, we didn't see any grizzlies, but we did catch a glimpse of a coyote and a couple of Rocky Mountain Sheep.

Stampede 2012!

We finally got the opportunity to experience the infamous Calgary Stampede that we've heard so much about since moving here.

It was eerily similar to the Houston Rodeo and despite some obvious differences between Canada and the US, we are continuing to discover how similar the cities of Houston and Calgary are.  Calgary transformed into stampede-mode almost over night, and we discovered that during Stampede, everyone is a cowboy...

Matt and I, of course, didn't want to feel left out, so we both invested in some cowboy boots.  We didn't purchase hats, but maybe next year.  Throughout the week of Stampede, everyone got all decked out in their western gear and joined the celebration, wearing their boots, hats, denim and plaid everywhere, including work.  This year was actually the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede.

Trying to get into the Stampede spirit...

Not sure why Matt is wearing his bike helmet but you get the idea.

The first night of the Stampede, Matt and I checked out the fairgrounds, where there was a big carnival.  We rode a few rides and walked around to see what the stampede was all about.  The people-watching was very entertaining.  There was pretty much any kind of food you could want, including deep-fried Oreos and Twinkies.  There were games, shows, horses, bulls, goats, and lots of parties.  Matt and I agreed that we'd never seen so many cowboy hats in one city at one time before, not even in Houston during the rodeo.

The next day, we went to see some of the shows that were going on in the Saddle Dome.  We got to see the mini chuck-wagon races, the heavy horse show, and the Stampede Show Riders.

After seeing some of the shows and walking the rest of the fairgrounds, we walked up 17th Avenue to get some dinner.  17th Avenue, otherwise known as The Red Mile, consists mostly of bars and restaurants.  During Hockey season, Flames' fans walk the red mile after games.  During Stampede, the whole street becomes one big party.  We grabbed dinner, a few drinks and then headed home.  Each night, there were fireworks all throughout the city celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Stampede.  One night, Matt and I rode our bikes to a bridge near our house to get a great view of the fireworks.

Our first Stampede experience was a success!  Book your trips for next July for a good time!  Yeehaw! (...or as they say in Calgary, Yahoo!)

2 Americans on Canada Day

July 1st was Canada Day, a day to celebrate Canada and being Canadian.  It's very similar to our 4th of July.  Matt and I were excited to join in the fun despite the fact that we're not Canadian! We dressed in our most Canadian outfits and jumped on our bikes to head downtown.

It was about a 7.25 km ride to the core (that's about 4.5 miles for all of you non-metric users).  It was a nice downhill trip and we arrived at Prince's Island around 10:30AM.  

We look Canadian, right?

We wanted to be sure to arrive in time to be part of the living Canadian flag, of course!  And, this was actually the first EVER Calgary living Canadian flag, so we are now a part of Canadian history.  We waited in line to get our t-shirts and then found our spots.  We stood with 100s of other people to be part of the flag.  

It was a bit chaotic, so while we were waiting for everyone to get organized and for the picture to be taken, an MC was asking entertaining questions of the crowd such as "Who is your favorite Canadian?" and "What is Canada's favorite sport?".  There is actually a surprising number of famous Canadians (Ryan Reynolds, Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, Nelly Furtado, Keanu Reeves, Celine Dion, Jim Carey, and Dan Aykroyd to name a few).  Then, just before they were about to snap the picture, the crowd began to sing the Canadian National Anthem in both English and French.  It was a bit awkward for us non-Canadians since we didn't know the words.

Here's Matt while everyone around us was singing the national anthem.

Finally, they took the picture...

Can you see us???

After that, we walked around and enjoyed the festivities.  There were bands playing, food trucks, and lots of tents to check out. The 70 degree sunny weather held out until around 12:30 but then the clouds rolled in and it began to drizzle.  We took cover in the new bridge over the Bow River that connects downtown with Kensington.

After the rain stopped, we decided we'd had enough celebrating at the Canada Day festival, so we rode our bikes to Kensington to watch the Euro Cup final.  After the game, we began the trek back home.  The 7.25 km trip to the city was a nice leisurely ride, but the ride home was MUCH different.  It was uphill and probably the hardest bike ride of my life!  It took us about an hour to reach our house and we were exhausted!

Overall, it was a great Canada Day in Calgary.  Next up:  Calgary Stampede!

Summer Trip Back to the US of A

Just a few highlights from my amazing trip back to the states in June:

1.  Celebrating my dad's and brother's birthday at my Mom and Dad's house with family

2.  Water balloon fun with Brandon and spending time with Ryan

3.  The hot summer weather!!

4.  Wine tastings at 3 different wineries on the Bucks County Wine Tour for my brother's birthday

5.  Mom's yummy cooking, especially her penne with pink vodka sauce

6.  Outlet shopping with Mom and Jenny

7.  Driving around PA and taking in the beautiful scenery

8.  Trip to Rice's Flea Market with Jenny even though it was raining

9.  Visiting with family friends Jane and Frank and listening to all of their amazing stories (they've been married 60 years!)

10.  Playing with the pups:  Maddie, Daisy and Kita (Jenny and Dave's dog)

11.  Seeing Aunt Kathy and Lauren's classes on their last day of school

12.  Skinny margarita's at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jeff's

13.  Visiting Jake and Jack

14.  Road trip to Virginia with Jenny and Josh to Jen's family lake house

15.  Pontoon boat ride at the lake house

16.  Being the only "Canadian" in our first annual Air Hockey Tournament (apparently this was an advantage)

17.  Seeing old friends, especially Jen who came all the way from Thailand

Shout out to Mike:  "If I could turn back time..." I'd do it all again!