I went to visit Erin the week after Easter (because it was much cheaper) and it was a better weekend. The weather in Toronto was OK while I was there. Certainly better than the snow I had as I was leaving Edmonton.

When I arrived in Toronto, Erin was there to greet me and we went to pick up a car rental. Picking up the car was smooth enough except when I was trying to leave the parking lot, I went the wrong way and had to turn around to get out. I did my first driving on Toronto’s freeways and managed to survive. There was just one scary incident with a car kind of passing us, half in my lane and half off the edge. It was late at night so there wasn’t too much traffic.

We decided to rent a car so we could go to near Kitchener and see Jamey and Jen on their farm on Saturday. We had a nice visit. I took some pictures of their kids and they have grown a lot since we saw them a year ago. Driving there and back was ok, nothing too scary but it is way busier than Alberta highways. We returned the car back to the airport and took transit back to Erin’s place. The subway was going under some repairs so we had a little detour on buses but we caught the connections well and it didn’t take too long.

On Sunday we went for a little walk around Erin’s neighbourhood and then to her Uncle’s for supper.

On Monday we went to High Park for a walk, took some pictures at the mini-zoo which is still there for now. We had a decent meal at a vegetarian/flexitarian restaurant where it is buffet style and you pay based on the weight of your food.

Tuesday was my final day and we walked along Bloor, Erin got some gifts for a friend. We were going to have Korean for supper but it started to pour and so we decided the chicken place near her was a better idea. My flight back was smooth enough and I managed to remember where I parked my car and make it back home for a late night before work the next day.

Click below to see pictures of the trip Continue reading Toronto April 2013 →

I went to Calgary for Easter to see my family and the pets. I took some pictures of mostly the pets.
See the pictures below. Continue reading Easter →

Over Christmas Erin and I had wanted to go to Star Wars Identities because it was in Edmonton. We decided that early on New Year’s Day would be a good time to go and it was. It was not that busy until near the end when we had spent a long time going through everything. It was quite neat and I recommend any one who is into Star Wars to see it.

There is a lot of information about all the props, costumes, etc. There are neat concept art and ideas that they had but changed later like Luke was going to be a female! There is a science aspect to it about what influences people to be the way they are and uses Star Wars characters as examples.

As you go through you build your own identity. Here is mine http://sw-id.com/50e338e225926

Here is Erin’s: http://www.starwarsidentities.com/hero/en-ca/50e338f298be3

Click below to see my pictures Continue reading Star Wars Identities →

After Christmas on a cold sunny day we went to the zoo. Our main goal was to see the Penguins, Tigers and Hippos.
We were successful in all accounts. The penguins weren’t busy because it was so cold and we could stay there as long as we wanted.
The tigers were running and walking around and let us get some pictures. Once we got cold we went indoors and our lens all fogged up!
The hippos were eating and swimming once done. I guess they don’t have to wait!
I got some quite good pictures I was happy with the results.

Click below to see the pics Continue reading Calgary Zoo Winter Time →

On the last weekend in August I went backpacking with Erin and her dad. We drove up to Cadomin Friday night. Dealt with a leaky tire Saturday morning then went to Jasper.
We got to the trail-head around 11am. It is 12 km to the Jacques lake campground and has a slight elevation gain but not very much. We had perfect weather – it was nice and sunny but not too hot. There was not too many bugs so that was a plus!

My backpack seemed to work pretty good. I rented it from MEC for the weekend. My shoulders were quite sore by the end of the trip but not too sore.

It was a nice hike. The beginning of the trail is an old fire trail so it is a little wider. There were gravel washes in multiples from previous storms that we had to walk over. It made things a little more interesting. After about 4 kms it turned into a single track trail through trees and next to lakes. For most of the trip there is either a lake or creek next to you. There are many nice views of the mountains and the water. It took us about 4.5 hours to get to the camp including stopping for lunch and snacks.

It was a nice campground. We were the only ones there and some of the sites hadn’t been used for awhile. We got a nice site. After we had set up camp we went for a little walk to a ranger station next to the lake. On the way to the ranger station we saw a moose in the water. It was pretty neat and didn’t really care that we were there. Each day we saw about 6 people on the trail. Most of them went to the campground and back in a day.

After a nice long sleep we got up and noticed that there were two moose eating in the picnic area! The sun wasn’t yet over the mountains so it wasn’t too bright out side yet. Jake tried to scare them away using a bear banger. First he launched a flare by mistake and they didn’t really move. He then used a bear banger and they moved a little bit more but still not really and they went back to eating. The bear banger was a bit like a firework going off. Eventually the moose moved far enough away and we could get to our food that was hanging and start a fire.

It was quite cool in the morning so we wanted a fire to help us warm up. It probably went down to around zero at night. I was warm in sleeping bag but once I was out of it, I quickly got cold!

After breakfast and packing the tent up we again left around 11. This time it took 4 hours and a bit. We were a little faster.

Both ways we saw some fairly fresh tracks that looked like maybe a wolf was hunting a deer or something. The tracks were pretty neat.

We got back in the car and we were on our way back. All in all it was a good introduction to my first real backpacking trip

We took Erin’s camera as it is more weatherproof and not so heavy! Erin took most of the pictures. I took some and Jake took some. Some pictures turned out quite well! Other ones not as much but it is hard to tell if you got a good one or not.

The pictures are below Continue reading Jacques Lake Backpacking trip →

For the August Long weekend Erin and I went to my parents. We mostly relaxed while in Calgary. We also made pickles. Here are the pictures from the weekend: Continue reading Pickle Making Long Weekend →

For Easter I left Edmonton late Thursday night for Toronto. There was a snow storm in Edmonton in the morning to make things interesting. It had mostly melted in the afternoon but my plane left late not because of weather but because it was late from LA or somewhere. My flight was smooth and Erin picked me up when I arrived at 1:30 am or so and we took a cab back.

On Friday we went for lunch at a German place with Erin’s friend. I had a good wiener schnitzel that came with a potato salad. After lunch we walked around Parkdale and went to Trinity Bellwoods park. While walking we came across a big parade for Good Friday and watched it for a bit. For supper we made a light meal at Erin’s place.

Saturday we picked up lunch at the chicken restaurant that is near Erin`s place at made our way to the ferry to the Toronto islands. Before we took the ferry we found a nice place by the lake to sit and eat. The ferry seemed to take a long time to come for some reason. We walked around some of the islands and took some pictures. It was a nice clear day. After taking the ferry back we met Erin’s cousin and had burgers. Mine was quite good. We then went back to Erin’s place and got ready to go to a Pirate themed party at one of Erin’s friends. The pirate party was quite good and had some pirate themed activities. Such as sword-fights and lighting a cannon.

Sunday involved lots of travel. We went to Erin’s uncle to borrow his car and drive to near Kitchener/Waterloo to see Jamey and his family. His twins have grown a lot since we last saw them. Jen is due any day with a new baby. We had a nice lunch, played Settlers of Catan. Much to our chagrin (not Erin’s) Erin stormed at the end and beat us. We got a tour of the chickens and had a nice supper before driving back.

Monday was my last day there. We bought lunch at a nearby restaurant to Erin. I got a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. We took the subway to High Park. There is a small little zoo in high park that we walked to. It was quite interesting. It is free and may be closing down soon. After a nice walk, cool at times with the wind we took the subway back and Erin made a nice quiche with quinoa and kale among other things. My plane left late at night but on time. I arrived on time for a late night before going back to work the next day

See the pictures below Continue reading Easter in Toronto →

I had a quick trip to go and see Erin for a bit. I left work a little early on Friday and got back late on Monday. I took Monday off instead of Friday for Remembrance day as Erin was off of school on Monday.

To get to the airport I decided to try jetset parking. It is right near the airport. Booking online the wepark was the same price as the youpark so I did that. I had a fairly smooth drive, dropped off my car, I could even check in my bag and caught a shuttle right away to the airport and could then go right to security. Security was quite busy but they had all the lanes open and it didn’t take too long. I had a hamburger at Montana’s for supper with some ok potato salad. The flight was full and it we got on and left basically on time.

I watched some curling and cfl that was on the flight and maybe drank too much club soda and water as I really had to pee after we landed and there was really no bathrooms until after you picked up your bags. Just one toilet and a big line. It seemed to take forever for my bag to come. Once I got it, I could go see Erin and try to find a bathroom! The close one was closed so we had a ways to go before I could relieve myself.

We found a taxi and made our way to Erin’s. The next day we had an easy morning, followed by some dress shopping for Erin. I got to talk to a guy that had two daughter’s and a wife and wasn’t so happy to be clothes shopping. I also bought a new cheap belt to replace mine that is falling apart. After Erin found a nice dress we did some grocery shopping and she had 4 hands instead of her normal 2 to bring food back. We made a nice supper of chicken mole, yellow rice and squash. It was very tasty. We watched an episode of Nikita that I brought for Erin as her Uncle’s house was in it. I will have to visit his place some time it seems very nice.

On Sunday we went to the zoo and had beautiful weather. We took the subway and 2 buses to get to the zoo. It all went very smoothly. We did not have to wait very long at the connections For some reason when we got to the zoo there was a long lineup to get in. I don’t think they were expecting as many people to come as did. They had a promotion with groupon that made the tickets quite cheap. The layout of the zoo was not how I remembered it. It was as big as I remembered it. We did not see the whole zoo. I took lots of pictures which you can see below. We had a nice lunch at the zoo and took more pictures in the afternoon. On the way back we took one bus and multiple subway trains. It took about the same time as in the morning. For some reason the heat was just blasting on the bus and we were glad to get off it. It made me remember some of my old school bus days when the heat was on! At night we watched Chicken Run. It was my first time seeing it and I quite enjoyed it.

For supper we went to a nice restaurant with in walking distance of Erin’s place called the Butler’s Pantry. I had a slice of vegetable curry pie with salad that had a good dressing made in house. The pie kind of reminded me of a giant samosa. I was quite happy with it. Erin had a zucchini cake. We shared a dessert of a chocolate cake. It wasn’t too sweet and also good but maybe a little bit too much.

Since we didn’t get enough walking in at the Zoo and the day before we decided to walk again. This time we walked to the University for Erin to drop off some papers. We then walked towards Yonge St. We stopped at a sandwich place for lunch. It had fried vegetables and mushrooms on a big bun and I got turkey on it. I enjoyed it but it was a little greasy for me. We walked down Yonge to Queen St. W. On Queen we stopped at a Starbucks for coffee and to sit for a bit. Erin saw a yarn store that looked interesting. It was called Romni and was giant. I have never seen so much yarn before!

We walked to Ossington where we caught a bus as we needed to get back to Erin’s and were tired. We had a nice salad for supper using the leftover chicken mole and also nuts and berries and goat cheese. Oh Erin also introduced dutch rusks to me. They were quite tasty and not too hard or crunchy. They are messy with crumbs though. We also had salsa and chips.

We took the subway and bus to get to the airport. We made quite good time and there was basically no line for security. My flight left and arrived a little early which was nice. It was basically full. There wasn’t really anything good on tv and TSN didn’t come in for most of the flight so I only watched a little of the Monday Night NFL game. Futurama was on that was good. I was quite hungry on the plane so I bought a macrobar. They are vegan bars. It was interesting. I was hoping it had more protein than it did. I doubled up on my snacks and didn’t drink as much water this time.

My bag came quite quickly, the shuttle was there right away for me and I barely had to leave the door. My car was running and waiting for me when I arrived. The drive back was smooth and quiet. I was glad there has been no snow yet. All in all it was a great trip!

See my photos of the zoo below Continue reading Toronto Trip →

This is the 3rd post of 3 from the August long weekend.

Erin’s dad and brother went on a 120km hike for 10 days or so and we were their designated people to pick them up. So instead of the busy 3 hour trip up the number 2 we took the roundabout way through the mountains. It took 10 or so hours but lots of nice views!

After picking Erin’s dad and brother up at the icefields centre, on our way to Rocky Mountain House we stopped at Whirlpool point. Near the whirlpool is Alberta’s oldest tree which is over 1000 years old. I took some pictures of it and the area around it. On the way back we also saw a small black bear munching on some grass. I didn’t get any pictures of it. Some people were doing their best to try to get a physical from the bear.

See pictures below Continue reading Oldest Tree in Alberta →

This is post 2 of 3 from the August long weekend.

On the Saturday we went to the Calgary Zoo. It was a nice day, hot but not too hot.

Lucky for us maybe but not for Jaclyn she had to work that day. We got to hear her do a talk about the elephants, touch some elephant poo that was covered and hold part of a tusk. Tusks weigh a lot!

Jaclyn also showed Erin and I around the butterflies and the caterpillar tree.

We then got to follow Jaclyn as she set up for a bat presentation. She gave a little talk and would answer people’s questions while showing Sundar. She was a nice big fruit bat.

It was a nice day at the zoo we got to see some neat things. A tiger was running, a tiger sleeping with his feet up in the air and looking very happy. The male lion was roaring and moved around a little bit. Grizzly and black bears were moving around and taking a bath.

See part 1 photos below. Click on one of the photos to see them all Continue reading Calgary Zoo →