Fog Burn

I went out today in search of photo ops...and found a damp fog. I was okay with the fog, as I had noticed not having many photos of the community in fog. Probably because no one feels like taking photos in the fog, but it think they add a certain soft quality to the photos...or haze...

I was out for about a half hour and then my lenses began to fog and mist over, so packed it in and headed back home again. The danger sign you see is on the Breakwater that the government has refused to take responsibility for, and it is deteriorating badly. Before long, it will wash out in a big sea and the harbour will no longer be protected from the storms.

The dog is Ben, one of the local dogs, and this is his usual haunt, next to his caretaker and owner. The calendars shown can be found in the Cramalott Inn - they record the weather here daily and leave up the calendar from the previous year to compare. The third calender is recording the people that travel on the ferry in the course of a year. The boat with the falls in the background is my dad's new fibreglass boat. He had a mold taken of his old wooden one as he liked it so much, and the boat builder made him a replica in fibreglass. The two children shown are the last two students in school here before it closes for good in June. This last photo is a bit of a test to see if the locals who read along can figure out where I took it...tis a very common spot that everyone has laid eyes on...

Coastal Travel

T'was a dark and dreary day on the water today, but at least the seas were calm...Many of these are in Diamond Cove and LaPoile, with a shot of Hare's Ears just outside Grand Bruit, and then a snap of the harbour as we came in. Then my mother told me to stop being such a tourist and come pack my stuff up to get off the boat, or they'll leave me behind...heh heh...

note: these photos have been reposted today after I spent some time cleaning them up, thanks to expertise and software from my friend R.

Road Travel

Reindeer Creek on the side of the highway...and then I couldn't resist stopping at one of the waterfalls along the Waterfalls Route - Twin Falls...what a ton of water rushing over here....

note: I had posted these originally yesterday without color and lighting correction - they are shown here with correction and look much better, thanks to R. who shared his software and experience with me!

Sunrise on the Red Eye

This is taken through the scruffy windows of the West Jet plane I flew from Edmonton to Halifax...

In Transit Update

It's stinkin hot here in Edmonton, so I have sought refuge at a local hotel's internet cafe...it's tenuous at best, so will consider myself lucky if I even get to post this. I can't upload photos at the moment, so will have to wait until I arrive on the rock for that.

I made good time driving out of Res, stopping only at Winnie's at Enterprise for gas and a few more craft items before heading south into Alberta. The drive was long and mostly boring - the landscape doesn't change much, HOWEVER, I did stop at Twin Falls and got some fantastic shots...will post later. I managed to make it into Manning and found a 24-hour gas station to fill up, and a they had a 24 hour carwash attached. The windshield was completely bug encrusted so I thought I would give it a wash...so what if it was midnight...well, that turned out to be a double edged sword...Jesus, Mary and Joseph...

I happened to notice the thick crust of mud inside what I thought were my hubcaps, stuck to my wheel rims (I don't think I actually have hubcaps on this car...) and tried to power wash some of it out, thinking it would all loosen and that would be it...um, no. mother effer...all I did was unbalance the level amount of crust there was, and as soon as I pulled out of town, I began to wobble terribly...not wishing to cause further damage to the car, I turned back and went back to the gas station, and in my lime green skirt and black tank top, tackled the tires...turns out the simple physics come into play and when you point a high pressure hose into a surface that can reflect it back, well, it's a big fucking mess. I ended up getting the crowbar out to chisel away what I could see, and I was covered from head to toe, including face and hair, in mud splatter as it shot out of the damn wheel rims...nice. and not a shower in site. I was tempted to dip into a pond along the highway, but not knowing what manner of beast may lie within, not to mention, SLIME, I passed, and mopped myself up as best I could in the gas station washroom and was on my way...

or so I thought...wobble, wobble, wobble...WTF? Off I pull into a side road that has some streetlights on it, along with a few houses. I took a look at the wheel rims...yet more MUD - where in the hell was it all coming from??? So I got out the crowbar again, and began chiselling yet again...the neighbors got antsy, and started opening the doors to peer out at this woman in the lime green skirt poking at her tires in the dark at 12:45am...so I pulled farther down the street out of view, and got to work. I finally managed to scrape and chisel the rest of it out using crowbar and fingernails, and was FINALLY on my way again about 1:15am...I was tired, but too pissed to sleep,l so headed for Grande Prairie, waiting for a nice place to pull over once I had simmered down...

Grimshaw was it...I pulled into the Motor Inn and parked my car under the sign where it was fairly bright and had lots of cars and truckers sharing the lot. I rigged up my MacGyver mosquito net over the car window and settled in to sleep...it worked perfectly, and I didn't see a single bug all night. I can't say I slept much, but just being horizontal was enough rest. I was up and at it again by 6:30am and headed straight into Grande Prairie. I find this my most challenging time of day to drive if I haven't had proper sleep and had to sing at the top of my lungs along with Jim Morrison to keep awake. Headed for the first McD's I saw for a sausage mcmuffin and then I was off to check out the airport and see how the whole long term parking worked and what the cost and method of payment was. $48 for 18 days - not bad, and it's a secure lot, so I'm fine with that.

Next stop was Wally World (Wal-Mart). I had intentions of getting my tires checked and rebalanced, however Wally World does not believe in making their mechanics work on the weekends and I was out of luck...not wishing to set foot in Crappy Tire for auto repair, I went shopping instead. After getting what I needed at Wal-Mart, I headed out to the mall and hit my beloved Cotton Ginny - yahoo! dropped some coin there and feeling guilty, went to the dollar store to balance it all out...

back to Rotten Ronnies for lunch, and then off to the airport to check in, and ditch the luggage. i had hoped for a shower, but no luck. then I had foolishly hoped to make a call back east to let my ma know where I was...the aiport had NO PAY PHONES. WTF? All they had was two courtesy phones that you could use with a telus calling card - which they didn't sell, of course. Having paid for my parking and it is only mine if my car is actually in the stall, I couldn't leave to go get one...fumed enough over that, decided it wasn't worth it, and settled down to read. There are only about 14 chairs to sit on in the Grande Prairie airport, other than the lounge/restaurant and of course - there had to be a crying baby. I don't know what the hell she was doing, but she would feed the baby for about 20 seconds, then rip the bottle out - he'd scream and she would try to burp him...he was fairly newborn, but she was at it for 20 minutes and I don't know that the poor little bugger got more than an ounce, since momma kept ripping the bottle away from him...tongue was bitten, and I was not in the mood for crying babies, just KNOWING there would be one on the plane, so headed back out to my car to lay down in the back seat and rest a bit, read some, and chill out.

chill...yeah, funny. It was damn hot out, even with all the windows open and the wind blowing. After an hour of that I gave up and went to the lounge for a beer - momma wouldn't follow me there...

The flight was smooth, and when landing in Edmonton, had hoped to spend time with my neice A. and her family, but the hot weather drove them out of town to camp, and I was left at the aiport to entertain myself...what to do, what to do...it was damned noisy and so very busy, and quite stuffy with the crowds...hmmm...no internet access either, only if you brought your computer - which I decided to leave at home - my parents have two on high speed - didn't see the need to drag mine...had enough shit to lug around. Went to the info booth and they suggested I grab the free shuttle to the Nisku Inn and use thei business centre there...ok...where is the shuttle guy...

Of course he's an immigrant...but had good enough english, but was not willing to head out with just me in the van...so he went out to round up more customers, leaving me to swelter in the stinking hot van, parked in the hot sun...pant, pant...he finally came back with a fellow Canadian and 8 russian flight crew...only one of which spoke minimal English...it was interesting...they didn't know what hotel they were supposed to be going to, but they managed to figure it out in time, and I was finally dropped off at the Inn, only to discover the internet service was down...WTF? I had called to confirm that I could indeed take the shuttle and use the internet even though I was not a hotel guest...no one mentioned it was DOWN...however, a persistent clerk managed to reboot the system and get it up and running again...and here I sit...

so now I'm off to get some supper at the Lakeside Grill...the pool looks inviting - wonder if they would care if a non-guest used it - even just to wade - haven't got any clothes with me, other than what's on my back...

so long wordy post - it will have to do you until I find myself with access again, likely once I arrive in Newfoundland...cheers!

I'M ON VACATION!!! YAHOO!!! Hi to I. and D....hope Stormy is not too lonely...

MacGyver of the North

Today I engineered a ingenious solution to a pesky problem...I haven't tried it out yet - that comes on Friday night...but I am hopeful. On the long weekend I ended up sleeping in my car due to heavy rain and mumma bear nosing in my hammock...I would like to have cracked the window for some fresh air, but the pesky mosquitoes would have eaten me alive. So instead I had to wake up to steamed up windows that took forever to dry off, and left big streak marks inside where they dripped. What to do...

Then I thought about banner magnets for cars...and screen, and magnetic sticky strips...hmmm....a plan was hatched. I grabbed a piece of screen I had from the kitchen window (having ripped it down in an attempt to break into my trailer after locking myself out last winter in -20C while in my pyjamas) and a few dollar store rolls of the magnetic sticky strips, and a trusty pair of scissors. Off to the car...I cut a piece of screen just a bit bigger than my back seat door window, and stuck the sticky strips to the back. I can then open the window, stick the screen to the outside of the car, and sleep in fresh air without the pesky mosquitoes...and OH THEY ARE BASTARDS TONIGHT while I was out there crafting this...even with my fly dope on.

T'was my MacGyver moment...and then I came back into the house and sat down to write this post...hearing a rrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiippppppppp....

It wasn't the screen. It was my shorts - ripped the arse clean out of them. No shame for them I reckon...they are my University of Waterloo shorts I bought my first year on campus...nearly 10 years ago. Sad to see them go now...but hell, I'm MacGyver of the North!

Great Eastern Adventure Begins On Friday

I haven't posted since the weekend - it's been busy, busy, busy...I am heading east on Friday to visit with my parents in Newfoundland, stopping by Nova Scotia for some very much anticipated visits with friends. It's quite a cumbersome journey to make my way to the tiny outport community where my parents live - I leave here on Friday at 5pm from work and arrive at my parents home by about 6pm on Monday. Yes, Monday. All manner of transportation is involved and several legs to the trek. I don't mind (at least that's what I am saying now...ask me on Monday) as I have always enjoyed travelling and it is part of the adventure, along with visiting folks along the way. For anyone interested, the Eastern Adventure looks something like this...

Depart NT at 5pm Friday...begin driving south to Grande Prairie, driving through the night (they don't get dark now) and sleeping in my car as needed. My flight then departs Grande Prairie mid-afternoon for Edmonton, where I have a 6 hour stopover...sounds horrible, right? Not at all...my wonderful neice and her family live there and I am hoping they can make it out to visit, and we could possibly go for supper. Then I catch my evening flight (kind of a red-eye) to Halifax, arriving there 6:30am, where my friend K. picks me up at the airport and we are stopping at the Irving Big Stop (YAYYY!) for a hearty breakfast before heading to Cape Breton. Once we arrive, I hope to meet up with a group of good friends for the afternoon, before another friend G. spirits me away to North Sydney to meet up with M. who I'll then visit with while waiting to cross the gulf on the ferry. The ferry departs close to midnight, and arrives in Newfoundland the following morning, early - where my parents will be meeting me and we'll do some visiting, shopping and go for lunch before heading down to catch the ferry at Rose Blanche to Grand Bruit.

Yeah, I think I'll be tired...but this is what I am travelling to...it is totally worth it...one photo is of the the water below my parents cabin, and the other is of Grand Bruit. I will be back home by the 20th of June...nice little visit...

Busy As A Beavers

Here is a beaver I saw swimming across a little roadside pond...sharing the pond was some species of duck. The big river is Buffalo River. I took these this morning on my way to Hay River. On the return drive, I stopped at Little Buffalo River where some of the locals have cabins and visited. The kids were busy throwing rocks into a pound, and then the owners were "discussing" how to make the dock...

Sunset on the Lake

I went down in search of swans but alas, they have departed...so I hung about and watched the sun depart and the moon was already high in the sky. There is a groovy shot of the sun just down over the Arbor

Buffalo Herd

Rambling Bear - Roadside Viewing

Shopping For a New Sleep Mask

While I. and I were out hiking the South Loop in Wood Buffalo Park, we had some visitors at our campsite. Since I am such a creature of habit, I do notice when things are different (most of the time). We got back to our campsite about suppertime, and being experienced campers, left absolutely no food out, but the bears were apparently just nosey. This sleep mask was left in my hammock, with the tarp hanging over the hammock. Either mumma bear or one of her cubs rooted around in my hammock and pulled it out, chewed on it for a bit and then dropped it on the ground. They also had a little nibble on our water container. Note the tooth marks in that too. The park staff came and informed us of the mumma bear and two cubs they spotted in the park earlier in the day while we were out.

I slept in the car that night...two reason - pissing rain with howling wind...and the bear was nosing around in my hammock while empty...what would she do if I was in it and smelled like my supper? I wasn't giving her the opportunity...mumma with cubs would not be reasonable if my large figure popped out from under the tarp if she was sniffling around again in the night.

So today I went shopping online for a new sleep mask...we're already at 20+ hours of daylight and I sleep with it on every night. The longest day is yet to come, and we'll be at about 23 hours of daylight by then I reckon, with no black night.