We are in Edmonton. This morning we send my father on his flight back home.

My husband’s step-mother passed away last night. She was ready for this. 

My husband was close to his step-sister. We may adjust our travel based on the arrangements. 

Aside from visiting family, we’ve been exploring Grande Prairie.

My husband says GP reminds him of Lubbock Texas. Both are oil and agriculture cities, built on a grid with many big boxy buildings. 

For our last evening in Grande Prairie, my brother hosted a big dinner with all his kids. It was good to see them. Most of them are in their early 20s. They have their struggles. One is a drug addict. They also seem to be more grown up, confident and self aware than I have ever seen.

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My brother has taken us to Dawson Creek for a rodeo. It was alot of fun. 

For comparison, Dawson Creek is at about the same parallel as Ketchikan, Alaska.

We have arrived in Grande Prairie. Dinner with family tonight. 

A few more pictures from our trip to Maligne Lake.

Uploading a couple more Jasper traffic jams.

Travel day for us. We have left Jasper and are on the way north to my brother’s in Grande Prarie. Grande Prarie is oil country. The roads are straight and flat. The signs of industry are everywhere. 

Road side bull elk. 

Spirit Island and the Hall of the Gods on Maligne Lake.

It is gorgeous here. This photo is unedited from an iPhone 14. We had a discussion about this. The colour of the water and the slight haze from the forest fires makes everything look surreal. 

 

Evening at our cabin

Hiking…

Sea Holly full of bees…

We took the sky tram up Whistler Mountain…

 

Mountain goats near Jasper.

 Last half of our Jasper roadtrip was much more pleasant.

Road trip to a jasper today. Part of the drive is through recent forest fires.

I have an uncle and aunt on this side of the continent. They and my father haven’t seen each other in 14 years. Age and its accompanying struggles have prevented their travel.

Today, we all had lunch together. It was heartwarming. My father was moved to tears.

Grandview park. Hazy from the fires. 

Chilliwack is lovely. It’s a rather new city and they are doing a great job keeping it attractive. 

Yesterday, dad had a 24 hour flu. He’s over it now. This is a big relief. It’s easy for my mind to spiral when caring for an 82yo man in a foreign country. 

Today we are on to the next leg of our trip… more family travel. I have relatives in southern BC and my brother is in Alberta, so we are going on a road trip to visit them and to see the sights along the way. 

We’ve been having low-key days with dad. We went to a car museum, as well as exploring the Ballard locks. 

It’s difficult for me to gauge my father’s energy level. We can stroll short distances without problem. But sometimes he’ll suddenly tell me that he needs to sit and rest for a while. 

We will need to keep our exploring to areas with benches. 

Tommy wrote…

So I am curious. You specify two pods of Orcas; how do you know if they are who they are, etc.? Who gives them their distinct pod names?

Let me see if I remember enough of what the biologist shared 

Washington State Fish and Wildlife names pods in this  state. Fish and Wildlife in California is also involved as the T in T137 means transient. In this case T137 calls California their home. Down there, California F&W calls them something else.

Orcas are matriarchal. So T137 is also the name of the matriarch of that pod. Pods can be ephemeral. They can split and rejoin. By and large the sons of a matriarch will stick with her for years. The daughters will go their own way after a year or two. 

Sons are named by sticking on a letter. Daughters with numbers. So the sons of T137 are T137a, T137b and so on. The first daughter of T137a would be T137a1

More details… https://www.orcabehaviorinstitute.org/meet-the-matrilines/t137s

Wednesday— whale watching.

We saw two pods of orcas (T137 & T75b). The T75b pod was hunting seals. At one time, we saw many seals rushing out of the ocean and onto a rocky beach while the hungry orcas cruised the shores. 

We took the scenic route back and caught the views on Whidbey Island and Deception Pass.

Tuesday morning, my father and I toured west Seattle. It’s inner harbor has Seattle’s port. The cranes offloading the container ships are enormous and powerful. It excites the construction-kid in me.

Later, I took my dad around the neighborhood. Partly to see the art, partly for an afternoon coffee and partly to see how well he can walk on hills. He handed the hills well, even though we did have to pause a few times.

Tuesday evening our luggage made its way back to us.

Of course our luggage didn’t arrive. The recharger for dad’s rechargeable hearing aids was in his luggage. So this morning, we are talking loud in the TV volume is up. 

 Tommy says… 

I don't fly anymore

I understand. Flying comes with a whole set of headaches that not everyone needs.

Our departure flight was delayed by thunderstorms. Fortunately our connecting flight was also delayed by thunderstorms. We had to race through the airport and customs to catch that flight.

We did make it on time and were the last to board. The attendants clapped as we arrived and cheered us on by name.

This was not an experience I’d wish for my father. He is mentally all there, but is slowing down. His fingers are stiff and bad at touch screens. Even though he wears hearing aids, the noise everywhere makes conversation difficult. I’m not sure he’ll fly out west again. 

These are the items I frequently check for when traveling. Some, like ID, are critical to travel. Others are conveniences that I’ve overlooked so often that I feel dumb when I leave them behind. 

ID, passports, wallet 
Electronics— cell, laptop, e-book
Chargers.
Water bottle
Weather appropriate jacket
Weather appropriate hat

I’ll do an explicit check when I leave my home or hotel— I must see each item. Other times, such as when I am getting out of a taxi, it’s enough to mentally go over the list.

When I am traveling with someone I’ll occasionally double check on their items. So many people leave water bottles behind. 

I should probably add sunglasses to the list, except I’ve lost my sunglasses so often that I don’t bother with them anymore 

I have a collection of caps and hats that only exists because I’ve repeatedly forgot to bring one along and so bought one at the destination. 

Once I left my e-book on the jet. Two months later, the airline reached out to me and returned it. That was luck.

Chargers... I have left so many chargers behind. The other way around, I’ve discovered many stray chargers in hotels and guest homes. Every now and then I’ll stay overnight at my brother’s before I fly out of Ottawa. The cell charger in his spare bedroom is one I forgot years ago.