My husband is down in Sacramento for a couple of days. His stepmother passed away a couple weeks ago. Her celebration of life is today (Saturday.) It looks like he’s having a good time catching up with his stepsister and her side of the family.

Wednesday we had lunch with Clem and Bates. Coincidentally, we both have the same make of vehicle. Our vehicles both needed maintenance. We scheduled our maintenances at the same time and then went off for lunch together.

They are doing well. Clem is about to do a backpacking tour of Thailand. It was very inexpensive, but it is also in Thailand in August. I’m glad I don’t have to travel bug like that. 

At home, we are getting into a routine for days when we have nothing planned. 

We still go to bed by 9 PM and wake up early. 

Morning is coffee and contemplation then maybe a small breakfast. One of us will feed and walk the dog. 

After that, we will do a little prep work for anything big coming up. Do we have to make calls pay bills?

After that is gym, or a long walk/hike. 

After that… whatever comes up. Right now that’s mostly house projects and reading. 

 Quiet day today. We have both started teaching ourselves / youtubing videos on how to fix various minor home problems that have been around for months. 

And we are home. I’m excited to be back in Seattle, to sleep in my own bead and shower in my own shower. We returned in time to see the garden in full bloom. Sometimes it’s the simple things.

Saturday morning we started off with a flat. Fortunately (suspiciously?) there was a nearby tire store. An hour later we were on the road.

The boarder crossing in the US was slow, delaying us by another hour.

From there we drove to Missoula and met up with a former coworker of my husband. He is an interesting character. He has a biology background. As a hobby, he grows various strains of weed and magic mushrooms. We did not partake. 

We are making our way back to Seattle. Tonight we stay in Medicine Hat Alberta

On the way we drove past the largest windmills I’ve ever seen, stopped at the worlds largest tee pee, visited the Medalta historic pottery works and ate at Rib Fest.

The Canadian Special Olympics are on in Medicine Hat. Our hotel and a restaurant we ate at are full of the special athletes. It’s fun talking with them. Some are very chatty. Others are shy. 

We are in Saskatoon. There is a bit of a dairy theme here, though I can’t tell id that’s our host or the city.

The celebration of life will be in a few weeks. As such our current schedule will not change. My husband will be a pallbearer.

Tuesday we explored Edmonton. We walked around downtown, took a Segway tour in the rain along the River Valley, then rode roller coasters at West Edmonton Mall. 

Edmonton is a great city. The North Saskatchewan River Valley Park runs through the center of the city. It is huge. 7,400 acres and well worth visiting. The West Edmonton Mall is also huge. It’s the second largest mall in North America. Aside from the shopping, it has a water park, amusement park and an ice arena. 

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.