Summer Vacation - Destination #3 - Yellowstone National Park

We arrived in Yellowstone around dinner time via the West entrance. There were some severe storms earlier in the summer that temporarily closed the entire park. They were very similar to the storm BC got last fall where snowpack and rain combined for flash flooding that took out roads in a way that could take years to fully recover from. By the time we arrived, the north entrances were still closed. It didn't impact our trip too much though it would have if we had come when we originally planned as we had wanted to go back via Glacier National Park which was to the north. We'll have to do that trip some other time. 

The hotel we chose had quite a story before we even arrived. We had booked late so we paid a lot more than we ordinarily would but because it was only a couple nights and we felt it made more sense to stay in the park, we bit the bullet and paid more. When we postponed our trip and rebooked, the new nights were a lot cheaper. After about a week of hard work Barb managed to convince Hotels.com to refund us $624.57. We ran into a bit of trouble when we arrived because Hotels.com hadn't paid the hotel yet but that later got sorted out. We're glad we picked this hotel. It's conveniently located and only a few years old. 

We were out the door by 6:30a. We're glad we left early because it meant the first few sites were pretty empty and we only had a day to take in as many sites as we could. We started on the South Loop and went to the Upper Falls. We missed the 'Grand Canyon of Yellowstone' but the falls were pretty spectacular. The amount of water going over meant it was very loud. There were steps that took you down to a location just over the falls. It was at this point we realized what an elevation of 8,000 feet meant. It was noticeably difficult to get enough air so we decided we would take it easier on any hikes for the day.

Our next destination was Hayden Valley where we were told it was a good location to see the bison. We were not disappointed. We started off with a single lone bison and thought that might be all we would find. We then accidentally saw a second when we were looking out the window on one side of the road. The car we were looking at to try to see what they were looking at pointed to the other side of the road. Just a short way up the hill was a bison waking up from his overnight sleep location. He had a quick dust bath before starting to walk up the hill where we soon found dozens more.

We tried not to be the stupid tourists that get gored by a bison however it was admittedly difficult. We finished watching the first set of bison and then headed to Mud Volcano where we got out of the car and took a walk on the boardwalk to see some of the mud springs. It was at this point that several dozen bison started to move towards our vehicle. One looked like he was interested in challenging it for Yellowstone dominance. I felt it was safe enough for me to walk to the car and drive it to the other side of the parking lot. Callie insisted that only one of Kerry and I be near the bison at once.

Our next destination was Yellowhead Lake which is quite large. We only saw a tiny portion of it. We did see a marina so you can probably charter a boat and see areas of the park you can't see by car. Even though we only did our trip in a day we felt you would need at least three to do it justice and you could probably spend a week if not more especially if you decided to do any day hikes. While we were walking the boardwalk I saw Kerry start to approach someone. She always find a way to find someone she knows almost everywhere we go. This time was different however because she found someone who had Surrey on their shirt. Her hunch was right and it was Surrey, BC.

You can't go to Yellowstone without seeing Old Faithful. It's the one attraction everyone knows about even if they don't know where it is. We weren't exactly sure when it would blow even though it was faithful, mainly because there were many conflicting signs in the park about when the next eruption would be. In the end, the one near the geyser itself was the most accurate. It predicted 11:33 and it happened about 11:30. It was fun to be able to watch it but even as we were waiting, another one behind it went off for much longer and was much higher. It was also fun being one of about 1,000 people sitting and waiting. 

After Old Faithful it was lunch time so we went to one of the restaurants to get food. The park seems to not be at full capacity and although there is plenty of food, it wasn't exactly good food. Most places were just trying to make as much food as quickly as they can with as few staff as possible. The line up after the eruption was fairly long but once we ordered our food it was ready in about 30 seconds, implying they did not exactly cook it to order. Lunch was still fun though as a local raven joined us. I know there is no feeding wildlife, but these guys were there for a reason. 

We had almost seen all of the must see destinations that we knew about but there was one more remaining. Grand Prismatic Spring is one of the first pictures that comes up when you look up Yellowstone and we got to what we thought was the parking lot. It seemed like quite a walk to get there and we got a bit confused when we realized there was no way for us to get to the boardwalk from where we were. Turns out we were in the best location after all. It wasn't the right parking lot but where we were allowed us to hike up a hill and see the spring from above. It was absolutely one of the prettiest nature sites I've seen. 

We were about to finish up the South Loop when we had a decision to make. Either head back to our hotel,  continue on to the North Loop or go check out West Yellowstone which is just outside the park and had all the touristy places to shop. Callie hadn't eaten lunch so we decided to head to the town to see what we could find. It was a good thing we went because Carter was able to check something off his list. He wanted to see Yogi Bear. I guess Jellystone and Yellowstone really are two different locations because Yogi was nowhere to be found inside the park but we did find Yogi's Waffle House that was good enough for Carter. 

We decided we had enough time after West Yellowstone to try to do the North Loop. We didn't have time to stop at many locations but we could at least drive it. One of the places we did stop was the Mammoth Terraces. This is a spring on the side of a hill that sends water downhill and as a result there are a number of terraced pools. This is the type of formation that creates Travertine. There was a boardwalk taking you up the hill and through the pools. We almost missed the best part as we considered turning around but saw a number of people up higher. We made sure to tell people it was worth it to continue up the stairs.

After the springs we headed to Mammoth Springs. It appears to be a small town within the park but I think it's where the workers must live. It didn't seem like your typical town. Unfortunately it appeared to be mostly closed. Since it's on the north end and those entrances are closed, I think they chose to keep this portion at a low staffing level. At one point Kerry thought she saw a statue of an Elk but as we got closer, it moved its head. We soon found a couple dozen of his friends. We had briefly glanced at some Elk early in the day but was good to really see some up close. Still watching for moose and wolves. 

The last item we had marked on our map was the Petrified Tree. It was starting to get close to dinner time and it had been a very long day but it was off the highway and you could drive to it so we decided to check it out. As we approached the parking lot we could see the tree on the hill. It's a very interesting rock but we quickly decided it was not worth getting out of the car for. We can look up online what its story is. We took a quick picture from the road and headed back to our hotel.

We arrived back at our hotel around 7:00p and left early the next morning. We had originally planned to break up our trip home however Kerry and I had to get back to work so we had to drive all the way from Yellowstone to Oliver in a day which took about 14 hours. On our way home we got trapped by billboards advertising a 50,000 Silver dollar collection. It was not what we expected. People could buy a dollar and add it to their wall of dollars. I was expecting something interesting with an actual collection of silver dollars and although there were a few real ones purchase it was really just a big gift shop. 

We had a great time with our two night stay at Yellowstone but hopefully we can come back some time in the future and stay longer.

Summer Vacation - Destination #2 - Coeur d'Alene

After dropping Oliver off in Oliver our next destination was Coeur d'Alene. It's about a 5 hour drive and takes us past the Grand Coulee Dam which is a very impressive structure. There has been a drought in most of the Western United States but you wouldn't know it from this particular reservoir. I'm not sure how big it is but there are a series of gates along the top and the water was almost to the top of them. They aren't super water tight so it meant the water was leaking around the edges. Kerry and I both like the streets you drive through as you go past the dam. They are likely from the original construction and they make for a very quaint tree lined street.

Our route took us through Western Washington towards Spokane. I always think of the Seattle area when I picture Washington state however the eastern portion is more like the prairies of Saskatchewan with miles of wheat and grassland. It is very flat.

We had to leave later in the afternoon as Callie was taking her drivers test. We made it to our hotel in the early evening and checked in. Our hotel was not what we were hoping for. It is quite an old building and the room was apparently a pet room and quite dirty. We will have to do a bit more research on our hotel choices in the future.

The next day we headed to Silverwood which is a them park outside of Coeur d'Alene. It's in the middle of nowhere and is much nicer than you would expect considering most of the nearby cities are quite small. There is nothing like it in Western Canada in my opinion. We park across the highway and take a tunnel underneath. The park appears to have very good lawyers as I'm amazed at how many things seem to be a copy of Disneyland including some of the rides. They have 'Flying Elephants' that look suspiciously like Dumbo as well as a Avalanche Mountain and Thunder Canyon. (Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain.)

Luckily the tickets are not as expensive as Disneyland as it appeared that Callie and I were not too excited about going on many rides. We spent much of our time in Chrissy's Quiet Garden and in other shaded areas of the park. Considering this area is closed in the winter due to snow I was quite impressed with some of the plants they were growing. I would have expected them to be better suited to a warmer growing zone. I got a few ideas of how I could rearrange some of my existing beds.

To be honest I only went on one ride but it was a good one for the day. The temperature got up to 36 degrees in the shade so if I was going to go on any rides it needed to be a water ride. One thing I noticed about the rides at Silverwood is the lines are longer then you expect. I think they save money by not having very high capacity. For this ride, the tubes were very spread out. I think they could only have 40 people in total on the entire river. Carter and I got lucky because they were trying to maximize the capacity. They grouped several pairs together and brought us closer to the front of the line. It took me over an hour to dry off when we were done.

Kerry and Carter definitely got their money's worth and went on the majority of the big kid rides. They have multiple coasters and a few rides that I would absolutely never go on. The worst in my opinion would be the pendulum style ride that takes you completely upside down. No thank you. I still had fun wandering around the park and trying out carnival snacks. They weren't as good as I had hoped. The funnel cake seemed a bit heavy. Overall though it was a fun day. We did avoid the water park. It was so hot that was most people headed and it was a bit too busy for our liking. If you do go I recommend it though. It's very nice.

 

Summer Vacation - Destination #1 - Oliver

With Kerry going to Africa this summer, we didn't initially have a big family trip planned however in March we decided we should do something as there aren't many summers left to spend with the kids. We decided on a road trip to Oliver, Coeur d'Alene and Yellowstone. Oliver is where Kerry's parents live so it's a family destination, a convenient stopping point as well as some place to drop off our dog Oliver.  We left early on Saturday and arrived around noon. We didn't have anything planned for the first day but did plan on a hike the following day.

The hike was to nʕaylintn (McIntyre Bluff) and was one we had done a few years ago. We attempted to go to the entrance near a local farm but they have closed it since we were here last. We found the alternate entrance on All Trails but had some trouble finding it. Luckily we saw a car that appeared to be looking for it as well and we followed them until they pulled over. The hike was great and it was cool enough early in the morning. We had a bit of trouble figuring out where we were but we did find Rattlesnake Lake and at least a few good lookout spots before heading back to Barb and Reg's for breakfast.

Out second full day in Oliver included a trip to Hester creek for our traditional picnic. They have an open area with tables where you are allowed to bring your own food. We purchase some wine and juice for the kids and add some of our own food as well. We are allowed to take the dogs and they were surprisingly well behaved. I was a little worried Oliver would not like all the people walking past but he was more interested in our food. We then headed back to Barb and Reg's for a visit with some of their friends and a delicious meal of prime rib. Off to Coeur d'Alene tomorrow.

Callie's Birthday

August 7th was Callie's 17th birthday. She went out for lunch with some friends and wanted to go to White Rock in the evening for dinner. We walked the pier and went to Ocean Beach for dinner. It's too bad White Rock has so little parking down by the ocean because it really is a great place to go in the summer. Every 4th shop sells ice cream and there are some great restaurants. The one we went to had great food and a lot more room inside than I was expecting. After dinner we had to go to Snowy Village for a shaved ice desert. I say had to, because although a fun place to go once in a while I prefer ice cream. I will admit to getting one in Whiter Rock before we left. 

Some of Callie's friends weren't available on her actual birthday so she arranged a party a few days later. They had cupcakes and snacks and watched Momma Mia. They party seemed to go well as it lasted well in to the evening. For the first time I realized Callie and her friends will soon be adults and I will have adults coming over to my house for visits. I will have to make the adjustment from goofy Dad to slightly less goofy host soon. Only one more year until she turns 18 and is ready for university and then another year until full drinking age!

 

Kerry's Vacation

Since this was Kerry's vacation and the kids and I weren't there this is more of a quick update of what happened while she was away as well as a description of her trip from her point of view. Kerry's best friend Melissa won a trip for two to the Seychelles. She had to pay for her flights but she got to stay in some hotels that were over $3k a night and go somewhere she would likely never have chosen to go. The flight was quite brutal with an 11 hour followed by an 8 hour with an 8 hour layover. Door to do ended up about 36 hours. The trip was amazing with the exception of catching Covid on the way home.

The kids and I had to fend for ourselves for 10 days. We tried to do somethings we might not do with Kerry here including the Richmond Night Market and Fusion fest. The night market was mostly food and less market and Fusion festival was a lot less food than we were expecting. I made an attempt to teach some life lessons to the kids during the week. Carter was pretty good at taking part including doing laundry without asking. Callie on the other hand was less engaged. She still had to figure out most of her own meals though and hopefully has a much bigger appreciation for Kerry. :) 

Funko Pop

Funko Pop are collectable figurines of virtually every pop culture figure in existence. It's unlikely they will ever have much real value since they are so common but the kids still like buying their favourite characters. Callie has been collecting a fairly random set including everything from Marvel to Stranger Things while Carter has dedicated his collection to the Simpsons. When we went to Disneyland in March one of our plans included stopping at the Funko Pop store in Everette. Unfortunately we were driving back on either a Monday or Tuesday and the store happens to be closed on those days. Callie was quite upset but we promised we would come back.

Since Everette isn't very far over the border ,one of the options for returning was actually just driving down for a dedicated trip. We had some spare time over summer holidays so we came down first thing in the morning and were back by noon. We were a little nervous when we arrived because there was some sort of basketball tournament in front of the building and at first it looked to be closed. Luckily we were just early. The store itself is quite amazing. They didn't have as many options to purchase as we hoped but there were lot's of dedicated displays that were incredibly well done. If you are a fan I recommend you go. 

Summer In Prince George

We took our annual trip up to Prince George this year. The timing was a bit tighter than normal. We usually like to go up for three full days with a day of travel on either side. This year we had to squeeze between Callie's driving lessons and Carter's sport camp which meant we had to leave late on Wednesday and take two days to get up. We left around 3:00p and got into William's Lake around 10:00p and stayed in a hotel. We then got up and drove the rest of the way in the morning getting into Prince George around 10:00a. This year the whole family was able to make it including Jordan and Karla who have recently moved to Quesnel.

Our first destination for the weekend was West Lake where my family has property. This year my first job was to drive some stakes marking out that property. With my Grandmother passing away a few years ago the family is looking to build a cabin so we had the property surveyed so we knew exactly where the property lines were. I was quite surprised at the size. I knew we had about 2.5 acres but it was bigger than I expected. The rear of the property goes all the way back to a secondary access road. The lake frontage was about where I expected it to be and there are a few oddly shaped portions that went farther than I was expecting as well.

The Friday was Canada day so Callie, Carter and I headed to Fort George Park (Recently renamed to something I can't easily recall) The rest of the family wasn't interested in going but we like to go for the food. Each kid got $20 and despite runaway inflation, the prices were not too bad. They each got a food item, a drink and a dessert. The weather was perfect for it and we got there just in time. By the time we got our food, the lineups for all the stalls were quite long. They had a good mix of cultural performers. The only downside is they are quite strict about no dogs in the park. Animal Control was very prominent.

Carter and I went out to the lake one last time on the Saturday. It's been an annual job for me to take the canoe around the bend and pick rocks from the shore line. Eric has been putting in steel baskets to manage the shoreline and it needs big rocks to work well. I took Jackson for a trip and then on our last trip Carter followed us in the canoe and we decided we would head to the public beach. Another item that Carter had no recollection of. I got into a bit of trouble because we didn't bring a hat for Jackson but I was slightly overcast so I think he'll live. We picked up some nice flat rocks on our way back.

We came home on the Sunday and traffic wasn't bad considering it was the end of the long weekend. We stopped off at Horsting's farm for some fudge and bread. Cache Creek was the greenest I've ever seen it. A pleasant change from last year where the fires were so bad and the heat dome brought the hottest temperatures on record. We also stopped off at Hungary Herbies for lunch. The food there is always great. It was a quick trip overall and I still enjoy heading up to Prince George especially when the weather is nice enough to spend most of it at the lake. 

 

Father's Day

Taking a lesson from Mother's Day where the family had to guess what Kerry wanted, I decided to be very clear with my Father's Day wishes this year. My specific instructions were "I'd like Dick Prenoke's book on building a cabin and I'd like to go to Granville Island by boat." The family was able to take care of some of my gift request however Father's Day landed on the last weekend before the end of school so they requested that they postpone a portion of Father's Day to the following weekend. They got me the book I wanted but we had to go to Whiterock for dinner.

The weather has remained cool this year but it was nice enough to go to the beach. We ordered fish and chips and had many seagulls join us for a meal. They seem quite polite until they sense weakness and then they swoop in. There was definitely a hierarchy of birds with the bigger ones getting a bit too close for comfort. We managed to eat our meals but we had to sacrifice a few fries. We then came home for dinner where Carter had made me a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. It was quite delicious and he was quite proud of his diabetes inspired decorations. 

The following weekend we made it to Granville Island. We didn't get to go by boat but we were still busy so that was okay. The weather was much nicer so it was good thing we did go the following weekend. It was our first nice day this year. One surprise was that we realized Carter had no real memory of ever being at Granville Island. It had been a few years before Covid that we had gone and I guess he was too young to remember. He actually thought we were taking a ferry to an island. I think he enjoyed himself. We even went to the kids market and had him go through the kids door. He's a bit tall now. Father's Day spread over two weekends was great!

A Trip to Dallas - The Grassy Knoll

Day two started with a trip to the George Bush Presidential Library and Archives. I've never been to a presidential library so I didn't know what to expect. As I arrived I decided the whole thing seemed somewhat absurd. I can't imagine going to the Justin Trudeau library or the Steven Harper library and can you imagine what the Donald Trump library is going to look like? It was still an interesting experience. They had a full mockup of the oval office and the attendant was very knowledgeable though I did stump him with some of my woodworking related questions on the furniture. 

They didn't push a political agenda too much with the exception of the 'The Bush Tax Cuts' and the 'No Child Left Behind' exhibits. I suppose Obama would have Obamacare and half the country would think that would be too political. One of the wings hosted a 'Liberty and Laughter - The Lighter Side of the Whitehouse' which was fun as it showcased the sense of humor of most of the recent presidents. I'm assuming it was a few years old as Trump wasn't represented. There was also several recent Bush paintings. He's actually not that bad.

After the library, I took the train downtown to the hotel I'd be at for the conference and then went to check out the place that JFK was shot. There were several grassy knolls so I'm not entirely sure which one was related to the second shooter discussion. The book repository was also a lot closer then I was expecting. I took a bit of time to listen to some people with flyers speaking. No one mentioned JFK was still alive but there was a lot of talk about the cover up by the government. A few blocks away was a memorial where I discovered his middle name was Fitzgerald. I'm not sure I knew that until now. 

It was a lot easier for me to get around today as everything I was interested in was downtown including the conference where I'll be for the next three days. There are two separate utility conferences in the same location so there are a lot of vendors and it's a giant conference hall. I checked in and got my swag. Highlights were a chocolate bar and some gummy bears. My day will start at 8:30a tomorrow with Rick Perry as the key note speaker. I suspect oil and gas will play a big part in his speech. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the buildings in downtown Dallas. The most impressive was the old court house that had been turned into a museum but had since permanently closed. I checked in the window and the first exhibit was a Pegasus. I see them everywhere down here and I knew there was a gas station with that as a symbol but I haven't really figured out the full history. There is a giant neon one on top of my hotel which has been there for 80+ years. I'll have to do more research and try to get a picture. I didn't even know it was there until researching this blog section.

I thought my day was over but there was a lot of noise outside my hotel. I went to investigate and realized there was a viewing party for the Dallas Mavericks. AT&T has a square nearby with a giant video screen where they were showing the game. The warm evenings and people made for a fun atmosphere though they did lose and are now down 3 games to 0. One more home game while I'm here. Hopefully they win. Always fun to be in a city when one of their sports teams wins a playoff game.

A Trip to Dallas - Riding The Rails in the Wrong Direction

The day started very early. In an almost post Covid world not everything is back to normal. Air travel is up but it's been inconsistent and staffing has been a problem. This has resulted in significant delays at airport security. Unfortunately it's hard to predict when the delays happen so for leaving for my 6:00a flight it was a serious consideration to just go the evening before and sleep at the airport. I decided to gamble because I knew they close security overnight and I'd probably just be in the check-in counter area all night. All turned out well. I got there at 3:00a and the ticket counter had just opened. I was near the front of the line for security and no issues getting on my flight.

The flight I had chosen was booked about a month beforehand and was the cheapest I could find. It also happened to be a direct flight which isn't something I can usually take advantage of. I slept through most of the flight which helped me catch up on most of my lost sleep. The main issue I had was that with the time change and the early start I lost track of what time it was in both time zones so I wasn't really sure what meal I was supposed to eat and when. The other issue was the Dallas airport didn't  have a clear taxi pick up area at least where I ended up. I managed to find a security guy who called a cab in for me.

It's Saturday and my conference starts on Monday. I like to add an extra day to work trips so I can explore whatever city I'm in. I tried to research Dallas but it's not really a tourism town and it's very spread out so most people drive. This meant I was going to have problems finding places to go as well as figuring out how to get there. My hotel was near a train station so I took the train downtown. The basic infrastructure was fine but it was not very clear on what train to take and it had a strong pee smell. It looked like most of the people riding were homeless. They had all their belongings with them and I think they were just trying to stay cool. 

My first destination was the Ross Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The station I got off on was a bit sketchy. I had several people approach me for money and a few groups of people approach me from different directions asking about the camera I was holding. I don't usually worry about getting asked for money but it was a bit more aggressive then I was used to. I made it to the museum with no problems and bought a ticket for general entry as well as a ticket for a show on dinosaurs in the Antarctic.

The museum itself was quite nice with a good layout. The content was a bit different from what I would expect from a science museum. The dinosaur movie started with 5 minutes on the importance of 'energy' and the role of oil and coal in the creation of energy. The movie ended with a statement about the impact of volcanoes on global warming and a reminder that Antarctica was warm in the past and it was a great lush environment. I quickly realized this museum was going to have a different message then the ones I was used to in BC and California.

I decided to head back to my hotel before it got dark and hopped back on the train. I had trouble when I arrived figuring out where I was going as the only maps were 'simplified' views of the routes that didn't show an overview of what city I was going to. I ended up getting on a train that took a turn I wasn't expecting. By the time I figured it out I was in the middle of nowhere and the nearby houses were boarded up. I got off and spent the next 20 minutes telling people I didn't have any cash for them. I got asked by 6 different people. I did manage to get back to my hotel but hopefully my second day in Dallas goes a bit better.

Carter's First Solo

Carter's Dinner and Jazz night took place last week. We did this with Callie and it included a multi course meal served with jazz in between. This year they ran into trouble with the catering and it ended up being a Pizza and Jazz night. Not quite the same. The highlight of course was that Carter got to do a solo on his Saxamaphone. The sax usually gets to do a solo. Callie had a flute which isn't a very jazzy instrument. I was quite impressed by his tone. I'm not an expert but I have heard some bad solos but his sounded great considering this is extra curricular and he only started playing this year. He doesn't want to cart his instrument at home so we only get to hear it at events like this.