Vacation 2013 – Part 22 – The Finale!

Today was our last day for this trip. Leaving August 3 and returning August 24, that is actually a short summer trip for us but, this was maybe the most important considering the cargo we were delivering. Kyla is in her new home and seems quite content, I am not so sure we are yet, lol. Today was a wet one it started to rain shortly after we left Twin Falls and it continued to rain all the way to Yellowknife and even continued while we unpacked the RV. We are settled in at home and resting. Good friends brought us dinner (thanks guys) and we had a good visit. Now to get back to our regular everyday lives but, before that happens we just booked a camp site at Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park for the weekend. I guess there will be at least one more trip this year. Did we enjoy our trip? Well I will let Jenna the Ham answer that with her sticking herself in some images. Thanks to all of you who followed along this year and stayed plugged in for some new post. Enjoy the last of the images from this thread and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 21 – Homeward Bound!

Today we made it back to the Northwest Territories. It was our longest drive of the trip, leaving Shaw’s Point Resort near High Prairie, Alberta and arriving at Twin Falls Park near Enterprise, NWT. With stops for lunch and dinner and a few photography stops we were on the road about nine hours. One thing I noticed while driving is that “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke is not the same without Kyla in the truck (the part she sings isn’t as funny either). Usually long drive days mean short photography days. The girls aren’t interested in long stops waiting for dad to set up his gear, they just want to get moving. Tomorrow around late afternoon we should arrive home to our first night without Kyla in the house, it could be interesting. We will probably be six hours tomorrow but, with no real deadline to follow and it being our last day, a few more photography stops might be possible. I am hoping for that, lol. Anyway it is time for family snacks so, I will run and eat something yummy made by Dale. Here are a couple of images from today. Stay tuned for the final post of our trip, enjoy these images and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 20 – Today Life is Beachy!

Today was a short travel day, we traveled from Morinville to Shaw’s Point Resort just outside of High Prairie, Alberta. The morning started with some great photographic opportunities but, I was out walking Bella the Dog with no camera. I got to watch the Common Loon splash in the pond and raise it wings,a muskrat swam by and there was beautiful morning light. Mr Prairie Dog decided it was a good time to nap on the grass but, at least he waited for me to grab my camera. He slept away until a train whistle blew and his eyes just popped open. I did get a few shots of him before he dropped into one of his many holes. We did the usual packing up and hooking up before we started north. We stopped in Slave Lake for lunch and signs of their devastating fire are still very visible. Once lunch was eaten we were on the road again. We arrived at Shaw’s and checked in, went to our RV site and set up the RV for the afternoon and night. We then went to the beautiful sandy beach and hung out for a couple of hours. I grabbed some photos while there. Then back to the RV for a BBQ and some card playing. Another great day of travel. Tomorrow we will make it back to the NWT but, for now here a two images from today. Enjoy, thanks for coming by and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 19 – This RV site is for the Birds!

After a great night in Blairmore, we were up and on the road by 10:15 am. Today was a little longer drive than our last few days as we traveled to Morinville, just north of Edmonton. We arrived, set up the RV and took a quick drive around Morinville and then headed into St Albert for dinner. After dinner we played some cards and then just relaxed. Next to our site is a small pond full of all different kinds of birds and at least one muskrat. We also have a Prairie Dog neighbour. I walked to the shore and took some photos of the birds. There was a Common Loon across the pond and he/she didn’t want to get close to me. The ducks were a little more cooperative. Dale and I took a quick walk around and during our walk the Loon decided to come over and play (I guess the Loon likes Dale better then me, lol). I got a few shots of it and once the Loon thought I had enough, it flew away. It was fun shooting the birds but, our Prairie Dog friend wanted nothing to do with getting some portraits done. Tomorrow is a short driving day as we will stop near High Prairie before getting back in the NWT. Here is a sample of what we saw today. Enjoy, thanks for being around and as always Happy Shooting.

Oh no you won’t!

Vacation 2013 – Part 18 – Just the four of us!

So, the day finally arrived, today after getting up and packing the RV, we went to Kyla’s place and dropped her off. We said our goodbyes and then Dale, Megan, Jenna and I hit the road to start our voyage home. I will say I struggled with the process. I am very proud of Kyla and I know she is ready to be on her own but, it was still tough to drive away. After seeing some text from her it sounds like she had a pretty good day. Bella the Dog seems to have some issues, she knows we left Kyla and I don’t believe she is happy about it. Not having Kyla around gives me a few problems; one is that she quite often does my text editing (She is doing Education with History, social studies and english so, her role may even grow in the future). Secondly, quite often when I am trying to decided between two similar images Kyla provides her thoughts on which one I should use. She sees a scene very differently than I do and having her eye look at an image is often helpful. Tonight, I had just that problem and Kyla isn’t here for me to ask for an opinion. Even Dale mentioned how if Kyla was here she could help. I guess I will get use to that or I will keep all similar images for Kyla to review at Christmas time, lol. Now back to our travels. We left Lethbridge and headed to Blairmore. Blairmore is along the Crowsnest Pass in Southwestern Alberta. It was a beautiful drive and one we haven’t done before. It was the first time in seven years that I could tell the wind was having an effect on our RV hauling, it was crazy windy today. It was a short day of driving, we left around 12:15 pm and arrived at our campground around 2:30 pm. We had a quick-lunch and rested before going out exploring. We headed west into British Columbia (hey ,we went to Montana on a whim so BC was nothing, lol) and after a few kilometres headed back to the east through Coleman, Blairmore and stopping in Bellevue. From Bellevue we headed back to our RV site in Blairmore. We took several side trips along the way and a few images were created. There are lots of interesting historical facts about this area. The first Communist Town Council was elected in Blairmore, the area was a big rum-running area during prohibition, in 1903 the tip of Turtle Mountain (about a kilometre wide) broke off and covered the town of Frank (The Frank Slide), the last train robbery in Canada happened here in 1920, the Hillcrest Mine disaster happened here in 1914, there have been several floods and forest fires, Alberta’s first female Mayor was elected in Bellevue in 1963, Disney shot “The Journey of Natty Gann” here in 1985 and the best thing of all for you KFC lovers is that the gravy recipe for KFC Chicken was developed here. This is an area we will visit again, it is beautiful. We have seen a couple of additional treats the last two nights. Last night we watched a Prairie Hawk or Falcon (you bird people will know which) fly off with a snake and tonight, as I write this, CP Rail just passed by (literally 40 metres from our RV) with the longest train I have ever seen (the RV moves as it goes by). We are having a great trip. Tomorrow we start heading north again but, for now here is some of what we saw today. Enjoy, thanks for checking in and as always Happy Shooting.

 

The view from the shore of Chinook Lake.

 

The view from our RV site in Lost Lemon RV Park, Blairmore.

 

Along the Crowsnest River in Blairmore.

 

Crowsnest River at the entrance to Lost Lemon.

 

My Furry Friend in Chinook Lake Provincial Park, Alberta.

 

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 17 – The Final Full Day!

Today was the last full day we spent with Kyla before she moves into her new place. Last minute items were picked up and a few things organized. Apple was good to us this week, when we arrived Kyla reminded me of her iPhone having some issues and with us being beyond the warranty period Bell couldn’t really help us. We made a call to Apple and got a guy in Georgia, we explained the problem we were having and tried a few things but nothing solved the issue. Apple decided to replace the phone and would try to have everything back to normal before we would leave Kyla here in Lethbridge. So, a box had to be sent to us, Kyla’s phone would go in it and be sent back and then a new phone sent back to her. We had about 6 days to pull it off. Today the phone arrived and we got everything working. Apple rocked! Apple has been good to us on repair issues before so we weren’t really surprised. We didn’t do much else today. Dale wasn’t feeling the greatest (I am betting on it being because tomorrow we leave) so, we really just kind of hung out. Jenna and I made dinner, Dale rested, Megan read (as usual) and Kyla worked on setting up her new MacBook Pro and her new iPhone. I actually did some work on a couple of magazine articles I have been writing (both now done and submitted, w00t w00t) and now this post. I also got a few work things out the door. In last night’s post I talked about our night photography fun. Well, I am including some of those images here. Some with light painting and a glow ball and some with just long exposures. Again it was a fun night. Tomorrow we start our journey back home, just four of us. Kyla will spend her first night in her new place (without us), she seems quite excited. I am proud of her and I am sure she will be amazing. She will be missed though, I wonder if we will make it to Christmas or will we be back in Lethbridge before than! Anyway, here are some images from last night. Enjoy, thanks for be around and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Glow Ball got stuck in the tree. No one thinks my tall tripod is stupid now, lol.

Vacation 2013 – Part 16 – Catching up.

As I said earlier, tonight I did two blog posts to get caught up with our actually days of travel. This is the second post but, if you have been following along you know that already. Today was another day with no commitments and it was good. I spent the morning working on Megan’s MacBook while everyone slept in a little. Kyla has a new MacBook Pro for her University studies and Megan wanted Kyla’s MacBook as it is newer than hers. Jenna wants Megan’s because currently Jenna doesn’t have a laptop. So, after making sure all of Kyla’s info transfer correctly, I wiped Kyla’s old computer and transferred Megan’s info to it. Time Machine actually did all the work, I just provided the internet and the time. Both computers appear to be working great and the girls are quite happy. Jenna has to use Megan’s old MacBook as is until we get home. Home is where the OS disk is, lol. I am sure she will be fine. After that it was over to hang out at Kyla’s place, get a quick dinner and then sit by the campfire for some family fun. Unlike the last few days the camera was out today, tonight actually. Tonight I took some long exposure shots. We played with light painting, threw a glow ball around and other night photography stuff. It was quite enjoyable. I snuck out of the activities early to get these blog posts done. It was another great day. Now I have to run and help with some clean up but first, here are some more images from our travels so far. Watch for some of the night photography stuff soon. Enjoy, thanks again for hanging around and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 15 – Kick Ass!

Well for the first time in a few years I skipped a day of blog posting during our summer travels, it wasn’t that I didn’t have images to post (I already said I have a surplus). It was that I just got busy doing nothing at all. We did our usual shopping for the apartment, putting things away in the apartment and we didn’t even cook as we just picked up dinner. After dinner when it was about the time I usually sit down to do the blog, I asked Kyla if we should go catch a movie. Kyla, wanting to see Kick Ass 2, jumped on my question with a big yes and we were off to the 10:20 pm show. At around 12: 30 am we were back at the RV. Megan and Jenna were still up watching season six of Doctor Who and Bella the dog waited by the door. It was a great day of no commitments. To make up for it I will have to do two post tonight. This is the first, here are some images from our trip so far. Enjoy, thanks for keeping up and as always Happy Shooting.

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 14 – Jenna’s View

It was a hot, humid day today, around 34 degrees celsius without the humidex. I was up early, had the truck serviced and got a few work phone calls in. Then it was another round of shopping. Dale and Kyla went to a few stores and Megan, Jenna and I went and looked at new RVs. Jenna believes we were inside the one she wants (watching her try to convince her mom will be fun, lol). It was nice looking at what we can buy when all the kids are gone, but Dale doesn’t want to discuss that either. Later it was back to the apartment to unload and sort today’s purchases. Kyla and Stephanie’s apartment is looking pretty nice. Today was another day without any images created by your truly but, by now there is a small surplus of photos to display. Jenna has been quietly snapping some images with her old iPhone 3GS. A few times she has let me know she is shooting and other time she just snaps away. Yesterday Jenna and I sat down and went through what she has done and we loaded them into Aperture 3. I did some editing with Jenna’s input and once she was happy with the few we had chosen, we left the remainder for future editing. Tonight as I write this post, Jenna is sitting next to me. I told her we would post some of her work today and at 11, she gets pretty excited when we do these things together. I will admit that I do as well. It is nice when the girls show an interest in photography. So here are eight of Jenna’s images from our trip so far. They are from several days of travel starting in the NWT all the way to northern Montana. Jenna and I hope you enjoy them, we thank you for popping by the blog and as always, Happy Shooting.

 

From Waterton Lakes National Park

 

Traveling Highway 3, NWT

 

Proof there is Montana Moose, Piegan Border Crossing, Montana

 

A top Logan’s Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana

 

Driving under the High Level Bridge, Lethbridge, Alberta

 

Rocky Mountain, Canadian side

 

Coming out of Waterton, Alberta

 

Rocky Mountain and the Moon, United States side

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vacation 2013 – Part 13 – Walsh Drive West

After yesterday’s madness, we decided to hang out in Lethbridge today. Kyla’s roommate arrived and we helped move her things into the apartment. From there Kyla, Megan and I did some computer shopping and just checked a few places out. We found a great outdoor store in Lethbridge (which I am sure Kyla will never enter again, lol). For the most part it was a relaxing and uneventful day. This evening, about 30 minutes before sunset, Dale and I went for a short drive past Kyla’s apartment building and west on Walsh Drive. There was an area there that I though would be great to shoot just before the sun went down. We weren’t gone much more than 45 minutes or an hour and that included time at Save On Foods. We both captured a few images before loading up my gear and heading back to the RV for a relaxing family night. It was a fantastic day. Here are some samples of what I captured while we were out, enjoy them, thanks for showing up and as always Happy Shooting.