Month: December 2017

A few days ago, a friend called and asked if I’d like to join her and her daughters for an aurora photography night. I suggested that she bring some glow sticks in case the aurora didn’t show, and when 3 more young people showed up, we had a lot...

From Airdrie to Jasper on Wednesday December 13th, I had had superb weather, but I reached Jasper just after noon, stopped for fuel, and my luck with the weather ran out soon after. My rough-draft itinerary called for me to reach Vanderhoof that night – 990 km from my...

On Wednesday, December 13th, I began the 60-hour drive home. I had planned to start by heading west on Highway 1, but my son suggested that I take Alberta Hwy 11, the David Thompson Highway. He said that it was spectacular, particularly the section that runs along Abraham Lake....

We only had one special event for my 3rd and 4th days with my kids and their families in the Calgary area – attending one of my granddaughters’ basketball games with most of the family. But we kept busy with a little of this and a little of that....

We didn’t have any plans for my 4 days with my kids – we’d just see what came up. The Johnston Canyon hike the first day was a wonderful way to start it off. On the second day, Steve and I went to a new micro-brewery in Airdrie, then...

Being a railfan (“train nut”), you quickly learn that timing is everything, and luck counts. I could hardly believe my luck that the Canadian Pacific Railway’s famous CP Holiday Train was going to be in Calgary for 45 minutes while I was there! After our excellent day hiking Johnston...

For the first day with my family near Calgary (Saturday, December 9th), I suggested that we drive to Banff and hike Johnston Canyon. It’s a spectacular canyon located 22 km west of Banff on the Bow Valley Parkway (Hwy 1A). I was thrilled that everyone wanted to go –...

Day 3 of the trip (December 8th) got me to Airdrie, where both my kids and their families live. It was a fairly easy day with 635 km to cover, but having perfect weather on the Icefields Parkway made it a fairly slow drive with lots of photo stops....

Thursday, December 7th, was a long day with an early start. A look out my window at the Northern Rockies Lodge at Muncho Lake, with the moon lighting up the snowy peaks, got my blood pumping in a hurry. I took a few photos from the room, and at...

I’m back on the road for 10 days or so, driving from Whitehorse to Calgary and back to see my kids. It’s both faster and cheaper to fly, but when I saw an absolutely incredible weather forecast for at least the first 7 days, driving was the easy choice....