Out West Adventure!

I haven't been the best at getting my pictures up from Outwest - promise that will happen soon. (All pictures are from my phone as an idea!)

Our trip was great!!!
Friday We flew from London to Calgary, leaving at about 8:30pm and arriving at about 10:30pm where Camille picked us up at the airport. We made it back to her house around 11:15 and finally settled in to sleep around 12pm (which felt like 2am to us travelers!)

Sat morning we were up fairly early and did some running around with Camille. Went to MEC and Kensington then home before going to the Saddledome to see a Roughneck's game (lacrosse) which was really fun! Went out for drinks afterwards and home to sleep.

Sunday we went to the Farmers Market, the zoo and made dinner with Cam's roomie Jay and her friend Julie.

Monday morning Dave and I took off to go to Banff/Lake Louise. The weather wasn't beautiful, kinda overcast but we had fun anyway. Dave's never seen the mountains so he was pretty impressed. Lake Louise's gondola was closed until the following weekend and the Lake itself was still frozen over so that was kinda a let down. Once back to Banff we went to the hotel (where we got choco covered strawberries!) checked in and then went to find the Banff Upper Hot Springs where we rented old-timey bathing suits and sat around in fresh hot spring water. Back to the hotel and then out for dinner where I had some fantastic ribs!! Still thinking about those ribs!

Tues we drove back to Calgary where, after 5 years I finally met Erin (my e-twin). Had some beers and have never had to pee so badly in my entire lifetime.

Wed morning started our adventure out west - into the car we went at about 9am and headed for Kelowna. Made it to Revelstoke where I took over driving and we ate some lunch. Made it to Kelowna around 3:15 or so and checked into the motel. Wandered into town and tried to figure out what we'd do the next day. Found a thai place to eat dinner and magically the sauce on my thai food tasted a lot like those awesome ribs!

Thurs we wandered around the town some more - it was WAY more beautiful in the sunshine. Laid on the grass at the waterfront park and enjoyed a stroll along the boardwalk. Found a place to eat dinner and went back to the hotel to get ready for our wine tour. The wine tour people picked us up and took us to Summerhill Pyramid Winery, an organic winery to the south of Kelowna. They ferment their wines in a pyramid modeled after one in Egypt. After Summerhill we went to Cedar Creek where we got an actual tour of the winery and got to taste about 6 different types of wine. Dave and I bought some Geuwertraminer (sp?) which is a white, but delish considering I'm not usually at white drinker. After Cedar Creek we went to Carmelis Goat Cheese factory where they made all their own goats cheese and gelato. Got to taste about 13 different cheeses and I settled on buying some Gruyer (sp?). Ate at this cute little pub on the waterfront before heading back to the hotel to crash.
Friday we were back in the car and heading towards Vancouver. Camille drove to Hope where I took over and got us to Stanley Park. Went to the aquarium and saw the belugas, otters, and all the fishes! Found the hotel and checked in - a bit sketchy but super close to downtown and had "free" internet (which worked intermittently). Tak met up with us after he was done work and we went out for sushi and wandered around Robson St and down Granville Ave. Went to English bay and watched the sunset.

Sat we did more wandering. Went and met up with Tak for lunch (indian buffet) and then met up with my friend Kat for drinks in Gastown. Took a stroll through E. Hastings on the way to China town and then back to the hotel before going to Granville Island to meet up with Cam's friend Michelle for seafood dinner. Went back to Michelle's place after dinner and then wandered around some more. Got some dessert and went down to English Bay to watch the sunset.

Sunday we treked back to Granville island where Dave, Tak and I did a brewery tour of the Granville Island Brewery and got to taste a few different beers after seeing how they are made. Went and got Camille's oil changed and had a seriously disappointing experience with Mr. Lube that I still intend to write to them about. Back to the hotel before going down to Stanley Park and renting bicycles to ride around. Had a great time riding the bikes through Stanley Park. Stopped for bubble tea before going back to the hotel to nap before going out for greek dinner on Davie St. (Van's gay district). Had some fantastic moussaka! Sadly Cam and Dave's dinners weren't anywhere near as awesome as my moussaka and thus they shared mine with me. Camille and I really wanted crepes later in the evening, so we ventured out and found some on Granville. While sitting there, we made friends with a likely homeless (if not, then he's from sketchville) guy who was all about his awesome bicycle. He kinda ruined our people watching, however with loudly saying all the things we were thinking.

Monday morning Camille took off early and Dave and I had breakfast at this random little breakfast place across the street. got on the bus and headed for the airport. Got on the plane and were home by 8pm!

if you wanna see pictures, www.picasaweb.google.com/alanna.foell to view what I've got up - more to come, I've just been super lazy!

PS My sincere apologies about the terrible formatting of this post - I'm not the biggest fan of how I have to do it in Blogger!!
--
alanna foell : professional photographer : www.afphotography.cjb.net

New Home, New Ride?

Dave and I have officially moved into the new apartment, which is great - except we have yet to spend a night there. All our stuff, with the exception of my mattress and my clothes are over at the new place. Even all my food is over there. And yet I'm still living at Christian's place until tomorrow since we are going away for 10 days I didn't want to leave my cat alone for longer than necessary.

The whole moving process was interesting. We got the keys the last weekend of April and were able to move a few things directly in after picking them up. Over the course of the week we moved more things in as we had time. We got a couch from my cousin Keelan. We picked it up and drove it back to London on Thurs (in a deluge!) and brought it directly into the apartment. Saturday and Sunday was spent moving the bigger furniture like my desk, my futon and my bed frame (hence the mattress on the ground situation).

Tomorrow (thurs) with some luck, Dave will be able to move my mattress and my clothes over to the apartment and we'll spend one night there before going off to visit my cousin Camille in Calgary.

Between all the moving, I'm working both jobs and also going to look at a potential new car this week! My poor camry has been giving me the middle finger for a while and last week had a fit and decided to just turn off and refuse to turn back on (at one of the busiest intersections in London!). I borrowed Dad's (well, Mom's) car for the last few days with the provision that I'd bring it back to him on Wed. I also found a pretty sweet deal on a car in Kitchener so I figured I'd check it out when I took the Buick back. Mazda Protege 5 - in a pretty blue colour!

If all goes well with the car, I think I'll see if the guy will take a deposit from me until I get back from out west and have more time to deal with the whole car situation.

Pictures of both car and apartment sooner or later!