Calgary Stampede Parade-Caring

Calgary Stampede Parade - School

Calgary Stampede Parade-Animals

Calgary Stampede-People

As with any parade, is it fun to see all of the different kinds of people. The estimated crowd was over 300,000 so there was a lot to look at. This two hour, 25 block parade was a little different from any other parade I have ever been to because every possible culture that could be included was represented by a parade entry. Participants included many of the indigenous Indian tribes (referred to as First Nations or Aboriginals), marching bands from as far away as Arizona, the various Canadian military forces including several thundering tanks, bag pipe marching troupes in kilts, the police force, firemen and their antique wagons from local cities, the Pakistani Community group, the local Chinese cultural group, the local Muslim group, various community organizations (Shriner's, Kinsman, Salvation Army, etc.), belly dancers, many Canadian Olympic athletes, two previous contents from the TV show The Great Race, and the list goes on and on. It is hard to pick a favorite but I really enjoyed the bagpipers in their formal dress and the Chinese Cultural entry. On the Chinese float were traditional costumed drummers with their huge drums keeping rhythm as they traveled by. Following alongside were several costumed characters that interacted with the crowd. There was also a traditional dancing Chinese dragon that followed the float. At some points during the parade, I wondered if I were in Alberta or Texas because of all of the cowboy hats, boots, and western wear. I was always jolted back into reality by listening to Yee-Haw's and Yah-Hoo's of both the crowd and the parade participants. Great fun! Thanks Carlton for the great seats!

Calgary Stampede Parade Street Sweeper

Let the Stampede begin! Some of the most important entries in the Stampede Parade are the street cleaners. They are strategically spaced out throughout the parade so that they can keep the streets free of horse droppings. As you can see by the picture, even the street cleaners get "dressed" in their finest for the crowd.

The things you learn at the coffee shop

None of you will be surprised to find out that Peter and I have found a little local coffee shop close to the condo. The Citadel, more accurately a coffee shop/lounge, has both indoor and outdoor seating. Peter and I stopped the other day and had a coffee and a piece of great carrot cake at one of the outside tables. Also offered are many different soups, sandwiches, and various other sweet treats. The difference in this coffee shop and the local Starbucks is that the Citadel offers alcohol. Here you can get a "flavored" coffee, wine, or liquor. There is a concept that I could get used to. While I was waiting for my non-fat latte yesterday, the barista was making a London Fog. A London Fog is steamed milk, two shots of vanilla flavoring, and a bag of English tea. I kind of turned up my nose and she shared another drink that is not her personal favorite but is catching on called a Bambus. This drink is apparently becoming the rage all over Europe. A Bambus is equal parts of red wine and coke. Why in the world would anyone waste red wine by mixing it with coke? Wow, the things that you learn at the local coffee shop! I think I will go back for another latte today and see what else I can learn.

Canadian treats!!!

One of the things that Peter and I like to do when we travel is to find out what the locals eat. We have tried a few things from the local Farmer's Market. Raspberries, beets, spinach, apples, and rhubarb are just some of the Canadian produce that we have enjoyed. Peter was not a big fan of the beets but he did try one bite. We especially like the jams and jellies that we buy at the Farmer's Market that are made in Calgary. Some of the jams are made with honey instead of sugar. One of the jam flavors that we particularly like is saskatoon. Saskatoon is a major "city" in Sasketchwan (a neighboring province) as well as a blueberry like fruit. We have enjoyed saskatoon jam and saskatoon jam cookies. Yum!

Peace Grove

The Bow River is directly behind Peter's condo. There are miles and miles of trails along the Bow. People are always walking, jogging, and bike riding along these trails. Today is so beautiful, I could not wait to go walking. Also all along the Bow are little sanctuaries where people of all ages and nationalities read, visit, meditate, eat, drink and romance each other. The Peace Grove is one of those little sanctuaries. The carved pole, that is also located in the same area, was a gift to the citizens of Calgary from the Hungarian government and is over 100 years old.

Parade Day Prep

The Calgary Stampede is a HUGE event. I am so excited that I am here this year to be able to enjoy it and we are thrilled that Karla and Cody will join us this year as well. The city preps for this event all year long. As it draws closer, the city starts to morph into a different place. You can feel the excitement everywhere you go. The parade will be this Friday and Peter and I will be there in our reserved seats. As you can tell by the picture, bleachers are starting to be assembled all along the parade route. The sign painters have been busy for a long time welcoming all to both Calgary and the Stampede.

Fresh paint

The condo maintenance crew is always working hard on keeping everything beautiful around the grounds and the building. Late last week they painted the front entrance of the building. It did not take long for a tagger to add their own color scheme. That is just as sad to see here in Calgary as it is in Houston.

More peonies

Peter and I took a walk to the grocery store last night and found that the two peony bushes that I had been eagerly waiting to bloom, had in fact bloomed. They are beautiful as you can see. The many different flowers blooming make me want to walk to the grocery store just to see what I can find along the way.

S-Cargo or is it escargot?

Peter and I were out and about early one morning and found this really cute little car next to the condo. Peter did some research and found out that it is a right hand drive Nissan that was manufactured in Japan for just a few years, from 1989-1992. Only about 12,000 were made. It is called the S-cargo because it is a small cargo vehicle and it also looks like a snail. The design was inspired by a French Citroen 2CV. How cute is that?

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

That really is the name of this place; I could not make that one up. This will be the last blog about our Saturday adventure. I saved this one for last, because it is the hardest to put into words. All day long we laughed every time we talked about going to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. I mean really, who would name a UNESCO World Heritage Site that and why? We arrived at the museum about 45 minutes before it was scheduled to close. When we walked into this beautifully designed building nestled into the cliff side and began reading about the site, it was overwhelmingly sad for me. Basically, this is a place where over 6,000 years, tens-of-thousands of buffalo were run off the cliffs so that the Plains people, as they are called, could eat and use all of the buffalo parts for various things. I get that in this cold, hard to survive climate, everyone has to eat but it was still a little overwhelming. When the site was excavated, 12 meters of buffalo bones were unearthed. That is over 39 feet or 4 stories! I think that if there were any buffalo left it would not be so sad, but the white men who came through on the trains completely wiped out the remaining buffalo. The scenery was beautiful, but I don't think that I will ever look at a sandstone cliff the same way again.

The legend is that a young boy wanted to see the many buffalo that were being run off the cliffs to their deaths. He was standing under an overhang as he watched but when his people came to butcher the buffalo, they found the boy with his skull smashed in. What an awful story.

Cameron Creek Rapids

On the way to Cameron Lake, we noticed an interpretive sign near a small mock up of an oil well. On the way back down we stopped to check it out. It marked the spot where the first producing oil well in Canada was drilled although it never really produced much. The reason it was drilled in the first place was adventurers noticed bears in the area had oil rubbed on their fur. The assumption is the oil kept the insects away. Don't ask me how they figured this all out, but they eventually found oil seeping out of rocks in the area. After reading the information on the oil well, we walked a little bit down the creek next to the oil well site. It was about 100 meters or so where we found this rapid. It turned out to be one of the unplanned treasures of the day.

Pictured with us is Carlton Jensen, Peter's friend from work who traveled with us yesterday. He was a great sport and was even willing to meet us at 6:00a.m.to start this journey. You have to love that sense of adventure. After we got back home, about 7:00 p.m., we met up at one of the local watering holes called Firewater for dinner. We enjoyed the company, the food, and the music. Firewater is across the street from both Peter and Carlton's condo buildings. It was a very enjoyable day.

Cameron Lake and Falls

Cameron Lake is about a 10 mile drive from Waterton Lake and higher in elevation. Most of the time we were there, it was windy, cool, spitting rain, and the sun refused to shine. When you look across Cameron Lake from the vantage point of where we took the picture, you are looking at Montana.

The Cameron Lake Falls were beautiful and very assessable with a nice fenced path. The speed and volume of the water was amazing. Behind the fence we noticed a large mule deer feeding. It was camouflaged well and the only way we initially saw it was because of its movement.

Poutine

While we were enjoying the view of the lake and trying to warm up a little, we ordered some coffee and tea in the lounge of The Prince of Wales Lodge. The lounge, with its floor to ceiling windows, was a great respite from the winds where we could still enjoy the view of the lake. We noticed that poutine was on the menu so we decided to give it a try. Poutine is a Canadian comfort food that is a combination of french fries, fresh cheese curd, and brown gravy. How can you go wrong when you start with crispy french fries? To our surprise, Carlton, Peter and I enjoyed our Canadian snack. The cheese curd had a mild mozzarella flavor and texture. We decided that poutine was the Canadian version of Texas chili cheese fries that we would probably order again.

Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada

Our next stop of the morning was about 2 ½ hours to the south of Calgary, only a few miles from the United States Montana border, Waterton Lakes National Park (Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park). The first thing that catches your eye after you soak in the majesty of Upper Waterton Lake is an old historic brown and beige building called The Prince of Wales Lodge. It is a wooden structure that sits proudly up on a rocky ledge overlooking the lakes and at first glance reminds you of a large Swiss chalet. When you enter this grand old building, you know that you are not in a Swiss chalet; you are in a remnant of the grand old hotels of Canada that were influenced by ever present British heritage. Once you walk into the lobby, your eyes are instantly drawn to the plate glass windows on the lake side of the building. It isn’t until later that you notice the three leveled wrought iron chandelier that hangs over a majority of the lobby. The view from the lobby makes you wonder why you are so blessed to be able to view one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I won’t even try to describe the beauty of the lake. The pictures will have to speak for themselves even though I will tell you that due to the clouds and the limits of our little point and shoot camera you can’t even begin to capture the true beauty of the lake.

Outside the lodge you are immediately taken back by the 50 plus mile per hour winds. The air blowing off of the lake was amazingly cold which is easy to understand when you see the mountains on the far side of the lake with the snow still on the higher peaks. Add the winds to the cool temperature and if you are like I am, you are almost immediately ready to retreat back to the shelter of the Prince of Wales Lodge lobby where by the way, they offer coffee, tea, and even high tea at the appropriate hour. If you are like Peter with some of the salty North Sea in your veins, you embrace that feeling.