The first camping trip Jenn and I took together was to Cataract Creek in Kananaskis Country. Here we are with a group of friends around the campfire. We wandered down the creek to a fishing hole and caught nothing but a clue about how cool the Rockies can be in early summer. The campground was tucked away nicely between a mountain range and had a hill with a great view from the road on the way out which was pretty sweet on the eyes. Notice the snow on the mountains off in the distance and keep in mind this was late May.
Early on in the summer, my buddy Elliot came out to visit from Ottawa and here he is with Simone, Jenn and myself on a walk we did around the Glenmore resevoir. We decided to go a bit off the beaten path and took some fun pics up the hill seen here. It was a great day filled with sun, fresh air and wine...
A fews hours later we were back at the flophouse and took this rejuvenated looking picture in the backyard shortly before hitting the town for the evening and taking Calgary completely by surprise-some pretty fancy moves were displayed that night.
Each summer in Calgary they host the Lilac Festival on 4th Street and display a wide array of fashion, art, food and colorful people. The picture above was taken inside the Rose & Crown Pub on 4th where we went to seek refuge from the crowds and heat.
As summer rolled by June 22nd came and Jenn turned another year older (which year I am not at liberty to say-hehe) so I took her out to dinner at the luxurious Bow Valley Grill in the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel. Surprisingly this is not the first, but rather the second birthday Jenn and I have spent in Banff. We were walking up to the Grill and with such a nice evening I decided to snap a shot of the birthday girl and capture the moment of beauty with Jenn and the wonderful scenery behind her. The mountains are great, but seeing Jenn in front of them is even better. No, don't make any awww sounds now, I will blush.
Ultimate Frisbee became a hobby for both Jenn and I as we played on the Co-ed team named The Nova Scotian Motion. In the picture from back (l-r) are Raylene, Michelle, Roderick, Lisa, second row Gina, Mike, Deanna, Jason, front row Jessica, Jerry, myself, and Jolynn. Missing are Jenn and Leon. Overall we had a great season and look forward to further improving our skills next summer.
The next week-end we went to Banff, where as in many places visited, I imitated The Karate Kid and executed another flawless Swan Kick. This helped "kicked off" Canada Day in Banff for the first time with a stellar group of Wayne, Simone, Jen, Ainsley, and Jenn (not pictured). As the parade moved through town on Banff Avenue we saw floats, marching bands, antique vehicles and lots of Canada Flags. After the bands were through we went to the Rose and Crown and sat on their rooftop patio which has an excellent view of the mountains. Here is me in my pimp daddy glasses.
Another first for Jenn and I was to attend a wedding together. Although she is not in the pic she took one of Daniel, Shane and I. Try not to laugh at the goatee, it was my "umemployed look" and oddly enough was hired soon after this picture, goatee and all! I mean how can a you laugh at me when I had a date like Jenn to go with me?
Being out in Banff you should go up to the Johnston Canyon to see the waterfalls not to mention the nice walk. There you will find a small waterfall (15m) after about a 1.5 km walk, after about 3km you will come to a much larger one that is 30m high and has a neat piece of trivia behind it. The worlds highest successful kayak descent off a waterfall. Just to give you some perspective Jenn was brave enough to go out near the edge to show the falls shear heigth and size. Here she is up close, a little further, and finally from a distance. The picture shows only about 1/2 of the waterfall just in case you happen to be scared of heights. Pretty high huh! Here is a picture of us, actually me trying not to let Jenn to far out of sight.
Nearing the end of the summer we went out to Sylvan Lake for a week-end with some friends from home and had a blast at a cottage that a few friends rented for the week. Sylvan Lake is like Alberta's answer to Nova Scotia's Bras D'Or Lakes with nice scenery and a lot of tourists. Here is a pic the first night there when we played cards out on the front lawn before heading out on the town. The next day we rose eager to head to the lake on the boat, but it was not meant to be as we ran into mechanical trouble. Here I am near the launch that never was. Later we made our way to the beach area where people were playing volleyball and others watching.
At a house party we had this summer here are Jenn and Erin , a friend Jenn worked with that summer.
And the last trip before I officially called it a summer was to Edmonton where we took in the West Edmonton Mall, the world's largest Shopping Mall and Leisure Centre. This place was truly gigantic and to get an idea I have a few pics to demonstrate its enormity. First, we went skating on the NHL sized rink that is used by the Oilers from time to time and also skated on by Wayne Gretzky. Next we discovered the waterpark and saw the most enormous waterslide I have ever layed eyes on. Then we made our way to the submarine ride which carried passengers underwater through a huge pool. Next to the submarine pool was a dolphin pool that had two very playful dolphins inside it. Lastly we saw a full sized replica of the Santa Maria which you could venture onto if you were not too worried about having to walk the plank-Arghhh!
