Skyline

 

A skyline view of the city of Edmonton.

Edmonton Alberta Canada

Athabasca Glacier

 

Standing on the Athabasca Glacier part of the Columbia Ice Fields.

Jasper National Park, Alberta Canada

Science Center

 

The Zeidler Dome at the Telus World of Science 

Edmonton Alberta, Canada

Going Shopping

 

The West Edmonton Mall, the second largest (in area) shopping center in North America.  

Edmonton Alberta, Canada

Legislature

 

Alberta Legislative Building

Edmonton Alberta Canada

Glass Pyramids

 

The Muttart Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Edmonton Alberta, Canada

Where the Dinosaurs Live

 Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology 

Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

Lake Louise

 

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise 

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

Parliament

 

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Victoria British Columbia, Canada

EveryTraveler Has One of These Stories

Back in 1986, I attended a National Convention in Seattle and since I was that far north, I took the opportunity to go to the World Expo in Vancouver Canada.  (I did a short post about the Expo here.)

I was accompanied by three others who had also attended the convention.  We asked a travel agent known to us to make the arrangements which she said would be no problem.  However, we didn't get the arrangements sorted until the last day of the convention and even then they weren't complete.  The agent told us we would be staying on a ship that was moored on what I believe was the Frasier River.  We were told that all the hotels were full but that several cruise ships had been commissioned to accommodate the overflow of visitors.

That sounded sort of exciting until we arrived and saw that the ships in question were pretty haggard looking. There were two aged ships docked together, the Princess Patricia where we checked in and were served lunch and the Prince George where our actual rooms were located.

The cabin I shared with one of my friends had just enough room to pass by one another if we stood sideways.  That's my camera laying on the top bunk.  I bumped my head getting in and out of that bunk every time.  It's actually a good thing that our cabin was so small because there was no heat on the boat.  Our body heat was all we had to keep the room warm enough.  However, showering in the morning was a truly awakening experience.

I found this photo among those old slides that I recently discovered.  It sums up the experience perfectly.  The condition of those deck chairs paints a pretty clear picture of the state of these accommodations.

The good news is that we thoroughly enjoyed visiting the World Expo for two days and now we can laugh about this rather challenging travel experience.  It's fun to have colorful travel stories to relate to friends and this one has been told many times.

I've left out quite a few of the frustrations we encountered getting our itinerary and tickets to the Expo.  Suffice it to say that we never used that particular travel agent again.

Pyramids of Canada

In Edmonton Alberta, the Muttart Conservatory adds a unique shape to the city's skyline.  Four glass pyramids house plants from around the world.  Three of the pyramids feature permanent displays representing the three distinct biomes of temperate, arid and tropical.  The fourth pyramid offers changing exhibits and programs.  A visit to this place is well worth the effort if you find yourself in the lovely city of Edmonton.

A Proper Parliament Building

The Parliament building in Edmonton Alberta, Canada is a grand structure worthy of a government building.  It's located on a promontory overlooking the North Saskatchewan River valley and on the former location of Fort Edmonton.  That fountains in the plaza add to it's distinguished look.

The pull of the theatre

When I was working in Chicago, I took many weekend trips to places that were easier to get to from the huge Chicago airport.  One of those trips was with several other people from our project team, when we went to Toronto for the weekend.  While there, one of the members of our group saw that Les Miserables was playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre and asked if the rest of us would like to go.  I was the only person in the group who had seen it before but since it's an all time favorite production, I decided to go along with the group.  We got up early the next morning and went to the theatre to see if we could get tickets.  While waiting in line, I started to notice the pictures of Colm Wilkinson in his role as Jean Valjean.  I wondered why they were using Wilkinson's picture for this production so I stepped out of line to check further.  It was then that I realized that Colm Wilkinson was actually the lead in this very production.  I was so, so excited to see this legendary performer perform this legendary role.  I wasn't disappointed.  It was the highlight of this short trip!

Expo 86

Way back in 1986 I went to the World Expo in Vancouver British Columbia, the first and only world expo I've ever been to.  The theme for that year was "World Transportation - World in Touch".  There were 54 nations present all displaying various modes of transportation.  The scene above features all kinds of boats from all over the world.

The shot to the left is of the outside of the Soviet Union pavilion and sticking out from the back is a Soviet rocket.

The Expo was opened by Prince Charles and Princess Diana (we weren't there for that) but, the day we were there, Margaret Thatcher did a fly-over on the Concord and we did see that.  That was quite an impressive aircraft making a circle over the city.

Walking on a glacier

During the summer of 1989 I took a trip to Canada traveling with my parents in their brand new motorhome.  One of the stops we made was at the Athabasca Glacier which is part of the Columbia Icefields in the Canadian Rockies.  These giant "Terra Buses" take passenger up onto the glacier where you can get out and walk on that ancient ice.  That's my mom and dad in the photo above.

According to Wikipedia, in 2005 this place had the largest fleet of these snow coaches with only 2 others operating in Antarctica.

I occurred to me as I was writing this that back in 1989, Wikipedia didn't exist.  Now there is something to think about.

Port of Call

A view of St. John's Newfoundland from the deck of a cruise ship.  I took a cruise once and will probably never do it again.  I quickly learned that cruising isn't my preferred form of travel.  (I"m not a sit and relax kind of traveler.  I'm more of an always on the move seeing things kind of traveler.)  This cruise went to Halifax Nova Scotia and St. John's Newfoundland and back to New York.  Unfortunately, Halifax had been hit by a hurricane two days before our landing and many of the land excursions were cancelled because of it.  St. John's was much better.  I enjoyed walking the streets here.

Palaeontology

The Tyrrell Museum is a fantastic museum located near the city of Drumheller, Alberta Canada.  It's a very popular attraction for tourists and scientists alike.  It has a collection of 130,000 fossils most of which were found in this area of Alberta.  The museum is named for Joseph Tyrrell, a geologist who discovered the first dinosaur remains in The Red Deer Valley in 1884.  The most popular area of the museum is the Dinosaur Hall  where 40 mounted dinosaur skeletons greet the visitor.

Victoria British Columbia

This is probably the most photographed spot in Victoria British Columbia and how could one resist taking this shot of the beautifully lit Parliament Building reflected in the waters of the boat harbor.

Lake Louise

It's been a very long time since I've been to Lake Louise and I only have a few photos of the visit there.    I distinctly remember being awestruck by the beauty of this place.  The photo shows The Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise, a beautiful and historic hotel sitting right on the water's edge.  I was traveling in a motorhome on this trip so I didn't stay at this lovely place but I did have a wonderful, leisurely lunch here sitting at a table with a spectacular view of the lake.  Lake Louise is located in Alberta Canada.