Just out for a stroll.

I can't wait to go home in December. This isn't because I am that homesick, or am having a bad time; I am actually having a great time meeting people, travelling, getting closer with my host family, I just can't wait for the little things back home that I just can't get here in France. Like the visits to Starbucks during cold Decembers, not being able to leave the house because there is way too much snow, christmas lights throughout the streets alongside english christmas music, christmas movies on tv, christmas parades... I could go on but clearly I am excited for Christmas and to see some familiar faces. 

Never stop discovering

WARNING: This blog is long and contains many pictures of cute animals and sexy humans.

Last week, my boyfriend, Dennis, and I went on a long trip through the Rockies (aka the wilderness), on the border of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.

Now a piece of advice for people who may want to do a similar trip, or just a long camping. These trips are not for the faint of heart. You must get used to no showers, freezing nights (depending where you are), and the fear of meeting a grizzly bear (or cougar in some areas) while you are enjoying yourself on a treacherous hike. Speaking of hikes, if you do happen to go on one be prepared! We saw people wearing flip flops... like seriously??? This isn't Ontario 10 minute hikes on a boardwalk for you, these are mountain hikes that are minimally maintained. You'd think some people would have the sense to at least bring the appropriate shoes.... and water. (Tangent: funny story, when Dennis and I were hiking through a fairly hard hike through the Icefields - near Banff last year, we were stopped by 2 guys who were clearly beginner hikers - way too much gear - some of which still had tags on, clearly not enjoying the hike anymore while they were only half way, etc). They asked us where they could get water. Poor guys. I don't think they will be going hiking very soon after that.)

Anyways...

The trip to the mountains usually goes like this:

You drive through a flat, very boring highway for a couple of hours. Then BAM, you see mountains in the distance and you are taken aback by the beauty. So you pull out your camera and start taking pictures of the far off mountains. Then as you get closer, you are surrounded by these mountains, at which point you are wondering why you were taking silly pictures of far off mountains when the close up pictures are so much better. You also feel the need to stop at every single view point along the road. Only to realize after that the hikes offer even better views of the mountains!

As it so happens our first night wasn't necessarily the most successful. We came on a Saturday and we arrived in the late afternoon... which means no camping spots. We were sent to "overflow camping". Turns out "overflow camping" should be called "a piece of flat land with hardly any trees for cover where you simply pluck your tent alongside other people and sleep for the night, actually this area is mostly made for trailers but you've got nowhere else to sleep so have fun". Thank goodness I packed some salads and sandwich materials for food so we didn't need a fire to cook any food. We visited the city of Jasper that day for hike maps, info, and of course ice cream. We also happened to visit this little area which was beautiful! Additionally, we met a group of elk. As a biologists I was so interested in the make-up of the group - one male and the rest females. This is fairly regular among many animals, as some will only have one alpha (sometimes a beta, and other low ranking males). 

The next day we quickly made it our mission to find a normal camp site. After we got settled in we went on a couple of short hikes and stopped at some view points, the usual. 

We stopped at a view point and I wanted a flattering photo of me sitting on the barrier. The barrier was slanted to prevent people from sitting on it. So instead I got this beauty. 

We parked here when we went on a trail. These goats wandered the parking lot licking salt of the cars and stealing food from people. At one point I freaked out on this one cause I thought he was going to attack me. Clearly I am the goat whisperer. 

One of our first hikes was up this mountain. As always beautiful views. 

Once we climb to the end of a hike (usually the top of the mountain) we have lunch. There were so many chipmunks that would come up and beg for our trail mix. Being the cute and fluffy animal lovers that we are we of course fed them. I feel like this guy has the best photo out of all of ours. Anybody know his email? I feel like this was destined to be his profile picture on Facebook.

Our second hike was through an old mine. Unfortunately someone (or many people) have been stealing the information brochures so we simply wandered through ruins that we could not decipher what they could have been used for!

Later that day we visited some hot springs (our first shower in three days and second of the entire trip). I was expecting to be up somewhere in the mountains, sitting amongst rocks, and bathing in... well hot springs. I was severely disappointed to find 2 large hot tubs and 2 cold pools. The entire place smelled of chlorine. They should advertise their place as "unnatural/ manmade hotsprings. I.e. A large hot tub". Whatever I got a shower out of it. 

The next day was pretty insane (yet expensive). 

When waking up our first thing we do is get all our food from the car. Today was different, when opening the car we saw evidence of a trail mix stealing culprit, who also likes to leave tiny poop evidence. Impossiblé! I assured Dennis that it was probably a chipmunk that had crawled into the car while it was open, took some trail mix, and left (little thing was very picky with what he ate, he didn't eat his fruits, the nuts were his favourite). The crime scene was cleaned up, and the detectives went on with their day feeling pretty satisfied with themselves for solving such a mystery.... little did they know! (story continues the next day)

We also went on a tram in Jasper. It was ridiculously expensive for a 7 minute ride up a mountain ($30 each), but it was worth it. The view was incredible! 

Then there was a "short, moderate" hike to go higher up the moutain. The reason those words are in quotes was because it was LIES. The hike would be short if you ran up the 90 degrees of rocky hill you had to climb. I'd like to think that I went rock climbing, because that was pretty much what it was. 

We were so high up we found snow! Thanks to the awesome family who took photos for us! 

After fearfully climbing down that mountain (climbing up a steep mountain is usually easier than climbing down), we went back to Jasper the city. We kind of cheated in the whole "living in nature and only eating the camp food we bring". THE PIZZA JUST SMELLED SO GOOD. Yeah so we had a delicious pizza, so what. When in Jasper climb, swim, snowball fight, and eat. 

That night was pretty entertaining as well. As per usual I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I of course had to wake up my bodyguard (aka Dennis) in case bears decide that I am their new playtoy, also I am a chicken when it comes to the dark, in a dark forest, with creepy sounds and all. Dennis decided that we need the second flashlight that was int he car. 

To the detectives astonished surprise when he opened the car door, he saw the culprit, a tiny mouse, first hand! Contrary to the detectives idea, the culprit was still in the car! He was leading a pretty happy life with constant nutrition and all the space in the world. 

When Dennis opened the car and shown the flashlight the mouse wasn't very happy and started to squeak in annoyance at Dennis. It was pretty hilarious in my opinion. Dennis wasn't so amused, he was more worried about the fact that THERE IS A MOUSE IN THE CAR. The little bugger wasn't necessarily eager to leave either, who would, with so much food! So I, the master mind, figured we would trap the guy with some of his favourite snacks... nuts from the trail mix. We sprinkled some on the car floor close to the open door. The culprit was not as smart as he might of thought, he was just so overtaken by his greed that he lunged for the nuts right away. At which point Dennis took a bowl and scraped him out of the car. It was an amusing night time adventure to say the least. Throughout our trip we kept on finding evidence of the culprit: tooth marks in food and poop. 

Taking pictures in front of waterfalls is difficult. Especially when the water is freezing. 

A man's usual picture in front of (or in this case, on) his car *cough* love of his life *cough*

Finally we saw bears. But I was never able to take a great picture of them. Still how cute is it that the cub follows its mama like this. Cuteness overload.

Around the middle of our trip we wanted to drive to Yoho National Park camp there for a couple of days and then make our way over to our last destination, Glacier National Park. However, when we got to Yoho (around 2pm) all the campsites were full! Like what?? After two hours of driving we were devastated, as we were exhausted and we really wanted to see this park. So we had to make the decision: either camp somewhere sketchy and risk getting in trouble with the park or just drive on into Glacier National Park and get there 2 days earlier than we planned. We did the latter. It wasn't so bad. The park is really close to Revelstoke, so we spent the rest of the day exploring the city (we may or may not have ad sushi or Mcdonalds...)

We happened to go to some "Enchanted Forest" which was awesome! It was a trail through a forest that had monuments to different childhood stories like Snow White, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Hanzel and Gretel, etc.

Dennis spent a minute in the first little pig house made of straw, but the wolf huffed and puffed and blew the house down. 

Then Dennis ran to the second little pigs house made of sticks. But the evil wolf huffed and puffed and blew this one down as well. 

As his last resort, Dennis went into the third little pigs house, the house made of brick. The wolf huffed and puffed, and he huffed and puffed some more. Lucky enough for Dennis the wolf was unable to bring down this house and gave up. No ones knows what happened to the wolf. 

This made me laugh. 

There were also boat rides. The "use at your own risk" boat rides. 

Later that day we also visited some ghost town. It was like a huge museum. It contained so many items from the past. Not just little stuff but whole houses, cars, motorcycles, and trains (which were museums on the inside!). It was pretty cool. We also went on a "ghost train". Which was a simple train but did as a haunted train on the inside. Considering I am a person who cannot handle scary things very easily, I ran out screaming.. no surprise there. 

Dennis leaving the saloon after a cold beer and a fight.. the usual.

It was a good end to the day. 

We took it slow for the next couple of days. Just small hikes. No Bear Grylls hikes. 

We also figured it would be nice to actual explore our campsite hike. Which used to be around an old railway. I love seeing old pieces of history. 

This used to be where a railway went. Pretty cool, but would that really be stable?

The trail said it was closed due to an avalanche that passed through and blocked the path. Considering we are daredevils we still went on it. This was the avalanche damage. How crazy is this?? It of course looks more intimidating in real life. We were still able to climb over it. What is even more bizarre is that the ice was still under all those branches from the avalanche. 

Our next hike, that very same day, had a glorious view! It was a fairly short climb up (steep, but short), and it came out into this huge meadow/valley area:

The trail led us through this valley into the very far off mountain you see at the middle there. The trail itself wasn't very hard but because it was in the sun the entire time (in 30 degree weather) it was very tiering. 

But I found a nice resting tree. I am embarrassed to admit I ripped [my best hiking pants] on the backside (aka my bum) while climbing on that tree.

The top! 

So halfway through our hike we met this guy. He was hiking with his family, but his parents left him about 1/5 of the way along the hike. He then asked to join us because we were heading towards bear territory and you never want to be hiking alone through bear territory. He was a cool character, we actually really enjoyed his company. He also really loved taking pictures (and a lot of selfies with us). 

As always we had lunch at the top. 

And we saw more snow. 

We also kept on seeing a lot of this animal on our way back. But we still cannot decipher what this creature is! Is it a groundhog, a pika, some other mountainous animal??

After this hike we went back to Revelstoke to swim in their community center pool, and once again take advantage of the showers. It feels so good to be clean! 

For our last couple of days our friends from Calgary happened to join us. Dennis being the good friend and boyfriend that he is saved the last, treacherous, calf killing hike for last. However, the view really was one of my favourites from the entire trip. But the climb... I think my legs are still killing me. We took many breaks throughout the climb (1074m elevation, 13km both ways). 

 

About half way up the hike (yes this is only halfway) we found this shack, with accompanying porta-potta conveniently placed right on the edge of a cliff. We aren't sure what it may be used for. It was locked so we could not explore further. The toilet on the other hand was very much open, anyone was welcome to take a poop on the edge of the world. 

And so this was our trip. One of the best of my life, yet I know it won't be the only one.

Just remember in your life, never stop discovering, you won't regret it. 

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page

I have made it to Western Canada! Safe and sound.

It the usual here, I stay at home/ try to entertain myself while my boyfriend is out at work. Clearly it's a hoot. But we will be going travelling very soon. Hopefully around the rockies/ BC, but it all depends on how much money I have to spend (remember I need to save for Europe).

This is the beauty we will be travelling in, Land cruiser, the perfect road trip car!

OMW=On My Way

On my way back to Ontario, home city and school. It is a wonderful sunny day while I sit her in Starbucks enjoying my favourite Chai Latte.

On our last day in Alberta my boyfriend and I decided to go to the Science Center to visit the Harry Potter Exhibition. I am a HUGE Harry Potter Nerd.
It was funny my boyfriends first question was "So have you seen all the movies". HAVE I SEEN ALL THE MOVIES? Was that supposed to be a joke question?! Not only have I seen all the movies (3/7 in movie theatres and on opening nights), but I have also read all the books and have a Slytherine-like tie. I was like a little kid in that Exhibition. I got goosebumps as I heard the Harry Potter opening theme music, saw the videos and the items they had on display. Even the obviously fake British accents that the staff had didn't bother me! Only down-side was we were forbidden to take pictures in the exhibit. How could would it have been if I had a picture holding my hands with a petrified Colin Creevy or me sitting in Hagrids huge chair! Oh well, it is the experience that counts anyways. After the exhibit we decided to explore the rest of the Science Center. The body exhibit was my personal favourite. So much to smell, see, touch, hear and balance on! It was more hands-on than I expected.

And then came the time for goodbyes.

Waking up at 4:30am was no piece of cake. Not only were we upset that these were my last few glances of Alberta and my boyfriend, but also waking up early sucks. We made it to the airport with a couple of minutes left to say our heart-felt goodbyes. The mean security guard in the line wouldn't even let my boyfriend stand with me! [He has been allowed to stand with me every time I've flown before, I seriously don't know who hurt her that morning that she wouldn't let him stand beside me, it's not like he'll get through security with no boarding pass.] Her aggressive "no" made me so upset and the water works began.

All alone, I finally made it to the security conveyor belt thing. My stuff went through smoothly, my body was a whole different story.

I beeped. But I beep sometimes it happens. What they usually make me do is go back through again. Assuming this I turn around to walk through. The security guard *yells* at me saying "If you went through once you don't need to do it again". Jesus, that fine. I don't mind, no need to be a bitch.
And then the aggressiveness continues. She frisks me. But this was no usual frisk. She checked every inch of my body, with the metal checker thing as well as her hands. I've travelled a couple of times now within Canada and never have I been treated so poorly by security. She didn't talk to me through anything, she didn't ask me whether she can STICK HER HANDS DOWN MY PANTS. WTF LADY! After doing things to me that were extremely intimate she faces me and asks "Did you want to be frisked by a female or have the body scan?"... Wait a minute I thought you covering my entire body with your hands was called frisking. Bitch I am a security guard too, I know exactly what frisky is and you just did it to me, being aggressive and rude the entire time.
I was livid by this point, but of course I couldn't talk back/be rude/ be anything but nice-ish to her so I don't get kicked off my plane, I just spoke a couple of words "I don't care, just give me the body scan".
She shouts over the entire damn airport about needing a person to do a body scan for me. I turn to her and I'm like "I'd like to get my stuff first"... bitch because if I lose my laptop and phone and every other essential I have in my carry-on I'll try my best to get you fired.
At this point comes a MUCH kinder and definitely more people-friendly security guard. She asks me to take of most of my lose clothing and step into the machine. SURPRISE SURPRISE I did not have crack up my ass, nor anything else! She told me to have a nice flight and I was on my way.

The airplane ride was much more comfortable and pleasant than the airport itself. My seat was upgraded to the "Plus" section (this is similar to business class in international flights). I got tons of space and complementary lunch!! It was wonderful. Usually travelling in economy you only get pretzels and a cup of refreshments. It was nice to have an actual sandwich considering I was starving.

During my flight I met a lovely old lady from Pakistan. She was sitting in the same row as I and during the flight she needed help with english and her belt. She proceeded to tell me about her Islamic religion and how I should consider converting (after I told her I was Russian Orthodox). She was so happy that I was so respectful and still listened to her talk no matter how different (or in some cases similar) our religions are. At the end of the flight she said, in her thick accent "I will call my son and I will tell him what a wonderful flight partner I had". She was just so sweet.

My dad picked me up from the airport, he fed me and drove me back to my home city. During the trip we listened to my "hip" music and then he requested I transfer most of my music over to him. I wonder how he'll feel about my music after he hears all of it.

Anyways it is nice to be home. Just under 2 months left of school and research. I can't think of where life will take me next.

I apologize for my language in some of the areas. I guess I shouldn't be so angry, but I really am. I felt the way I the situation was handled at the airport was very inappropriate customer service.

Last published... December

Shouldn't people begin listing their "New Years Resolutions" sometime in beginning of January. I have clearly been off the radar for a while. I have no excuse. But I am thinking rather than trying to catch up on everything that I may have missed I will be posting (SOON!) a "Year in Review" blog post of 2013. I think that would be interesting. I will try to post more of course this year. Hopefully at LEAST once a week.

Anyways back to business.

Currently, I am back in Alberta. Combining this post with my previous post it seems like I never left. This time around I have not gone skiing but I did visit a wine tasting. I am so glad I went (even if I was awfully sick after and puked up almost my entire body weight...TMI?!) Visiting some kind of tasting was on my bucket list so I am very glad to have experienced it this past weekend.

The wine we tasted was wonderful. Big winners were of course the Europeans: France, Germany, Italy, Spain. 

Note to people who plan to go to a wine tasting: EAT! Eat lots. And also if you don't like the wine, dump it! At first I felt bad for the people in the booth serving their wine, but after I realized it is just an impossible amount of wine to go through and there is no point wasting your sip on wine you do not enjoy. 

This past weekend was also Valentines Day, and I just happen to be in Alberta, where my boyfriend works and lives. What are the chances??! We had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant with an extraordinary amount of food. Interestingly enough their menu portions were for either 2 or 4 or 6 people. Imagining third wheeling this dinner.

I will be jumping right on the writing soon! New post to come in the *near* future. 

A winter wonderland.

No matter how cold or snowy it is, I love going outside. This weekend was one of my favourites so far in Edmonton. We didn't do anything extravagant but it was so much fun.
First we went for a walk in a near-by park and this happened:

I got really close to this chickadee to take these pictures, but then there was a lot of standing like this:

                   
                   

BUT THEN:

To say the least I was very excited that the chickadee finally landed in my hand. It was a pretty wonderful moment. 

Then there was a day of skating. Can't say I enjoyed it THAT much. This is because I'm not the strongest skater so the whole time I was just terrified of falling down. Still it was a nice day to spend an evening. 

My boyfriend is clearly more fabulous than I am. 

Today we leave to Calgary to see friends as well as go skiing! I am very excited. I love skiing. I am much better at skiing than I am at skating.