Drive Out Over The Weekend

The wide open spaces of Alberta still totally amaze us.  Understandably, when people visit here, the Rockies tend to get all the attention, but there is much beauty to be seen on our own doorstep.

We often go for little drives, take a "new" route home or just go down a road we haven't been down before.

Why are horses always so curious about what is on the other side of the fence!

Sometimes, you just feel really good about where you live!

J&E

Spruce Meadows Christmas Market

Feeling the need for a nice day out, we decided to take a stroll around the Spruce Meadows Christmas Market.

It was another beautiful day, but the firepits were still lit and lots of people were making good use of them.

Before we started our shopping, we watched the chap doing ice sculptures for a short while.  This guy is incredibly talented.

Here are just a few shots of the Spruce Meadows grounds.  We really must make it a priority to go to a tournament sometime soon.

http://www.sprucemeadows.com/

It's a terrific place to visit and is so convenient being right on the southern edge of Calgary.

J&E

Light Up Okotoks - Update

Apparently there was a record turn out at the Light up Okotoks evening this year, with around 7-8,000 people attending (if they were all locals, we're talking just under half the town). This was probably due to the exceptionally mild weather.

J&E.

Light Up Okotoks

Christmas has officially arrived in Okotoks.  We went to watch the lighting of the tree down in the Okotoks town plaza on Elizabeth Street last night.  We were very fortunate with the weather, so there was a very good turn out.  There were firepits, hotdogs, popcorn, carol singers and of course Santa and it was great to catch up with so many of our friends.

This is the lighting of the tree countdown:

Horse rides

Carol Singers

Reindeer

As we were walking back to the car, we had to stop for a freight train which was passing through.  We filmed this for anyone who has not been to Okotoks.  The train passes through on the tracks in the old downtown core, in the Sheep River valley and it's horn can often be heard all over Okotoks - it's one of those sights and noises that really lets you know that you live on the North American continent. It isn't really a disturbance - it is strangely comforting!



J&E.

Chuck Wagon Cafe in Turner Valley

As today is a public holiday in Alberta, we decided to take a drive down to Turner Valley, and the Chuck Wagon Cafe was the perfect spot to stop for lunch. We have heard a lot about it, and we can safely say, we'll be back.

Jan had Huevos Rancheros which was very tasty and I had the most delicious burger.

As we were eating, we saw a really cute red VW Beetle drive past the window. Later, we were fortunate enough to see it parked around the corner so we managed to get these pictures - we so love this car with its wind up key!

After lunch we decided to drive on a bit further into Kananaskis.  Driving closer to the mountains from the sunny, snow-free roads of Turner Valley, it felt like we were passing through the seasons at pace and so few miles from where we had started our drive, we were surprised to see so much snow up there.

All in all, it was a lovely, relaxing day off.

J&E

Remembrance Day - 2009

To all our thousands of readers from around the world, just a little note to say that today, Remembrance Day, we have in mind, all those who have served and who serve their countries. They have our upmost respect and gratitude.

J&E.

Ridley Bent & Corb Lund

We had a good night out in Calgary at the weekend.

We had a meal at the Red Lobster, one of our favourite spots for a bite to eat. After finishing our meal, we were a little early for the next part of the evening, a concert up at the Stampede grounds. As such, we decided to take a drive to one of the higher points in Calgary so we could get a nice view of the city at night.

Then we made our way to the Corral, an arena that we haven't been to before. It was quite small, which meant that we had a superb view.

Ridley Bent
Eamonn has had this chap's CD in his car for over a year! You can imagine he was very pleased to see him play live at last! We also got to meet Ridley in person after his concert and he signed a copy of an earlier CD of his. He was a real gent.

Corb Lund

A terrific night's entertainment.

J&E.