Oh Canada Post

So tonight i was at the post office... trying to see if they would mail my wedding invitation mock-up to see if it would cost more money etc.  I was told yes, they would charge me more money to tie a ribbon around the card...silly people - are they trying to work themselves out of a job?  Already many more people use email than post so you'd think that they would make it easier than harder.  So along with stringent measurements for envelopes for common folk, when i checked their website, there were a number of interesting rules...
You may not mail

any item emitting an offensive odour

gold bullion, gold dust and non-manufactured precious metals unless mailed under an Agreement between Canada Post and the mailer

Live animals cannot be mailed unless the mailer has entered a related Agreement with Canada Post prior to mailing. Bees, day-old chicks, parasites, leeches and some other small cold blooded animals can be mailed under certain conditions (see section 3.2.1 “Suggestions for How to Package and Wrap Items” of “ABCs of Mailing - Personal”).

Dead animals or their parts, including, for example, the whole carcass of a beaver or a mallard duck, the antlers of a deer, hides, pelts, nests or eggs, may be acceptable for mailing, provided all applicable requirements are met.

Waiting in Calgary...nope, in my living room...enjoying the sun

Well, maybe i can make it home today...wouldn't that be fantastic?  I am home, but i mean, home from B.C.  Maybe i'll have to do the edited, point form version since i seem to have a propensity for making my posts waaaay too long and i'm sure too wordy...but it's hard since there are so many fun details that make the trip oh so much more exciting...but since it's my experiences and not someone else's, i should probably do the abridged version. 
So where was i?  I think we were finished with Tuesday...
Wednesday
- Dad and Uncle Brent headed off for a game of golf in Chilliwack - i think neither of them did a spectacular game but it was nice for them to be out together.
- Aunt Yettie and I went to visit my cousin Sally and her son Nicholas who live in White Rock... I met Harvey, who was sleeping most of the time (on baby duty recovery phase) and we went for a great walk to 0 Avenue (i love the street names here in the area - very logical, if slightly uninventive) and that happened to be the border with the U.S.  I had no idea it was like that - i guess i was picturing barbed wire fences and searchlights, but maybe that's more for Korea and the USSR and not so much for supposedly friendly neighbours!  I defiantly tossed a pebble over to the US side and when no guard came charging out of the woods with a machine gun, i felt slightly reassured that this might be safe. 
We walked a bit farther and even crossed our toes across the border line indicated on a stone cairn.. nothing happened... so we walked even farther - and came across the Peace Arch border crossing - there was a beautiful park and we wandered all around there - still no alarms or sirens so we figured we must be in no-man's land.  This was all confirmed when we spoke with a US border patrol guard hanging out in the park - we had found a US passport on the Canadian side just lying on the road and we needed to return it to someone (my aunt kept being all conspiracy theory on me and asking if i had touched it and wasn't i worried that they'd think i killed the guy... i'm pretty non-threatening looking i figured and we returned it to the guard with baby in arms - thanks Nicholas - so we didn't look quite like gangsters was my thought!)
- Oh dear, getting way too long winded again... dinner at home again was a delicious roast - which Uncle Brent couldn't get enough of... i think i'm going to try to attempt a roast again - Aunt Yettie makes delicious roasts! 
Thursday

- our last full day in B.C. started out kinda rainy and overcast - we were in search of a battery charger for my camera and for a printer cartridge for Yettie's printer... successful for the last item, not the first, but then we decided to abandon the pursuit of electronic success and move on to enjoying nature. 

- we headed out to the Golden Ears Provincial Park - it was a rainforest, but not the south american monkey boa kind but rather the west coast mystical, mossy, brooding kind that you'd imagine Tolkein being a fan of; i kept looking for elves and wizards but the closest we got was a movie shoot about a wizard (Seventh Son?? never heard of it).  It was also super hard to take pictures there - but i kept trying anyway!  We hiked up to a waterfall there and enjoyed our lunch beside the freezing cold, rushing mountain stream, memories of Lilypa floating through my brain.  I was also kinda paranoid about bears (though from what i hear in the paper this morning, i can be scared about bears in Burlington area too - the police shot and killed one there yesterday!) but thankfully we didn't meet any up close - doesn't mean they weren't stalking us however!

- we took a long windy drive home past Stave Lake and other interesting little features in the Maple Ridge area - then home for dinner and then a last visit to Langley to Grandma.  It was like a little mini-family reunion since Uncle Brent was there, Aunt Yettie came along and we met Grandma's sister, Tante Ge Gelderman and two of her daughters - we had some good times reminiscing (for Dad) about living in Dryden for the summers and such.  It was a neat evening and good cap to our trip!
Friday
- our last day.  After packing everything up and being all organized, we had one last day trip.  Living in Abbotsford, Aunt Yettie is so close to so many natural beauty sites and this was no exception.  In Chilliwack, there is a Blue Heron Sanctuary right along the Vedder River.  It was totally free to get in, the ladies at the interpretive centre even lent us all binoculars and told us where to go for maximum wildlife spotting possibilities!  We walked along the drainage canal and saw many types of ducks, lots of herons on their nests up in the trees, squawking away and making a huge racket, ospreys (or i maintain that i saw them) and even an otter - that was super cool!  It was the perfect temperature of day, and the perfect way to say goodbye to B.C.  I dearly wish we had something like this at home - we seem to have to pay for a lot of things and we don't have any mountains - i will miss getting up in the morning and not seeing the peaks!   
But it was a good trip and a good flight home, despite my legs getting quite restless and antsy for the last few hours, never fun when you're stuck in a plane seat and can't sleep... And super nice to see Timothy who picked us up at the airport - five minutes later, we're home and that's super nice too! 

So goodbye to all our family out west.  It was good to see you all again....

Waiting in Calgary... oops, sitting in my office (but part 3)

So, here i am back again, my poor readers are on overwhelm - what??  so many posts in such a short time?  But they're long so maybe they make up for the delays between postings?  Anyhow, this is no longer being posted from Calgary where the other two updates were written, but from humble, sunny, hometown Hamilton.  I've been home for a few nights now and my back and I are missing my aunt's queen sized bed.  My bed just ain't cutting it anymore - the mattress is somehow no longer giving me the support i need - so i'm looking forward to purchasing a new bed! 
But nough about beds, that's not what you would like to hear about.  The rest of our trip - well, Tuesday, hmm... Tuesday we were up on time because Dad and I drove to Chilliwack to visit my mom's aunt and uncle, Case and Tita.  I have very fond memories of staying with them when mom and i were out west three years ago and it's nice to see them again as always!  They welcomed us with a lekkere kop coffee and a nice sit-down in the sun-soaked backyard, brimming over with plants and flowers - springtime has indeed sprung here - and Ome Case is very proud of his garden with good reason - it's a lovely sheltered nook for plants to grow.  We spent a few hours catching up with them and then it was back to Abbotsford to change and head back to Chilliwack.  For you see, the odd thing of this trip was this, Dad had expressed that it would be nice to catch up with some cousins on his Mom's side who live in B.C. seeing as it had been probably nearly 45 years since he'd seen some of them, not since he visited them in Dryden on his grandparent's farm.  While we were visiting with Grandma that first Friday,  the director of Manoah came up to Dad (he knew him from previous visits) and expressed his condolences to Dad on the passing away of Ome Henk.  Dad was pretty floored since he didn't know anything about this (the director knew about it since it is a Canadian Reformed home and Ome Henk attended Abbotsford church).  We decided that it would be good for us to attend the memorial and so here we were.  I will admit to feeling kinda nervous since i didn't/wouldn't know anyone and would they even talk to us or remember Dad?  The service was very nice - the singing was good and there was even a fellow who played some old Dutch songs on accordion which got the whole (mostly elderly) audience singing along.  After the service, Dad and I, along with Uncle Brent, Aunt Yettie and Grandma met and talked with quite a few of Dad's cousins - and they had lots of memories and stories to share which was super neat.  I suppose i knew i had more family here but really didn't realize how much (until they filed into church row upon row!).  It was so nice for Dad to see these people and connect a bit... i will admit to feeling a little overwhelmed by it all, but it was good to go to be sure.  Just such a coincidence to happen to be there when the memorial was happening.  I guess that was meant to be...
Supper that night was fairly low-key and we spent the night watching Wheel of Forture and Jeoprody - i was getting pretty good!

Taadaa....it's reveal day (about two weeks late!)

And yes, folks, this is what was lurking in the back of my fridge.  Imagine my surprise when i lifted the lid to find that twisted, spongy, felt-like, greenish-grey mass instead of a welcoming smooth creamy surface... guess i have to check some best-before dates eh???

Waiting in Calgary part two

Ten gallon hat man just walked by again - he must get his fair share of exercise to be sure!  Good for him-  probably keeps him young.  I think maybe someday i'd like a job like that - being a welcomer or such - i do like greeting at church too and greeting customers at the farm. 
Back to the storyline - Sunday morning, we attended the Surrey CRC with my Uncle Brent (Dad's oldest brother) and heard a good message about Esther and sang some good songs and it was good to be in the house of the Lord!  After church, we visited Grandpa's grave - took a little time for the cemetary guy to find it for us but he is buried near two very large beautiful trees and it was good to remember and visit... i do that when i go to Holland as well - i know he is not there but it is a place for memories to percolate and surface.  It has been a lot of years since he passed away and memories can fade so quickly - but i sure remember his smoking on the porch, their visit out to Canada and picking us up from school in his little Datsun pickup truck and his smile.  He passed away in December 1997 so that's quite a while ago...

After the cemetary, we picked Grandma up from Manoah and we drove to my cousin Charlie's place - he lives fairly close and we had a barbeque with a whole group.  Charlie is married to Lana and they together have five kids - nice to meet/see them again.  Shawn is married to Susie and they have two kids who were also there - they sure are getting big!  And Angela came with her husband Ted and their three kids (whom i have never met) so it was a big reunion of sorts.  We talked, ate, Dad played WI golf and we spent a pleasant afternoon.  Then it was home again with a head full of thoughts and memories.

Monday morning, we packed our lunches up and headed north.  Our goal was to see Whistler (when asked what i wanted to see in B.C., i could only think of this - actually i had three things i wanted to do - visit Grandma, visit mountains and dip my toe in the ocean). 
We left after rush hour traffic and were soon on the Sea-to-Sky highway enjoying beautiful vistas that seemed to become more amazing as the curves and bends snaked around and about mountain bases and rivers and lakes.  We had a few stops here and there for lookouts and pictures.  We walked out to Brandywine Falls (love the name!) and enjoyed seeing that.  Back on the road again, with eyes peeled most clearly for bear-sightings, we reached Whistler around 1:00. 

We enjoyed our lunch in the shadow of Whistler mountain, spying on the few skiers and snowboarders who were left negotiating the slush on the slopes.  The only Olympic paraphernalia was the rings in the medal awarding square - none too impressive - i guess i expected Olympic mascots or something gold to be lying around??  We did a quick run-through of Whistler village but since none of us are really shoppers per se, that was a bit of a fruitless exercise.  Far better was getting back in the car and heading up the highway towards Pemberton and enjoying more beautiful mountain views and hiking up to Nairn Falls which was pretty neat (though very difficult to photograph through the rocky crags).  We were pretty tired and warm by the time we reached the falls but it was definitely worth it. 

The drive home was fairly uneventful - taking pictures along the way - and finding our very favorite place of the day, Tantalus Lookout where we saw amazing views of Tantalus Mountain covered in snow and towering above the valley - how small we are and how big the world is and yet how small in the grand scheme of things eh? 
Our search for a bear was nearly fruitless until we were fairly close to leaving the Highway - when all of a sudden all the scanning and searching paid off and there for our view was a bear - we pulled off to the highway edge (kinda illegal) and snapped away with our cameras.  One of the shots should work out right?  And we did get a few in the end when we reviewed all our pics.  That was super exciting and made our day all the more great.  And to top it off, when we pulled away from our stop, there to our amazement on the other side of the road was another bear - super cool!  I was so excited - you'd think i was five! 

We then had fixed our minds on the fact that fish and chips would be the ideal end to this day - and so made our long way across the Valley and city of Vancouver to White Rock, where we were treated to a yummy supper at a place trying to be a pirate hang-out, i can't remember the name but it had something to do with the Jolly Roger...
And yes, as per Danielle's traditions, toes must be dipped in oceans no matter what season of the year we are at - so down to the waterfront i went, and to my disgust, there was so much seaweed along the shore that there was nary a place to be found seaweedless for my poor picky toes... or so it seemed.  Dad eventually managed to find a place for my tender tootsies to taste the temperature of the ocean and that was checked off the list of things to do - along with giving me super warm feet since the water was pretty pretty cold!!! 

Bed sure felt good when we arrived home - it was a super great day however, full of images and scents and smells and experiences!!!

Waiting in Calgary...

And so the venture is nearly over... Dad and I are comfortably installed in some very cozy chairs in the Calgary airport and we are awaiting our flight home to Hamilton.  I just saw an elderly man dressed up with a huge ten-gallon hat walk by - i think he's a customer service helper representative mascot kinda fellow and he's pretty jaunty.  Fun to see typical things in places... kinda like seeing a fisherman in Newfoundland or a dolphin in Florida. 
We have spent the last week/8 days traipsing around southern B.C. visiting various family members and touring this that and the other thing.  I could probably write a very long exhaustive entry here - i do have time after all - and then my poor readers would be frustrated...and it's not good to have frustrated blog readers.  So i'll try to sum up (sounds like Princess Bride when Inigo is trying to brief Westley about the events that have gone on since he died - "Prince Humperdink is gonna marry Buttercup in little less than half an hour so all we have to do is go through the castle gates, kill the six-fingered man, rescue the princess...").

We left Hamilton on a Thursday evening - about an hour late since there was a huge lightning storm cell to be bypassed by our incoming plane and then avoided by our leaving flight.  I have never seen something like that - lightning dancing from cloud to cloud and i kept worrying that it would hit our plane (any ideas on how that would affect a plane?  It must have happened before...).  We flew all the way down around Chicago to avoid the weather and consequently ended up in Calgary about an hour late - leaving us a bit breathless as we ran to reach our connecting flight.  Fortunately, they held it for us and we were on our way.  Aunt Yettie was at the airport to meet us on a cool rainy 8 degree night and bring us to her place where we would be staying for the next week.  She even graciously emptied out a drawer for each of us in her bathroom (that was a very welcoming thing to do i felt!).  She is a very wonderful hostess and i personally think that she would be an excellent bed and breakfast hostess - she loves cooking for people and does a fabulous job ( we are going to be coming down off a bacon and eggs high...) and finding neat places to take guests in her area - and there seem to be an inexhaustible list of things to do in the immediate area. 
Friday morning, Dad and I dropped Yettie off at work and then were off to see Grandma (Dad's mom) in Langley.  She lives at Manoah Home and took a few minutes to remember us when we came around the corner to see her.  We were able to have lunch with her and that was very nice - we also met a friend of hers, Roelien, who visits regularly - it's nice to know that Grandma has regular company - my Dad's cousin Dinie also visits every week to do her hair.  I hate the fact that distance separates us and we only get to see her so infrequently.  It had been nine years for Dad, but three for me.  Grandma is getting older (that's not rocket science, Yell) and quite forgetful - but she knew who i was after a few minutes.  She did however ask me about 30 times if i had a boyfriend so that one was repeated a lot of times.  But she maintains an excellent sense of humour  and makes the nurses laugh so that's good. 

After we left her for her nap time - we meandered home across the Fraser Valley, taking little side roads and going up and down the hill sides with Yettie's little old standard car - so driving was out for me - Dad was the pilot, i got to be chief navigator.  Friday evening, after we wended our way home, we had dinner with Yettie's friends Rob and Karen - and they discussed their plans to head to head to Holland in the summer - i sure hope they have a good trip - there's so much to see and do there that it was fun to recommend stuff. 
Saturday morning, we babysat for Yettie's grandson Nicholas - he's pretty cute and was happy enough until he clued into the fact that his mom was gone and then he wasn't too happy... we took turns trying to calm him down! Yettie's kids Nathan, Mark and John came over for a long leisurely breakfast (which lasted until about 3:00!!) and it was nice to get to know them a bit again - it's so long between visits that it's hard to remember what everyone is up to.  They are very welcoming though and we shared a lot of laughs whilst reminiscing.  Saturday afternoon we got out for a bit to go for a walk along the dyke just north east of Abbotsford... we had a little shower but that didn't deter our walking and it felt great to get out! 

 We also did a bit of super moon chasing - it was fun to try to capture the moon - but we didn't do a great job (i had visions of a great shot, just over the mountains...but i am not an award-winning photographer so my illusions of grandeur were dashed!)
I think i might split this up a bit since this is getting super long and boring mostly likely... pictures will follow... i promise!

You get three guesses

Tuesday morning is brought to you by an unidentified object image...I used to love these in magazines when i was a kid so i invite you to submit your guesses and i'll tell you in a day or two if you managed to get it right... no fair guessing if you've already seen this with commentary...