Shoes

For those of you who were anxious and solicitous about my feet and footwear. I got myself a nice pair of Merrell walking shoes with lots of ventilation for the nice warm weather.
So far so good, no blisters even from the get go. So no duct tape required. Had to wear plastic bags over my socks in the soggy wet snow though, the new shoes were designed for summer use not waterproofing.

After Tessa had gone back to her job as massage therapist in Chatter Creek cat/heli ski lodge, Caimin, Bernie and I got down to work and replaced four windows in his house then trimmed all the insides and painted same. Bit of a busman's holiday but the weather was dull, and the clouds so low you wouldn't know you were in the mountains at all. So at least we came away with a satisfying feeling having been very productive and earned our keep.Actually they treated us to a fantastic meal in a local restaurant, we all had the smoked salmon pasta in creamy dill sauce. Yummmm.
This morning we left Golden under a cloud, (literally not metaphorically) and came back to Alberta with it snowing the whole way. Apparently the weather in Nova Scotia and Ireland is terrific. Hope we catch up with the sun in Turkey.
Looks like AirCanada is going to be cooperating with our schedule so fingers crossed and next post from Turkey.

Golden Days

Three times today we tried to get out to enjoy the Golden Days, only to be frustrated by showers that last just long enough to see us back indoors. This morning Bernie declared officially that we will not bother try to ski again on this trip, so we will slip-slide our way through the end-of-season slop that is all that is left of the snow.
Last week in Canmore we did get out for a most enjoyable short ski (13 km mostly downhill from Canmore to Banff, constitutes a short ski by cross-country standards). The snow was perfect, the sky was blue, the air mild, the trail fast, all in all a very good ski memory for our only real ski of the year. Next day we did our one and only snowshovelling job with Nath and Greg, 25 houses in 2hrs, unlike last year when we did this particular keep-fit program every second day. Then while Nath and I clocked up a lot of walking miles between Scrabble games, Bernie and Greg went motorbike hunting and did some work on Greg's 1950's truck restoration.

We are loving all the attention we get in our Westphalia Volkwagon camper ( very kindly lent by Anne French). It is awesomely laid-back and has a really "on holiday" feel about it.

The drive through the mountains to Golden was on a glorious day, the Rockies truly are spectacular.

We have actually been getting quite a few walking miles in, though not on consecutive days like we really should...... With Caimin and Tessa (and 1/2) we went up to Thomson Falls which was a good 12kms in slushy snow which feels like walking in sand. The Falls were subdued compared to their usual deafening roar, but seeing the churning foam emerging from the peaceful snow and then disappearing again under another drift before the next drop-off is mesmeric.
Tessa has a lovely bump now. We spent a good day in Revelstoke meeting her Mom, Joanie, fellow Grandparent-to-be. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to meet her Dad, Brian, because he had to work ( he is a ski-guide and works in the back-country). We are all very excited. Fun times ahead.

The Plan

Thanks to Robbie Burns we all know that

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men,
Gang aft agley,
An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy

so, lest foresight may be vain......we are leaving our plans loose and flexible. Today we will write "The List" of things to pack. The logistics of planning for a rather circular route involving three very different climates and activities means that our packing will be somewhat all encompassing. From ski boots to sandals, city clothes to shorts, camp gear to credit card and everything in between will have to find a place.
Loosely and flexibly we will fly first to Calgary. From there we will travel in our friend Anne's, very kindly offered, Volkswagon camper van out to Canmore where brother-in-law Greg is waiting for Bernie to admire and assist with his Panel truck reno and for his expertise in shopping for a motorbike to go to Inuvik. (That will not be part of this trip!) And sister Nath is waiting to catch upon the last six months and do some walking/snowshoeing and whatever else the weather permits and Scrabble when it doesn't.

Then out to Golden to see Caimin and Tessa and the future-grandchild-bump. We are also looking forward to meeting Tessa's parents who will share that grandparenthood with us. There we will climb some mountains and ski back down again. There are no real opportunities for hill climbing practice near East LaHave and we are going to need it for the next leg of the voyage..

Which is to Turkey. To get there we have a race through Heathrow so fingers crossed for no delays  on the Calgary-Heathrow flight. There we spend the first two nights in Antalya, do some last minute purchasing of those essentials which cannot travel when you have no time to check luggage, check out what was an important Phoenician port, and try to undo the worst of jetlag and see how our Turkish communication skills work out.
After that it is all unknown territory. We will sleep where we arrive each night, walk where the trail takes us and eat when we can. So no plan.......that way nothing can gang agley.

And now down to that packing list.

Logistics of leavetaking

The time has almost arrived to pack up and go.
Bags have been selected - the lightest ones we could find.
Bee minders have been organised.
Chicken shitters have arrived home.
Tickets are on-line.
Baggage handlers are threatening to strike.
Turkish greetings have been mastered, and numbers too.
I'm working on my walking - getting rid of some bad habits with the help of a terrific movement teacher.
Footwear is still being debated.
Now it is time to set up a blog so you can follow our progress at your leisure,
assuming we can find out how to work it easily from internet cafes en route across rural Turkey.
So Lycian Way here we come.

Here is the original family, already expanding fast and soon to be two further additions.
As you can see we all enjoy walking......