Home, Safe & Sound

We got home last night, after a weekend that included a LOT of driving. The trip itself was, generally, uneventful. We did have to make a 210 km detour because of a rockslide, but the roads were good. We left Kelowna at about 2:30 p.m. on Friday and arrived in Red Deer at about 1:00 a.m. (BC time; Alberta is in another time zone and is one hour later than BC). We spent most of Saturday morning and part of the afternoon at the annual general meeting and left there before the last seminar. Saturday night was spent in Banff, where we slept in a bed we wanted to take home with us. Yesterday was spent on the road again and we arrived home at about 7:00 p.m.

All in all, I think the trip was worthwhile. We learned a few things we didn't know before and that was the hope and intention.

I did do some knitting while sitting and listening to the different speakers. I think I'm about an inch farther along on the t-top than I was a couple of days ago. The top didn't even come out in the car. I was too busy admiring the scenery along the way. On the way up to Red Deer, we saw a lot of deer along the road and even a few elk, but on the way home, we saw only one deer and a few mountain sheep. I'll post some pictures in a few days; I've got 118 pictures to sort through and organize. Taking a trip like this one makes you realize just how "lucky" we are to live where we do. It's a vast, beautiful and rugged country.

There was only one thing that has become an eyesore and a blight on this magnificent land. Everywhere we went, I saw plastic. Plastic bags were caught on fences everywhere; plastic bottles, beer cans, Tim Horton's coffee cups littered the roadways. It saddened me incredibly to see it. More and more I agree with one woman's local initiative to tax plastic bags. To see them in the middle of nowhere, miles from any human habitation, angers me. What arrogance some people have; they prefer to keep their vehicles garbage-free, but have no qualms about throwing that garbage out their windows where it is visible for all other travellers and a risk to wildlife instead of stopping at any of the plentiful rest stops and putting their trash where it belongs--in a trash bin where it can be collected and properly disposed of. That's my rant for today.

Now, on to the lake watch for this week...

The bottom rung of the ladder is no longer visible above water. Last year, this ladder was my gauge; within the next couple of weeks that dock will be replaced and the ladder will no longer be there for me to use as a reference.

I think I might set up a separate web page for some of these pictures. Again, this is more for myself than anything and if the pictures are all on one page, it will be easier to see how the lake is rising.

And that's it for today. There's a lot to be done in this house today. Well, not a lot but there are some things that need doing before I can justify sitting down and knitting. You know what I mean?

It's good to be home.