Happysad Goodbyes and Glacier National Park

"Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better."  ~ Albert Einstein


     We finished off our time in Red Deer having great fun in +Paul Howard's studio with Paul decking me with wigs and props, +Kathleen Milks making me crack up and Mischief shoving balls into everyone's hands, legs, and elsewhere.  Then in the morning it was time to get back on the road (with allergies all around) and head north to spend a brief but wonderful afternoon delivering a monster to, and catching up with the incredible +Chrysta Rae.

Only to turn back around and head south and out of Canada.

And that's where life caught up with me.


My reemergence into the US, just north of Glacier National Park, was met with a text containing information that I was expecting but was nonetheless a billion times more painful than I had anticipated.  It took me some time to stuff my insides back in and put my heart back in place enough so that I could make the short drive down to Glacier.  It was late and almost everyplace at the entrance to the park was closed and dark, but I was not prepared to be alone that night and I started searching for anyone anywhere who could point me toward some kind of comfort.  Amazingly and completely unexpectedly I was rescued, first by the two women who had just closed the bar at the lodge who very kindly and patiently listened as I burst into tears and told them what had just occurred and then pointed me at the one place that was still open that time of night:

It's like in Beetlejuice when they created the whorehouse as a distraction at just the right moment...except, ya know, different.

...and then second by a traveler like myself who also listened as I (slightly more drunkenly) told my story.  It turns out he just happened to have an extra bed in the room he had at the lodge and didn't see why it should go to waste.  So far I had been having fairly good luck in the not-sleeping-in-my-car department!

In the morning we went to breakfast at an adorable little local joint called Johnson's of St Mary.
http://www.johnsonsofstmary.com/index.html  The food was good, filling, exactly what I needed, and the company was friendly, pleasant, exactly what I needed.  Then it was time to continue my journey, fed, rested, and ready once more to go forward.

Glacier National Park, as seen from Going-to-the-Sun Road:

Evidence of a past act of kindness:

I was a little concerned by the intensity of the message....

 Heh heh heh hoary marmot...

Red Deer day 1-2, Encounters with wild creatures, human and otherwise.

"You will be reunited with old friends."  ~ Fortune Cookie

The morning drive was long and uneventful but still beautiful despite the smoke, and at length we reached Red Deer.  Funny thing, turns out its illegal to sleep in your car in Red Deer, even in a  campground.  Fortunately +Kathleen Milks had already faced this problem and had purchased a dummy tent which Mischief and I were now able to move into for the weekend.  Win!  The campground was nice and right on the edge of town, however...

            This particular campground was infested by

                                                        Attack Squirrels!

I was unable to capture evidence of their prolonged attack on our camp as they were quick, sly little shits, but I did get one shot of this little monster who spent a long morning laying siege to us with hurled pine cones from the tops of the trees.  He had taken a break to come down and scream obscenities at us before resuming his attack.

     My first full day in Red Deer, Mischief, Kathleen and I piled into +Paul Howard s car and headed out to Sylvan Lake for a day of hijinks and tomfoolery.

Kathleen had found some sticks and had Mischief's full attention.

And then promptly transformed into a mer-kangaroo, executing crazy bounding leaps through the water chasing said sticks.  Really wish I had gotten video of that but oh well...

At one point someone had been walking too long (about 10 minutes?) and needed to sit down for a break so Kathleen lent me one of her telephoto lenses and I practiced on some seagulls standing sentinel near by.

So of course Kathleen had to attempt to photobomb the seagull.

It didn't work very well.

Seagulls are hard to sneak up on.

A very Canadian cow.

We spotted this crazy truck from the side with the whole face of the skull hinged up like a hatchback and couldn't figure out for the life of us what it was supposed to be...

Then we just happen to spot it while we were having dinner as it drove past.

Kathleen showing off the pictures of Paul getting molested by horses a few days before.

After dinner we all piled back in Paul's car (now including Paul's friend +Mike Wanini ) and headed off into the countryside in search of wild horses.  Mike was our guide and confidently directed us deeper and deeper into the country where he knew the herd of wild horses could be found.

Of course we had to stop and take some pictures of the sunset...

And the local wildlife...

Unfortunately I was the only Whovian there and so only I knew what we were really looking at.

But of course the highlight of the trip was the magical moment when we actually found the herd of elusive wild Canadian horses.  Here are some of the amazing, once in a lifetime shots from that magical encounter.

The horses were surprisingly curious of us and virtually unafraid.  I can only assume that is because their contact with humans has been so limited that they have yet to perceive us as a threat.

We only tore ourselves away in the deepening twilight when the head mare of the herd had clearly had enough and let us know it was time to go and leave them in peace.

It was a truly awe inspiring experience I will not soon forget.

Well I should be in Red Deer by..Ooh Whats That?!

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware."  ~Martin Buber


Today was supposed to be a travel day.  And I did travel, I swear!  Just not as far along my intended path as I had planned.  I set out with the intention of reaching Red Deer, AB before I stopped for the night.  It was gonna be a long stretch and a late night but that was ok since there wasn't anything I wanted to stop for along the way...or so I thought :)

     We slept in as long as possible to try to kick this bug that had been bugging me (heh) and be ready for the long day ahead, and so we didn't get moving until about 11 am.  The road east was beautiful but super smokey.  I was driving towards and through mountains I could not see and I'm sure I missed out on some stunning views.  I don't even begin to understand why I thought I'd be too far north for the smoke to be here...anyway...  Later in the afternoon we hit our first distraction: 

Dreamcycle Motorcycle Museum -
"A showcase of the art and beauty of classic and collectible motorcycles."

My camera and the volume of shots I was taking made the owner nervous so I assured him I was not taking pictures for commercial use and resolved to only post some of the more abstract shots here.  I made an exception with the last 4 since the story was so fascinating!  I will process and post more shots later on g+ but seriously go check this place out if you're in the area and are into motorcycles even a little bit.  So worth it!  Their website is here: http://www.dreamcycle.ca/

As I was finishing my walk around their little but extensive gift shop and trying to resist blowing my entire trip budget on a gorgeous model Triumph I totally didn't need but reeeealy wanted, the owner asked me what was to become the most common question of my trip.  'Where are you from?'  So I told him about my trip and which direction I was going and he immediately pulled out a map and said 'You need to go check out Margaret Falls!', and thus was our second distraction of the day decided.

Not far down the road we turned off of the main highway onto a winding back country road along Shuswap Lake and through a little community called Sunnybrae.  If I was the kind of person who could be happy living out in the country away from any major cities I would live in a place like Sunnybrae.  Another spot that is worth the little bit of extra time just to drive through.  Margaret falls was about 15 min or so down the way and it was getting near sunset but I was assured the falls was only a 10 min easy hike up the path so we set off.  Mischief was a bit too excited to be out of the car to pose for me so I didn't get any pics of her worth saving, but the steep ravine we were in was a lot more interesting than I was expecting and we enjoyed the whole walk as much as the falls.  

On the way back down the path I happened upon a rare phenomenon.  Many people may not know that trees have genders as it is very uncommon to find evidence of such, but amazingly I found what was easily distinguishable as a male tree:

I wondered what may have caused him to be in such a state that I was able to so clearly see his masculinity, but I didn't have to wonder long.  Just past him down the path was obviously the object of his affection:

We promptly left to give the amorous trees some privacy, and emerged from the ravine just in time to get some stunning shots of the smoke reddened sun over the lake.

About dusk we stopped at a rest stop that turned out to be a bit more...

And decided to stop for the night.

Thus ends the first half of the second leg of our journey.  Maybe we'll actually reach Red Deer tomorrow...