Busy busy! Fall is here!

Again I have slowed down on posting on here.
I had all these good intentions but once school picked up it was really hard to just sit down and type about my trip which felt so long ago.

It took a couple of weeks to get back into school mode (well not sure I am in school mode or not-but I have to be there). We have started the initial clinic phase of the program, this is exciting but also a little stressful as next quarter I will be right in the clinic treating student patients and doing freshman physicals on new students!

Back in Portland I am trying to take advantage of the nice weather when it is around and I have also started climbing lots. Just been indoor climbing so far but it has been a great time. I am trying to climb 3 times a week and so far with my schedule it is working out! I have never really experienced something like climbing before with such a mental and physical challenge! I love it! Hopefully can get outside before the real winter comes, thinking of heading to Smith Rock with some friends soon! Last weekend a bunch of us participated in the "Muddy Buddy" race! Phil and I were team McMuddyRoo!We were up real early to drive out to Estacada area to McIver state park and get ready for the race. This event was awesome, but very very cold. I started the bike component while Phil ran and than moved on to the first obstacle which was the low crawl. Than I started running and Phil grabbed the bike and we kept alternating until we reached the mud pit which we crossed as a team! The other obstacles involved balancing beams, a small climbing wall and an inflatable slide! My fingers didn't feel warm until we were back in the car driving back to Portland. A great race but brrr!
After rinsing off with the very cold water. We warmed up with some beer and snacks and waited around for the medal ceremonies!!
The following weekend a few of us headed to the "Roloff Farms" (from the TV show- Little People Big world). We went to buy pumpkins from their pumpkin patch! It was a gloomy day in Portland but we convinced the guys to head out and we all had a great time. We finished the evening with dessert waffles for dinner from the waffle window! Yum yum! What a great festive day!

Lots of Pumpkins!
Julia, myself and Sonia!

Back from the UK

The trip was amazing! Three weeks was a perfect amount of time. I stayed with great friends and was welcomed in all their homes! It is so nice travelling and staying with friends! It feels more like a home away from home.

Week 1 in London and Wales :
I flew into London and met up with Marlene and Bronwyn (who both swam with me in Edmonton). We stayed with Marlene who is working in London as a high school English teacher. Trying not to nap and overcome the jet lag Bronwyn and I headed out to see the Tower of London. We spent more than 4 hours there, wondering around, taking a detailed tour by one of the Beefeaters and viewing the crown jewels and armory. Headed home for a little BBQ and enjoyed an early evening and bed by 9pm.

The next two days in London were filled with checking off all the tourist sights. We went on a walking tour, went to Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar square, the London Eye (didn't go on it), London bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Shakeapeare's Globe theatre (where we watched the play Henry IV - and had to leave early because we got too cold), Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, Harrods, St James Park and made it to the Nottinghill Carnival parade.

Each evening we were pretty tired so settled in at home and watched a couple of episodes of Mad Men. A great way to end the busy days in London.

Monday at 2pm we were off to Swansea, Wales where Bronwyn lives. She works at the university of Swansea and Monday was a holiday and she took Tuesday off as well so she could show me around for the day. Monday evening we did some groceries and than watched cheesy movies set in Ireland to prepare for my coming week.

Tuesday we headed up to the Gower, a beautiful national park area where people go hiking, surfing, picnicking and to watch the sheep of course. Up to this point the weather was really amazing! Barely saw any clouds and wore my sandals most of the time!

Wednesday I was off to Bristol on my own to explore the city and than was leaving for Dublin the next morning.
I will give you the details of Bristol (really the Bristol aiport in my next post.

Here are the pictures of London, Swansea and Bristol!

Off to the UK...

Everything is packed and ready to go, now just a few last minute errands and I am off this afternoon leaving for London at 3pm. I have heard mixed reviews about the comfort with the airline I am traveling with but I am sure it will be ok. I mean it's only an 8 hour flight so as long as I can get some sleep I should be fine (I am just very thankful I am not tall).

All my flights and some buses are booked. London to Bristol, Bristol to Dublin, Dublin to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Berlin, Berlin to London, London to home but other than that nothing is too planned. I am hoping to make it to some highland games while in Scotland and see the Guinness Brewery in Dublin but that's pretty much all I have organized.

I should rush off to those errands now..

Cheerio (as they would say in England- well at least in cheesy movies, I will let you know if they really do say this)

Summer in Calgary

I am leaving on my trip to the UK in less than 2 weeks so I am trying to get the most out of Calgary before I go. It seems so easy to forget the beauty of this city, but lately I have been putting a big effort to do the things I have loved so much here.

First I went to Lake Louise area with my dad and his friends (Peter and Anne)to go on a hike. We went to takakkaw falls and hiked up along Iceline path for a few hours. A great hike even with all the weather, which included rain, hail, more rain, sunshine and a rainbow (not a double rainbow but I was happy the rain was gone). We spent the night in Field which turned out to be a really nice little town. I have never explored Field past the visitors center which is right along highway 1 so I was very surprised with the character this place had. Cute little coffee shops and supposedly a world renowned restaurant in the Kicking Horse Lodge.

Peter, Dad, Anne at the beginning of the hike

The next day we went to Lake louise itself and walked around the lake. Always a great sight. On the drive home we stopped into Banff for a to make a quick surprise visit with my cousin Rene (he is working for a parks Canada museum)but sadly we just missed him going on his break. We were in Banff for no longer than 30 mins and I was very happy to leave. I wasn't impressed with Banff, and never really have been. It has become way to touristy with high fashion shops and expensive restaurants, which in my mind is not the way to experience the Rocky Mountains.

A few days later feeling bad I didn't get to meet up with Rene we arranged to meet up in Canmore on his days off and than head back to Calgary. The weather wasn't on our side for the Haling Peak hike in Canmore so we explored the town and did a little clinic searching. I have thought of working in Canmore as a Chiropractor for a while now and just wanted to scope what kind of clinics were out there. We went back to Calgary and I thought of some Albertan/Calgarian things to do for Rene to get the full experience. This list involved: Enjoying some good Alberta beef for dinner, the next day going to the Calgary tower, and ... well it sort of stopped there as we weren't that interested in going to the zoo or Heritage park.

The Calgary tower was great, even though it isn't the tallest building in Calgary there is still so much to see. It was interesting to see all the construction going on downtown and how big the city has really gotten (just a little too big for my liking). Later that day I dropped Rene off on highway 1 so he could hitchhike back to Banff for work the next day (don't worry he made it back safely). Later that afternoon I went for a run in Edworthy park along the Douglas Fir trail. I can't believe I have never explored further into this park until now, it's a new little world to discover!

The glass window in the Calgary tower

Rene playing some chess

To continue on the Calgary fun I went rafting down the elbow river this weekend. Finally we had a sunny day and I had to take the opportunity to be outside! It is hard to resist floating down the river, such a relaxing couple hours.

Random Order

Lindsay enjoying the streets of Vancouver!

The mystery knitter in Calgary

Foot and leg molds my the bow river.

Calgary Stampede 2010

I have been in Calgary now for a couple of weeks, getting right back into teaching bootcamp and have been helping pack up the house to move. Which all lead up to a well deserved stampede weekend.

Justin and I headed to the grounds early Sunday morning to get in free before 9am, there were thousands of people there just going in and turning right around to get a stamp to show up later in the day. We waited over an hour to get a stampede breakfast but after realizing the line was just zig zagging around the grounds and was going to take forever we just decided to do a the tour around the grounds and leave for our stamp.
All in our Cowboy dress! Yee- haw

AND THERE OFF!! The chucks are such a thrill.

Headed back that evening to watch the Chuckwagons and the grandstand show. I have always loved the chucks and have followed the riders and teams, knowing which names are always on top! Justin, Terrell, Blake and I were making cheap bets on who would win each heat. A great time had by all. I had a great time watching the grandstand show this year too, they had a couple great acts that really impressed me (motorbike tricks and even some the floating drummers).

I really love the Stampede experience and how the whole city really takes over the country feel. To end stampede week I headed up to my cabin's fire hall for a great stampede breakfast with free pancakes, bacon and sausages! A perfect end to the busy week.

Men who swim

I found this while perusing the site "Directors Notes". A documentary on a mens Swedish synchronized swimming team. It took me a while to realize this was not a mock-umentary, this is the real thing.
Men who swim

It's been a while

I am back in Calgary for the summer and with that a bit more time to keep this blog better updated. I got re-inspired after my friend started a blog for her trip to South East Asia and my brothers wife started one of her own for their travel journeys.

My trip back to Calgary began with the "check engine" light appearing the day before I planned to leave. After getting some things in the car checked out and nothing really damaging found I decided to just go for it and drive. I mean the worst that could happen is I am stuck on the road... I have AMA and friends only a few hours away as a last resort. I did get a little anxious whenever I thought I heard a strange noise from the car to find out it was just the car passing me or a change of beat from the song playing.

Well that's enough writing for now.

Here is a video I put together of this past Sasquatch Music Festival.

Spring in PDX

Spring is my favorite time of the year! Birds chirping, flowers blooming, sunshine, big fluffy clouds and even the smell of rain. I have been taking more walks in the neighborhood to enjoy the ever changing gardens. One specific house nearby has a beautiful garden and I like to check if anything new has popped up every so often.

I have set a new goal to ride 4 days a week. Riding to school involves a lot more planning for the day ahead but it is definitely worth it when I do make it up early enough. The first four weeks of this quarter are done and I have 7 weeks til I head back to Calgary for the summer. Plans are in full swing with family reunions, Regina bound for Canada day, a trip to Europe??, bootcamp and of course Stampeding.