A Rainy Vancouver Morning

Posted on May 26, 2013May 26, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is living up to it’s reputation for rain. Vancouver is Canada’s third most rainy city, with over 161 rainy days per year! Even so we were determined to get in a bit of time exploring Stanley Park.

Stanley Park is Vancouver’s first, largest, and most beloved urban park. We stopped at the front desk for directions and to find out where we could leave our luggage until we left for the cruise ship.

Continuing in the friendly tradition I mentioned yesterday the desk tagged the luggage for us and placed it behind the desk. That way we could check out, they could get the room ready for the next guest and we could call for our luggage later.

The clerk also told us we were just steps from Stanley Park. I’m not sure if we went in the wrong direction but we ended up in a park that followed the water front. We didn’t get to the normal Stanly Park attractions like the Totem poles, the botanical gardens , or any monuments. I believe that we ended up following the Seawall.

The Seawall is a scenic 22 km path that lines Vancouver’s waterfront. We got caught up watching the birds that seemed to be everywhere, mostly herons and ducks.

There were also plenty of dogs jogging with their owners.

In spite of the cool weather, the landscaping was well underway.

Our walk started with a sculpture of laughing men.

A bit of research identified the sculpture as A-Maze-ing Laughter by the Chinese artist Yue Minjun. It is well named as it had us both smiling as we explored the bronze statutes.

The huge sails that dominate the waterfront were built for the 1986 World’s Fair . These sails are Vancouver’s equivalent of the Sydney Opera House or the Empire State Building. Located on Canada Place you can’t miss them.

We also passed a sculpture that looked like it was right out of Stonehenge.

This is an inuksuk which is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans. Such monuments were used by the First Nation People of the Artic Region. An inuksuk was used as the basis of the Vancouver 2010 logo and the construction of inuksuit around the world have led to increasing recognition of them.

The time passed quickly and before we had even scratched the surface it was time to get lunch, retrieve our bags and get a cab to the main event….the cruise ship. The friendly desk clerks helped us gather our bags and even called a cab for us.

The time had come for the adventure to really begin.

A trip of a Lifetime

Posted on May 25, 2013May 25, 2013 by Dusty Roads

How does one start to tell a tale of a trip of a lifetime? Maybe I should just say that this was the 2nd trip of a lifetime for me. The first was The Big Island of Hawaii.

Now I can add a cruise tour to Alaska as my 2nd “Trip of a lifetime”.

This didn’t just happen overnight. This trip was in the planning and discussion and saving stages for over 2 years. We finally said lets just do it before the glacier’s melt!

A big part of it was the saving part.

This was, without a doubt, the most expensive venture I/we have undertaken yet but Alaska is so big the task of putting together a vacation there seemed overwhelming. So after my sister and I hammered out the basics of what we wanted to do and see I turned the problem over to the professionals at AAA.

The trip I am about to describe to you is the result.

The first decision was do we cruise to Alaska or fly in and vacation like we usually do on our own. Since this was my sister’s Dream Vacation I let her choose. She had only 2 requests; to see the glaciers and to spend 3 days in Denali National Park. A cruise tour would accomplish both goals.

We settled on a “shoulder season” because it’s less expensive and money was certainly a factor. In May the animals are just coming down out of their wintering grounds and having babies. In September they have the northern lights (aurora borealis). We chose to go for the animals. We also chose to go south to north to give the northern locations a chance to warm up a bit more. In Alaska a couple of days can make all the difference. As it turned out spring was about 2 weeks late this year so we had a lot more snow and cold weather than is usual for this time of the year.

I think by far the hardest decision was which cruise line to use. They all cruise to Alaska these days, even Disney, and they all offer some combination of land and sea. I was leaning toward Royal Caribbean but Sandy liked Holland America. In the end we went with the travel agent’s recommendation of Princess Cruise Lines.

I drove from my home in Massachusetts to my sister’s in New York on Saturday May 11. I left my 3 cats in the capable hands of my long time pet sitter, still this is the longest I have ever been away before. My fingers were crossed that there’d be no complications for Diane to deal with.

That Saturday night we took our mother out for Mother’s Day dinner and then headed back to my sisters for an early night. We had an early cross-country flight from Albany Airport into Vancouver in the morning. By arriving a day early we sacrificed the airport transfer but got a day in Vancouver before we had to board the ship on Monday.

Our flight was uneventful and we spotted a rainbow as we flew into a misty, wet Vancouver. Our hotel , The Best Western Sands, was a block from the waterfront and very nice.

I had been to Vancouver once before many years ago and I remember the residents being very friendly, warm and helpful. That hasn’t changed at all. I still think it is one of the most friendly cities I have ever been in. What I do think has changed is the fabric of the city. We saw a great melting pot of people of many different nationalities and ethnicities. This only serves to make an already lovely city more cosmopolitan. Vancouver has really come into its own.

Absence

Posted on May 24, 2013May 24, 2013 by Dusty Roads

You guys are awesome. I didn’t expect to be away from my blog this long but internet connections are few and far between and when I can get them they are slow and quite expensive so, my friends, please be patient a little longer as my introduction to The Great Land is coming to an end very soon. I have barely scratched the surface of all there is to see but I will share with you my experiences and observations so stay turned! 🙂

A little Tower in Brockton

Posted on May 10, 2013May 10, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Once upon a time there was a little hill in the area which became known as Brockton, Ma. Long, long ago it was known as Indian Hill. Some say it got this name as a look out point for Native Americans. Others say it was sacred ground for those same Native Americans and that they held religious rituals there.

The site is said to have been first explored by white men when the Pilgrims made their “First Hike” through the area.

Today, the spot is known for its tower, built in 1925 by local workers to honor local men and women who served in World War I. The 65-foot stone tower, with about 100 steps, offers a great vista of Brockton from the top.

I first saw the stone tower about 2 years ago when I discovered D. W. Field Park. The park has a paved road that winds around Waldo Lake and the Brockton reservoir. The road is shared with dog walkers, joggers, families, any one who wants a peaceful place to enjoy a day close to nature in the heart of a busy urban area.

The tower is locked now. Climbing the stairs to the top is reserved for 1 day each summer but the locks simply add to the romance of the tower. A perfect setting for a damsel in distress, locked up and waiting for rescue. Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.

Ah but I am letting my imagination run wild. I simply wanted to share a stone tower that I find fascinating every time I see it.

Return to Daniel Webster

Posted on May 7, 2013May 7, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Mr. Majestic seemed to have life on the Grist Mill Pond well in hand so after observing for a while I decided to squeeze in a visit to one more place, Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary.

Many of you may remember that this is one of my favorite places to go to look for birds and wildlife to photograph. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since I’ve been back there. My last trip left me covered in deer ticks and then I got busy with “staged” photography for my cards. Well I don’t have my Deet with me but I’m only going to go sit in the blind for a while and see if anything is going on.

The parking lot was full when I arrived. Not surprising since it’s Sunday but I did feel my heart drop. Usually lots of walkers means less animal activity but I’m here so I’m going to check it out.

At the blind another photographer was watching the panne flats. I asked him if there was anything happening. His response, “Not unless you like Canada Geese”. Shortly after I set up he gave up and left. I settled in for a wait but it didn’t take long for things to pick up. Mama & Papa Canada Geese were giving their 5 goslings swimming lessons.

Into the water they went, swam in a small circle and then out to the shore again. This routine went on every 10 minutes or so, never venturing too far out.

Turtles were hauling out to sun themselves on every rock and log in sight, even climbing on each other.

Then I spotted another bird that I’ve only seen once before…a glossy ibis.

I must have spent an hour watching this beautiful bird forage in the shallows. He/she had rich mahogany body feathers with darker wings.

When the sun hit just right his feathers glistened with an iridescent rainbow of colors.

He wasn’t making it easy to get pictures. He was either behind the reeds or way out in the middle.

I had a 300-500 telephoto lens on the camera but it was still a reach. The pictures are better than my first try last year but I wish he had come closer or I had a bigger lens.