Canadian Aussie Adventures with Erin-Jay
Officers from the Calgary Police Department are happy to have a quick read of the Valley Press. (Erin Jusseaume/Clark Fork Valley Press)
A NEWSPAPER in a newspaper . . . the Valley Press made its way to Heritage Park in Calgary.
A GRIZZLY gets the last of his lunch before a quick read of the Valley Press at the Calgary Zoo in Canada.
So this past week, I headed north with my parents up to Canada for a little holiday, which is why no one would have seen me around the county.
Another country now ticked off the list, we headed to Calgary and though the Stampede was long gone and done, myself along with mum and dad saw as much as we could in the few short days we were there.
Now I have to point out one or two “must sees” if you head up that way; firstly, the town of Banff! WOW, we were only going to spend a couple of hours there but ended up spending all day, and one of the guys working one of the many souvenir shops said that though Lake Louise is magnificent, and it’s where everyone wants to go, we were better off heading up to Lake Minnewanka. So that is what we did, and the views (even through the smoke) were just awesome.
We met a couple of other tourists, and let’s say, there were a few younger (early twenties) kids that were fascinated at myself who got down to the ground near some Canadian mountain she to get a selfie as they slowly poked towards me.
They genuinely asked if I was scared. I told them, no, if it was a bear then yeah, I wouldn’t be doing this, but they were just a small mob that were obviously used to tourists, and I just kept my distance and let them do their thing. Needless to say, when I walked back to the car, the group of four was trying to do the same thing ... I guess you could say I was trending in Canada.
Another big hit was going out to the historical Bar U Ranch just south of Calgary. Now you don’t see a lot about the ranch but, it is a MUST STOP!
Not only is the ranch just amazing, and most of the barns there are well over 100 years old; would you believe it as we where getting tickets, mum spoke to a girl whose boyfriend (PRCA rough stock rider Thor Hoefer) was in my hometown of Townsville competing at the Daikin North Queensland Elite Rodeo. So we all had a little laugh as it was truly just by chance that we connected.
I also had the pleasure of meeting some of Canada’s law enforcement officers who were more than happy to take a photo with the local newspaper.
Even though I was on a Canadian adventure, it sure is great to be back home. I just hope the smoke moves on before the fair hits town.
So until next week Sanders County…HooRoo