Wednesday 8 August 2012

Greatest Moments

In spite of all the grandeur of the Rockies, vastness of the prairies, business of Chicago, and wonder of all the places we visited, it is the little things that have provided the greatest moments of the trip, and will provide the greatest memories moving forward. Just like life, the best things truly are the little things. Here is a chronological list of, some, of the best moments I had on our trip.

1) Afternoon Sun in Kekuli Bay

Our first weeks adventures with rain have been well documented on this trip. It wasn't until we got to the Rockies that we truly left the rain behind and enjoyed the sun for the final 30 days, give or take. Our first night in Manning Park required a 10 minute tarp set-up and dinner crouched on the ground beside the picnic table, rain pouring down. Our stay in the desert of Osoyoos even brought rain each afternoon. However, the first afternoon at Kekuli Bay provided a beautiful afternoon, free of even clouds. Haifa and the boys hung out beneath a tree while I set up our tent, being sure to stop every 2 minutes for a sip of water. After getting the tent up Zaid and I went for a walk down to play in the playground and then to the dock to look at the water. We even saw a rattlesnake curled up in the grass having a rest.
Enjoying the Sun at Kekuli Bay - Notice the Ouzo

2) Walk up Johnston Canyon

After a long (for us) day of driving from Revelstoke we pull into our campground at Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park in the mid-afternoon. After getting out of the car Zaid immediately requests that we go on a walk and so we, desiring a stretch of our legs as well, oblige. We initially decide to just go to the river flowing by the campground and walk along its side. Soon we are crossing back underneath the Bow River Parkway and across a little footbridge over the river. We get caught up in a stream of people and find ourselves along the Johnston Canyon walk. The route was short, about 1 km, but was amazing. The path either goes alongside the edge of the canyon or right over the river itself, attached to the rock wall itself. We end up at the lower falls and had a great time getting misted by the falling water. We reward our good luck with a soft-serve Vanilla Ice Cream when we get back.
Lower Falls in Johnston Canyon

3) Herbert Train Station Museum

The longest travel day until that point was the drive from Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park in Southeast Alberta to Regina in central Saskatchewan. We decided to pull off the highway in the town of Herbert to look for a park with which to picnic. We follow the signs to the visitor centre, usually the best bet to find a picnic table, and stop for lunch. Much to Zaid's delight the visitor centre also doubles as a train museum, complete with 3 old train cars that are fully accessible. It proved VERY difficult to keep Zaid at the table and interested in lunch as all he was wanting was to look at the trains. I wolfed down my sardine sandwich and went with him to explore the trains. We were only there for about 45 minutes but we all had a great time looking at all the trains had to offer.
Zaid sitting in the Caboose

4) Windy Lake Michigan

The day had been planned as a relaxing day to account for the blah feeling that had enveloped us all the day before. A morning thundershower simply reinforced the idea of a slow and relaxing drive down to Port Washington, Wisconsin. We set off around 11:00, ready and willing to take multiple stops along the scenic Lake Michigan route as we saw interesting things to do. The first indication that things were a bit windy was the drive, the car was fairly difficult to control with the crosswind pushing the car towards the shoulder. Then, we turn a corner and come into the town of Algoma, right on the shore of Lake Michigan. The lake looked like a stormy ocean, we could not see the other side and the waves were rolling in thick and white. We park the car and hop down the stairs, wind gusting into our faces and blowing our hair (and us) every which way. It was exhilarating and thrilling and gave us a great jolt awake from our malaise. It was a great 10 minutes, just what the doctor ordered.
Haifa and Owen enjoying the wind

5) Chicago Dance Party

I have written about this in a previous post and so will simply quote the paragraph again here. 

I was putting Zaid to bed this evening when all of a sudden I hear faint bass beats wafting up from the streets below. They didn't seem to bother Zaid, but my curiosity was piqued. I recalled having walked by a stage advertising a free dance party during the summer this morning and put two and two together. After getting Zaid down (or at least I thought) I headed outside to see what was going on. There was a dance party, and it was awesome. There was probably 500-800 people and all of them were dancing. From young parents with their children to old couples in their 70s, from the stylings of the "Chicago Dancing Diva's" to the stylings of rhythm-less middle aged white people, from girls in tie-die shirts to guys in basketball jerseys, from Indians dancing Banghara, to me tapping my foot and bobbing my head, EVERYONE was dancing. The whole event was free and lasted about 2 hours. It was funded completely by the government, with no form of sponsorship anywhere. This is a city that does things right.
Dance Dance

6) The walk from Addison Station to my seat in Wrigley Field

I get off the packed train at Addison Station and immediately see what appears to be the back of Wrigley Field. I see stairs leading up to doors labelled "box seats" and stands above. I don't really have time to look further though as the throng of baseball fans (mostly Cubs, but many Cardinals fans as well) is leading me down the stairs to the street below. The street is FULL of people and they all seem to be going to the stadium, or to a local bar first. As we make our way the half block to the stadium I realize that what I thought was the stadium was actually houses across the street. It seems that they have built their own stands and charge people to watch the game from across the street. 

We get closer and closer to the stadium and the yells of "tickets for sale" and "water $1 each" grow more frequent. Then, all of a sudden, the stadium is there. From the outside it is very hard to tell that a baseball team plays inside, as it fits into the neighbourhood perfectly. I guess this happens when the stadium and the neighbourhood can grow up with each other for a century.

I make my way through the throng to will-call and pick up my ticket. It is in my hands, Cubs-Cardinals, at Wrigley Field. Within minutes I will be in my seat looking at the ivy covered walls I have seen so many times on TV. I have been waiting for this ever since I became a baseball fan at the age of 5, watching the Blue Jays play the White Sox with my dad at old Exhibition Stadium.

I slowly walk around the crowd outside, taking the atmosphere in. I notice a quartet of musicians in Cubs uniforms playing and stop for a listen. I take out my phone and take the obligatory tourist photo of the original Marquee and work my way in. The ticket-taker scans my ticket and I am in. It takes some time to figure out where I am going as Wrigley uses aisles instead of sections that I am used to. However, I quickly realize I need to go up the ramp and so slowly make my way up. 

As I get to the top of the ramp I notice a row of seats right there and get a bit confused. However, the stadium is so small that there isn't really a concourse, simply the start of the seats. I grab a beer (Labbatt Blue, since I despise Budweiser and Coors) and make my way to my seats. The game doesn't start for another 20 minutes and so my section is pretty empty to start. I take in the ivy-walls and the Cardinals warming up in front of me. I take in the friendly joking around between Cardinal and Cub fans, I take in the vendors yelling out "Cold Beer" and "Ice Cream" and I am happy.
My first view of the field

7) Evening Swim in Whiteshell Provincial Park

This entry is not in chronological order; I have saved it for last. This was the single best moment of the whole trip. 

We had found the beach earlier in the afternoon but didn't have our swimming stuff with us and so decided to come for a swim after dinner. We get our gear on, swimming diapers for the boys, and trunks for us, and head out on the short 5 minute walk. We arrive at around 7:00 to a near empty beach and get our sandals off, shirts and hats off, and towels out. Then we run to the water and play. For about 45 minutes we are in pure bliss. Chasing Zaid, splashing Haifa, getting splashed by Zaid, walking out to the deeper parts, sitting with Owen in the shallows. The whole time, we all have huge smiles on and are laughing. There were absolutely no worries our thoughts in our mind, just the water and the swimming.

The beach earlier in the day. We were having too much fun for pictures during our swim


 


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