Canadá parte dos

The following list is my itinerary for the epic trip to Canada. The research and schedual was all coordinated by my lovely Steve. Hiking, camping, hiking, canoeing, driving, hiking, and Trekkies! Woohooo!

Day 1: drive from Lasson, CA to Crater Lake NP, OR, hike around Crater Lake and camp.


Day 2: drive to Portland and Seattle. Stay with friends in Seattle.


Day 3: drive to Osoyoos.


Day 4: hike Osoyoos - northernmost desert in North America (desert
(scorpions, spadefoot toads, tiger salamander, rattlesnakes, and
cacti). Hike Cathedral Provincial Park (alpine lakes, formations,
Mountain goats, Bighorn sheep, and marmots). Go wine tasting in
Naramata & Kelowna.
( I personally would have put wine tasting first, then hiking, because there's nothing more fun then hiking through a desert drunk. Trust me, I'm an expert on this.)


Day 5: watch mating displays of Western Grebes on boardwalk in Salmon
Arm. drive through Glacier National Park. See Burgess Shale in Field.
Lunch at Lake Louise. Walk around a marsh in Banff and go to the Whyte
Museum of the Canadian Rockies. drive to Calgary.


Day 6: walk around Calgary. Drive to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
(where the Blackfoot Indians drove the buffalo off a cliff), Vulcan (a
town dedicated to Star Trek), and visit the Royal Tyrell Museum and
badlands at Drumheller.
(Although this may seem silly..."I'm all hopped up on mountain dew" to go to Vulcan.)

(If you can name that quote you will earn 28 cool points)

Day 7: Drive through the Canadian Rockies to Jasper. Hike by Columbia
Ice fields to a lake with lots of tame and playful marmots.
(Marmots! Apparently they are an animal and not just an outfitting brand) 


Day 8: Long drive to Dawson Creek, BC. Stop at Elk Island National
Park to see extremely high densities of wood and plain buffalo, moose,
and elk.


Day 9: Another long day of driving to Laird Hot Springs Provincial
Park (orchids, boardwalk, hot springs), then the Watson Lake Sign Post
Forest, and finally to Teslin, YT.


Day 10: a full day of canoeing on Nisutlin Lake with salmon and moose.
take a short drive to the rustic, artsy town of Atlin and eat some
smoked salmon.


Day 11: Up early and head to Kluane National Park for a long hike
through an amazing park with the highest concentration of grizzlies in
the world, sheep, wolves, mountain goats, moose, and wolverines.
(I highlighted the above because if you don't hear from me after day 11 you''ll know why)


Day 12: drive to another artsy town called Keno Hill. there is a
nearby meadow with tons of wildflowers and arctic butterflies. We hit
Dawson City, YT at night for some drinking and Vaudeville shows.
Places worth checking out include Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall
- the oldest casino in Canada and the Sourdough Saloon, where you can
drink a shot with a human toe in it. This is also where we will get
info on the road conditions of the Dempster highway.
(My concern is that the women in the burlesque/vaudeville show will be as old as the casino.) 


Day 13 & 14: A long drive to Inuvik, YT on the Dempster highway. The
highway is full of arctic birds like northern hawk owls, snowy owls,
redpolls, longspurs, gyrfalcon, ptarmigans, loons, shorebirds, and
snow buntings. We should be able to see a small herd of caribou at
Tombstone. There are a few places where we can hike around, but the
drive itself is the main adventure. In Inuvik, we can eat Musk ox &
caribou burgers.
(yes, I shall eat a muskox, then devour it soul and hang its dead corpse from my cars bumper) - no I'm not kidding.


Day 15 & 16: Time to go to the top of the world. I would like to
charter a plane to Banks Island - Aulavik National Park (70,000 musk
ox, caribou, polar bears, arctic fox, ringed seal, bowhead & beluga
whales, lemmings). Hopefully the weather will cooperate, but this
should be the high point of the trip.


Day 17 & 18: drive back south to Hyder, BC. We will hopefully have
time to check out Whitehorse's long fish ladder, art center, and
brewery.


Day 19: After all that driving, we will take a few more relaxing days
before more long days of driving. I want to check of Bear Glacier,
which has a morph of blue ice bears living by it, Fish Creek, where
you can safely watch grizzly and black bears hunting salmon, Nisga's
Memorial Lava Bed Park, and Prince Rupert (large totem pole
collection, Museum of Northern BC).


Day 20: We take a ferry to the Queen Charlotte Islands, go whale
watching (fin, right, humpback, grey, and killer whales), go to St.
Mary's Spring (legend has it that those who drink are destined to
return), the Delkatla Wildlife Sanctuary, Naikoon Park tide pools,
Gandll K'in Gwaayaay (hot springs & totem poles), and camp on Agate
Beach (great beachcombing).
(key words that I like the best....Hot Springs, Totem Poles, and Beach-combing) 


Day 21-22: We get back to the mainland and drive to Vancouver, BC.


Day 23: Drive Vancouver straight to Tucson 

¡FIN!

O Canada! From far and wide…

Summer time is among us in Arizona and with that said it’s time to leave Tucson. Oh I’ve spent many a summers here and I find them quite enjoyable and even relaxing as I struggle to breath. But alas, it is time to have a vacation, a nice long vacation.  I’ll even proclaim that I deserve it!

This summer I will be heading on a road trip to the Arctic Circle…yes, a 7630 mile roundtrip as a vacation.  Yes, for most people that wouldn’t necessarily sound like a vacation, however, for me is the best vacation idea ever. Honestly, resorts and cruises are superficial and overrated. This is exactly what my mind and body need. We have a non-stop itinerary with an assortment of hiking, canoeing, eating bear claws, wine tasting, and tracking muskoxen. Everyone seems to be a little concerned about how I’m getting there, but I keep reassuring everybody that I own a Toyota so I’m fine. (Knock on wood)

The most feared part of the trip isn’t chartering a flight to Banks Island in the Arctic Ocean in an attempt to see polar bears (before they become extinct), but rather the 457 mile gravel road known as the Dempster Highway. With a couple of extra tires and gas cans we should be fine!

Anyways…the following pictures should give you an idea of what the hell I’m doing this summer. And of course, as usual, once the trip begins you can expect a plethora of photographs from me. 

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The Dempster 

Seven months of love and fun!

I hate to be all gushy but…I just have to be a little. The past 7 months have been great because I’ve been able to spend my time with my new best friend, and of course we have been going on many adventures together. So here are a few moments to share…

Party drinky time

20's speakeasy party - this is what too much make-up looks like.

Tucson food truck round-up. Who ate more? Oh, that would be me!

Organ Pipe National Monument, desert warriors. We concur all  who challenge us! Growl. 

Twin Peaks themed party...yes, that's how cool we are. 

yay for road trips! 

ALL SOULS! once again I have a drink in my hand...what can I say.

Pimping up the Goose neck 

What's up Arches NP. We make faces at the arches...what are they going to do? Nothing!

What What! Mexican hat...or pancake rock as we referred to it. 

1 girl, 2 cats, and a bunch of stuff

One day you wake-up, you crawl out of bed feeling a kink in your neck, your knees are stiff from the cold air in the room, and you obnoxious barn cat is screaming at you to feed her. All of the sudden an epiphany happens. Who am I?

Suddenly, you realize that you’re 31 yrs old and really have nothing more to show for it then some awesomely cheap goods that you found at the thrift store. Student loans on a degree that you personal find no satisfaction in, are warranting your attention as graduation is closing in on you. Debt. Stupid debt. student loans, car payments, some miscellaneous charges on the credit card… what is this?  Does this make me a grown-up? How did my parents ever afford to have me? Life is weird.

I question my adultness…I don’t feel like an adult. I don’t feel like a kid either. Does that make me a looser? I think society expects a lot out of people. We’ve grown-up in suburbs with two car families, both parents working, and having dinners on the couch. Now that doesn’t seem appealing to me at all. I would sooner live out of my car (if I owned it) then to live that sort of lifestyle. I’m not looking for that. I am looking for something though. Maybe it’s just security, or maybe it’s just to feel like I am an adult.

I try to place my finger on it but can’t. Is it this place? 

Perhaps. 

Is it your mind melting into some gooey substance? That’s more likely the case.  

Are you rambling on, and on, and on. Yep.  

Should you stop before you look stupid? 

Why, yes, that would be advisable.

So anyways, I own a bunch of meaningless crap that only brings me temporary happiness. My cats, well they always make me smile, and I own them, actually… they own me.  Someday I’ll rid myself of my stuff, and then get some real meaningful stuff, then hopefully that stuff will make me feel more adult-like. You know, like owning a crock-pot or something.