Canada – 2019: Our time with the kids
Background:
We travel to Canada
frequently to see our son and his family, our siblings and their families, and
long lost friends. We also take care of banking business and our driving
licenses. On this trip, we celebrated our grandchildren's upcoming 16th birthdays - this year and next - by taking them on a train trip from Edmonton to Vancouver. Both were born on the 16th day of their months which, for their grandmother, makes the number 16 especially significant.
Itinerary:
June 22 – depart Phuket
June 23 – arrive Beijing
June 28 – depart Beijing, arrive
Canada
June 28 to July 9 – in Edmonton
with our son and his family
July 10-11 – train from Edmonton
to Vancouver
July 11-15 – in Vancouver
July 15 – return to Edmonton,
drop of our grandchildren, then continue to Saskatoon
July 15-29 – in Saskatoon, Lake Amisk, Moose Jaw and Watrous
July 29 – depart Saskatoon for
Phuket
July 31 – arrive Phuket
Darrel’s Details for June 28 to July 15
June 28
Today was a very long day, almost 38 hours
long in fact. We woke up in Beijing at 0630, showered, at breakfast, caught the subway,
transferred to the Airport Express, caught a 10.5 hour flight to Vancouver,
caught 1.5 hour flight to Edmonton, and finally got to spend a number of days
visiting Dylan, Laura, Tehja and Taylor (DLTs).
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| The beautiful home of DLTs. |
June 29
After breakfast, Laura, Dylan, Loretta and
I went into town, Stony Plain, for coffee at Tim Horton's. Then we went to a
farmer's market followed by some grocery shopping before heading back home. Loretta bought some sage and wild rose "smudges" for herself and some Thai friends. We all tried out some perogies from a roadside stand. Tehja
and Taylor were up when we got home so we had lunch.
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| Farmers market - indoors on a potentially rainy day. |
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| The sky over Stony Plain |
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| A street view in pretty Stony Plain |
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| The sky over DLT's |
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| It didn't look friendly. |
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| A friendlier sky over the camp at Pigeon Lake. |
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| Inspecting the camp grounds. |
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| Sturdy looking cabins. |
At 1630 we headed off to Pigeon Lake to
drop off Tehja who is serving as a volunteer at a camp for the next 6
days.
We got home, chatted for a while and then
watched the movie "Get Out" with Taylor. Taylor had spent some of his summer vacation money on two movies that he wanted to watch with us. It was enlightening to discuss the movies with him afterwards. We were in bed by 2300.
June 30
Loretta and I got up at 0700, showered and
were eating breakfast when Dylan and Laura returned from a 5-kilometer run to
start their day.
We were all invited out to a pre Canada
Day barbeque and party at the cottage of friend's of Dylan and Laura's. The cottage is right
on the waterfront of Lac Ste. Anne. It was a beautiful sunny day and I actually
wore shorts and a tee shirt for at least part of the day. Loretta had promised that she wouldn't discuss politics but managed to sit beside someone who was quite outspoken, and she couldn't help herself. No issues were resolved. We returned home
around 2100 and watched "Cabin in the Woods" followed by enlightenment from Taylor.
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| Taylor offering a hug? |
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| Loretta diving in? |
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A great place for a Canada Day Party -
a day early to take advantage of good weather. |
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| Wanna go boating? |
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| Dad, mom, son. |
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| A romantic couple in the middle. |
July 1st Canada
Day
The weather forecast leading up to Canada
Day was brutal. The forecast high was 17 C with a 60% chance of rain and a
low of 6 C. Unfortunately the forecast was quite accurate so all our plans for
attending the Canada Day activities were canceled. Instead we stayed home in
the morning and digitized some of our photo albums. In the afternoon we went
into Stony Plain to do some shopping and then returned home and played games
(The Farming Game and Rummy-O). I baked Loretta a birthday cake for tomorrow.
In the evening we watched the movie “Us” and then spent some time analyzing it with Taylor.
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| An old photo of Mac (Darrel's dad), Loretta and Darrel out duck hunting. |
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| An old photo of Mac with grandsons Dylan and Kevin in P.E.I. |
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| 1974 - signing on the dotted line. |
July 2
Happy birthday Loretta, wow 66.
Today we went into Stony Plain so Loretta
and I could renew our driver's licences. Then we did a quick shop at Canadian
Tire. From there, Dylan and Laura treated us to lunch at the Canadian Brewhouse, including a cake and a song for Loretta, and then we went grocery shopping.
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| At the Brewhouse. |
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| It was clear as to how we were to sit. |
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Apparently it wasn't the warmest of days.
The Bloody Caesar was bloody marvelous. |
On
the way home we stopped in to visit my cousin Connie and her husband Rick who
we have not seen for about 10 years. They showed us photos of their house in
Fort McMurray that was saved from the fire two years ago. Then we headed
home.
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| Loretta, Darrel, Connie and Rick |
July 3
Dylan and Laura worked today so Loretta
and I continued taking digital photos of our photo's we had in 16 different photo
albums. When Dylan and Laura got home we had dinner and then played
games. Skip-Bo and Rummy-O seem to be the favourites.
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| Taking a break from the photo albums. |
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| The kitties were good company too. |
A sampling of old photos:
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Halloween with classmates - 1977.
Two of them - Kal (green hand) and Wendy (straw hat) - visited us when we were in Edmonton. |
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| Proud new parents - December 1977. |
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| The cutest baby ever - 1978. |
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| With Norm and Jan before kids. |
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With Jan and Norm after Crystal and Dylan came along.
We were able to visit Jan and Norm when we went to Saskatoon. |
July 4
Pretty much a repeat of yesterday.
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| Wondering where the lions are - or cats in this instance. |
July 5
Today we drove Laura to work so we could
use her car for the day. We kept busy today by meeting with our bank contact
for 2 hours, then shopping at Canadian Tire for a car brush and Safeway for groceries. We went
home for lunch and played Rummy-O with Taylor. Tehja returned from her camp
mid-afternoon.
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| This cat was especially sociable. |
At 4:00 two of the students Darrel went to school with, Kal and Wendy, came for a visit. We had not seen them for 25
years so it was nice to catch up with them and see how their careers
unfolded. While chatting, we discovered that Kal and Darrel were both born in Tisdale.
Dylan brought home pizza so we all had a
bite to eat and continued our visit until Kal and Wendy headed back home.
July 6
Today
was Saturday so both Dylan and Laura were off work. It was a cold and rainy day
so we went to the West Edmonton Mall so we could walk around a bit. We did our
gift shopping for our Thai friends and then had lunch. After lunch we watched Laura try her luck at the casino in the mall. Our presence did not bring her good luck. Then we headed home with a side tour of another
acreage subdivision close to Dylan's. We squeezed in some yard work before the weather closed in. In the evening we partied and played
games until the wee hours of the morning, 0200 to be exact.
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| We saw some talented youngsters play hockey - awesome. |
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| Shopping can be tiring. |
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| It really is a pretty mall. |
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| Yup, it's a big yard. |
July 7
Another
cool and wet day in the forecast but we went to Dylan's work picnic that was
held in Hawrelak Park in Edmonton. There was a barbeque and games and a nice big
sheltered area to hide under when the rain came. We met a number of Dylan's co-workers and learned a lot about the work they do.
On the way home we drove through a very
heavy rainstorm.
For the rest of the day we played games,
indoors, and had dinner.
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| It was the perfect place for a drizzly day. |
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| We had a competent driver to get us home through the storm. |
July 8
Dylan and Laura were back to work today. I
drove Laura to work today so I could drive Tehja to her Driver's Course later
in the day.
We did some grocery shopping and then went to
Tim Horton's for a coffee while Tehja was at her course.
After arriving home we had lunch and then
took digital photos of some of the correspondence that we had stored in a bin
at Dylan's.
July 9
This was our last day here in Edmonton so
Loretta was busy doing laundry for Tehja and Taylor. The morning was a repeat
of yesterday, i.e. drive Laura, return home then drive Tehja to driver's
course, have 2 hour coffee break at Tim Hortons, go home. The afternoon
was spent helping the kids pack for the train and Vancouver trip and finishing
up our digitizing.
There was an embarrassing moment when Loretta was reminded that she had promised to make supper both yesterday and today, but it completely slipped her mind. Dylan and Laura were very gracious about the oversight and managed to keep everyone fed, and Loretta promised a rain check (if she remembers).
Dylan and Laura dropped us off at train
station in plenty of time to catch our train that was scheduled to leave at 1
minute past midnight but ended up leaving at 0300.
Tehja and Taylor were very excited when we
were called for preferential boarding, and then we were driven to our car on an
extended golf cart. Our berths were all made up so TnT were happy to see
their berths.
We climbed in to get some long-awaited sleep so we could get up early to enjoy the sights tomorrow.
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| Good-bye beautiful Alberta. |
July 10
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| (Not our photo) |
I woke up at 0700 but Loretta managed to stay asleep until 0815. We cleaned up and headed to the dining car where we met Jo-Jo. She took us on a tour of the train and showed us the games car, observation car, and sky car.
We then went to the brunch in the dining car and ordered our breakfast which was very good. As we were finishing our breakfast we entered the Jasper National Park thereby surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. Loretta decided it was time to wake TnT so they could enjoy the view. We visited while they ate breakfast.
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| A comfy bed with a view. |
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| TnT in the dining car. |
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| Ever-changing views. |
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| Treats in the games car. |
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| Checking out Taylor's cave. |
We then took them on a tour of the train and then had a game of Skip-Bo. We took advantage of our time on the train to teach TnT a new way to play the game - exchangeable wild cards. They caught on quickly and were soon teaching us some new strategies.
We arrived in Jasper around 1330 where we got off the train to enjoy the scenery and fresh mountain air. We then walked to an ice cream shop.
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| Getting fresh air in Jasper. |
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| Not our engine. |
While going through the park we saw some beautiful scenery but the highlight was seeing a black bear with her two cubs.
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| Not our photo, but they looked just like this. |
We chose the early dinner seating so we ate at 1700. I had rack of lamb and it was absolutely delicious. TnT decided to order from the kids menu and they both ordered chicken fingers which they said were good. Loretta had stir fried vegetables from the adults menu but she was disappointed with it. We took the opportunity of "fine dining" to show TnT how to use their utensils from the outside in, and how to manage a cloth napkin.
After desserts we went to the games car and played Skip-Bo. While we were playing, the train slowed down and the staff announced that we were coming up to Pyramid Falls. Wow - every camera on the train captured some beautiful pics, it was quite spectacular after all the rain that has been falling.
Shortly after that we headed off to our berths, some to sleep, and some to play with their devices.
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| A lonely-looking station. |
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| Bleak yet beautiful. |
July 11
We caught a taxi to our Airbnb on
Grant Street - about a 15 minute car ride. We arrived early so our unit was not
ready but we were able to drop off our luggage. We went for lunch and picked up
some groceries for breakfasts and evening snacks. We walked back to our Airbnb, unpacked and then played games till bedtime. Loretta's niece, Heather
stopped in for a brief visit. She lives in Saskatoon but was in Vancouver to take a course at the University.
Summary of train trip:
Anyone who has travelled on a train in
Europe or Japan should be aware that the trains in Canada are quite antiquated
in comparison. There is no Wifi for this leg of the trip and there was one
accessible outlet in the games car. Even the new Panoramic Car did not have any
outlets. The train schedule is quite fluid and the tracks are not very smooth.
The Canadian trains offer a much different experience.
If asked if the trip worth it, we would
reply yes because the grandkids really enjoyed it and that was our main
objective. Having done this trip by train and car, each at least a couple of
times, I would say you see more scenery by car and it would be faster.
July 12
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| Our Airbnb was in an attractive neighbourhood. |
We were up at 0700 and let the kids sleep
until 0800. We had breakfast and then caught a local bus to take us downtown.
There was a stark difference between the street views along the bus route and the street views downtown:
We purchased our Hop-on-Hop-off bus tickets and caught the Park Route bus which
took us primarily through Stanley Park. We got off at the first of six
different stops and walked past the totem poles, aquarium, under the Lion's
Gate Bridge and caught the bus again at Prospect Point. During our walk we
stopped for lunch and later a huge ice cream cone. We nearly lost a bag of chips to a crow, but Loretta and Tehja - much to the amusement of bystanders - made enough ruckus to scare the crow away and save the chips (i.e. "crisps" for some of you).
We continued to the end of the Park Route
and decided to leave the City Route for tomorrow. We were all
pooped. We caught the local bus home and spent the evening playing games and
eating snacks.
We noticed a lot of homeless people here
and a tent city in one location ... the hazards of a Canadian city being in a warm
climate.
I should mention that yesterday while we
were shopping I stopped at a local corner store (one which the Airbnb owner recommended us to go for bus tickets) and when asked if he sold bus
tickets he said no we have to pay with coin. So he sold me 15 CAD worth of
change. I hate carrying change; it causes my pants to fall down. The next
morning when we caught the bus we all put a loonie and a toonie into the
coin receptor but I noticed a sign indicating I could pay with Visa. I asked
the bus driver if I could use Visa to pay on future rides and her response was
affirmative.
When it came time to return home, rather
than buying a bunch of coins and have my pants fall down, I opted to use my
Visa card. The four of us hopped on the bus and I showed the driver my card. He
said I can use the card, but only for 1 person. He said try it but I don't
think it will work. He was right it did not work. He asked if we had
coins and I told him no, that is why my pants are up around my waist and not
down around my ankles (or at least that was what I wanted to tell him). He then
told us no problem he would let us ride for free. What a kind bus driver!
July 13
The start of our day was a replica of
yesterday. When we arrived at the Hop-on-Hop-off station we hopped on the City Tour bus.
Our first hop off was at Granville Island where we walked around and ended up
eating lunch there. The food mall was large with many interesting eating options.
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| Geese have the right-of-way here. And they take advantage of it. |
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| We had a variety of dishes for lunch and then an interesting walk-about. |
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| Souvenirs that we didn't buy. |
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| A scarf (made in China) that Loretta did buy. |
Our next hop off was at the Art Gallery.
But the reason was not to see the Art Gallery but rather to visit a special
exposition promoting Thailand. The exposition included food and drink from
Thailand and dancers all dressed up in traditional costumes. All the exhibitors
looked Thai, as well as a number of attendees, and we did hear some Thai being
spoken. One exhibitor smiled at me and said hello, I spoke back to him in Thai
but he shook his head as though he could not hear me. So I walked closer to him
and repeated what I said again in Thai. Again he just shook his head but came
back with "where are you from". I replied as clearly and accurately
as I could in Thai that these are my two grandchildren, they are from Edmonton,
but my wife and I are from Phuket. That is when he said "Oh I am not from
Thailand, I can't speak Thai". We had a good laugh over this as we walked
towards Canada Place.
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| (Not our photo) |
At Canada Place we were going to take
Tehja and Taylor on a new ride called Flyover Canada but due to Tehja being
susceptible to motion sickness we decided against it. As we walked around
Canada Place we noticed the Holland America ship Nieuw Amsterdam tied
alongside. It was the first ship Dylan was
on for a Caribbean cruise when he was only 10 years old.
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| (Not our photo of the Flyover) |
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| The Nieuw Amsterdam |
From there we caught the local bus to go
home (yes today we paid going and returning with coin) and stopped for ice
cream along the way.
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All bus services were A++.
|
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The neighbourhood.
|
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Catching our breath before playing Skip-Bo.
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I booked our taxi for tomorrow and
completed our on-line check-in with West Jet.
We played Skip-Bo and went out for a snack
(poutine - best ever) in the evening.
We were in Vancouver for 4 days
which all offered great weather for us to tour around. Not cold and no rain,
yeah!
July 14
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| Getting pretty good at selfies. |
This was primarily a travel day. We got
everyone up by 0830. Loretta did a load of laundry and we ate breakfast.
We mixed our morning up with packing, playing games, reading, and eating
leftovers.
The taxi arrived right on schedule. After
checking our baggage we had lunch before heading to our gate. Close to
our gate were tables and chairs so we immediately got into our last game of
Skip-Bo for this trip.
After a short 1-1/2 hour flight, we arrived in Edmonton where Loretta and I
walked the kids out of the airport to turn them safely back to Dylan and Laura.
Mission accomplished!
We were met at the airport by Marleen and
Larry where we would be staying off and on for the next two weeks. We sat up
and chatted with them until we all started nodding off.
Summary of the trip with
Tehja and Taylor:
- We all had a great time. We heard from TnT a number of times during the trip how great it was and how much they
enjoyed it.
- When asked what was their favourite
part, they both said the half-day we spent in Stanley Park. But they also said
the train trip was right up there and they really were pleased with the Airbnb we stayed in.
- We had lots of laughs over the 5 days,
especially when Grandpa made errors playing Skip-Bo.
- Tehja did really well not having any
issues with her motion sickness. They are now planning to come visit us in
Thailand when Tehja turns 18. Our fingers are crossed.
- A great bonding experience for
all.
End of this leg of the trip
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