The place is pretty rad - everyone is really friendly, and every direction we look we see a glorious view! Until mother nature allows the golf course to open, Steve is working up at the ski hill,
Saturday we were on the road by 10:30AM and drove for 17 hours. We stayed the night at a motel in Nipigon, a small town just shy of Thunder Bay, and then drove 13 hours to Brandon, Manitoba. Monday we woke up in Brandon to find out there was a massive storm stretching from Alberta to Manitoba, and drove with extreme caution on the (understandably) vacated Trans-Canada:
We made it safely to Moose Jaw by evening, even though there were reportedly more than 200 accidents on the road:
Although the weather was anything but warm, inside our car our spirits were cheery:
Today we woke up well-rested in Saskatchewan, and just recently crossed into Alberta! The roads are much better today, and the sun has been shining beautifully on the snowy landscapes:
We aim to make it to our new home in British Columbia by nightfall, and could not be more excited to cruise right into the mountains once again in a matter of hours!!
Our life has taken quite a few turns since our last blog post!! We grinded out housekeeping at the Copperstone for two months - met some rad people but were worked to the bone! Christmas Eve to New Years Day we worked straight with no holiday pay, and probably had less then ten days off together the whole time. We put in a written request for some time off when our bud came out to visit us in February - so when we were scheduled for 40 hours that week, we bartered with our boss for a different arrangement, but no agreement could be met after an hour of discussion so we threw in the towel! No hard feelings at all, everyone was awesome, it was just time for us to move along! Luckily, we had just recently acquired work on a golf course in British Columbia (Steve as a greenskeeper and myself as a beer cart girl!) so we would have put in our two-weeks notice in a matter of days anyways - may as well quit early and spend some quality time in the Rockies with our visiting pal!
We had a few weeks before our new jobs would start, so decided to up and dip back to Ontario for a few weeks! We rented a storage unit in Canmore so we could bring back snowboards/skis, golf clubs and the like, and we hit the road with purpose. We left Calgary at 6pm on a Thursday, put the pedal to the metal and turned up completely gassed at Steve’s family home at 8am on Sunday morning. We successfully surprised many of our loved ones at sneaky and random times and places, finishing the week surprising our girlfriend and quite a few friends at her birthday night out! The weeks at home were a complete whirlwind experience, tossed around between houses, and visiting with friends and family all around the GTA! Steve was reunited with his gorgeous pup Fergus, and I got to finally meet my beautiful niece Mataya! (Cutest. Baby. Ever!!) We were able to reconnect with many, and consumed more alcohol in those three weeks than we had in the four months away!
We’ve had our fill of Hammertown, and as we drive north through Ontario we look forward to the altitude and fresh air of the Rockies! During our visit home while hanging out with Steve’s long-time friend Enderby, he made the wild decision to quit his job, hop in his car and return with us to the west where he once thrived! We’re making good time on our convoy now, just passed Algonquin Provincial Park with spirits a blaze!
Join us in our energy and state of mind by listening to this song :)!
Steve was training with the huskies, and I was to go into my first shift hostessing at the Iron Goat today, and all was well… except for the dilemma of finding housing in Canmore. Canmore is one of the most expensive places to live in Alberta, and we would be putting way too high a percentage of our earnings solely into having a roof over our heads. It was not a renter’s market at all, and there was also the inconvenience of both working different shifts at different places. SO, we switched gears, and decided for the winter it would be best to both work at a hotel in whatever capacity was available, so that we would be able to live in staff accommodations and not have to worry about burning gas driving to and fro our respective work places. After days of searching, the manager of the Copperstone Resort called us - two hours later, we were both employed with this resort in Dead Man’s Flats (11 minutes from Canmore, half an hour from Banff, 45 minutes to Calgary):
We will begin as housekeepers, and couldn’t be happier to start puttin’ some money in the bank tomorrow morning, 9am sharp! We have access to the jacuzzi depicted above, and are completely encircled by mountains. There is a stream right behind the resort that is a hotspot for wildlife, frequented by black bears, elk, moose and snow bunnies! The staff here are friendly, and have welcomed us in with two nights in one of the luxurious suites, as well as bacon, eggs, milk, orange juice, and bread for tomorrow’s breakfast!
We already feel welcomed and at peace, and can’t wait to explore the beautiful surroundings of our newfound workplace and home!
Steve successfully completed a rigorous 8 hour interview, and is now employed as a dog sled tour guide here in Canmore! He will be mushing along behind huskies on tours through the Rocky Mountains, and couldn’t be happier! To celebrate Steve’s sweet new job, we went out for a pint and tasty meal at good ol’ Boston Pizza:
We took the opportunity to dress nicely as we haven’t had that opportunity for about two months now!
Steve enjoyed a tasty meal of ribs and spaghetti, and I had a delicious ‘spicy perogie’ pizza with a side of mashed potatoes, MMM. And we both savoured the delectable taste of our Rickard’s White, cheers!
Seemingly magnetized to the snow-capped mountains and comfy cute cabins, Steve and I stayed at Rundle Ridge Chalets for the third time. We again lodged in Cabin #9: Vermillion Lakes, as it comes equipped with this awesome iPod player:
We have been so starved of all our favourite bands that we don’t own on tape; after finding out Cabin #14 did not come with a stereo, we made sure to request #9 once more!
Later on while applying around Banff, we were again graced with the presence of some elk:
We’re enjoying our last days of wild roaming while we line up some work!
A dark evening shot overlooking the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada:
On our extensive tour of Canmore, we met this beautiful puppy named Isis! Her owners were very friendly, and this pup with two different coloured eyes was just gorgeous!
We checked out an art gallery, and found this photo displayed:
I’ve loaded it here as it reminded us of our encounter with a group of climbing mountain goats! The mountain was a straight vertical incline, and we saw the mountain goats perched at various spots up the mountainside as in this photo, but there were about 30 of them, and two or three of them would be sharing one of these types of ‘footholds’. Their balance and ability to climb was awesome!!
Driving around western Alberta, Steve and myself have seen a handful of snow bunnies in the past few days! We have seen a few black ones, one white one, and this adorable little blonde bunny! We watched this guy for a few minutes, his fast movements and ever-twitching nose were a treat to see moments after waking up the other morning!
