Archive for July 2013

Oh Canada!

P1000805smIt has been about one week since our last blog post and, coincidently, almost all of that time we have been in Canada — our first full week in Canada on this trip!

We entered the province of British Columbia from Eastport, Idaho, and camped our first night in Lake Moyie Provincial Park. The campground was really nice — it was positioned on the north shore of the gorgeous, sapphire-blue colored Lake Moyie and it had really well-spaced campsites, tall shady trees, a nice playground, hot showers and flushing toilets. (I really don’t mind using most pit toilets, but I still prefer the flushing kind when they are available!).

Quinn had a fabulous time in the playground. Someone had left a newspaper on an adjacent picnic table and he figured out how to wrap dirt and rocks in a sheet of newspaper, carry it up the ladder and then dump it down the slide to make lots of “dust”. He also managed to teach some other kids how to do this and we were sure that we would hear complaints from other parents about this. Fortunately that did not happen — we had a clear view of everything from our campsite but no one seemed to mind the spectacle enough to come over to talk with us about it. It kept Quinn entertained for most of the evening so we just made sure to clean him off in the shower before bedtime.

The next day we visited the train museum in Cranbrook, BC. It was so very worth the visit and our time there. We toured seven cars from the newly-refurbished Trans-Canada Limited, which offered first-class travel from Toronto to Vancouver in the late 1800s (starting around 1876, if I remember correctly). We were positively blown away by the finery and craftsmanship that went into building these train cars. Lots of complex and incredibly beautiful inlaid wood trim everywhere and there were hardwoods used from exotic Central American locations like Honduras. We saw the sleeping cars (which were converted to sitting mode during the day), the washing / dressing rooms, the kitchens, the salon cars and it was all more luxurious than anything that we’d previously experienced (including staying at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, the Ritz-Carleton in Beaver Creek and One Ski Hill in Breckinridge, Colorado. Clearly they don’t make things like they used to). It was very impressive and we recommend it to anyone who might be in the area in the future.

We made our way towards Crowsnest Pass, which is just across the provincial border in Alberta. There we had an invitation to stay at Doug and Karen Manzer’s lovely mountain home while we conducted our first volunteer job nearby.

Their home is on the edge of the mountain wilderness (with frequent bear sightings in the area) and they are also fortunate to have incredible views of the nearby Turtle Mountain (more on that later). Doug was out of town with their daughter, Emily (15), during our stay, but Karen and their daughter, Megan (17), and their son, Nick (13), were fantastic hosts and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We are fortunate to have made such great new friends this week!

Nick, Karen, and the Sparks family in front of our hosts' home in Crowsnest Pass. Quinn could only be coaxed into the picture if he was allowed to bring the hose.

Nick, Karen, and the Sparks family in front of our hosts’ home in Crowsnest Pass. Quinn could only be coaxed into the picture if he was allowed to bring the hose.

We arrived in Pincher Creek, Alberta, on Tuesday morning, which was coincidently also the day of our 12th wedding anniversary. We were warmly greeted at the Napi Friendship Center by Andrea Anderson, who works at the center and who hosted us during our visit.

The Napi Friendship Center primarily serves the Aboriginal community in the area and helps members of that community improve their lives through the various programs that they coordinate. We were there to install the KA Lite software (which is a light-weight offline version of the educational videos offered by the Khan Academy) and to train people at the center on how to use it.

As it was our first volunteer assignment our learning curve was a little steeper than it will probably be when we visit other communities in the future. Thus is took us about 2-1/2 days to successfully complete all of our objectives. The great news is that we learned quite a lot about the installation process and also developed some scripts and supporting documentation that we will be able to reuse in visits to other communities.

We also learned a lot about the local community. For example, while closest First Nation Reserve is the domain of the Blackfoot People, the Napi Friendship Center is very inclusive in its mission and so it also supports other Aboriginals.

The Pincher Creek area is home to a large number of wind farms, thanks to its consistent strong winds

The Pincher Creek area is home to a large number of wind farms, thanks to its consistent strong winds

We also were able to visit the Heads-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Unesco Heritage site. While the place does have a strange name, it is the site where Native people hunted buffalo for 6000 years (SIX THOUSAND years!). The really fascinating part is how they hunted the buffalo. In preparation for surviving through long winter months, they would trick large herds of buffalo into stampeding off a large cliff to their deaths. To do this provided lots of preparation and several groups would work together to improve their chances of success and survival. Of course when the numbers of buffalo were diminished by 1879 (due to various other factors), they could no longer sustain this way of life.

This morning we learned some things about the geologic history of the area. We went to the Frank Slide InterpretativeCenter to learn about a massive rock slide that happened on Turtle Mountain in 1903, killing 90 people and destroying most of the buildings in the town of Frank in the process. You really have to see what still remains of the mountain as well as the towering piles of rock and debris that cover the landscape to get a decent perspective on the scale of this slide. We found it to be mind-blowing.

This is the mountain that gave way in 1903. The debris pile traveled two miles across the valley.

This is the mountain that gave way in 1903. The debris pile traveled two miles across the valley.

The road and rail lines leading through the debris give perspective on the scale of the disaster.

The road and rail lines leading through the debris give perspective on the scale of the disaster.

Our work in Pincher Creek complete, we are planning to take the Kananaskis Highway north to Banff. Highway is a bit of a mis-nomer, as it’s actually a dirt road – it’s supposed to be quite scenic and has been recommended by several people.

 

Karen said that they have plenty of water - so Q got to play with the hose to his heart's content.

Karen said that they have plenty of water – so Q got to play with the hose to his heart’s content.

Karen's house also has a bell out front - the perfect train simulator

Karen’s house also has a bell out front – the perfect train simulator

The Elk River in Fernie, British Columbia

The Elk River in Fernie, British Columbia

Sparks Tracker

Thanks to the magic of GPS, you can now see where we are in near real time!

The Sparks Tracker

The Sparks Tracker

One of Jen’s co-workers generously loaned us his SPOT GPS beacon. It’s intended for backcountry travellers to use as an emergency notificaiton system. It also has the ability to send an “OK” message, which includes the user’s location. We’ve been pushing the OK button every day, usually when we pull in at a camp site.

The SPOT website has the ability to create “adventure pages” and embed them, but it doesn’t seem well suited to long term adventures – if you want to keep a trail of locations that spans more than 30 days, you have to periodically save the points off by hand.

Fortunately, SPOT does provide a handy API. Using a simple PHP script that transfers data from SPOT to Cartodb provides an easy and automated way to keep track of our location. Check out the Sparks Tracker page on our site!

Northern Idaho

We stopped on the way out of Missoula for groceries and a new pair of sneakers for Quinn, whose feet never seem to stop growing. We also stopped at Lowes looking for some way to stop our drawers from popping open on rough roads.

There are fires burning just off of I90 west of Missoula, and we drove past an active fire area complete with helicopters dangling water buckets.

Fighting the fire

Fighting the fire

After a night in a quiet national forest campground we drove to Sandpoint, Idaho. My parents tried to move here when I was young, and I can understand why. It’s an idyllic little town set on lake Pend Oreille. It has what must be Quinn’s favorite beach ever – a train goes by every 20 minutes.

We spent the afternoon on a boat tour of the lake and swimming at the beach, and camped in an RV lot next to the park. Not the greatest of places to camp, especially with the constant rumble of trains, but you can’t beat the location.

One of Quinn's go-to toys for campgrounds

One of Quinn’s go-to toys for campgrounds

An osprey in her nest on a railroad bridge near Sandpoint, Idaho

An osprey in her nest on a railroad bridge near Sandpoint, Idaho

Captain Quinn

Captain Quinn

A beach with trains. What's not to love?

A beach with trains. What’s not to love?

Craters of the Moon and Sawtooth National Forest

We’ve had a relaxing few days sampling some of the offerings of Idaho. We hiked and camped in Craters of the Moon National Park — the landscape is strikingly different from anything that we’d ever seen before. It was easy to see why the Apollo astronauts did some of their moon training here. Quinn got a kick out of the volcano cones and lava rock. There was even one cone that had snow inside it (dubbed the “Snow Cone” — no kidding). He still wants to see molten lava — not sure how we’ll pull that off but perhaps there’s an active volcano in Costa Rica or something that will give us a glimpse at some point.

We also drove north through and camped in Sawtooth National Recreation Area. We didn’t take nearly enough photos of this beautiful area, and we will definitely put this place on our list of future places to explore more later on when we’re ready to settle down again. It was idyllic with steep mountains descending into the lush Salmon river valley and we felt our batteries recharge during our time there.

Now we are in Missoula, Montana, on our way up to Alberta, Canada. It is HOT here and there are wildfires burning just west of town. We spent the morning catching up on email using the free wifi available in the city’s very nice riverfront park.

A kayaker plays on a wave near downtown Missoula

A kayaker plays on a wave near downtown Missoula

Quinn and Jen at Craters of the Moon

Quinn and Jen at Craters of the Moon

Lava frozen in time at Craters of the Moon

Lava frozen in time at Craters of the Moon

Quinn helps Dad find a level parking spot for the van

Quinn helps Dad find a level parking spot for the van

Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

We spent 2 days and nights in Yellowstone NP — the first one at the relaxed Mammoth Hot Springs campground (near the Montana border) and last night we stayed at the crazily crowded Grant Village campground (where we all had luxurious showers!)

After we somehow managed to explain to Quinn that this kind of “park” is not the kind that has playground equipment in it (and I still don’t know why this is — the park has nearly everything else), it took a little while for him to warm up to Yellowstone.

He thought that the terraces were ok, but he liked the mud pots and steam vents much better. Quinn especially liked the idea that there is a super volcano underneath the heart of the park. He honestly would’ve preferred to see actual lava, but he still got a huge kick out of the geysers. Waiting for Old Faithful (to spew its water and steam) tested his patience quite a bit, but it made such an impression on Quinn that later that evening he crafted a bedtime story that featured geysers.

This morning we took in the serenely beautiful setting of Yellowstone Lake — Quinn happily played along the shoreline for quite awhile. Then we headed south for the scenic drive through Grand Teton National Park. Even though it is not the first time that Witt and I have been through here, the amazing vistas of the Tetons never disappoint.

We made a brief stop in Jackson Hole, spending a couple of hours at a park with free public WiFi and a playground – the two ingredients we need to allow Witt and I to pay bills and catch up on email while keeping Quinn entertained at the same time. After stocking up on a few days’ worth of food and a tank of diesel, we went to the Snake River Brewery for dinner and beers.

After dinner we drove over Teton pass and found a campsite just on the other side in Idaho.

We’ve heard good things about the Craters of the Moon National Monument, so the plan is to head there tomorrow.

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More pictures…