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Bow River & Frozen Rapids

The Bow River begins in the Rocky Mountains flowing through hills, prairies, and eventually running through Calgary, a city in the Canadian Province of Alberta. The river is an important source of water, providing drinking and irrigation. It’s water source is from the Bow Glacier. Continue reading →

Grotto Canyon Ice Walk

Grotto Canyon is located about 10-15 minutes from Canmore. We booked the Grotto Canyon Ice Walk with Discover Banff and to our delight, we had Anik as our guide again. The views are amazing while you walk on a frozen creek. You’ll be given cleats or spikes to walk. One of the coolest things about this walk is getting to see Hopi pictographs up-close. Continue reading →

Snowshoeing Painted Pots in Kootenay National Park

This was our fourth trip to Canada in two years. We visited British Columbia twice, Montreal, and now Banff. Little did we realize, our tour we booked with Discover Banff would take us back to BC to snowshoe. So technically, we’ve been to BC three times in two years. The day before we had fresh snow to our delight. Kootenay National Park is located in southeastern British Columbia. It is one of seven parks that form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. Continue reading →

Walter Cushing

Major Walter Cushing fought with the Filipino-American guerrillas in WWII. I was introduced to him while reading, The Intrepid Guerillas of North Luzon. He kept evading the Japanese by pretending to be a Spanish priest. He was mestizo; half Mexican and half Canadian and could pass for Filipino. His battles against the Japanese were fairly successful but the day came when the Ganaps (pro-Japanese Filipinos) turned him in and gave away his whereabouts. Continue reading →

Cabrillo National Monument

Cabrillo National Monument sits at the tip of Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. The views of San Diego Harbor, skyline, Naval Air Station North Island, and Coronado are amazing. In 1932 it became as California Historical Landmark and on October 15, 1966 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Continue reading →

Dark Harbor 2018

Besides visiting my cousins and Aunt, this was a huge perk of going to California, Dark Harbor. It did not disappoint. If you are a fan of haunted mazes and all the Halloween stuff like we are, The Queen Mary delivered! We weren’t sure what to expect and Vic stopped me from watching videos on youtube so they’d be a surprise. Was I scared? No. Was Vic scared? No. We are probably the 2 worse people to ask if it’s scary because we enjoy things like this and are big horror fans. Halloween night at the Queen Mary is fun. Continue reading →

Aquarium of the Pacific

California Aquariums are pretty cool. We haven’t been to that many but we love the Monterey Bay Aquarium and California Academy of Sciences out of the few we’ve seen. When my cousin said that the Aquarium of the Pacific reminds her of the one in Monterey, it went immediately to our must-see list. Vic’s a fish by nature and if we had aquariums like this close to home, he’d volunteer in the shark tank to feed the fish and give demonstrations. Continue reading →

A Death & A Trip to Long Beach

My Dad died this summer and I haven’t really felt up for much so I thought I’d take a break from my Banff, Canada posts and start here. I’ve been feeling better since my trip to California to visit my Aunt and cousins. In fact, my cousin, her kid, and my Aunt spent time with my Dad in NY about a month before he passed. They felt bad for not going to the funeral but we felt it was better to end on the note of their trip. The wake and funeral were very small. Only 2 other relatives live in NYC except my immediate family. Continue reading →

Castle Mountain and Bow River

Eons ago…the universe was born.

Sometimes by starlight when the quiet sets in you feel as if you’ve descended into a little bit of heaven. Continue reading →