The interview turned Rocky Mountain Adventure

I had only completed one shift at the science centre when D got an interview to work as a welder for a company that supplies the oil sand mines up North. It was a fantastic opportunity, only problem was the job was in Airdire - only about 15 mins north of Calgary but 3 hours south of St Albert. He wondered if he should even go to the interview because how would we make it work if he landed the job. We had no car, no house, next to no money and knew no one in that area to help us. After some careful consideration we decided it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up and somehow if he got the job we would just make it work. We decided to drive down for the interview and then back via Banff, Japser and the Icefields parkway so if he didn't get it the trip wasn't for nothing.

D's family lent us their van for the weekend and we set out on a cold but clear Thursday morning as the sun was just peaking above the horizon, it was around 8:30am... Despite visiting the states a couple of times and being in Canada for a few weeks already this was D's first time behind the wheel on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road. It was a pretty tense drive but the roads were fairly quiet and we made it to Airdrie without a hitch. I sat in the car while D went in for the interview and he emerged happy at how it had gone but not wanting to be over confident. We both agreed it was good to get the interview in any case and whatever happened was fine.

D having a go at driving

About 10 mins out of Airdrie we drove past the famous 'Bass Pro' which is a hunting/ fishing/ camping/ outdoor lovers paradise. Despite being many of these throughout the USA there are only 2 in all of Canada - would D be lucky enough to possibly live this close to one of them? As we drove past and the took the exit towards Banff our focus then shifted to the fact we were about to drive into the rocky mountains and we were both filled with so much excitement.

It only took just over an hour to reach the Banff park gates where we paid our fee and drove into the town. Understandably the town is very tourist oriented with hotels and souvenier shops lining the main road that drives through. We drove straight to the world famous Fairmont Banff Springs - it's the massive hotel surrounded by mountains and towering pines seen on most Canadian vacation advertisements. Rooms here start at $500 per night. Needless to say we took some photos and kept on driving! We visited bow falls then drove back to town to check into our hotel - the Banff Aspen Lodge. It was fairly modern and inexpensive with breakfast included and an awesome hot tub outside next to an open fireplace. 

Banff Ave, stunning mountains all around

Me feeding a beautiful mule deer on Banff Ave

D looking for fish at bow falls

Gorgeous sunset over the mountains, goodnight Banff

We weren't able to do or see a lot in Banff not just because of the time restraints or money but because we were visiting in an off season where many of the tourist attractions were closed such as the hot springs and gondola. Oh well we could do those things next time. The next morning we left Banff for Jasper via the Icefields parkway.

When we left it was starting to shower but during the 45 min trip to Lake Louise it began to snow, and it was pretty heavy snow! Not really the conditions we wanted on our first drive in Canada but we had no where to go but forward. Lake Louise was gorgeous but not really what I had expected. It's beautiful but compared to scenery we have seen in other parts of the world I didn't think it was anything that special. The visibility of the glacier behind was non existant due to fog and snow so we wandered into another ritzy hotel on the shore. It was a lovely place but I felt it detracted from the natural beauty of the lake. It didn't feel like we were in a National park.

Canoe rental hut on the shore of Lake Louise - also closed :(

D looking the part of a real local

Lake louise, would love to see it in better weather

The Icefields Parkway is one of the most scenic drives in the world and although it was terrible weather for most of the drive with poor visibility, massive snowfall and icy conditions we did manage to see lots of beautiful scenery and landmarks.

The clearing fog against the mounatins was stunning

I wanted to bottle this water and take it home, just gorgeous

One of the many canyons at Athabasca Falls

D looking cofused about all the rock formations people have left - have investigated an still don't know what this is all about

As we drove into Jasper the weather lifted and we were blessed with gorgeous clear blue skies and warmer weather, it really is like all seasons in one day here. Japser was lovely but a lot smaller than Banff. It looked a lot older as well, like Banffs poor little brother but we loved it. Most of our wildlife viewings were here as well.

We're there!

D got very excited about this - a whitetail deer the first he had seen

We strolled around the main street of Jasper for a while before getting in the car and driving about 10 mins out of town to our hotel on Pyramid Lake - so named because of the mountain that stands behind it. Just lovely and we took a canoe out that afternoon before the sun hid behind the surrounding mountains.

The canoe on the still waters of Pyramid Lake

I'm clearly doing all the work.. wishing I brough gloves cause my hands were frozen

As it turned out it was the best idea to do our canoe outing that afternoon as the next morning we woke to a beautiful winter wonderland. Its amazing the difference from one day to the next here. I wish we could have stayed a week at this place but alas we had to get in the car and drive these icy conditions all the way back to St Albert. I was concerned the roads would be closed but we made it through. There were plenty of cars turned on their roofs on the roadside though!

Tha afternoon we arrived - around 4pm

The morning we left - around 9am

A majestic male elk and his heard of women admirers

This coyote was next to the main road

Bighord sheep out in the elements

I was sorry to be leaving the mounatins, maybe the fact I grew up on a mountain means I will always feel familiar and at home in them. But for now it was back to reality and hoping that D landed a job soon!

I'm officially employed

So only 2 weeks into our Canadian adventure and I have landed a job. I'm so happy and totally didn't expect it to be this easy. As we were driving around the last few weeks I had been noticing signs advertising a new Star Wars exhibition at the Edmonton World of Science and made a mental note to go on their website to check it out. I am a huge Star Wars fan - as is D.

One of the signs that drew me in... the force was with me!

As fate would have it, the exhibition was not open yet but they were in the process of hiring staff to run it, oh hells yeah! So I submitted my resume, went in and blitzed the interview (as I so often do) and received a call the next day offering me a different position to what i'd applied for that was a bit more involved and not actually part of the Star Wars exhibit but paid the same (a measly but above minimum wage of $11.50 per hr!).... hmmm what to do. Screw it, I needed work so I accepted.

The centre

I would be working as a box office assistant where I was responsible for selling tickets and providing assistance to visitors to the centre. A definite step down from the job I left at home but I'm not here to better my career or start a new one.

My first day of work, and my new Steve Madden work shoes - cute!!

The centre is about 30 mins and I have to transfer busses once but I don't care. I am employed in Canada, and in a Star Wars context - GO ME!

O Canada

We arrived in Canada on the 5th October 2012. The Edmonton airport was all but empty for our arrival at 1am and we were the last ones to leave - it was filled with hockey memorabilia which was enough to excite us despite the hour. We held our breaths as the airport officer stamped our working visas, until this time it still didn't feel like it was actually happening. We were greeted on the other side by D's aunt and cousin who kindly agreed to collect us and we walked out into the cold dark night not knowing exactly what we were in for...

The pamphlet given to us when we crossed the border

It took about an hour to get from the airport to the house we would be staying at in St Albert. There was a basement suite that would be ours, there was no bathroom but there was a bed, and my god we needed it. We threw our bags on the floor and didn't wake until lunch time the next day. Our first few days in Canada were spent catching up on sleep, hanging around the house and being driven around town and Edmonton. I was still terribly disorientated!

Main street of St Albert

The last day of markets for the year, before the subzero sets in!

The weather was just beautiful - sunny clear skies and a cool wind that reminded me of the perfect winter days we get back in Australia. It was autumn so all the leaves were turning beautiful colours of red and orange falling softly from the trees. St Albert is a lovely town - much bigger than the small town we are from in Australia but I instantly felt safe and comfortable here.

Just like the movies, even a white picket fence!

The street D's family live on in St Albert

Its raking time!

D showing me how to do it the 'right way'

By luck we arrived over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and the family came over for a turkey dinner. For anyone who knows me well I am pretty picky when it comes to food and generally only eat chicken, it's actually somewhat of an embarrassment at my age turning up my nose to perfectly good food but I was determined to try turkey for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised - I actually liked it! My mind was in competition with my tastebuds though and although I enjoyed it i kept thinking in my head 'I;m eating turkey' and couldn't just relax and enjoy the mean fully. Oh well I did it regardless! We had pumpkin pie for dinner which was also a first for us - this one I did not struggle with... the first of many pumpkin pies I think!
Next thing on the agenda? Get jobs!!

What Happens in Vegas

Las Vegas - it doesn't really need much of an introduction. Yep we were back in sin city and looking forward to a great time on our last stop before Canada. We arrived around midday and got in our shiny black super stretch limo complete with celebratory champagne headed for our hotel, The Flamingo. The drive down the strip was fun and oh so much better than the constant walking up and down we would experience over the next 4 days!

The only limo company we use in Vegas - fantastic service, fantastic price

W,A,C, me and D ready to partay

It was dry, hot and busy, just as it was 2 years before. The Flamingo although dated in certain rooms and areas was fine for what we paid, and our upgraded GO room was a definite novelty with electric powered drapes, a TV in the bathroom mirror and pink accents throughout. One thing that bothered me more than last time was walking through the smokey casino floor whenever we had to leave the hotel (a trait  of most of the strip hotels) and I think next time we visit (which won't be for a long time) we will go for a slightly smaller less crowded hotel without a casino (K&N stayed at the MGM Grand Signature Suites and they were stunning and seemed like more our vibe now that we're old).

The Flamingo GO Room, so funky

D - Money ain't a thang

With us at the Flamingo were W, A&C - we werent able to check in straight away so left our bags and headed for Maccas for a cheap lunch and free wifi. There are plenty of great things about Vegas but one of the things they do backwards is their internet charges at most hotels - it is about $15 per 24 hours and considering we were on a budget we just walked elsewhere to use it for free which did get frustrating. Vegas is such a spectacle, you see all kinds of people from all walks of life - it is alive 24/7 but this in turn makes it exhausting... especially with the guys and girls flicking their nude girl cards in front of you at every corner. When day breaks the cards litter the street. That night we all met up and walked around the strip watching the free strip shows including my favourite The Bellagio Fountains. Just walking from one hotel to the other is tiring because they are so massive! We decided to call it early and headed back for a restful nights sleep.



D & me at Bellagio fountains - love them could stand there all night

The strip

D didn't want to leave the states without shooting a gun that he wouldn't get the chance to shoot at home so despite my reluctance we were off to the Las Vegas Machine Gun Experience. Along for the ride were W,A&C. The boys had shot guns before however C&I were complete novices. My hands were so sweaty just standing int the lobby in front of a wall packed full of pistols, rifles, semi and fully automatic weapons. It was scary for someone who had never really seen 'A' gun in real life to be suddenly surrounded with the things. Despite my love of America this is one thing I believe they have totally backwards here. Their gun laws are archaic and it's no surprise to the amount of murder victims the country unfortunately churns out. I decided to have a go anyway, seeing as they had pink guns and donated proceeds for the use of those to Breast Cancer research. Surprisingly I really enjoyed the challenge of getting shots in the right place on the target and I was pretty good with the rifle... not so much the handgun though. From memory we were there for about 3 hours, and we had a huge load of guns surrounding us, the boys went all out! It was a lot of fun but I got burned on my boob from a hot shell that flicked down into my bra, I had a blister for days and still have a mark there!



Machine Gun Experience

The wall of guns, I found it very scary

D was a pretty good shot with this sucker!

I was asking for constant instruction - perfectionist

Afterwards we met up with K&N and all jumped on The Deuce (the double decker bus that runs up and down the strip 24 hrs a day) toward Freemont St. Freemont is the place where Vegas began, the bigger hotels start to thin out and a bunch of crappy little wedding chapels appear on the way up there (D&I were remarried at one of them on our last visit there). It's old school and much more daggy and shady looking than the glitz and glamour of the 'new' strip. The street is covered by a huge screen that lights up every hour playing a music and video show, it's probably the coolest free show in Vegas apart from the fountains of Bellagio. Another great thing about downtown is the drink prices. $2 shots, 50 cent beers, you can have a huge night on less than $10, and that's exactly what we did! We walked up and down the street (which was MUCH less busy and long) watching the street entertainers - again the spray painter was a favourite and K&N bought us an artwork to hang on our wall in Canada, and went to see the world's largest golden nuggest (from Australia) before settling into a bar throwing back cheap drinks until the wee hours of the morning. I can't remember much of that night but i know I had a fantastic time. I snuck onto the Deuce home without a ticket as in my drunken state I lost it - a big moment for me as I am not a rule breaker in any way and we got back to the hotel around 4am before eating stale maccas and passing out.

The Freemont Street Experience - Queen OH YEYAH

Freemont was full of creepy creatures for Halloween - and i'm not talking about the devil

Me & D enjoying the show

The boys got up early the next day to go and play golf in Henderson about 1/2 hour away. I felt so sorry for them all going off, most definitely with hangovers to play in the hot desert sun after that huge night we just had. I stayed in bed before C phoned me and came up to my room where we both 'slept it off' for most of the day and had a quick visit to the shops in the afternoon. K did the same at her hotel. By the stage they got back from golf we were well and truly all still buggered but the rest of our extended family had arrived in Vegas that day so we really wanted to try and see them all. We all arranged to meet up at dinner at MGM Grand however on arrival it was too expensive (I understand gratuity but NOT for a freakin buffet where you serve yourself and NOT compulsary!) so unfortunately we only got to say hello and missed out on the dinner. We had made late arrangements for a hypnotist show at Planet Hollywood so grabbed a quick dinner and headed back there. My feet were so blistered and sore from all the walking and I still felt so sick from the night before I just wanted to go to bed but the show turned out pretty good and funny so I'm glad we went afterall. We were in bed around 12pm on our last night in the USA.

On our last morning we got up early and checked out. W,A&C came down to see us off in the taxi - the last time we would see them for at least a year. We made our way to the MGM Signature to see K&N before we left but they were on a Grand Canyon tour that morning so we dumped our bags in their room and headed to get some breakfast in the lobby and a quick dip in the pool. As it turned out their return helicopter left them at the canyon so they were running extremely late and missed lunch and riding the rollercoaster at New York New York with us and the extended family. It was a really fun ride and great to spend a last hour with the crew, I hadn't been on a rollercoaster since our last visit to the states! K&N arrived back and we had about 1/2 hour before we had to leave so we quickly said goodbye and headed for the airport. There were no tears and no fears. Our goal had been realised and we were finally in the moment we had been working towards. No turning back now.

The NYNY Rollercoaster with some of our family members

Welcome to Santa Cruz

My cousin's wedding to a Californian native was the coming weekend in Santa Cruz so we caught a Greyhound bus down which only took about 3-4 hours from San Francisco. I was happy to be leaving the city for a smaller more laid back town and of course to see more of my extended family who had all arrived for the impending nuptuals. The weekend consisted of a hens/bucks night, rehearsal dinner, wedding and post wedding brunch over 4 days so it truly was a whole weekend of events.

We arrived in town around 3pm and none of us had had anything to eat since breakfast so we dropped our bags at the Holiday Inn and headed out looking for some grub. We weren't staying in Santa Cruz but a smaller town called Watsonville where the wedding was also located. It was nice enough but the weather wasn't perticularly good. Meanwhile the time was ticking away and we became worried we would miss the hens/bucks night due to them both being early evening events. Luckily we made it just in time after quickly throwing down dinner and chucking on our clothes for the night. C & I headed to the hens night at a cool little Hawaiian themed restaurant where the food was good and the drinks were better. The boys went off to a pub for the night. The bride's spray tan was booked early so she was whisked away after only an hour so we all headed back to the hotel.

The next day we all rose fairly late and went down for the hotels free breakfast - best free breakfast buffet ever - they had everything you could think of and more. Back in Australia you'd be paying at least $20 per head for it... so stoked. Anyway we didn't have any plans for the day but the rehearsal dinner in the late afternoon so we caught up on some washing, wandered up to the shops for lunch and had a swim in the indoor pool. There was a wheelchair access chair into the pool and we had a pretty good time testing that out, I nearly peed my pants when I sent C in on it!

We all got ready and caught a taxi to the rehearsal dinner together. The driver didn't seem to know the address we were asking for as it was at a private house, so he ended up going the wrong way and had to pull over while I loaded google maps on my phone to show him which way to go. This difficulty with directions was a sign of things to come.... The venue was decorated rustic with sunflowers and yellow tablecloths and there was a freshly made margharita stand and taco cart, so cute and fun - oh and the house it was held at was bloody stunning. Despite the confusion in getting there the rehearsal dinner was really good and it was nice to see all my family yet again - the bride and groom seemed really relaxed and we are always guaranteed a great time with them. As people started to leave we called a taxi and waited out the front for it to arrive. We waited over an hour and a half for it to get there and made 3 calls where they insisted someone was only '10 minutes away' and still no cigar. Most of the guests had left and we were still standing out the front, I was so pissed off. The brides dad kindly offered us a ride back to our hotel when it became clear no one was coming to get us. It was so lovely of him to do that for us but I felt terrible it got to that stage, Watsonville Taxi - zero out of ten!

Directions to the rehearsal dinner - loved the flags!

D, N & A enjoying the free booze

The day of the wedding was cloudy, soggy & cold. When I woke up I hoped so much that it would clear for the ceremony at 4pm but as the day went on it became apparent it wasn't going to change. The property where the wedding was held was supposed to have amazing views of the ocean but the fog was like pea soup so we weren't able to see anything. Again, the event was held at a gorgeous private house located on a hill and was decorated in navy and yellow accents. It was just beautiful. The ceremony was very personal and heartfelt, I did a reading selected by the couple and it was so special to be a part of it all!

My colour coordinated outfit for the wedding -
 the zip on my dress broke just before we had to leave... PANIC! But I fixed it!

The stunning house the wedding was held at - I think we all wanted to move in



D&S - they wrote their own Vows which was lovely

I just loved the decorations, the bride had serious style!

We ate our yummy buffet dinner outside in the elements - it was cold and the fog didn't go away but the sounds of chatting and laughter increased as the night drew closer. On dark the party moved to the garage which was set up with fairy lights and a photo booth and of course the DJ. We danced the night away (partially in fancy dress items taken from the photo booth). Everyone had an amazing time and got very sloshed!

My crazy family who made the trek to the states

The next day we all woke up, most with sore heads and made our way to the Brides parents house for a farewell breakfast. Wouldn't you know it the day was PERFECT and completely opposite to the day before. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky and very warm! The complete opposite of the wedding day! After grabbing some yummy food and a cold drink we decided to take a walk down to the beach through a nearby campground. The beach although nice wasn't as good as the beaches back in Australia... We are truly spoiled there though we did see a pod of dolphins cruising the waves which was amazing!

Directions to the beach - we got lost!

OK - where the hell do we go!?

 After saying our goodbyes and waiting near an hour for another taxi back to the hotel we kind of just lazed about for the rest of the afternoon in anticipation of our direction towards Vegas the next day.