I Love Having a Summer Birthday

We've been back home for exactly a week. Yet, I find myself thinking of our next trip ...

Jay and I have been giving ourselves the gift of travel experiences for our birthdays for a number of years now.  We usually go somewhere for a week or so, occasionally quite far off.  For example, although Jay's next birthday isn't until September, we've had transatlantic flight reservations and an MSC cruise planned for months and months.  On the other hand, my special day is coming up in less than three weeks.  We are still not exactly sure where we'll be going. 

 

I have been holding off to see what I could find for deals on Expedia since the beginning of the year.  In the back of my mind, though, I haven't been worried about our lack of any concrete itinerary.  

We have driven over the Rocky Mountains a couple of times.  The most recent time was years ago though.  I'm pretty sure we'll head there on a road trip again.  Those peaks are the border between British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

There are only a few major, must-see goals on my unplanned itinerary.  I want to drive along The Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper,  I'd also like to go a bit south and see the World Heritage Site of Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump.  Lastly, it has also been a very long time since we last visited Calgary, Alberta.  The city is less than 1000 km (620 miles) from here. 

My birthday is an excellent time of year for a road trip.  I got my EV during the very first summer of the pandemic and it has never been farther away that the BC Okanagan.  It must be raring for a road trip too!

Happy Birthday, Again!

Today's a big birthday party here. Canadians are feeling a tad more patriotic than usual. It's most likely due to incessant blathering and the ongoing dysfunctional circus to the south.

This is the 158th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Jay and I have lived in Vancouver for 29 of those years, arriving only days before our first. In 1996, we were rather unaware of the festivities that we'd come to love.

I started off the day by snapping the photo to the right  This is one of two small flags in a huge plant pot at the edge of our balcony.  The Fraser River and blue sky are out of focus in the background.  What I like is that the plant pot is full a type of tropical grass used in south and southeast Asian cooking and added to other products.  To me, the lemongrass sort of showcases the welcoming nature of this country.  Canada is proud of its diversity and considers it a great strength.  Canada also looks back at an imperfect past and towards a brighter future in an inclusive spirit.

For as long as I can remember, Jay and I have always tried to go to the Vancouver Waterfront on Canada Day.  There are, of course, a multitude of way folks can celebrate the day.  We love the crowds of people of all ages.

Our recent month away was physically demanding and we weren't really keen to do a lot today.  So we pretty much spent our time near the Convention Centre for a few hours in absolutely stunning weather.  We were definitely not alone.

Out Front

Our condo complex consists of two towers and a one-story middle section with our swimming pool and hot tub.  Each tower has a small circular driveway.  However, between the pool area and Carnarvon Street, there's a small, private garden space.  It has two park-type benches that are little used.  

Today, after taking a bit of time in the hot tub, I walked outside and took a photo of the hydrangeas and another of our three-pillar, water fountain.  It would be a nice space to read a book, sit with a laptop, or simply enjoy the rather pleasant surroundings. I must add that task to my to-do list. 

Oh, and I shot a 26-second video clip, so you can hear the sound of the water too!

 

Two Parks and Blue Sky

I switched to having iced coffee this afternoon. It is that type of day.  

 

In Canada, we're in the middle of an extra-long, long weekend. Canada Day isn't until Tuesday, so I get the feeling a lot of people started on Friday and are taking off Monday too.

   

I don't have a problem relating to that.  I haven't put in a full day's work since October of 2014. I'm having an especially-extra-long, long weekend for like ... forever!  You'll find no apologizes given here.

Jay and I still have a little jet lag from our recent month away.  We find ourselves waking up far too early in the mornings.  Our schedule was a tad better as we slept all the way until 5:45 today!  That meant around 9:30 am we were thinking of how to spend a little time in the fantastic weather we would later enjoy.

We ended up just taking a short drive to visit several New Westminster parks. First, we looked at the Brunette River from Hume Park. It forms part of the city's border with Coquitlam.  As it's not on a path for our usual errands, we seldom stop.  Interestingly, we saw that the city has set aside some of the former grassy front area for reforesting.  There should be some more focus on access to the river.  Only one small path lined with scratchy blackberries brambles led to it.

We drove home via Cariboo Drive, by the new Aquatic Center, and stopped at Queen's Park just up the hill from us.  It's been the city's premier park since 1859.  Lots of people got the same idea.  I could hardly find a place to park Kimchi, my little Hyundai EV.

I thought I'd found a small niche until I got out and saw the 'No Parking' sign on a 3-meter high pole, half hidden in the branches.  We drove to another area and a proper space.  It may have been free because of the sign indicating that 'fly balls' may land there and therefore the city assumes no responsibilities.  However, no softball game was on near the field.

We did notice the wee Salmonbellies tots playing Lacrosse in the arena. 

Summer is the best time of year to enjoy living in this part of British Columbia in Canada.  And we do.

The City of Surrey, BC

Surrey, BC is just across the Fraser River from our little city.  Surrey has the largest land area of the Metro Vancouver area, at 316 sq km.  It is also the fastest growing and its population is estimated to be larger than Vancouver's sometime this decade, perhaps in the next couple of years.

We hopped on a SkyTrain that runs at the base of our building and got off at the Surrey Central SkyTrain Station.  

In the civic square near Surrey's City Hall, Surrey Pride was going on. We spent a bit of time watching the musical groups and a few drag performers. It had both a pleasant atmosphere and great weather.  This morning had been overcast earlier but the sun came out around noon.

Beep ... Fire, Fire!

Over the last ten years, smoke alarms have learned how to talk, I guess. 

After we got home from our travels on Wednesday evening, we heard our smoke detector chirp a few times. Our apartment has wired junction box in the ceiling between the hall and the bedroom. So, it usually only makes a fuss for a few minutes after we shut off the power to our unit for the winter. However, we had left everything powered on during our recent trip.

   

I mentioned it to our building manager as we were coming back from the hot tub that night. He said that it may be 10 years old, and handed me a box with a new Kidde. We didn't hear it again. It didn't make a peep yesterday. I was about give the box back but heard the sound again morning. Okay, it really is time for a replacement. I took down the old one and the date printed inside showed it would reach its end of life in May 2025. "Cool it did," I thought aloud. 

The new one startled me after I plugged it in. During testing, it beeped and then shouted. "Fire, Fire!"  The beep is ear-piercing but I guess it is better to have voice confirmation too. There are so many damned things that can beep now.  If half asleep in the middle of the night, I might just wonder what was making a ruckus. 

Oh, incidentally, as I'm in Canada, my smoke alarm has an option to alert me in English or French.

Travel in Four New Countries

There'll be no more 'day plus number' at the start of journal entries for a while.  I usually do this only when we're away for winters or on longer trips.

Now, we're back from our month that started in Venice, Italy on May 25th.  Jay and I travelled by train and bus through parts of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria. We flew back from Bucharest, Romania just yesterday. 

During our recent trip through southeastern Europe, four of the six countries were new for me. So, now have added their representative photos to my album. Here are the four new images in the order in which we stayed.

  Slovenia

  Serbia

  Bulgaria

  Romania

I keep an online album containing all the countries and territories, I've visited during my life. The contents go back to 1981 when graduated from college and went to work as a teacher in Kuwait. 

These new photos have increased the number of images in my collection to 97.  See the whole album here.

One of Those Really L - O - N - G Days!

Day 31