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Canada Day is celebrated on July 1st. It was formerly known as Dominion Day, but the name was changed to make the celebration more palatable to those who objected to that terminology.
The Powell celebration included a bit of a farmer's market and some entertainment at the agricultural society grounds during the day and fireworks at Willingdon Beach in the evening. Juanita and I walked from my Mom's up to the ag society grounds at the entrance to Paradise Valley.
On the way there we walked along the power line right-of-way for a bit. That brought back not so fond memories of the P.E. teacher encouraging my tubby young body and that of my more fit peers along that route on cross country runs in high school. No signs of the rotting dead dog we had to leap over, but not much else had changed. The school we ran from and to on these runs has since been closed. A friend claims it was because subsequent generations objected to it having been built on a garbage dump. Other than the odd bone working it's way to the surface of the soccer field we didn't see anything wrong with its location at the time.
We walked around the event a bit, bought a couple of polished rocks for the grandkids and chatted with a former classmate or two. Brother-in-law Joe was playing piano in the band and after taking his picture we walked back home along the edge of the highway.
On other days, in addition to the visits with my mom we got to together with nieces and their families for a family barbeque at my sister's place.
I managed to visit with a couple of former co-workers from the instrument shop and we spent a fair bit of time doing things with the best man from our wedding. He has moved back to PR after his retirement so we generally get a bit more time with him on our trips to the coast than when he lived in Vancouver.
Lund is a town on the water at the end of Highway 101. We spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around there.
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In the past we have often taken an early ferry from Powell River and done an early lunch in Vancouver (usually Dim Sum) and carried on to Kamloops or beyond before calling it a day. We have stopped in Clearwater several times over the years. This year when I went on line to check out motels, sticker shock set in. The price charged for a mediocre motel in Clearwater, B.C. in July rivals a really nice hotel in a major city. Time for Plan B.
We booked a reward hotel in Vancouver and another in Calgary. This meant that we could do some shopping and Dim Sum and some visiting with family and friends in Vancouver and get a good night's sleep. The next day we were on the road before 6 am and arrived in Calgary at a reasonable time.
We hit Revelstoke about time for an early lunch at Denny's and a tour of the Nickelodeon Museum which is described below. Gadget lovers - don't pass it up. Long suffering spouses of gadget lovers - bring a book and wait in the shade on a park bench.
One of the reasons we had come to the coast by way of Banff instead of Jasper this year was to see the bridge over the Kicking Horse Canyon. On the way west Juanita drove that section of the road so I could take pictures. Well, traveling from East to West all you see is road surface. "Move along. Nothing to see here."
Coming back I was driving and not prepared to take pictures of the spectacular structure. You can see other people's pictures here & here . Quite a change from the winding, gravel, construction road I rode with my Dad in the early 1960's.
After checking into our hotel in Calgary we walked next door to another Denny's. The next morning we headed north to Fort Saskatchewan to spend the evening and night with Becky and Nick before heading home to Meadow Lake. We picked up some building supplies in Lloydminster on our way back to Meadow Lake. Enough of this R&R stuff!
Time to get back to work.
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On our way to the coast we stopped in Revelstoke and walked around the town. One of the things I had wanted to see was the Nickelodeon Museum. I had first heard of it when we were looking for a home for the family piano - a turn-of-the-century piece that had an extra pedal which lowered leather strips between the hammers and strings to give it a "tin piano" sound. Somebody else in the family decided to give it a home, but I was still intrigued by the museum. Unfortunately the museum is not open on Mondays and that was when when we were in Revelstoke. We had left it on the list for a future possibility, but had not expected that to happen on the return leg of our trip.
After checking out summer motel rates for Clearwater - comparable to three star city hotels - we booked a Radisson hotel in Calgary using points and changed our route home to include Revelstoke. The museum could be a go!
Juanita wisely decided to sit in the truck and read. Good choice! It would have bored her socks off. I, however, was entranced. I highly recommend the tour to anybody with a fascination for mechanical marvels and the wonderful things that can be wrought by twisted minds with a mechanical aptitude. There were mechanical organs, pianos, violins and even orchestras as well as a collection of various vintage juke boxes. Enthralling! I had the tour guide to myself and he went at my pace, playing the items in the collection for me and allowing me to stare into and study the internal mechanisms and the programming media (wooden blocks, paper tapes, steel discs, etc.).
Check out an on-line video tour of Nickelodeon Museum made by another tourist. Read the brochure.
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The time back home was spent working on the property and the shop/studio after we unpacked and settled in. We had time to watch the presentation of the week of gymnastic camp Sonja and Sasha attended.
We also had time to fight back some of the weeds that were trying to take over the driveway and parking area.
The deck and porch received some steps and the porch roof trim was installed. The half length of a Thune press basket that served as a fire pit on our old property was finally leveled in it's new home.
Nothing says home like a stainless steel fire pit!
That was July. Or what I remember of it finishing this page off from Texas in December. I have often said that memory is the second thing that goes. Some nod knowingly and look like they are thinking "nudge-nudge, wink-wink". Others ask "Well. What is the first?" I sure wish I could remember. I'll call you if I do. It's just about there.
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