Ouff

Now there's one l'il tuckered out Stampeder. Good for you to last so long, little buddy.

Ouch

Maybe I spoke too soon? Too much fun. Too much sun. Too many.......

Oh My Achin' Ids

Finally, some of that good natural creen for my ids. And my ids take a beating. Especially those hard to reach ones.......

They're Baaaack.....

Hey, it's the same crackerjack road crew from this winter, putting up more informative directional signs.

Even though there is a dire labour shortage, the city seems to have no trouble getting the sharpest knives in the drawer to work for them.

Butt Kickers

Although it's almost impossible to see from this photo (which is what the cops like) this is a snap of the river fuzz launching their No Fun Boat. Cleverly hidden behind the shrubbery.

And they're out t' get ya. $500 fine for no life jacket. And I shudder to think what would happen if you were foolish enough to be found with adult beverages.

Boy, if we hadn't lost most of ours the other weekend, who knows how lighter in the pocket book I would be now. Actually, we didn't see one party pooper boat the entire time of our cruise. They started the crack down the following week.

Watch Out Little Dudes!

Hmmm....no life jackets and lots of adult beverages. And heading right for the den of the ogre.

Hope you've for your $500 ready.

How Civilized

I was walking along the Bow River Trail when I came to a fork in the path. Which way to go...which way to go....?



What's this? No bladers or bikers allowed along the path down by the river. Coolio! Excellent idea. Keep those crazed felons away from me.
Far away.

What The.....?

No me allowed? On the other path? Okay, so they just ruined a great idea.

I might just take my socks and sandals and go home.

Howdy Pardner

If you ever see me dressed this like, buy a gun, come to Calgary and shoot me.

Actually I take that back. I just checked, and I...ahem....have that same outfit.

That likely comes as no news flash to those that know me.........

Spare No Expense

This sign was actually used at the first Calgary Stampede in 1911.

When it comes to impressing tourists and putting your best foot forward, Calgary always puts two forward.

Floatin' and a Boatin'

Finally got around to doing a rafting adventure on the Bow River. Absolutely beautiful day. Three brave adventurers set out on a three hour tour (three and a half, as it turned out).

Didn't really know what to expect. But it can get crazy. Two guys drowned on the river just the week before. Ha ha, we got three. One is bound to make it back to tell the tale.

Here we are preparing our craft. Time for an equipment review. Let's see.......Beer? Check. Let's go!!

Big Daddy

Out on the river. Beautiful. With a little cooler of sunshine floating along behind. A necessary evil on a 90^O day.

We also had a few other little friends floating along for the ride. The ducklings were within feet of the raft for about ten minutes. Must have mistook us for someone they knew. Unless they were just as thirsty as we were.

Rafta Disasta

Oh no......say it ain't so, Joe.

Title inspired by Jimmy Buffett's "Mistaka in Jamaica". Although this was much worse.

They're Not Here

Hmmm.......how far could those little varmints get? Those sweet little cans of instant fun. Oh well, time to cool off anyway.

Ahhhhh.......

Oh well, we were still able to ekk out a little fun. 90^O outside, balanced by what I am sure was 50^O water temp made for some good plunk and dunk. And some good views.

Alternative title, inspired by an Ottawa Valley friend, Jim Hunter, could be called "Taking the Parkway".

[Ed. Note: Points again for spotting mia casa. Come on, it's got to be easy by now.....]

All's Well

Happy rafters enjoying the spoils of the hunt.


And still enjoying, as the sun sets into the West.........

No Brainer

Who wouldn't want a beautiful print, or several, of an engineer?

Names? Well....uhhhh.....I know my mother would.

Who Shot The Sheriff?

Ouff....too much Stampeding. I know what that feels like.

She's laughing now - wait til they get home.......

Guess They Didn't Get It Right The First Time

And for awhile I was hoping against hope that my little Urban Cottage might survive.

All You Can Eat Take Out?

Great! ........I'll take it all.

Good Words

The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth!!

aka The Calgary Stampede. And the kick-off is the Stampede Parade. Which I can see from my balcony (along with 400,000 other people).

The Canadian Snowbirds let off the parade - I almost thought they were going to clip the top of our building.


So I had some folks over for a Stampede Breakfast. Which amounted to a few scrambled eggs and lots of Mimosas - wine, OJ and Club Soda.

Ahhhh.......very refreshing at 9am! Made the parade go by very quickly. So you can't blame the crummy photos on the camera this time.


Lots of different floats. And bands. And cowboys. And tanks .....and....and.....


And lots and lots of horses. And lots of the things horses leave behind. They even had fleets of pooper scoopers dressed up like horses. Which you can almost make out below.

So a beautiful day all around. And now the real fun of Stampede starts. That is if you're an alcoholic.

Yee-Ha, l'il buddies!!

Beautiful - Hope It Lasts

A beautiful, old, sandstone school building. Right in the heart of downtown. If you look closely (that's if you had a good photo) there are signs over the entrances at either end of the building. One says "BOYS" and the other says "GIRLS". How quaint.

So......wonder how long before it gets knocked down for condos?

Neat

A cool little bar in a funky part of town called Kensington. Sort of like Calgary's version of Toronto's Queen Street West.

This is called the Kensington Pub. I took shots of the outside because I've never been inside. Or at least been able to stay inside. Not because I don't want to, but I've never found an empty seat. Probably the sign of a good pub.

I Seeeeeee Youuuuu

Cheeky fellows, those police. Hiding in the shrubbery for unsuspecting rafting imbibers.

Actually, they had just finished hauling out a few young fellows who had, in their opinion, enjoyed the rafting a bit too much. Much waving of hands by the young fellows, all to no avail. Trudge, trudge, trudge, up the hill.......

Plus it's a $500 fine if you are not wearing your seat belt, I mean life jacket. Don't know how often they write these, but could certainly put a dent in a fellow's Kokanee Gold budget.

What a Difference Half a Day Makes

As they say in a lot of cities, but they really mean it here, if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes.

Spooky looking sky for a while, followed by.......


......beautiful. This a shot from one of the many bridges spanning the Bow River, as it drifts lazily through Calgary.

Later this day, it looked as though someone had thrown lots of coloured jelly beans in the water, there were so many rafts and inner tubes and tiny bikinis floating down the river.

Bonus points if you can pick out mia casa in this shot. [Ed. Note: Come on, it's been identified before.]