Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lake Louise Feb 2010

My desktop computer is acting up and I can't get the Geek Squad out till next month, so I'll try to do this with the laptop.  It will take much patience on my part--something with which I'm not overly gifted.  Here goes:
The ice sculptures were interesting.  All had an olympic theme.  I can't seem to download them to this blog, so I'll try to put a bunch on Facebook.  Now let's see what I CAN download.   Before you start out, you have to take pictures.  This is me getting ready to walk.
Here are the sisters
Gretchen ready to head off for her day of excitement

I had my own path to follow
I didn't take the Lake Agnes hike, but here's a picture of the teahouse Monica and I tried to visit in July

Now, back to my walk on the lake

This was my goal


Once you get there, you have to go back.  the road back


I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a little graffiti

While I was doing this, Gretchen was off an a cross country ski towards Moraine Lake.  She pushed herself, as she does, but had a grand time.  We had a lovely dinner at the Fairview Dining Room Saturday night.
Sunday was our dog sled adventure.  Gretchen went for a walk on the lake in the morning while I rested.  I knew I would need to husband my energy for the afternoon.  Here I am getting dressed and ready to go:

It would have taken most people ten or fifteen minutes to walk down to the Continental Divide where the dog sledding started.  It took me half an hour.  But we got there.  Here is Gretchen, meeting the dogs

Here's our Musher--same one I had in 08

And we're off!  Well, maybe not that easily--we had to get me into the sled first



Getting me OUT of the sled was even more entertaining than getting me in, but we did it, with lots of help.  I was game for letting them call a cab to take us back up the mountain to the hotel, but Gretchen said she thought we could walk it, so walk it we did.  I failed to tell her about the blisters that were causing my left heel to burn.  We made it.  It took about 40 minutes, but we made it.  When we got past the steepest part, I warned Gretchen, then butst into tears--partly from pain, partly from making it.  God bless Gretchen--she didn't push me, just knew I could do it and kept encouraging me.  I was oh so happy to see the hotel--happier yet to see the inside of our room.
No visit to Lake Louise is complete without a visit with my friend Taffline--and now her son Logan.  Logan is 13 months old and adorable.

It wasn't a long enough visit, but Logan was VER busy and had places to go, people to see

Bye, Logan.
Monday was pack up and go time.  By then, both of us had colds.  Mine crept in on Wednesday and kept me company the whole trip.  It didn't catch Gretchen until Sunday.  Thank goodness for Tylonol Cold.  Our driver picked us up at 2ish.  Like trips to Yosemite, leaving Lake Louise is the hardest part.  I hold on to the thought that I can always go back.  The drive back to the airport was fun and uneventful.  things got way too eventful once we got to the airport.  Our flight ws delayed.  A lot.  We were supposed to leave at 6:22--we left after 9.  Not that bad for me, but it meant that Gretchen would miss her connection to Santa Barbara.  Could she spend the night with me?  Of course she could.  Now we had the problem of luggage.  I had too much.  Normally on a trip, I have stuff mailed home.  I didn't think about it this trip, more's the pity.  There at the check in counter I had my suitcases open and rearrangedstuff--even let Gretchen take a few things.  Eventually, everything worked out, but it took it's toll on me.  My face was bright red, I was in tears.  The counter attendant said "Are you all right?  Do you want to sit down?"  I said, "I'm fine."  Gretchen said "You're NOT fine."  I said "I'm fine.  All right, I'm not fine, but I just want to get this done."  Everything worked out in the end and we had the suitcases ready to take through customs and my wheelchair was there.  I was still sniveling, but I calmed down.  It took a while to get through customs, but not as long as the counter attendant had warned us.  We certainly had plenty of time.  We got to our gate and settled down for a long wait.  The wait was broken up by a less than satisfactory dinner at Harvey's--probably the bottom of the Fast Food Chain, but we were hungry.
Eventually, the plane got in from Chicago, got loaded, was de-iced (Oh yeah, please do that) and we were in the air.  I did lots of praying.  We got home safely.  My wheelchair was there waiting for me.  This NEVER happens, but our luggage was within the first 10 peices that came off the plane.  Glenn picked us up, bless him and got us home--well, to my home.  Elaine had been at the house earlier and changed Glenn's sheets for Gretchen.  Glenn is such a prince.  He just goes with the flow.  We got some sleep--up at 6:30 so that I could get Gretchen to the airport for the last leg of her trip.  That was the most satisfactory part of her flying experience.  The plane was ready to leave about 10 minutes early and landed early.  Jim was at the airport to greet her--and she went to work in the afternoon--after she unpacked.  I've got one suitcase unpacked.
The big excitement today was a trip downtown to get my hair cut.  Woo hoo!
Please excuse spelling and typing errors.  I'm now too tired to proof read.  I still have to figure out how to get all the pictures on Facebook.
xxooxx

1 comment:

Bertamom said...

It's so pretty! I love your pics! So sorry your trip home was so eventful - not a pleasant ending to your lovely journey, but at least you're home safe. I'll have to come over and see your new yarn & patterns!