Carrick to Calgary

Well, our big plans to head to Canmore yesterday didn't go quite as planned... Firstly, we went out to the Bon Ton Meat Market early to pick up our Thanksgiving turkey and then stopped in at the Lazy Kettle bakery in Bowness to look for pumpkin pie (no luck). When we got back we found the turkey didn't fit in the fridge so we had to do some major turkey surgery, taking the back, gizzard, legs and wings off, and boning out the legs. We froze the legs and wings and will be doing just the breast on Monday, along with some sweet potato mash. The rest of the bones etc. went in the soup pot to make stock. Then of course we had breakfast (well, brunch really) and did some webcamming and before we knew it, it was pushing 2 o'clock. Also, the weather was looking pretty poor, grey skies and no sun with a temperature sitting about 9-10 oC. Determined to a fault, we headed off for Canmore anyway, but 10 minutes west of Calgary we drove into a torrential downpour which showed no signs of stopping soon. By then we could see the mountains and they seemed to be covered in grey clouds too. So we bottled out, turned left on Highway 22 and went to Bragg Creek instead. We had a look around the various art galleries, bought a home-made pumpkin pie from 'Delicious Pies' and stopped in to Paula's favourite wicker-work shop, where a wee man works in a shack making wicker christmas trees etc.


Bragg Creek


Wet P


Blair Witch J


Bragg Creek Shack

It was really wet on the way home, but when we got back to Tuscany we noticed the clouds were clearing on the Rockies to reveal new snow on the upper slopes.


The Road Home


Wet windscreen


Clouds on the Rockies


New snow

In the end, we stopped in at Crowfoot and went to the local ice-cream shop, Arctic Sensations which serves up 'ultra-premium ice cream' with extra bits (cookies, sweets, fruit, jelly beans, etc.) smashed into it! Yum! We also popped into Lammle's Western Wear and Tack (see later) and Visions TV shop where we picked up a small TV and DVD player for the upstairs. When we got home we got stuck into re-arranging the upstairs living room ('the bonus room). We've ended up making it look a bit more lived it, and when it gets cold in the winter months we're planning on retreating upstairs to sit beside the fire and watch TV / read books etc.


TV in the corner


Sofa on the opposite side

So today, the weather is much better - bright blue skies, strong autumn sunshine, bit still cold in the shade (7oC). We're making a lazy morning of it before going to Richard & Emma's for dinner tonight. Over the next day or two, I'll also be starting the search for our 4x4 purchase by looking at all the online car showrooms in Calgary. We're thinking of a used Ford Explorer or else a Jeep Cherokee... Watch this space...

J