We made it. We’re home. The truck is muddy and gross from driving through slush and storms. There will be time enough to wash it tomorrow.

There was an incident at the puppy sitters (Hypnos was bad! Sorry Wendy) so we didn’t take the time to stop in town and pick up gifts and sweaters this morning before heading home. A thank you dinner will have to suffice this time ’round. I’m thinking wings and beer at Brewsters just might begin to make up for it. If not, Wendy and Drew can compare scars…

Today is election day in Alberta. Drew and I voted at an advanced poll last week. We weren’t sure if we’d make it home in time to cast a vote today but didn’t want to miss out on the excitement of scribbling an X on a thick piece of paper. Oddly enough, I was registered to vote in our riding but Drew wasn’t. He had to be sworn in at the advanced poll in order to vote. Since both of our names are on the city taxes, mortgage and utilities bills, we’re not sure why he was missed from the voting roster.

Hiding out in the wilderness sometimes means you miss important news. Arriving home today I caught mention in the news that Jeff Healey has passed away. I remember seeing Jeff play live well over a decade ago and being in complete awe of his talent and joy for music. His skills will be missed.

Checking in with my class schedule has reminded me that – once again – I have but a few days to work on my latest History paper. Why is it that weeks just seem to fly by in that class? At least it’s not due until Tuesday of next week so I may actually get it finished early this time… At least I have another 2-3 weeks to get the next Psych paper in. For once they’re not both due on the same day!

We work up crazy early in the morning (6:15 am is too early when you’re on vacation) to take and early trip into town and have sandwiches made before catching the train. We were warned by the concierge when we booked the trip on Saturday that we wouldn’t have access to food on the trip and to bring our own. By the time we were done running around town and getting out to the train we’d forgotten to have breakfast. Good thing we couldn’t resist the urge to pick up a few scones when we ordered sandwiches.

Once we returned to the Jasper Park Lodge we took a few minutes to snap some photos of the views from the lodge.

We weren’t the only ones who were hungry. We passed a number of snacking elk on our drive into town.

The Via Skeena train travels through the Rocky Mountains and into BC. Our trip was approximately 2.5 hours on the train – from Jasper to Harvey (sp?) and then we were met by a tour guide who drove us back to Jasper via one of the park highways. Few people joined the train in Jasper so we were able to spend the entire trip in the observation deck.

The ride was well worth it. We got some amazing shots of Mt. Robson – the highest peak in the Canadian portion of the Rocky Mountains.

A few miles down the track we traveled by an ice wall.

We shared the drive back with a young couple and two small children. Babies being babies, he cried a bit during the drive. Mom’s being mom’s, his mom made more noise trying to shush the baby than it was making while crying.

I passed out napped for an hour after arriving back at the hotel. Most of the restaurants close early on Sunday in the Winter so my sleeping interfered with Drew’s opportunity to eat at some of the restaurants in town. After waking me up he settled on pub fare at the Whistle Stop. As soon as we walked in the door we were greeted by Bruce, one of the pipeliners we met on Saturday, and dragged over to his table to meet some Aussie tourists.

Throughout most of our trip elk and squirrels were abundant. The big horned sheep we’re used to seeing in the summer didn’t make an appearance, but on Sunday evening we were lucky enough to get a shot of a coyote running across the lake.

Due to a pressing need to rush home today we didn’t take the Maligne Canyon tour today. Perhaps we’ll do it on a future visit. The tour is offered year round and I figure I’m less likely to fall and hurt myself if I take it during the summer instead of winter. Dog sledding is still on a future “to do” list. Now that we know it’s offered and have a general idea of the time required and the cost we can start saving our pennies and plan to take the trip at a later date.

Yesterday we drove into town and wandered through the shops. I found a nice sweater on sale and am considering picking it up tomorrow before we head home. We stopped in at the Bear’s Paw for coffee and scones and scoped out their sandwhiches. Later we drove through the mountains and up to Pyramid lake for a short stroll.

We took a few pictures but I haven’t downloaded them to my laptop. I’ll do that tonight after returning from our trip and try to post them this evening. We have to walk to the main lodge to access the internet as not all of the cabins (including ours) have access yet.

It struck me on the drive how beautiful Canada is. Not just the mountains – which are amazing – but the roll of the flat prairies, starkness of the tundra, green hills and fall foilage of the maritimes, etc. We tend to forget just how fast and changing the scenery can be throughout the country and just how big Canada is. Sure, other countries may have centuries of history and fancy churches, temples and castles dating back to the dark ages but we have space.

As is typical of any visit to a new town we dropped in on the local legion for a beer. Having surpassed a decade as Legion members, it’s become somewhat of a tradition for us to try and support as many of them as we can. Last night the Legion hall in Jasper was “the place to be”. 150 people packed into the small hall for meat draws, 50/50 draws and a game of chase the queen. The fire marshalls reminded the Legion that their occupancy was limited to 150 bodies so they meticulously counted all who entered and exited. The Legion shares their space with the French school and is fundraising for a second story on the building to expand both the school and their hall. Since it was so packed when we arrived, we had to scrounge around to find a place to sit. Lucky for us we seemed to have chosen the best table in town. We shared the space with a number of pipeliners. Engineers. Pipe benders. Flaggers, Labourers. We had a fabulous time getting to know new people. Collette – one of the flaggers who is married to one of the project engineers – took us under her wing. She and her husband own homes in BC and Edmonton. They’ll be back in Edmonton for a short vacation soon so we exchanged phone numbers. We’ll have an opportunity to return their hospitality.

Today we’re heading out on a train ride through the Rocky Mountains. The train stops just before Vailmont in BC and then we hop into a van for a guided tour back on the highway. If we had more time and a bigger budget, I think Drew may have selected the dogsled/train trip. You take a dogsled out to BC and catch the train back into Jasper. It’s a full day trip as opposed to a 5-5.5 hour trip but seemed very interesting. We’re still waffling over whether or not we’ll make it out to Maligne Canyon for a tour tomorrow. It’s a 3 hour hike and with a 4 hour drive back home, we’re not sure if we’ll be up for both. Ok, to be honest I just don’t want to be stumbling through slush and ice only to fall down on my butt! I’m not the most co-ordinated of individuals on the best of days.

Internet access is catch as catch can around here. The main lodge has wireless but they are still in the process of installing it in the cabins. To save time I’ll likely end up writing in the room and then heading into the lodge to post.

Jasper is definitely different at the tail end of winter. I’ve been here a few times in the summer and it was crawling with tourists. With Marmot basin being so close I’d expect to see more businesses open in town. Many of the coffeeshops and restaurants are closed for the season. I guess Jasper is Banff and Whistler’s poor relation. On the other hand it’s really nice to be able to stroll around town and NOT bump into people with every step.

Drew’s cancelled vacation has been “un-callenced”. We received a call from Drew’s work notifying us that he could stay on leave until Wednesday (as per the original plan) approximately 15 minutes after we checked into the hotel and made arrangements to let go of the extra days on our room. Luckily we were able to get the days back and have managed to piece together a vacation similar to the one we’d had planned.

Since this whole vacation is a belated Christmas present – booked long before Christmas and delivered via IOU under the tree – for Drew I’ve left most of the decision making about what we’re doing up to him. I did veto the idea of a trip to Marmot basin for skiing since Drew has never been on downhill skiis before. We can try that sometime when he’s not on notice for a tour and can afford to risk breaking a bone (or six).

In the meantime, we’re scoping out the brochures for dog sled rides, the mountain train trip, Maligne Canyon walks, wildlife spotting hikes, snowshoeing (which I’ve never done before, but Drew has many times), Columbia Icefield hikes, etc. Dependign on what Drew chooses the budget may only cover one or two activities. I’ll fill you in on what we decide to do – and how it went – as soon as I find out myself!

As for pictures – we brought a small digital camera with us but Drew didn’t bring his big manual one. Photography could be interesting this weekend if I’m to take pictures. I’m not very skilled. However, I’m sure I’ll find a few suitable for posting.

We got a call this morning that will cut our trip to Jasper short. Drew has to go into work and had some of his leave cancelled. We’re still heading out for the weekend though. I’m not passing up a shot at the Jasper Park Lodge! I don’t know if I’ll have Internet access while we’re away so there’s a good chance there won’t be any blog updates until we return.