Summer is here

Lethbridge is green

Pretty wife

I'm the King.  You can feed me now

A little older since we last chatted.  Again, we have been busy and have lots to tell you.

The first thing that we should tell you is that we are staying here another year.  We have decided and the clinic has accepted our request to stay with them for another year.  After that?  Will have to see what happens.

I have to say that I'm a bit two minded at the moment.  On the one hand I'm loving our lifestyle, my patients and this wonderful country.  On the other hand I miss all you Safas terribly.

Have also been looking at buying a house.  Prime here is 3 to 4 percent.  Would cost about the same as renting.  Just need to find a property that we will be able to resell if needed.

After my last blog we made our way up to Calgary and then Winnipeg on our live music run.

In Calgary we saw Switchfoot.  The venue was at the university and it was pretty awesome to see an international, grammy award winning act in a venue much the same size our school hall at hilton.

We were right against the fence, right next to a big speaker and right near all the action.

The great thing about our spot was that we had uninterrupted views of a very cool and energetic band.

Down side is that the every time there was a loud wail or note, or in fact any sound, belted out from the speaker system I could feel the pulse through my jiggly bits.  It left us feeling a bit wobbily.

We resorted to chewing our tickets and making improvised earplugs which helped and we had a fantastic concert.  Small and intimate venue with a band that knows how to rock the party that rocks the party.

As a result of the concert Duncan developed some nasty tinnitus in his left ear.  The tinnitus lasted a total of 3 days before resolving.

After Calgary we woke up very early and flew to Winnipeg (Manitoba – check).  

We arrived in Winnipeg a bit tired and a little grumpy.  It was a dark and rainy day and we were all a little jaded.  We decided to catch a bus to save money and I think we were all  starting to doubt our choice of weekend destination.  It didn't help that a 20 something Canadian girl asked us, “what are you guys doing in Winnipeg, nothing happens here?” 

The bus trip was a little interesting and for the first time in Canada I felt a little uneasy.  I'm not sure how to describe it but was sure the granny next to me was packing a Glock and was waiting for a reason to use it.

The rest of the day was much the same.  We chose all the dodgy roads, all the dodgy malls, all the dodgy spots.  

We walked down to The Forks, a really pretty spot and had a fantastic supper so the day did get better but I remember lying in bed thinking, “ Holy crap, what are we going to do for the next 3 days”.

As with most things in life we woke up the next day and Winnipeg did a 180 on us.

Duncan and I decided to rent a car to expand our reach a bit and as we walked there, and as we drove back in our rented car, the sun came out and  Winnipeg started looking amazing.  

The river glistened, children sang and little old ladies retired their Glocks and danced in the puddles.  Too much?  Seriously though, that's what it felt like.

The next few days flew by and were awesome.

We spent time looking at bison, watching birds, going for long walks, had pub food with life music and had a very lekker time.

One of the highlights were the Manitoba legislative buildings.  A mix of roman, egyptian and greek architecture.  It was beautiful and interesting.  The tour guides are all doing holiday jobs and were incredibly helpful and informative.  We lucked out and arrived on an open day so all of the tourist sites were free and open to the public.

Legislative buildings with Mani and Toba.  Get it - Mannitoba.  I didn't - a little embarrassing for me :)

Another free site was a replica fort.  We watched a guy make some tools in a fire and had an axe throwing competition.  Funsies and interesting!  Adele did ok with the axe throwing – I think I've got slightly less than a 50 percent chance should I ever piss her off and should she be wielding a throwing axe.

Life just got more dangerous

Winnipeg turned out to a be a gem and we had a great weekend.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely U2 and The Fray though.  We got there later than we had hoped (An hour before) but still managed to get into the “golden circle” along with other people who'd been waiting for 8 hours – felt a little guilty about that.

The stage, our spot and a very polite Canadian crowd made for a very pleasant concert.  We were wedged between the 2 stages and the revolving bridge passed over us – frikkin awesome.  

I have to say though that some of Bonos dance moves were a bit suspect.  If Bono was not Bono then he probably would have looked like a tool.  He did look like a tool but he's Bono and he pulled it off (Still threw my bra at him (Which reminds me of a story about a poor guy who's mom bought him a shirt with breast support at Hilton – what kind of cruel parent does that to their child at an all boys boarding school?)).

Fray

The edge as he went over us

So Winnipeg was great.  Sorry for the initial bad reviews but we loved it.

Had another adventure with Gavin 2 weekends ago.  Went South of the border to East Glacier National Park.  We needed to go hand in a slip that we get every 6 months to make travel easier to the USA– means that we don't have to get finger printed, probed and questioned every time we cross the boarder (Damn you green passport).

Ate at the most amazing little diner.  Felt like something out of a movie.  Did part of the 'Highway to the Sun' road but could not go the full way because parts of Logan's pass are covered in 30 feet of snow.  See this link - http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm - is pretty cool, you can watch as they clear the road (The red part is still covered in snow).

Glacier national park is much like waterton and is magnificent.  We spent the day on mountain parks, hiked to a waterfall, saw some deer and enjoyed crisp, fresh air.

Along the mountains and roads a lot of snow was melting and there were hundreds of waterfalls.  I'm not sure if I'm doing it justice so here are some pics.

Diner East Glacier

Wowzer

Crisp and clean

Trusted wife and car

Double wowzer

A big part of our lives this last bit was the Stanley cup.  You know – that thing that happened before those riots.  We have made friends with 2 Canadians from British Columbia – Steve and Jessica.  They have a Vancouver shrine in their basement with all sorts of jerseys and memorabilia.  They're the kind of supporters that change what they're wearing or might not invite you back if Vancouver loses.  

We had a great time with them.  Watched 4 games with them and unfortunately shared in their pain when Vancouver lost.

It's a great feeling to put on a jersey and feel accepted into a club.  Can't wait for next season.

Even though I support a reasonably sized beer boep (still trying to birth it) I do not drink a lot and by the end of the Stanley cup my liver was shouting, “WhY!!!  WHHHYYYYY?  why?”.  Poor guy we had a lot of fun and he took a fair amount of abuse.

So that almost brings me to the present.  I'm sure that I'm missing out a bunch but I'm trying to make this an e-mail that you might want to read in less than 3 sittings.

This last weekend we watched dragon boat racing on Henderson lake.  Also fun and next year Adele and I are going to enter a team, and win!

Getting ready for oar? for war? for paddle?

Pretty in pink - the day is for support of breast cancer

What's wrong with this picture

Seriously?!?

Good way to spend a day

On the Saturday I went fishing with 2 of the docs in our clinic, Dave and Terry.  We gave Terrys new boat a spin.  I did not get any pics but this is the most awesome fishing boat I have ever been in.  What ever you might want in a fishing boat (should you want one), well, it has 2.  Had a great day on Police lake.  It was a bit windy and there was not much fish caught but the water was clear, the company was great and there was a wonderful chop and shimmer to the water with the rocky mountains as a backdrop.  Every time I have a wow moment in this province it is super-ceded by another.

The Docs are also awesome.  Have been very lucky with our clinic and they have all been amazing to us.  Have been fishing a few times with these guys and they are always fun, informative and ignore those moments when I'm hooking myself or falling out of the boat.  

So blogging done for a while.  2 days and we're on holiday.  3 days and it's Adele's birthday.  3 days and Spaz and Claire get here.  3 days and we have a week in the rockies.  I'm getting so excited!!!!  I can't wait for you to get here guys.  Hope this week flies.  Hope you love this country as much as we do.  

Love to you all 

Ryan

On a somber note I just wanted to send a shout out to one of the most interesting people that I have ever known and one of my favorite people of all time.  Ritchie, it's 2 years since you left us this week and we miss you now as much as we ever have.  There is still a giant hole that we would choose to never fill.  Love you and hope that wherever you are you're laughing.  

:)