Airports and Flying

Posted on November 21, 2013 by danocan

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I love airports.  While the actual act of flying has become routine and downright boring, airports continue to fascinate me.  Over the last seventeen months airports have become second nature to me.  Not all airports, but YYC, YVR, YYZ, and ORD are starting to feel like old friends.  I have become familiar with the layouts and I have developed my own routines for each of them.  Where to eat, which washrooms to use, and where the power outlets are hidden.  I swear I could navigate my way to and from Chicago in my sleep which, having just caught the red eye from Calgary to Toronto, I think I just proved

My own relationship with airports is less interesting to me than the relationships others have with them.  I love watching people and how they handle the act  of flying.  Why do some women insist on wearing long boots with tons of laces, knowing they’re going to have to go through a ton of work at the security line up taking them off and putting them back on?  Why do business travelers act surprised when they are asked to remove their laptops from their bags? Why do some people seem oblivious to the long line of people in the aisle as they take forever to stow their carry on bag and take their seat?  And, my personal favorite, the person with the aisle seat who immediately does up his seatbelt and then is annoyed when he has to undo it to get up and let the other two people into the middle and window seats?

I enjoy watching other travelers and thinking about their stories.  Is that family taking their first vacation together in years, having worked hard to save the money for tickets?  Is that person flying back to her hometown to deal with the death of a loved one?  Is that couple who just can’t keep their hands off each other on their honeymoon — or perhaps even eloping?  Is that business person making his way back home to a family that has been missing him the last few weeks, or is he on his way to another meeting in some downtown skyscraper? 

I love how the airport is always on the move.  Even when waiting in line, there is always a sense of urgency, especially coming from the couple who didn’t leave home early enough and are now worried about missing their boarding call.  I love the excitement that comes from seeing your bag come into view on the carrousel, knowing it means you made it one more flight without the airline losing it.  Admit it, until it comes into sight you always have a little nagging doubt, don’t you?

I love watching the tearful goodbyes and then joyous reunions that take place constantly airports.  I could certainly handle not having to participate in those goodbyes though.  Everyone in the airport has a story, a reason for being there. My own story is just one of the thousands.  I wonder what my fellow passengers waiting for American Eagle flight 2785 are thinking about me.

 

 

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Geocaching Souvenirs: Idaho

Posted on November 20, 2013 by danocan

It’s been a few months since I looked back at one of my Geocaching souvenirs and how I earned it.  This time I look back at the state souvenir for Idaho.

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My first cache in Idaho was GCQYTH “SPRUCE LEAFS” which I found on July 19, 2007.  This cache was nothing special, it was a micro hidden in a tree behind a Wal-Mart.  We were on our summer vacation and working our way to the Oregon coast.  Post Falls, ID was always our first stop of the trip.

We were staying at the Coeur d’Alene RV Resort which was conveniently located next to the Wal-Mart.  Being near the Wal-Mart was important because it was our first chance to start stocking up on the cheap American groceries and Tillamook cheese and ice cream.  It also was a key stop for any RV supplies that we needed to replenish such as RV toilet paper and holding tank chemical.  The RV lifestyle sure is glamorous, eh?

This trip would be notable for being the first extended trip for our 2006 Sierra fifth wheel, which had just been purchased the previous August.  It would lovingly be nicknamed “the turtle house” several years later because we carried our home with us wherever we went.

I’ve never really thought much about Idaho.  It was always a state I have driven through on my way somewhere else.  In the same way I never really thought much about this particular cache either.  It too was just another stop on the way to somewhere else.  Really, that’s pretty much everything in life — we’re never really allowed to sit still, we’re always being propelled forward and on to the next thing.

That cache was originally hidden in October of 2005 and officially lasted until November of 2009, although no one found it in the last year of its existence.  It was found 182 times.

 

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Historic Calgary Week: McDougall Church

Posted on August 8, 2013 by danocan

The only other event I was able to attend over the weekend was an interpretive walk at McDougall Memorial United Church.  The presentation was about 90 minutes long and covered information both on the church itself, the mission which was also here, and the town of Morleyville.

I have been to this site multiple times over the years.  I’ve been here during the day, during the night, in winter, in summer.  However, this was the first time I ever had the opportunity to actually go inside the church itself.   I was very happy to have this chance as it gave me new insight and information. 

First, allow me to clear up the biggest misconception, one I know I was originally guilty of too.  As in the photo above, the church is most often photographed from the side with the bell tower.  This is actually the rear of the church.  I doubt there is any other church out there which is photographed from the back as much as this one.  The bell tower was not original to the 1875 construction and was added on later.  The door you see in the photo above does not actually allow entry into the church, it only is for accessing the bell tower.

This actually makes perfect sense when you think about it.  The front of the church faces the river.  Prior to the construction of the Ghost Dam, this spot near the river was the only good crossing point so it makes sense the church would have been situated facing the route most people would use. 

Another interesting tidbit about the construction of the church is visible from the inside. 

At the rear of the church there is a circular opening clearly visible.  This spot was supposed to originally contain a stained glass window.   Rumour has it that the window was actually manufactured in Edmonton but either prior to shipping or during transit to the site it was either lost or broken and thus no window was ever installed.  Once the bell tower was constructed there was no point in adding a window here as the tower would block this opening anyway.

Something else I learned is that George McDougall is not actually buried at the church, despite the headstone located there.  (You can see it in the first picture above.)  He is actually buried in the cemetery across Highway 1A but that land is owned by the Nakoda and thus not accessible to the general public.

I was also surprised to learn the church contains a balcony.

The interior of the church is fascinating and the building itself is almost all original.  The church was abandoned in 1921 and was left to the elements until the 1950s when efforts were made to restore it.  One attendee told a story of visiting the church prior to the restoration and explained there was no door, no windows and how when he stepped in the birds all flew out of the openings.  Everything was covered in bird droppings.  There were also stories about horses using the church for shelter during the abandoned era.

Rain and thunderstorms limited the amount of exploration people wanted to do of the grounds, but a group of us did take the opportunity to wander down towards the river and the foundation of the mission house.  Apparently up until the 1950s there were remains of many buildings on the site but “clean up” efforts resulted in most of the wood being gathered and burned and the foundations filled in.  However, as you wander the site you can still see depressions and a difference in the vegetation which allows one to see where various buildings were situated. 

I never have spent much time on the grounds during my visits but I plan on doing more exploration in this area from now on. 

 

For more reading on the history of the church, check out these links as well as my small Flickr gallery:  

Historic Places
Morley, AB
DanOCan’s Flickr Set
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Historic Calgary Week: Pine Creek Cemetery / De Winton

Posted on August 4, 2013 by danocan

Historic Calgary Week is a project of the Chinook Country Historical Society, which is a branch of the Historical Society of Alberta.  Apparently this is the 23rd annual Historic Calgary Week, but I honestly never heard of it before this year.  In fact, I only found out about it because Emily and I picked up a brochure at the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre a couple weeks ago.

Between being out of town last weekend, a breakdown of the DanOCan Adventure Mobile and work prevented me from taking in any of the activities until yesterday when I was able to join in for a walk at the Pine Creek Cemetery near De Winton on the southern fringe of the city.

Actually, “southern fringe” is becoming less true every day.  There are new developments being built to the north and the east of the cemetery and the south and west sides are surrounded by a RV storage facility.  Urban sprawl and cookie-cutter soulless subdivisions are rapidly encroaching on this hidden gem. 

By my count there were more than forty people attending this walk.  They are all here for various reasons.  Some have long-lost relatives buried here, others have close family members who have been laid to rest here just recently.  Some are members of the cemetery’s operating board, members of the historical society, and some — like me — didn’t even know this place existed until they saw the event in the brochure.

I strike up a conversation with a fellow next to me.  He is a member of the Mountain Bluebird Trails society, which was another organization/initiative I had never heard of before.  They maintain the many nesting boxes you see hanging on fences along rural roads all throughout the southern portion of the province.  I love learning about things like that!

That was just the first of many facts I learned as part of the tour: 

  • Where the intersection of Macleod Trail and 210th Avenue is today was a key crossing and stopping point for the bull trains coming to Calgary from Fort Benton, Montana.  At one point there was a small settlement complete with general store and rooming house.
  • While the cemetery was established in 1889, the settlement of De Winton was not started until 1892. 
  • De Winton was established to be a railroad siding so trains could be broken down into smaller units so they could make it over the Pine Creek hills to the west and north. 
  • Despite some of the highway signs to the contrary, the proper spelling is De Winton, not DeWinton or Dewinton. 
  • All of the land surrounding the cemetery now belongs to the City of Calgary but the cemetery land belongs to the M.D. of Foothills because the City didn’t want responsibility for it. 
  • All of the maintenance of the cemetery is done by students from Red Deer Lake School.  They typically will mow the lawn three times per year. 

After the walk I couldn’t resist the urge to drive over to De Winton and visit the elevators and abandoned railcars there.,

 

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Geocaching Souvenirs: British Columbia

Posted on August 2, 2013 by danocan

Continuing my series where I revisit each of the Geocaching Souvenirs I have earned and reminisce about how I came to earn it…

“Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art that you can discover and display on your   profile

page. They are associated with a particular location and may  also be  bound by time.”

My first cache in British Columbia was GCY3VC “Forum Lake” which I found on May 18, 2007.  The story started the previous September, however.

A posting on the local forums first brought this cache to my attention.  For eight months I watched the cache listing, hoping no one else would find it.  You see, it wasn’t enough for me to find this cache — oh no, I wanted to find it before anyone else.  I don’t know why, but the cache became an obsession for me. 

After watching and waiting all winter, I finally decided to make an attempt for it in May of 2007.  The hike started easily enough at the Akimina Pass trailhead on the Alberta side of the border.  There was some snow and a lot of mud but nothing unexpected or too concerning.  However, by the time I crossed over the border into British Columbia the story was rapidly changing.

Bare ground was getting harder to find.  The snow was more plentiful.  As the elevation increased the likelihood of reaching Forum Lake was diminishing with each step. 

There was a small ranger station about 1.5km from the cache.  By the time I reached there the snow was becoming a major factor.  It was often crusty enough I could stand on it but when I broke through the crust I would immediately sink up to my waist.  It was very tough going and anyone with more intelligence would have turned around and come back some other time.  Of course, you remember I mentioned this cache was an obsession for me, right?  I carried onwards and upwards.

 

 

There was no way of telling where the trail actually went, so it was pretty much a straight-line approach to the cache.  There was a small partially-frozen creek that needed to be crossed and some other route corrections along the way, but eventually Forum Lake came into sight. 

I was most relieved that the cache was hidden under some tree cover and the snow had melted away from the area making it an easy find.  Believe me, if I had to stay up there until the Spring thaw came before I could find this one I would have waited.  I’m sure glad it never came to that! 

The hike down was much more rapid as I was able to slide on the crusty snow and essentially toboggan down much of the way.  Back at the trailhead I was wet, exhausted, and deliriously happy.  It was my 20th “first to find”, my first cache in B.C. and one of my most memorable geocaching experiences to date.

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