SNAP THAT

It's Canada's birthday on July 1st. She will be 146 years old. I send my very best wishes for a safe and happy celebrations to all my Canadian blogger friends.

I snapped this photo in Vancouver last weekend.  We've had dry periods here and there  but the sky is still very gray. Vancouver continues to get a lot of rain but probably not as much as Alberta where the Bow and Elbow rivers have overflowed and flooded cities and towns across southern Alberta.  Calgary's downtown core was under water, while other towns like Canmore, High River and Medicine Hat have also been hard hit.  and under water.  Altogether about 100,000 people have been evacuated due to the floods.  Economists are saying that the flooding in Calgary will cost the economy billions of dollars and that Canada's economy as a whole will also suffer a reduction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by several billion dollars. On Monday the premier of the province said she thought it would take 10 years to fully rebuild the flood damaged areas of the province because a lot of the infrastructure (highways, etc.) has been damaged. Regardless of  the huge issues created

I came across these beautiful scenes one day last summer driving through the beautiful Rocky Mountain range. Our trip takes us south on Highway 93 (see map below for a general idea of location). We were on our way from visiting my uncle in northern Alberta and stopping in to see my mother in Kamloops.  Much of northern Alberta is very flat, farming land. When your journey takes 15 hours or more, it is nice to have visual feast to look at on the drive back to British Columbia. Click to enlarge the map.  The black like from Edmonton to Kamloops shows part of our route. Hope you enjoyed the sky and scenery pics today. Join in at Sky Watch here to enjoy more wonderful skies. Have a wonderful weekend.

Crossing into Canada at St. Bernard-de-La-colle (sometimes called Blackpool Border Crossing) The line ups were not that long but as always we seemed to be in the slow lane. When we got to the customs officer he was very nice and very chatty. That might explain why the line was so slow to move. At least it was a pleasant change to have a friendly customs agent. City skyline as we approached Montreal from the south. I am not sure what the name of the bridge is but as we drove around, I discovered it is closer to Old Montreal. Finding one's way in a new place is always challenging but Montreal seems to have good signage compared to some of the places I travelled just prior (like Albany, NY where I couldn't find the sign to enter the city from the freeway).   I always like to see horse drawn carriages in a large city though I wouldn't like to be riding behind a smoking tour guide. We easily found our way to Old Montreal (Vieux Montréal)

I recently returned from a quick vacation to New York and other parts of eastern Canada and the USA. I've got all kinds of photos and too many to share individually. So I've decided to make a few collages. I hope you enjoy them (click on photo collages to enlarge) When visiting New York we stayed in Neptune Township, New Jersey one night so we could be close to Asbury and the Boardwalk there (those photos to come a bit later).  Accommodations were at the Holiday Inn Express in Neptune Township. It was a very clean and comfortable hotel and a short and inexpensive ride to the boardwalk.  If you have a car, it is also located very close to some shopping but I wouldn't recommend a walk to the shopping since the hotel is located on a busy street. Despite it's location, I didn't find it noisy at all. After visiting Neptune Township we stayed for several nights at the Holiday Inn in Secaucus, New Jersey. I was able to get this hotel on my Priority Club points.  After