Happy Birthday

It's my birthday. I'm not into big celebrations or at least haven't been to date.  But I do like a cake now and then to mark the day.  This is the cake shared with a family member. It's my favourite cake because of it's light texture. It's made by a local Chinese bakery. It has real whipped cream, vanilla cake (so light too) and fruit cocktail.

More Photos from My Journey

There are so many photos from my recent journey from Vancouver to northern Alberta and BC. I thought I would share more of the photos taken on the northward journey through the Rocky Mountain ranges since it is so beautiful.

 

The water looks so green.  The trees are nice and green too.

Everywhere you look there are mountains and lakes.

 

I was thrilled to see the Big Horn Sheep by the side of the highway. We stopped to capture these majestic animals.

Here we are entering the town of Hinton. Hinton is like most small towns on the prairies. They are not usually very picturesque and have one or two main streets with lot of signage.  Hinton is where we stayed last September on our northern journey.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant. Honestly everything that comes out of this kitchen looks scrumptious and the portions are very generous. Just the right thing for a break during a long journey.

As some of you know, we were on our way to visit my aunt and uncle (siblings of my mother) both of whom are facing cancer challenges.

On the journey I found out that cysts my aunt has on both sides of her chest do not appear to be cancerous. On one side, they are filled with blood. I don't know the reason for that but they have been leaking. On the other side the cysts hurt. The doctor has run some tests said that he will keep an eye on things but for now he doesn't suspect cancer.

My uncle has finished with his tests since I returned home. His lungs are weak but his heart is strong so the doctors may go ahead and operate to take out the cancer from the colon. However my uncle who has been a life long smoker has been told he must stop smoking for 2-3 weeks to give his lungs a better chance.  He is balking at the suggestion. He needs prayer.

I hope you visit again soon. I will share more photos of Alberta.

Please visit Scenic Sunday to see more beautiful scenes from around the world.

A Smile on Her Face

Mama Linet has opened a small charcoal business which has been struggling. Jonah visited her recently and was able to give her a small donation to help with school costs.  It made her happy.

Please continue to pray so that Mama's Linet's business will succeed and she can give her family the food and clothing they need as well as try and get some medical help for the little girl's cleft palate.

We've Covered a Lot of Miles

Hi friends,

I am back from my recent travels to visit elderly relatives.

We started our journey at 5 a.m. on Thursday, May 10, 2012.  About 75 minutes later we came upon the scene in the photo below.  I felt it was a symbol that we would have a nice trip.

Entering Kamloops, BC where I visit my mother.

About one hour north of Kamloops and we are well on our way up the Yellowhead Highway.

You can see the outline of our journey on the map below.  Our northward journey took us north east from Vancouver to Kamloops on Highways 1 and 5. We continued along the route shown by the upper purple coloured line which is primarily along the Yellowhead Highway. The route went through Kamloops, Barriere, Blue River, Valemont and on to Mount Robson at Jasper.  We continued through to Hinton where we stopped for dinner.  After a delicious dinner of calamari and caesar salad at L & W's, we drove on Highway 16 east to Edmonton and spent the night in St. Albert, north west of Edmonton at the St. Albert Inn which was very comfortable.  The room rate was about $117.00 Canadian.  (You can click the link in the previous line, to see the hotel rooms and amenities.)

On Friday, we drove on to a small community near Calais, Alberta, along Highways 43 and 34, where we stayed with my aunt (more about that later). If you click on the map, it will enlarge. Locate Edmonton (about the middle of the map) and move your finger/eye along the line that goes northwest until you get to Valleyview. Calais is the first stop to the west of Valleyview.

On Saturday we journeyed north along Highways 16, 43, 34 and 2, to Hines Creek, Alberta, and visited with my uncle who has recently been diagnosed with colon cancer (more about that later). From there we drove along a secondary road west to the town of Ft. St. John, BC.  There we decided to have a late lunch and skip contacting more relatives to visit.  Instead we drove south on Highways 97 and 2, through a town called Taylor and stopped in the City of Dawson Creek, BC, to visit another uncle.  We then drove back to my aunt's place along Highways 2 and 34, in northern Alberta for one more overnight stay.

Early the next morning we drove back to Edmonton, Alberta, along Highway 43.  There we visited with a third uncle who I haven't seen for about 17 years. I've been wanting to visit him because both he and his wife have suffered a lot of health challenges in recent years and they are in their late 70s so you never know what happens. After visiting for a few hours we made our way south on Highway 2, turning west at Red Deer on a secondary highway.  We made our way to Highway 93 so that we could pass through the town of Rocky Mountain House and travel back to British Columbia through the Rocky Mountains.  We connected in BC with Highway 1 and drove back to Kamloops, passing through the towns of Field, Golden, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Chase and then finally Kamloops. We visited mom for several hours and then headed home on Highways 5 and 1 back to Vancouver. I was glad to get home as the long trip over a short period of time always tires me out.

This map shows our route beginning at Kamloops but we drove to Kamloops from Vancouver. It takes about 4 hours (includes stopping for coffee/gas).

We were surprised to run into snow just before we got to the Rocky Mountains.

You can see it is snowing at the mountain top.

Snow capped mountains are always so beautiful.

We are entering the Town of Valemount. We are still in British Columbia.

The town is in a picturesque area.

Another shot of the mountains at Valemount.

Here were are nearing Mount Robson which is on the border of British Columbia and Alberta. This day it was shrouded in mist and snow.  Apparently the top of the mountain is often obscured by clouds and/or fog.

A sign tells us we are now entering Mount Robson.

Here we are passing Moose Lake in Alberta. It looks so cold.

If you are a cross-country skier there is a wonderful ski trail through the Upper Moose Lake Loop and the trail is supposed to take you through some interesting terrain with inspiring views

In fact Moose Lake is still very much frozen.

These big horn sheep were grazing on the side of the highway.

I was lucky to be able to capture an eagle flying overhead.

The photos above end in Jasper National Park. The park is one of Canada's oldest and largest national parks.  Established in 1907, Jasper was once seen as an island of civilization in a vast wilderness. More recently, it has become a popular getaway from urban life, and a special place to reconnect with nature.  There are nearly 1000 km of trails in the park, thousands of campsites, tons of wildlife and the largest Dark Sky Preserve on the planet.

Our total travel distance was  2585 miles or 3514 kilometers in 5 days (excluding time spent driving around finding the places we were to visit or doing some shopping).  I will be sharing more scenic photos from other parts of my journey in future posts. Some of them are even more spectacular than those I've shared in this first post.

Click here for Our World Tuesday and more scenic photos from around the world.

Little Chickadee

I am away for awhile visiting elderly relatives. I don't have many posts scheduled during my trip so I would recommend having a look back at some of my posts in 2012. You can simply click the "Older Posts" button below this post or check the side bar on the right and investigate the archives. I will catch up with your blogs soon.

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I spotted a little chickadee eating in the garden below the tree branches. I managed to snap a photo or two before it flew away. It is difficult to spot but you can see it's white marks on the side of it's head.

This chickadee looks like it's been eating well.

I was preparing to take my 3rd and likely best shot of the bird when it suddenly flew off!  Oh well, I will catch it another day, lol.

Here is what it looks like up close. This photo is taken by Kevin Bolton and is located at the All About Birds website.

The chickadee makes a lovely sound when it sings. Here is a short video so you can hear it.

If I get a change later I will add this submission to Camera Critters. Please go there by clicking this link and you will see more cute critters.

Dramatic Sky

I am away for awhile visiting elderly relatives. I don't have many posts scheduled during my trip so I would recommend having a look back at some of my posts in 2012. You can simply click the "Older Posts" button below this post or check the side bar on the right and investigate the archives. I hope to catch up with you soon.

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Join others by clicking here to see others from around the world who watch the sky above.

Our Outreach to the Slums

Friends,

I've been wanting to update you on Mama Linet and her family for some time. You may remember that she is the young mom whom we helped start a charcoal business so she could help to provide for her family. Jonah has recently come from a visit to her so please have a look at his update by clicking on the link below. If you could leave a comment too that would be nice.

I will be away for awhile visiting elderly relatives. I don't have many posts scheduled during my trip so I would recommend having a look back at some of my posts in 2012. You can simply click the "Older Posts" button below this post or check the side bar on the right and investigate the archives. I hope to catch up with you soon.

Kenya Missions of Hope: Our Outreach to the Slums: Hello, We had a short time this week where we visited with Linet and her family to check on their progress. I was so excited to see the...