Cold!

It's cold, cold, cold tonight, and we're only late August (so what's Winter going to be like?!). First thing I do when I get home: check if brought my warm red fleece from Belgium. Bummer! Someone's going to be buying warm clothes really soon!

Forest fire smog

No news from the job hunting, but you should see this:

There's a dense fog in Calgary and it has a burnt smell. It's smoke from the forest fires in Britisch Columbia, 1000km away. Yes, it's the worst fire season in a decade, there. A few pictures from the Calgary Herald (one picture of BC, two of Calgary):

A few weeks ago I informed about fire fighting in BC this Summer (unique, exciting job!) but it turns out you have to apply a year in advance and go through serious training. For next Summer I already have other plans. So no fire fighting for me - I guess my parents won't mind, though! ;-)

Ha Ling Peak

Today Benjamin and I drove to Canmore, just an hour away, for a hike in the Rockies. Ha Ling Peak, 2407m high, but 'only' 819m on foot. It was a good hike, a very good one! My legs were sore for days after, and Benjamin... I could tell a really juicy story here, but then I probably won't get to join him on another hiking trip again ;-) let's just say he was in heaven when he reached the parking lot ... or rather, that he reached the parking lot!  

The previous picture is (small) me on my way up. The rest of the pictures were shot from the top. Yes, the view was hazy (mistig):

The last picture was shot while driving back into the valley. 

Someone's going to sleep really well tonight!

Mountain Bike

I bought myself a bike, to get around faster in Calgary. Second hand - that way I can just sell it instead of having to take it with me if I move to a different city. Some of the bike-for-sale advertisements were quite funny: "tires require air, but in very nice condition." I guess not everyone here has been introduced yet to the magic of the pump.

After picking up the bike, I biked from downtown to home. 10 km, half an hour, right? Took me an hour and twenty minutes, thanks to the many traffic lights and steeply aborted sidewalks (that could give you a bump in your rim). That's if you follow the route cars would take. Fortunately there are some great, dedicated bike paths, shortcuts. The problem is staying on track when they seem to disappear (and continue somewhere out of sight, like on the other side of a wide road. So I've found myself guessing and erring. Next time I'll plan my route better.

Blueberry season

Every time I go to the store, these are laughing to me, so I finally succumbed! They come from British Columbia (province next door) and now's the season. Don't they look mouth-watering? Believe me, they are! They taste like, err, in Dutch, ergens tussen de smaak van rijpe braambessen en niet-zure stekelbessen ...als ge u daar iets bij kunt voorstellen! ;-)

North American portion, as you see, but I'm not complaining ;-)

Last week I had cherries, also a seasonal fruit from BC, and equally tasty.

My dear Canadians, why go to the fastfood drive-in if you can have these?

Speaking of drive-ins... some banks have drive-ins here. It looks like a fastfood drive-in but instead of McDonald's it says "Bank of Montreal" Apparently that's how you gain customers here! :D