Travelog for: sammino

Ciao ciao ciao!

Today we were all still feeling a bit lightheaded after all the drinking last night  . smaug actually noticed that Mortimer was even too lightheaded and needed urgent surgery before the head came off completely  . Of course, we TVs all gathered around the surgery theatre  to help.



I’ll spare you the details of the operation; luckily it was successful and when he woke up he was feeling fine  .



Later in the afternoon we thought that we might go out for a walk, but it was still cold and snowy, oooh, so we decided to spend the day nice and warm at home just looking out of the window  .

Ciao ciao ciao!

It’s been a bit boring around here over the last fortnight as smaug was too busy to take us anywhere  . The only event worth mentioning is the arrival of a new guest last weekend  . His name’s Henry-Bo and he is visiting from Germany. As always we all gave him a warm welcome  .



Yesterday we were hoping to do something, but it was snowing again in the morning  ,



...so we just spent the day planning future trips.



Eventually today the weather was good, so we went for a quick drive in the morning towards Kananaskis Country  . First we took a picture of Kananaskis Valley...



...then we stopped at this falls...



...and well. The well was really nice, but fully filled with soil so there was really no risk of falling inside  .



On the way back we stopped to take a picture at Barrier Lake. The lake is apparently famous because it served as Alkali Lake in the X-man movies  .



Later in the afternoon smaug had to do some work so we stopped at his office where, to keep us quiet, he damped us at the window with some food  . How embarrassing  , instead of providing us with some proper Albertan beef all he could get was a sandwich in a plastic bag and some sweets.



When we went home we found out that Monsters, Inc. was on TV. So Sully Monster told us something about his previous life (before becoming a TV) as a movie star  . I know everthing about him but most of the other TVs were quite surprised to find out they were living under the same roof with such a celebrity  .

Ciao ciao ciao!

Today the weather was wonderful here in Calgary  , so smaug decided to take us out for a trip to the mountains, but as we left the prairies and approached Banff National Park we were greeted by a mix of rain, snow and heavy clouds  . Still, as we could see some blue gaps in the sky  we headed North hoping that the situation improved. To our supreme disappointment we just entered a thick snowfall with no real sign of improvements on the way. The road conditions were getting actually a bit tricky  .



Eventually we just headed back trying to take some wintry picture here and there when the gaps in the clouds allowed it. Here I was at Bow Lake with Crowfoot Mountain in the background...



...and here at Hector Lake.



This is a famous bend just south of Lake Louise were road, railway and river are very close to each other and it is a typical location for a picture. Ideally there would be a train  passing by and a sunny view of the mountains...neither of which was really available today  .



Later we just run from the storm and headed back home where we were greeted again by a sunny blue sky and spring-like temperatures  .

Ciao ciao ciao!

Today we said goodbye to Sully Monster who is moving to his new host. Last night we all gathered around to wish him a safe trip  ...



...and, of course, we ended up spending the whole night chatting  . Over the last few months we have become such great friends, so when this morning it was time for him to jump in his envelope it was hard to say anything and we just exchanged a big hug  .



I am sure he’ll have such great fun in his new adventures  .

Ciao ciao ciao!

today the weather here in Calgary was gorgeous so we thought we were going for some nice trip, but apparently it was snowing on the mountains  , so, to avoid ending up in another blizzard, smaug decided to just have a walk here in town along the Bow River  . At one point we found a platform over the river bank where we could take a couple of pictures...looking upstream...



...and downstream.



Later on we found out that the footpath that we were supposed to follow was closed, so we went up an another small road that climbed the hill on the side of the river. It was mainly walking between the trees, but we could occasionally get a glimpse of the river below us and of downtown in the distance, oooh.



When we were amost at the top we found another gap from where we could see downtown,



But after that we ended up between some houses and, since it was getting very windy, we just decided to head back home.

ciao ciao ciao!

This week a new guest arrived, oooh! Her name is Lucy K and she’s a goose from Germany...and she brought some sweets for us, how kind of her  !




The rest of the week nothing really happened, but today it was Hedgie’s birthday so we all gathered around to sing Happy Birthday for him  .



Later in the day, instead of getting a big cake for the celebrations  , smaug decided to take us for a walk in the forest in the ElbowValley, not far from Calgary. The trail was wide and not really steep, but it was mostly within the trees.



I crossed a few frozen streams like this one...



...and occasionally had the chance to see the surrounding mountains  .



Later, we found ourselves on a bank of the Elbow River...that gives the name to the valley.



And this is the river again from the shore.



As you can see it was getting dark and we reached the car just before nightfall. I was so tired when we eventually arrived back home  .

ciao ciao ciao!

Today smaug took us out for a walk. We went to Lake Minnewanka, not far from Banff. The lakeshore trail is one of smaug’s favourites in winter as even with the snow it is usually passable and safe. smaug was wondering if the lake had already started freezing...not the case as you can see, oooh.



After a bit we crossed this small canyon called Stewart Canyon. And it was frozen up  .



And in the distance you can see the lake.



Here we are back close to the shoreline looking east...



...and west.



The trail follows the lake shore up the easternmost point for more than 20km, but we just followed it for a couple of hours and turned back. We passed again close to the mouth of Stewart Canyon.



This is where the canyon’s ice meets the lake’s water  .



And here is another shot of the lake.



On the way back to the car we noticed that someone built a big inukshuk on a beach, so we took a picture with it and the lake behind us. Well, it desn't look so big in this picture  , but it is just behind Henry-Bo's head  .



And finally, while already nice and warm in the car, we got a final shot of the lake from its westernmost point.



Smaug explained to the others that in few weeks the lake will probably be frozen, but it will take a bit longer before the ice is thick enough to walk on it. Can’t wait to show that to my guests  !

ciao ciao ciao!

It’s been a quite boring around here recently  as smaug was a bit busy. We had hope to go somewhere this weekend, but on Friday the weather played funny and during the evening commuting hour Calgary roads turned into a giant ice-rink with cars almost unable to turn or stop even at the slowest speed and pedestrians struggling to stay on their feet on the sidewalks (should have been funny to be out there  ). Of course the whole city got stuck in massive gridlock and smaug took more than 2 hours to get home (compared with the usual 15min), oooh. So, when he eventually arrived home, he told us that he had already enjoyed enough driving for the whole weekend  .
But today he decided that, with the real winter approaching, there were far too many useless clothes still around the wardrobe and it was time to put them away and tidy up a bit around. I explained to the others that this meant that the house was going to be a total mess (even worse than the usual one  ) in a matter of minutes, so they got really excited . First we helped getting out some boxes.



Then we opened them...hmmm, they looked a bit too full to get other clothes in there.



But, as I foretold, soon clothes started coming out of the boxes (instead of going in  ) and they got scattered everywhere. We decided that the most interesting items were the cycling and football jerseys, so we started playing with them.



But after a while smaug must have decided that we were not being helpful  , so he suggested that we might had more fun surfing a bit internet and to encourage us out of the way he even offered us some ice-cream  .



It sounded a bit as a polite way to get rid of us, but the ice-cream was very good .

ciao ciao ciao!

Today there was a big snowfall here in Calgary  . It started in the morning and became heavier during the day, with strong winds too, wow  . So, since smaug was busy first at work and then trying to make his way back from work  , we TVs spent most of the day chatting and looking at the snow from the comfort of the living room  . Even the balcony, that is quite well sheltered, was soon white with snow, oooh.



Later we decided to rummage in the storage room and found some Christmas lights.



We particularly liked the ice-cubes lights...



...and the snowball ones (very appropriate to the current weather  )



Hopefully smaug will allow us to help him in putting them up  !

ciao ciao ciao!

Today we told smaug that we were bored of staying at home and wanted to go out somewhere. He suggested that maybe we should have a look out of the window first...hmmm, al covered in ice...can’t see anything  .



We wondered if that was supposed to be a subtle message to discourage us, but it takes more than a frozen window to scare off some bored TVs, so out of we went  . Wow, it was a bit cold, almost -30C  , nothing special for an eagle used to live on the peak of a mountain, but my guests were a bit shocked! But TVs have pride, so we went on and walked along the Bow River.
In this section of the river the surface has not completely frozen yet, so the sludgy mix of ice and water is still more than 20C warmer than the surrounding air and causes this strange steamy fog  .



As you can see the footpath wasn’t really crowded... smaug pointed out that few people (unless they needed to) were insane enough to be out and about in this weather  .



A bit further downstream we reached a section of the river that was almost completely frozen, oooh.




We also decided to play a bit in the snow  . It was so powdery that even us TVs were almost sinking in it.



Eventually smaug said that his right hand was flirting with frostbite  (due to the fact that operating the camera with a glove on was kind of impossible), so he decided to head back home. I think he might also have noticed some sign of discomfort from our guests and decided that it was better to get them warm soon  !

ciao ciao ciao,

This evening smaug had to be in Banff, so we TVs accompanied him. On the way we stopped to meet this herd of Elks  .



As taking a picture focusing on both us and the elks didn’t work, smaug decided to take a zoomed version of the above photo showing only a part of the herd.



We suggested that we could get closer and meet them  , but smaug explained us that elks get a bit annoyed when people approach them and he didn’t fancy spending a few lively moments being chased down by a deer taller and massively heavier than him  .
Since we were a bit early for supper, we went to have a look at Lake Minnewanka. You might rememeber that last time we have been there (about a month ago) it was still a…lake. Well, today, thanks to the cold weather, it was a massive slab of ice  .




Smaug said that the ice would probably support the weight of the TVs, but their host might not be so lucky, so it will be a few more weeks before we can walk on the ice.
On the way down to Banff we stopped taking a picture with another frozen lake and Mt. Rundle in the background.



Unfortunately, once we made it to Banff, we were not allowed to attend the supper,oooh, but we found a nice window from where we could look at the mountains while chatting all the evening  .

ciao ciao ciao,

today a new guest arrived . His name’s Michel and he is a white bear from Germany.I went to pick him up at the airport and then introduced him to all the other TVs.



Later, since his trip apparently had been far from smooth, we helped Michel to recover with some Timbits, and, of course, we provided help in eating them .

ciao ciao ciao!

Today we took Michel out for his first trip in the Mountains. As it was a bit cold we convinced smaug to take pictures from inside the car .
Here we were entering the Bow Valley.



While here we were reaching the gate of Banff National Park.



Once in the Park we had a lovely view over Cascade Mountain.



Then we took the road to Lake Minnewanka, but we didn’t meet any elk, oooh.





And eventually we reached the Lake.



Later this evening we were allowed to taste a typical Christmas cake from northern Italy, a pandoro. Not sure how smaug managed to find one here in Canada, but it was delicious  .

ciao ciao ciao,

Today smaug took us out to visit a place not too far from Calgary called Elbow Falls, where the Elbow River forms some nice (guess what!?) falls  .
Here I was just downstream of the falls. (No, there are not ice falls: although it is very well hidden, there is also some “liquid” water coming down ).



And this is the river flowing away in a nice little canyon  .



Later we played a bit in the snow, but it was freezing cold and we soon make our way for the heat of the car  .

ciao ciao ciao!

Today I said goodbye to my friend Krystal: she has seen so many guests coming and going that she decided it was time for her to start travelling too. So today the big day has arrived for her and she is travelling to Europe .
I gave her a big hug , wished her good luck for her trips and checked that she was comfortable in her travelling quarters.




Hopefully she’ll have great fun in her travelling .