Travelog for: Hansi Hü

Tonight we went to the beach!  It is famous as one of the best beaches in MICHIGAN, at least...  It has been winning a lot of national awards lately too.  We went in the evening to see the sunset.  The water was a little chill for swimming. 



You could see the pier and lighthouses from were we set up our blanket.  I am blocking the sun with my head so you can see the lighthouses in the distance.  A lot of tourists come to see them.



While we were waiting, I relaxed a bit in what sunshine was left!



When I got bored with that, I watched some children down the beach playing ball. 



Oh, the sun is going to set right behind the lighthouse! 



There it goes....



After that is was getting dark fast, so we headed home.  I'm told we can come again later in the summer since Mel lives so close to it! 

Mel is kind of funny, Mom; she has taken me all over, I go with her most everywhere she goes, but does she ever let me have the computer to update you?  No!  Well, finally I have the laptop all to myself!  So I will have a lot to update you on!

Mel and I took her Niece Maddy to the Black Rock Renaissance Faire.  Madison dressed as a forest fairy.  Mel didn't dress up at all.  It is a small fair, but we had fun!

Right inside the entrance, we met Gandalf the Grey!  Maddy is holding me.


We watched some Viking Blacksmiths work.  There was a whole camp of Vikings!



I even found a sword MY size!  I wonder if I could be a knight?



I wanted to know more about knights, so we went to watch a joust.  This is Sir Tyler, he was fighting for the Championship.



After the joust (which Sir Tyler won) they knights battled with swords!



Sir Tyler won that, too!  We cheered!



But I thought the best park was meeting Prince, his lovely Percheron Battle Horse!  Maybe I will skip being a knight and be a warhorse instead!



Knight armour looks too big, heavy, and hot anyway.



We relaxed a bit after all that excitement by watching some Belly Dancers...



Watched some people dance around a maypole...



And danced to a bagpipe and drum group! 



I also made a new friend while Mel and Maddy got henna drawings done.  He is a llama from South America!  He travels with his owners from faire to faire. 



OK, one update caught up!  I will work on Coast Guard Festival next! 

Hello!  Sorry to still be behind! 
Mel's hometown hosts a big festival every year honoring the US Coast Guard.  They have a carnival and a parade and fireworks, and a lot of people come from all over to visit.  Mel and I walked down to the carnival on the night before the fireworks.



There was a carousel what almost made me wish to be a carousel horse!  They are so pretty!



I think this white one was flirting with me. 



There was an arts and crafts fair in the city's Central Park.




These very talented kids made amazing music!  We danced a bit but mostly listened.



Then we found the food wagons

!

Mel got me some apple cider and a spiced donut.



The fireworks would be launched from the hill in the distance here.  people were already setting up blankets and marking spaces more than a day ahead of time! 



Then we walked back through the carnival and back home.



We didn't see the fireworks because Mel had to go out of town to a friend's wedding that day, but we got home in time to her them! 

We went on a car ride today, to follow the Grand River  Road Historic Auto-tour.  It follows the old pioneer roads up the grand river and then back down, explaining interesting places along the way.



The Grand River is the largest river in Michigan, and it was very important to the natives and the settlers who came after.  It also made a good place to enjoy a day exploring!



Some places were just lovely nature sites now.  This is a small boat launch now, but was once the site of a Native American village.




This is a handicap accesable kayak launch.  Able people can use it too of course, you just slide right off into the river!




This huge old tree was wonderful to visit.



And the trip brought us right back to Grand Haven!  The Grand River has its mouth there and is very popular with boaters and also has some transport ships come to harbor there.




Looking the other way, you can see the lighthouse again at the channel mouth.



Last time I mentioned the Coast Guard, here is one of their boats going out on patrol.  They keep the boaters safe and do water rescues when needed.

After the Coast Guard got done with their big festival, they were all tired and distracted, and look what happened!  Grand Haven was invaded by Pirates!  Luckily they were nice ones!



They set up on the Harbor Island, and let all of the kids (and grown ups) come to visit.  They had music, and shops, and displays. 
Mel had been here before!  In fact, I think this same pirate that posed with me, has met a toy voyager before....  I'm glad he was in a better mood this time!

I'm not sure I would want to be a pirate, but they have cools ships.

Hello!  I heard I was going to Canada next, but I didn't expect to ride there in a car!  I think Mel was so jealous that I got to go to Canada that she wanted to go too.  The closest bit to her is Ontario, and Hamilton is a city famous for a lot of waterfalls, so Mel didn't take much more convincing than that!

First we had to go over the Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron, MI and Sarnia, ON. 



We got through customs fine.  They ask more questions when you are in a car than when you are in an envelope, but the view was more interesting.
Then it was about three more hours of driving and we reached Hamilton.  We went right to a hotel for some sleep, because we had big plans for the next morning!



And here we are!  After breakfast at a nearby diner, we went to the largest botanical gardens in Canada! 

There were some indoor houses with plants, but we spent the most time outside in the gardens.



They didn't just have plants from Canada, these plants look like they belong in the desert!



The water garden was Mel's favorite. 



The gardens didn't take long, and we were close to the neighboring city of Burlington, so we went there to find a park to have lunch at.
And we found one right on the waterfront!



That is Lake Ontario behind me!  I decided to just sit and enjoy the view for a while.  It was a lovely day!  That is Hamilton on the horizon. 



Then Mel went off to look for waterfalls.  She found three, but was using her big camera, so I didn't interrupt much.  I just enjoyed the views and walking in the woods.  This is Webster's Falls.



The next morning was MORE waterfalls.  There are so many because of the Niagara Escarpment.  It is the same rocks that Niagara Falls goes over, farther south.  We went to four more and Mel and her mom were both getting tired, so we found lunch and went to see a castle!

Sadly a lot of the outside was scaffolded for repairs.  This is part of a servant wing and the Dovecote.  The house is not really a castle, it is just the biggest house in that part of Canada, so people call it that.  It is really a Georgian mansion built by a former Prime Minister of Canada.



It was interesting inside not because of the fancy rooms but because they also showed us the service areas.  In the kitchen the cook gave us some food!



The food came from the Victorian kitchen gardens, also on the same site.  That was interesting too, though a lot of the harvest was done.



The house woudl have had a very nice view, on this hill above Lake Ontario.



And now I am in the car again - we are at Tim Horton's, a coffee shop that is EVERYWHERE here in Hamilton (it started here) and using their wifi to find a Canada Post office.  It looks like Ancaster has the nearest, so I will hope to see you very soon from Alberta!!! 

Hi Mum,

I am on the other side of Canada ! The trip in the post was not too long and today my parcel was dropped in the midst of what seemed to be a location full of little paws in frantic action .



As it happens, it was a bunch of TVs lead by sammino, who will by my host here, that was trying to set me free . Of course they wanted to hear everything about my previous trips, so a lot of chatting followed late into the night .

Hi Mum,

today it was a nice day so we tried to go for a short hike . Early on we had to cross the Elbow River, which at this time of the year flows mostly within the gravel of its large bed ...so there wasn't really much water to cross .



As we gained elevation we reached Forgetmenot Ridge, where the wind was blowing at gale force . Nevertheless we managed to take some photos .





However, after a couple of near misses, smaug said that he was not risking to spend afternoon searching for us down the slopes of the mountain , so he shoved us back in the bag and said that for today there were not going to be any more photos .

Hi Mum,

today we went for lunch in Banff . First we had a lovely and big steak .



And for dessert we treated ourselves with delicious ice cream and melted chocolate ...that's what I call a proper lunch .



With a full belly we got on our way home, but we decided to stop a bit at Lake Minnewanka, where the reflections in the lake were beautiful .

Hi Mum,

the weather was not so good this weekend, but today we tried to go for a quick hike in the morning anyway. While we were in the trees we could occasionally see the sun, so we took it as a good sign .



Nevertheless, once we reached the summit, the clouds were closing in from all directions .





Only in the east and in the south it seemed to be still a bit clearer...




...but since it was starting to snow very lightly we decided not to linger and headed back down the trail.

Hi Mum,

guess what? Today we had the first proper snowfall of the season . However when smaug came back from work it was too dark to take any photos , so the main reason for this update is that we have a new guest here in Calgary . smaug came back with an interesting envelope...



...and when we cracked it open a new TV came out, Arn Wes Wilde, a nice tiger from China .



As it always happens when someone new arrives, story telling went deep into the night .

Hi Mum,

After a week of fairly inconsistent weather, today we headed to the mountains keen to find out how much snow , if any, we were going to find. As it happens we found it from the very start and the first hour went by walking on a large snow-covered trail in the trees.



Eventually we came out of the tree cover and started enjoying the wind .



Once we reached the top of Pigeon Mountain the view was great in most directions .





Only in the west the clouds were very dark.



Anyway, smaug was having a hard time taking photos while making sure that we did not accidentally fly away in the gale force wind . So he eventually shoved us back securely in the backpack and we did not see the outside world again until we were back in the car later in the day .

Hi Mum,

We had a new arrival in Calgary today . smaug came home with a new envelope and, as usual, we were tasked with opening it .



And a new TV came out, Matcha a nice frog from Japan . And he brought some lovely chocolate with him .



As it always happens in this cases, the night went by chatting and eating .

Hi Mum,

winter is definitely here and today we went checking out the fresh snow outside of Calgary . When we parked the car it was obvious that there was no shortage of it.



As we moved up the trail all the forest was clad in white ...



...and occasionally we could see that the it looked pretty much the same all around us.



When we reached the highest point of the day the clouds were really nice and opened up to let us enjoy the view .





However they were not nice for long , and soon we could not seen 10 m away, so we slowly headed back home.

Hi Mum,

We had a bit more snow this week, but today it was quite clear, so we went for a nice walk in the foothills . Well, actually there was a bit more snow than we expected during the first part of the walk, which caused smaug to be a bit grumpy . Anyway, eventually we reached the top of Eagle Hill, where we had a great view of the valley we just followed…



…and of the Bow Valley gap into the Rockies .



As it happens, the wind was pretty much gale force , so smaug was having some trouble keeping us from taking off and after a couple of near misses, we decided that the inside of the backpack was the place to be in these conditions .