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Uncle Markie out and about.

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Sat
19
Jun '10

Hay River To Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

I didn’t have to worry about oversleeping for my 8am flight — I woke up every hour freezing in the rental car and had to run the engine for a few minutes to get the chill off.

Eighteen out of thirty two seats filled, and a massive wall of freight on the other side where the other two seats in a four seat row with center aisle. Four armed cops on board, on holiday, not for security, which was non-existent since it was a flight between non-secured terminals.

I haven’t been able to preview the video on my crappy netbook (NOT travelling with this one ever again), but here is my walk from the terminal to my seat on the plane:

There is another short video of the engine spinning up (I was seated right over the wing), and of my exit from the DC-3 in Yellowknife on YouTube if you poke around user: markstephensouder.

When we got to Yellowknife, I discovered that they have at least half a dozen working DC-3’s still in service (not including those parked at Hay River to looked like they were mostly for parts).

I might have to buy a t-shirt, but the sign on the store at their terminal in Yellowknife said M-F 8-5. Apparently they have done a IceRoad style documentary about their IceAir Deliveries — the DC-3 doesn’t need a traditional runway, just some flat clear ground (or packed snow).

Lunch at the French Bistro called Le Frolic. Mimosa and Eggs Benedict since it was the Saturday brunch menu. The dinner menu looked interesting, but not sure I’m ready to spend the $75 or so that a delightful meal of  what looks like high-end, local ingredient French cooking.

Hit a shop for post cards for Steve and SwandaMom — I picked up stamps yesterday at a gas stop that had a post office. Add two thrift stores — yes, even here, loading videos on YouTube while I had a much needed warm nap, and that was my afternoon.

Dinner tonight at the restaurant here in the hotel (Chateau Nova and Suites) at Papa Jim’s Roadhouse on the third floor. Guessing that it won’t be as nice… but I’ve already dropped $150 on this hotel. At least this one I got for over 24 hours since I was able to check in at 10:30 — and that shower shortly after was definitely needed.

Speaking of the hotel, it’s built into the side of a hill:

The flight tomorrow doesn’t leave until 4:30, which is a little troublesome since the shuttle is at 1:15 and 3:50, which means the 3:50 would be cutting it close to get checked in… and 1:15 is REALLY early, though I could wander around and take pictures of old planes.

It’s going to be an early night for me.

[? ? ?]

Sun
20
Jun '10

Yellowknife To Hay River To Peace River.

The only thing keeping me from totally sleeping in this morning is the 11am check out time. My plan of finding brunch (on Father’s Day) downtown, melted away with the rain that started at 9.

Solution? Wait until the last minute, check out, take the shuttle to the airport — so much for exploring Old Town.

Much better lobby shots this morning:

    

At the airport at noon for an amazing Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich and fries — I should have had that for dinner last night rather than the ribs. Hotel ribs versus airport food — and fresh-made airport food wins.

A couple of hours of wandering around the airport while it rained… and then it stopped. Which is good, because I only have one more New Yorker to finish.

With the rain stopped, I take the hike to the Buffalo Air terminal — they used to board at the main airport, but security after 9-11 got beefed up, and the barrier between secure, and less-secure got complicated with lost airside passes and lots of hassles. Who is going to blow up a DC-3.

So with that, the picture bar (maybe that phrase will pass spell check):

And here are my favorite pictures from today — me at 6500 feet in the co-pilot seat of a DC-3 with a hottie at the controls. Co-pilot a DC-3, get a T-Shirt and a pin? Got both. Didn’t get the pilot. He’s the young guy in the photo bar — but here is me in the cockpit:

         

What were they thinking — 6500 feet over Great Slave Lake! With a Orange juice and whiskey in my glass.

Tonight — the Mauve Palace, a.k.a. the Western Budget Motel in Peace River Alberta where the desk clerk at 11:30pm knows Joe of Buffalo Air, but still only gives me the corporate rate — and only kitchen units are available, good thing I found a 20CAN bill on the island when I refueled at the station I’d refused to use on the way up to Hay River, and worried about for the next two+ hours when I was running short of gas. Huge place… could roller skate. Kitchen, dishes … found the real glassware. $105 — way more than I wanted to pay, but I need to break up a 12 hour drive.

TV, internet, cocktails, maybe some sleep if I finish this post.

[? ? ?] But with road food, god help me.

Sat
23
Aug '08

Frozen Adventures Up North?

So, from today’s Wall Street Journal, a tiny mention about an airline that still has regularly scheduled service in a DC-3 — yes, a DC-3.

DC-3

Now, the down-side… it goes six times a week between Yellowknife and Hays River (that would be across Great Slave Lake to the south). $232 round-trip for the Saturday run to Hays River and the Sunday return to Yellowknife. And where in the real world are either of these places?

Hey, it’s one of the provinces I haven’t visited yet. Whether that is reason enough to spend a grand on airfare to get to Yellowknife, the $232 for Yellowknife to Hay River. $100 a night for Hay River lodging, and several days of lodging in Yellowknife before and after (another $300-400). Starting to sound like two grand to me. Ouch — all that just for a ride in a really old aircraft.

Maybe not.

Busy day today starting in the afternoon. Jameson arriving from Olympia for an early dinner (mixed grill) to be joined by Wonderful and Dragon DeForest. Wonderful and I are off to the Opera for a 7:30 showtime. The Opera? Aida. My first time seeing it.

Aida

Giuseppe Verdi

Glorious pageantry, rousing choruses, and a basketful of great tunes elevate the moving tale of forbidden love between general and slave girl in ancient Egypt. The grandest of all grand operas, Aida is also an intensely personal love story overflowing with passions as up to the minute as our own. Verdi’s power to translate human emotion into magnificent music was at its zenith when he created this enjoyable masterwork, arguably the best evening’s entertainment he ever devised.

Now, let’s just hope the guy from the used RV place fulfills his promise to call about trading Bob in on another, but smaller, RV.

[217.3]

Fri
23
Apr '10

Trouble At The Border, Trouble At Home.

Got out of the condo a little before 11 after a heavy breakfast.

Got to duty-free about 11:30 for some Alberta Springs 10-year-old Rye Whiskey (for tonight’s Old Fashioned with DancingBear). And then the trouble started – even with stopping at duty-free which puts you near the front of the line, it took thirty minutes in the Nexus line (was 50 minutes in the regular line), next time, not so close to noon on a Friday.

Dinner with DancingBear at the house. Veal chops, roasted potatoes, salad, fresh baguettes, wine, whiskey, sorry, no song.

The trouble at home?

Getting closer to figuring out how to take that DC-3 flight from Yellowknife to Hay River (and back) in the Northwest Territories of Canada. How would it work?

  • June 15 (Tuesday), fly to Edmonton on Horizon, stay the night ($10 for the frequent flier ticket, $100 for the room)
  • June 16 (Wednesday), fly to Yellowknife, layover for four hours, transfer terminals, then fly to Hay River. Spend the night ($272 r-t for Yellowknife – a web special), about the same for the Hay River trip, and another $100 or so for the hotel)
  • June 17 (Thursday), early flight back to Yellowknife, mid-day flight to Edmonton, early evening flight to Seattle.

Three days, $800-1000 dollars, all for this:

Time will tell.

[? ? ?]

Mon
26
Apr '10

Dinner Al Mio.

It being Monday that means a few more hours of work getting ready for the weekly marketing meeting tomorrow. Hard to believe that I’m approaching the two year mark on a 3-month contract. Let’s hope it lasts.

Getting closer to figuring out how to ride in what the Senior Colonel calls “The Gooney Bird”… the DC-3 run by Buffalo Airways out of Hay River, Northwest Territories. Having abandoned my original plan (because it was close to a grand), I had an epiphany. The answer:

  • Frequent flier miles to Edmonton ($45 in fees)
  • Enterprise rent-a-car, weekend rate ($65, plus gas)
  • Drive 12.5 hour north to Hay River
  • Grab the Saturday morning flight ($242 round-trip rather than $327 weekday)
  • Stay in Yellowknife Saturday night ($80-$150 a night)
  • Fly back to Hay River Sunday afternoon
  • Drive back to Edmonton, maybe a motel half way down ($ ?)
  • Fly out of Edmonton on Monday evening.

That brings it to about $500 which is doable. No frequent flier miles unless I stay in the Coast Tower Yellowknife. Oh, and maybe some for the car as well.

Just a tough Filet Mignon, salad, leftover wine and bread for dinner.

[222.8]

Wed
28
Apr '10

Surly To Bed, Surly To Rise.

Nothing like waking up early, and in a foul mood. Good thing the sun is out.

Boycotting work today – just means more crap on the table for tomorrow.

Today is for finishing up the mid-June trip to Yellowknife. Plane is booked – and they don’t even want the money until I check it! Hotel in Yellowknife is booked (500 Alaska air miles, free shuttle and internet). Car is rebooked (triple miles for a total of 450 Alaska air miles).

Today is for putting the pop machines, dead chipper/shredder, and hitch lift on CraigsList.

Amazingly I got an email for the chipper/shredder 25 minutes after the posting. It’s the one item I thought would be a slow seller. Who knew. The guy who called has a chipper/shredder with a blown motor – same size as mine. A good fit I’d say.

By 2:15 it was loaded in his truck and gone. Just a shade under two hours from post to load in truck.

Today is for driving around with the top down (too bad the sun went away and it started dumping rain), dropping off some osso bucco veal at Curts (in Olympia) on the way to Tacoma for the 2010 Evergreen State College Recognition Dinner.

The heavy rain started so I left a half hour early for the Olympia-Tacoma run… knowing traffic would be a mess. And I wasn’t disappointed. Hit the Safeway in Oly for some more marked down meat, dropped it all off at Curt’s and off to the reception-dinner which I was actually on time for after missing a couple of turns.

Decent Italian Sangovese red wine, decent buffet food, wildly capable speakers, lots of clapping, etc. Ended up networking and telling stories of the “Olympia City Council Scandal” and running into a gay couple (one of half a dozen in attendance) who I hadn’t seen in 21 years (their estimate) who at one point had been sort of stalking me on-line… told them about the blog – much easier.

Surly mood has passed. With all the networking I realized that I need to finish my concept of new business cards… 4-color one-side, single color letterpress the other side. Where Digital Meets Traditional being my business tag-line.

Glad this day is done.

[221.3]

Fri
29
Aug '08

Over And Out Of Here.

Well — the contract is done with Events and Adventures, except for a couple of hours next week with some niggling details. The final bill is in the mail. The working files CD is in the mail. The thank you notes are in the mail. Yes, Swanda trained me well about those “bread and butter” notes as my mother used to say.

I got a nice thank you email from the owner this morning — with the possibility of more work in January, which would be nice.

Tomorrow it’s off to San Francisco to visit Onyx. Mark is in Fort McMurray, Canada which isn’t as far north as I want to go (Yellowknife and Hay River) but is nearly at the top of Alberta. It will be a quick trip to SF — fly out tomorrow, fly back Monday. The Monday flight is already upgraded to first class, which I might have gotten on the way down but somehow I neglected to request it when I booked. Yes, Me! It’s a nice mid-day flight — and getting picked up at the airport as well!

Here is a picture of Onyx from camp this summer:

P1060085

I haven’t decided if I’ll actually tell anybody else that I’m coming to SF, or just assume that they will read the blog and email me if they want to see me. I’ll probably go for the lazy option.

Tonight Lynne is coming to dinner to have a little piggy send off meal — and she’s taking me to the airport tomorrow (and picking me up Monday so that gives her Saint status in my book). Add wine and a tomatoe, basil and feta salad, and you have my (and Lynne’s) version of a happy meal.

[219.2]

Mon
21
Jun '10

Peace River To Edmonton To Seattle.

Up at 7am with a wake up call. Showered and on the road half an hour later.

Feeling more sluggish this morning than any other of the drive days. I had to even pull over and take a power nap at one point. Maybe I should have saved the $110 ($13.75 an hour, but they didn’t charge that way – but compared to the $6.25 an hour for my Yellowknife room because of early check-in)

Got to the Edmonton International Airport a couple of minutes after one, delayed by that nap, and a nasty accident on Hwy 16 west of Edmonton… good thing I had my GPS unit with me otherwise I would have been seriously lost with only a map that covered Alaska and Northwest Canada… and end right about were Edmonton is.

The car was covered in dead bugs, and had over 2300 kilometers of miles from my trip… total bill for the three day rental? $67 Canadian. I spent more than twice that much on gas. For as anal as they were at check-out about car condition, he didn’t give it a second look – maybe it was looking better than all the marks on the check-out sheet made it appear.

With a flight at 6pm – needless to say, I was a tad early. And after waiting around eating, drinking, reading – the plane which had been on-time all day, suddenly was 15 minutes late (still time to make our dinner reservation at the Thirteen Coins by the airport), then 30 minutes, then 60 minutes, then 90 minutes, then back to 60… why all this juggling? The airport was under Red Alert – NO ground movement, which meant our inbound flight was feet from the gate, and that’s where it, and four other planes in similar states stayed for those 90+ minutes. Suddenly being stuck in a terminal with bars, bathrooms, Starbucks, duty-free, didn’t look too bad.

Lightning strikes in the area is what caused the Red Alert – not surprising considering all the lightning and thunder that I say on yesterday’s drive. And I forgot to mention in yesterday’s report of the double rainbows, quads if you count two on each side and blank in the middle of the clouds that were also part of yesterday’s drive.

After the bar closed at 5:30 (ours was the last flight out of the International Terminal), we were down to the Starbucks, which luckily stayed open to provide people with coffee and pastries – personally I wish they’d had something more savory as I’m not a big sweets fan, but the Apple Fritter went down OK. At the hour mark past due, I went back to the Starbuck and grabbed an orange juice… and then went to the loo to dump some of the duty-free vodka I’d bought into the top of it – make lemonade out of lemons they say, or in this case, screwdrivers out of duty free.

Finally arrived in Seattle at 8:30 – Swanda at the ready to pick me up after a little miscommunication and take me back to my place. But at that point it’s almost his bedtime, so cocktails are on my own, with a grilled sandwich for company and sustenance.

Early to bed for me as well.

[? ? ?]

Wed
8
Sep '10

Carbon Footprint 2010

Where has Uncle Markie travelled to in the calendar year 2010?

January

  • Boston, MA
  • Tucson, AZ
  • Estes Park, CO

February

  • Victoria, BC
  • Discovery Bay, WA
  • Forks, WA
  • Whistler, BC

March

  • Portland, OR
  • Vancouver, BC
  • Cabo San Lucas, MEX

April

  • Panama
  • Vancouver, BC

May

  • San Diego, CA
  • 1-Night Cruise, Vancouver-Seattle
  • Washington-Idaho-Montana road trip
  • Berkeley & Santa Cruz, CA

June

  • Maui, HI
  • Long Beach, WA
  • Vancouver, BC
  • Edmonton, Hay River, AB
  • Yellowknife, NWT
  • Portland, OR

July

  • Whistler, Vancouver, BC
  • American Ridge, WA

August

  • Salt Spring Island, BC
  • Washington, Idaho, Oregon road trip
  • Frankfurt, Berlin, Germany

September

  • Berkeley, CA
  • Victoria, BC
  • Seaside, OR
  • Miami, FL
  • Eastern Caribbean 7-night cruise

October

  • Miami, FL
  • Seaside, OR
  • St. Louis, MO
  • Portland, OR
  • Honolulu, HI

November

  • Vancouver, BC
  • Thailand
  • Whistler, BC

December

  • Las Vegas, NM
  • Seaside, OR (2)
  • Santa Fe, NM
  • 3-day Train Trip Lamy to Seattle
Fri
9
Sep '16

Trip Report: Calgary For Lunch (And More) – Day Three, Headed Home

This morning is was in-room coffee maker coffee that I slept through and had to no nuke. No real rush to get out the door other than hunger.

Checked out and drove half a block to Phil’s (since 1956!)– which could be a Denny’s north of the border. They have five locations in the Calgary area.

Rache went for the eggs/bacon/hash browns, I went for the eggs benedict with the whitest Benedict I’ve ever seen:

Fueled up, off we go to explore Calgary since our flight isn’t until early evening.

Once again I’m passing the “writing baton” to Rache as he did all the homework, so why should I redo it! I’ll just add my pictures (and those pesky links) and VIOLA!

You know you’ve reached a very obscure museum when the curator greets you with, “May I help you?” instead of “Welcome!” Markie masterfully replied, “Believe it or not, we are actually here to visit the museum.” The Grain Academy Museum in Calgary is not only obscure but well hidden. It’s located in the BMO Centre on the Plus 15 Level in Stampede Park. No outside signs were visible. Even Siri was a bit perplexed, getting us close but we finally just had to enter what appeared to be a closed building. 


After the curator’s initial surprise of actually having visitors, he escorted us to a little theater. Metal tractor seats offered most sitting options but the two of us did find a couple cushioned chairs. The video “The Way it Was” depicted how the Canadian prairies were settled and the difficult work that was required before motorized machinery. Oh, just as the video started, a mother of four (one in a carriage) entered the showing. The curator must’ve been completely surprised at having so many people, but he was on a roll and asked if we would like to see another shorter video about modern life on a farm. We took the bait and he showed a YouTube video called “Farmer Style” which is a parody on “Gangnam Style.” What a hoot. I’m sure the Peterson brothers paid their way through Kansas State University with this video which has over 16.5 million views. I’ll attempt to share a link for more about the video and the Peterson family (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100310964). Other displays include everything from barbed wire types to wheat straw weaving, pioneer farm tools and various models of farm implements. There is also a sizable model train display on the movement of grain from the prairie to the terminals at Vancouver. When I say ‘sizable,’ we’re talking two room’s worth. The multiple trains really fascinated the three young boys the mom brought in.





I gotta tell you, this museum is a gem. The videos, displays, and the delightful curator (who asked Markie and me if we were farmers) actually made the effort to find the place well worth it.  And it’s free!  And since nothing was going on at Stampede Park, there wasn’t even a parking fee. 

Next we navigated towards the airport but before that, we checked out the Aero Space Museum of Calgary. It’s immediately south of the airport. The museum was founded in 1975 by aviation enthusiasts and former World War II pilots. Aircraft displayed include a Douglas DC-3 which was the very first aircraft Buffalo Airways ever owned [Uncle Markie flew in one of their “current” DC-3’s between Hay River and Yellowknife], a Sopwith Triplane, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, and several other planes and helicopters, plus 58 aeronautical engines. Additionally, historical documents, including letters from a WWII prisoner of wars are on display. The exhibits are in two large hanger-type buildings. There was no interaction with a curator like at the grain museum (other than to take our money), but the displays spoke for themselves and information was displayed for many of the craft. 








After that, we filled up the rental car with petrol and returned to the airport. On the way, we passed a Hyundai dealership which was having a “Hail Damage Sale.” Prior to our arrival, Calgary was hit with severe hail storms. Our rental had several dents as well. Our Canadian prairie adventure was coming to a close. This trip turned out to be much, much more than merely eating lunch in a restored Pullman car. This short jaunt offered quirky museums, an amazing server at the restaurant near our hotel, and Heritage Park was absolutely remarkable. This turned out to be one of the more delightfully surprising trips. I’m so, so glad to have experienced this. 

Thanks again Rache for the narrative!

But we aren’t home yet…we have to navigate the seriously under construction Calgary International Terminal – where they only let you in a little bit (two hours) before your flight.

That’s barely enough time for duty-free shopping and grabbing real food before the flight – so, this is my version of “real food”:

Actually I just got the regular Chicago Dog (and a couple of double Jack and diets):

Because this is what “dinner” on the plane was:

Yes, I’m mixing diet, Crown Royal, red wine, chocolate and pretzels — though not all together.

Speaking of duty free – they let me by four (the legal limit is one)…the lady said, “Buy as many as you want, you’ve already passed customs and immigration – during the holidays people are walking out with cases.” I guess pre-clearance in Canada has its perks!

In our defense, I did make us small chef’s salads once we got home.

I’ll agree with Rache – what an amazing trip for being just two nights.

[216.2]