[2010 Alaska]

Day 21: Wednesday, June 23rd Calgary

Brooke and Cody rode their first ski lift today.  No, we didn’t go skiing.  We went for a tour of the Olympic Park Tower.  “Tour” is a relative word.  The room we were supposed to tour was maybe ten by ten.  We were able to ride the ski lift up , which was a treat, and just by chance a whole bunch of sixteen year olds were heading up to zip line down.  I’m not sure it was worth the five dollars a person for the tour, but the ski lift ride was fun and so was watching the zip liners scream.  Brooke also tried the louge on the way down.

[2010 Alaska]

Day 20: Tuesday, June 22nd Calgary

The weather was predicted as…rain!

[2010 Alaska]

Sleep Time Suggestions?

Back at home I would start Brooke on her bedtime routine shortly after seven.  She would eventually fall asleep sometime after nine.  The time included the usual PJs, brushing teeth, story time, talking about what we are thankful for, and her usually talking with her babies.  The same two hours were usually required for a wind down for a nap, if she actually took one.  Now to our dilemma.  Cody needs to be to sleep as soon after seven as possible.  However, with all of us in the same tent he is revved back up and is not falling asleep until near nine and Brooke is averaging between ten and eleven o’clock.  One night I took Brooke into the van to get her to calm down, which helped, but she was still up until almost eleven.  The fact that the sun isn’t disappearing until after eleven isn’t helping.  We try to get her physically exhausted by exercising whenever we can.  We are still reading stories and occasionally watch part of a movie before bed.  We need more ideas.  Her lack of sleeping is impacting the entire family and trip.  No sleep makes for a very cranky three year old.  If you have any suggestions we would love to hear them.

[2010 Alaska]

Calgary Tower

[2010 Alaska]

Day 19: Monday, June 21st

The “road” we are on right now.  Highway 9 was under “creation” for about 5 miles.  It was difficult to see were the road was supposed to be. Luckily there was a local in front of us.  There aren’t a lot of roads up here compared to the Chicago area.  Thus when a road is shut down, like Highway 1, that is still shut down from the weekend, they send people on a 400 km detour.  Luckily, we had already passed through the area of Medicine Hat and Saskatoon, so we weren’t affected, but we have run into quite a few people who were.

[2010 Alaska]

Day 19: Post 2 Calgary Tower and Downtown Spray Park

While up in the Calgary Tower Brooke spotted a spray park, and so without swimsuits we went in search of the water.  I should also mention that it is only about 70 degrees.  When the sun was out being wet was bearable, but when clouds rolled over little teeth were chattering.

[2010 Alaska]

Alberta, Canada: Multi-Billion Dollar Industry: Oil

When I think of large oil producing nations Canada most certainly does not come to mind.  However, right outside of the Badlands and along the prairie leading to the Badlands, are oil wells.  I mentioned to Scott how incredible it would be to be a farmer and then suddenly an oil well owner.  However, as we have discovered by talking to the locals, most of the land owners around here do not own the oil below their fields.  The farmers own the topsoil and anything below that is owned by “the crown”.  The energy companies then have to negotiate with “the crown” to secure the mineral rights, in addition to negotiating with the landowner in order to secure access to the oil.  It turns out the porous rocks that are perfect for providing excellent fossils around here are also perfect for hiding oil.

[2010 Alaska]

Day 18: June 20th - Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!  Cody and I are hanging out in the van again while we wait for the sun to get higher in the sky and Brooke to wake up, not that there’s any hurry.  The more sleep she has the better day we all have. :-)  Speaking of, Scott noted that yesterday we did not have a single meltdown from Brooke, not one!  It is entertaining to watch all the animals scurry about while we are in the van.  Sometimes birds put on performances for us.  This morning it is the chipmunks and a baby bunny.  The picture of Brooke is after breakfast by the river across from our campground.  Brooke wanted to see the ferry, but we couldn’t see around the bend.

[2010 Alaska]

Day 18: June 20th: Post 2 Dorothy

Brooke’s little bike had a flat on the back tire, so Scott was teaching Brooke how to fix a flat after we finally remembered to pick another tube up from… where?  Yep!  Wal-Mart.

[2010 Alaska]

Playground workout

I was finally able to get an upper body workout in. This playground was perfect though I only got in one set before the rain. Gordie Howe would be proud, considering it is his campground :)