Northwest USA/Southwest Canada tour

Spent a week traveling from Seattle,WA to Lake Louise, AB, Canada.  Back across BC to Whistler and south through Vancouver to Seattle.  Had an amazing time.  The scenery unbelievable.  Wasn't possible to take a bad photo.  Every direction you looked was beautiful, from Mtns, turquoise waters, glaciers.   Started off the trip by flying into Seattle.  Have a few friends that live in WA state and was fortunate to meet up with some. 

Pike Place Market, Seattle and sun in the Northwest

After a quick catching up and some sightseeing we headed north to Bellingham, WA.  Hard to believe that it has been 14yrs since I lived here.  Was great to see Melissa my old college roommate.

Her kids are adorable.

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My cousin Peter recently moved to B'ham and were fortunately able to meet up with him as we went through town. I do miss summer time in WA.

Would have loved to had more time, but places to go things to see

From Bellingham we headed north to Canada and made our way over to Lake Louise, Alberta CAN.  The red in the photo in salmon spawning.  Interesting how they return to the exact spot they were hatched

A gorgeous day for a drive thru Canada



 Arrived at Lake Louise and spent the next 2 days touring around Louise, Lake Moraine, the Ice Fields hwy, Jasper and Banff.  Every part of this area is breathtaking.  We lucked out with beautiful weather.  Saw a couple of deer, but no moose or grizzlies.  I'm ok with the latter, but would have liked to see some moose. Are bears already starting to hibernate?

In front of our hotel at Lake Louise.  Having a travel agent for a mom definitely has its perks

 The mountains, lakes and glaciers were an amazing sight

Lake Moraine.  It is hard to tell in some of these photos, but all the lakes are this beautiful green color.  The lakes get this color from silt, from the rocks, that is washed into the lakes.  The glacial water mixed with the silt gives the turquoise color

Banff, Canada.  Great town with amazing views.  Will have to come and spend some more time here

Jasper, CAN another great town in the Canadian Rockies.  I'm tempted to pack my bags and move

Only had a couple of days to spend in this area.  Needed to get on to Whistler and see some of other sights in BC.  Was about 910km or 565mi from Lake Louise to Whistler. The entire drive was scenic. Took approx. 10hrs, but that of course included some photo ops, DQ, and A&W stops.    Here are a couple of the sights along the way

Jaffray Lake

We arrived in Whistler and went to the Beacon Pub for some dinner.  The food was delicious.  Highly recommend the ribs appetizer (not on the menu).

 I guess Whistler can be very busy during the ski season.  This time of year there were people on mtn bikes.  It was fun to watch some of them come down the mtn on their bikes. Looks fun, but I know I'd be white knuckling it the entire way.  Whistler Village has a lot of shops and restaurants. My mom and Will have been living here part of the year so it was fun to check out.

 Whistler Village.  I was told that this place is insane during the ski season.

 One of the lakes right in Whistler.  Love that they have the water and the mountains together

 Rode the Gondola to the top of the mountain and the Peak to Peak over to Black Comb Mtn.  The Peak to peak has the longest span between towers on a Gondola in the world.  We lucked out with clear skies and had great views all around.

The colors of fall are already starting

 Just a little windy
Had to leave Whistler and start making our way back down to Seattle.  Once again a very scenic drive.  The Sea to Sky highway did not disappoint.  Here are just a few shots from the drive

Took one amazing photo after another on this trip.  Was hard to decide which to post, but realized it didn't matter cause they area all great.  I hope to be able to do more exploring in this area.

Montclair, New Jersey

Spent the weekend in Montclair, New Jersey visiting family and friends.  I was fortunate to be gifted round trip tickets on the Acela train from Boston to NYC.  Not sure I will be able to go back to Bolt after such luxury. 

My Aunt Kathe, Uncle Neil and friends Phil and Lara are all living on the same street now
 Right where this station is located.  Super convenient for me and lots of fun too. 


Arrived Friday evening and enjoyed fish tacos, salsas and wine outside with everyone. 

Saturday was a little overcast, but still a very nice day.  Aunt Patty, Aunt Kathe and I went for a walk around the neighborhood.  I am always amazed by the size of some of the houses here.

Later Kathe and I headed down towards one of the shopping areas and enjoyed lunch at Raymond's

and wandered around a bit checking out the shops and area

I thought this place was cute.  Wish we had outdoor seating in Brookline.

The Police Station where my Grandpa Joe use to work

 

Then went and saw "The 100ft Journey" would recommend this one.  Very well done. 

Day complete with Sushi and Wine

 

Sunday was a lot of fun.  Went to Hoboken with my friends Phil and Lara and did some Kayaking on the Hudson.  Really cool to see views of Manhattan, but wouldn't want to fall in the water

 

 Phil and Lara making their escape from Jersey to New York

 A nice treat after kayaking

The streets of Hoboken.  I've been told this town was once a dump, but I really like it now

 

Thanks for having me.  Had a great time



Providence, RI

Went to Providence for a night, and met up with my friend Diana who is staying there a few days.  The train ride was super easy and quick.  Even though I did manage to get on the wrong train heading down.  Fortunately, ended up where I needed to be.  I guess when they say now boarding train # to destination X it doesn't mean the train that is currently at the station boarding. 

I was not impressed with this town at all.  For one thing everything was closed.  Which is good to know for the future.  Do not go on a Sunday.  Walking around the various areas- stores, restaurants everything was closed. Felt like being in an episode of  The Walking Dead.  We eventually stumbled upon a burger place for lunch and enjoyed a nice meal.

One thing that Providence is known for is the river walk area.  This was very pretty and there were even a few people on kayaks.  The city does a river fire on some nights where they light up the river. Is suppose to be pretty spectacular.  Guess if they lit the river while I was there.... Um, Nope of course not. 

One thing that Providence did have going, and something I think Boston could improve on is art.  They are suppose to have a pretty decent art scene.  Although, once again everything was closed so were not able to explore any galleries.  However, there was some decent art and interesting murals to see just wandering around town

these tiles were painted by locals as a memorial for 9/11 victims.  This is just one section of the tiles.  They were underneath a bridge on the river walk.  A great way to spruce up an otherwise drab area

I also thought this painting was fun.  It is at Trinity Bar.  A musical interpretation of the last supper
Looks like Elvis, Patsy Cline, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Billy Holiday?, I'm not sure who the next one is, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis JR, and Frank Sinatra

 

Would be interested to go back and see the river fire display.

Shawme Crowell/Myles Standish(South Shore) MA

Audra and I decided to leave the limelight of the city for a few days "roughing" it on the South Shore.  Had a "little"issue setting up the tent

somethings not right...

Seriously, WTF we both grew up camping.  Why the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks is this so hard?

Figured it out.  Never had a tent go together like this one before.  Glad we weren't dealing with setting up like our neighbors.  Unbelievable the amount of stuff people bring.  I swear some tents were bigger than my bedroom.

  After the campsite debacle we decided to head over to the beach for some well deserved R&R.  Unfortunately, it was pretty chili out so we ended up only staying about an hour

On the way back to Shawme Crowell (where we spent the first night camping) we found a bible themed mini golf course.  With bible themed holes and scriptures throughout the course.  Amen!

Was a good time.  And a few hole in ones were shot.

That night we enjoyed a nice campfire, a yummy meal and some S'mores.  As far as I am concerned the only way a graham cracker can be eaten (covered with marshmallow/chocolate yumminess)

Our coke bottle said "share a coke with Stars" perfect for camping : )

The next day we moved over to Myles Standish where we spent a few nights(Myles Standish was a military advisor for the the pilgrims not sure who or if there was a Shawme Crowell)

the campsites were right on top of each other, but we did have a beautiful lake to enjoy swimming in and some scenic hiking

 Took a little getting use to, but the water was nice and refreshing

 Enjoying a nice walk in the park

 Part of an old fireplace.  Curious what use to be here

view looking down on one of the lakes.  

Got busted by the State Police one night for being up too late.  Fortunately he did not notice the contraband we were holding as he was telling us to go to bed.  No, Officer I did not know the time nor did I know that I had a bedtime.   Such a great trip.