Blogs from Canada, North America - page 1229

Happy 4th of July! It feels very strange to not have the red, white and blue decorations everywhere, and to not be in Lambert, Montana. I have thought of their parade, and know that it’s as fun this year as every year, and my mouth waters at the thought of their bbq lunch! We went to Troschu~~a small town about 20 minutes from here. They have a gorgeous arboretum, and all of us took sandwiches and ate dinner there. There wasn’t anyone else there, so we ate on the deck, surrounded by the incredible flowers and birds and butterflies…and very few mosquitoes. It was a still, warm evening. They have a checkerboard set into the grass with square concrete pavers, and circles made from 2 x 12s, with eye hooks in the top. Each player had ... read more

Why NOT Saskatchewan?? This is a posting to summarize our feelings about our 2½ weeks in Saskatchewan. On the whole we thoroughly enjoyed it, and recommend it heartily to anyone planning a leisurely trip through the western portion of Canada. First of all it’s not entirely flat. If one ventures off the main highways, especially towards the provincial parks & the river valleys, there are lovely hills, not amazingly impressive as in Alberta or British Colombia, but of a more reasonable, “livable” scale. At this time of year too, the patterns of greens and yellows in the fields are really pretty - I can’t think of a better way to describe them. The abandoned houses & barns lend an eerie, somewhat sad touch to many of the views - you wonder who lived there & what ... read more

Salut! So, I am here in Quebec City, about ready to go! I was planning to leave yesterday, but was convinced to stay one more night for some hanging out with my couchsurfing host, a moto ride with Andrienne through the mountains north of Quebec (specifically the 371 provincial road!!), and a date with Vanessa in Old Quebec. So now I have a million miles to go before I get to CT and it will be a long long looooooonng day today. However, I am very much looking forward to taking a state highway (201) through the best uninhabited parts of Maine. I have a feeling this afternoon and tonite will just be grueling, but I will figure something out along the way. Maybe sleep under a bridge... who knows? Anyway, its time to hit the ... read more

Today Sue and I did our sampling from helicopter floats! Such an adventure. Some of the lakes Sue has included in her study are more isolated than the ones we have been using the canoe on and would be a 45 min hike dragging the canoe through the forest to get to them. So helicopter is our mode of transportation. Helicopters are soooooo expensive! Luckly the Lesack lab has a grant for helicopter time so we hopped onto a Long Ranger at the airport and off we went. The delta looks so unreal from the sky! Hundreds of lakes scattered around the muddy river. We went to 4 lakes today and collected our usual samples. The pilot kept the helicopter running while we climbed out onto the floats with our zooplankton nets, bottles, seives and ... read more

UntitledSorry but I have to make this quick. Today I learned about the health care system first hand. Turns out I somehow have vertigo, which is some strange thing that makes me feel light headed and dizzy at times. The doctor says that I could have it from 2 to 3 weeks! I'm hoping it goes away by tomorrow. Although I missed a tour of the parliament house, I still made it to the Fulbright offices in Ottawa where we met with teachers and a superintendent of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario. Here's an interesting fact- There are four types of public school districts that exist in accordance to the Canadian Constitution: 1. Catholic, 2. French, 3.English, 4. Public. We then had dinner at an Aboriginal restaurant where we ate traditional Canadian foods. ... read more