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July 23rd 2008

Published: July 23rd 2008

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zkabbott

Kelowna

Dolphins in Kelowna

So, I'm sure you've all just been waiting on baited breath for my next post. Well you can stop waiting, because here it is! Woo....

It's my last day here in Calgary and I can't believe it's been nearly a month for me here in Alberta. I've had the chance to see a good part of the province, play tourist for a bit and been able to just relax too.

I met up with Adam and Amanda in Kelowna and after spending the night with family friends of Amanda's we headed for her parent's place in Whitecourt, a couple hours outside of Edmonton. All of this means that we got to take the trip through the Rockies in Adam's very small, very old Neon. Once we were in Alberta we took the long way to get to Whitecourt as Adam played tour guide while we drove through Banff and Jasper parks. Very, very beautiful scenery. While it would have been nice to see the glaciers at their full winter size, seeing them melted back a bit during the summer was cool as well because we were able to see how they had cut themselves into the mountain side.

Kelowna

"No Pictures!"

Once we were in Whitecourt we headed out to a nearby lake for Canada Day. Amanda's dad took us on the lake on his boat and just dragged us along behind in a big two-seater donut all day. I was definitely sore the next day. That night I got the 'official' tour of the town (which lasted all of about 20 minutes) and capped off with us watching the fireworks show while being eaten by the mosquitoes.

After a couple down days in Calgary, we headed back north to the local redneck convention also known as the NHRA drag races. It wasn't all bad, but after I could only handle one day of the races. Although because of the rain, that's basically all there was. However, while I was there I got a chance to walk in the pits and eat all the food I could handle. On the Sunday, we headed up to West Ed Mall since the races were washed out.

Once we got back to Calgary for good, I went into full tourist mode. Got a chance to go to the zoo on one of the hottest days while I've been here. Luckily the animals

On the way to Calgary 026

hid in the shade rather then their shelters for the most part, so I got a chance to see nearly everything, including the new baby elephant. The next day we were off to check out downtown Calgary, including the Calgary tower and the University (thanks to jumping on the wrong train). After that it was off to the Stampede. To me the Stampede felt like I was at the PNE, except it had a rodeo, so that was a little disappointing, however, the atmosphere in the city was amazing, so that more then made up for it.

Also while I was here we went to dinner at a place called Aussie Rules. It describes itself as a duelling pianos restaurant, however there wasn't much duelling going on. Basically, there's two pianos set up and the guys playing would take requests for any song from the audience and do their best to cover it. While they're doing this, they're getting the audience as involved as possible whether it be through dancing, singing along or just talking with the patrons. Definitely a great time.

Anyways, I guess that's it for Alberta and I've got a nice long 15 hour bus

Banff Park

Again, the pictures really don't do the scenery justice.

ride to Vancouver ahead of me tonight. Oh well, I should be able to sleep through most of it.

Up next for me is a week at home before I head back out on the cruise ship. While I've been here I've been able to arrange a three month contract with Princess that will take me through most of the Pacific Ocean. I'll start on the first weekend of August in Honolulu before headed up the North American west coast. From there it'll be across the Bering Strait to Russia, Korea, Japan and China. After China, we'll head through SE Asia before docking in Sydney. Once in Sydney I'll be on the boat for two more small cruises - one up the Aussie coast and back then another one up to Fiji and some surrounding islands before disembarking in Sydney and coming home just before Halloween.

So, I hope everyone is doing well. Take care

Zach

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