This is the 10th of a series of posts dealing with my 2023 trip to Calgary, Edmonton, and vicinity. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports (typos, bits I don’t feel like making public). Also, I’ve added additional thoughts with the hindsight of a year later or to add further clarification. These are indicated by “NOW”.
Another emotional roller coaster day. It started to rain just as I was about to leave the Calgary Hub hostel. At first it wasn't so bad and the umbrella kept my camera safe. But then the wind picked up and proceeded to wreck the umbrella, which was only in its second day of use. Someone saw me struggling and offered me a ride. My main destination would have been too soon but I agreed to a ride to a McDonald's along the way (on 32nd Ave NE). After breakfast the rain subsided and I was able to walk to Whitehorn Station okay. I had over a half hour wait for my bus; towards the end the rain picked up again. The 900 Airdrie Transit bus finally arrived. During the ride my viewsreen somehow got an internal scratch. Well, better that than the lens. No stops were announced so I took a guess where to get off, which proved to me my planned stop anyway.
It was definitely coming down when I got off the bus in Airdrie. I stumbled upon Jensen Park, which had a covered area, so I stood in there while I figured out a plan. I walked to the not yet open Where on Earth... Antique Mall, and then started back towards where I started in Airdrie. I only got as far as Jensen Park and stood in the same covered area until it was close to the time for the antique mall to open. The workers there offered to lend me an umbrella but I politely declined as I probably wouldn't have been able to return it.
Treasure Cove Comics was open early, though there was some construction inside. A dog inside seemed curious and suspicious. I got permission to photograph the dog, whereupon I noticed my camera wasn't working right. The owner gave me some paper towels to rest the camera on and I browsed longer than planned. I did buy a Blu-ray and a TV DVD. Not sure if I managed to get that dog photo. The camera wasn't working at time of leave so tried to protect it as well as I could in my backpack.
[NOW: I did managed to photograph the dog.]
I think I just missed the bus back so tried to intercept it the other direction but got turned around. I tried taking a few photos with my cell but even that was tricky in the rain, plus cell has limited memory. I thought about going to Snap Collectibles as originally planned but I had already missed one hourly bus and it seemed unlikely I could get photos. I visited a thrift store near Treasure Cove and then returned to the bus stop, opting for the incoming stop to be in a dry bus longer, The 900 return bus finally arrived, and beyond a few hiccups, was able to get my camera working again. As long as I didn't turn it off I was fine.Airdrie did seem nice as far as I could see and I regret that the weather didn't permit me to explore the way I wanted to.
I returned to Whitehorn Station, Calgary. There was a wait, where I stayed in the indoor area, but a 202/Blue Line CTrain (all remaining transit today Calgary Transit) finally arrived. At this point I figured out I could get the camera working if I pressed the shutter while it was trying to turn on. There was some sort of incident and the light rail was one lane for a stretch, so this time the bit about "doors *normally* open on the left/right made sense. At one an area was partly blocked off. Looked like a store had a fire, ironically. I got off at West 1 St Station and grabbed a late lunch at the usual downtown McDonald's, the rain having stopped. I think cardboard covered broken glass at the entrance,two of the self-serve screens didn't work (one was smashed) and the other two were only accessible via narrow space, and one of the two pop fountain dispensers was broken but it was good enough for a meal. At a Dollarama a couple doors down (same one as before) I got some comic trades and my main objective, a new umbrella. I put the broken one in a garbage can.
[NOW: The above McDonald’s and Dollarama are on 8th Ave SW.]
I walked to Dragon City Mall again and revisited Super Video. Curiously the mall has signage pointing to restrooms but then says they're not for the public. I walked Prince Island's Park again, spending more time there than before. At one point I crossed a large bridge and back. I eventually left the park and crossed the Peace Bridge and back (so lots of views of Bow River). I walked to a park near Shelf Life Books, Central Memorial Park. I had passed by it on day 1 and it looked interesting so I wanted to revisit it. I revisited Shelf Life Books. Some books I was tempted by, but they were new and I'm hoping to not have to pay for another check in bag at the airport. I walked to West 7th Station.
I let one 201 Red Line Ctrain pass because it was too crammed but since that appeared to be the case with all trains given the delays due to whatever incident, the next time a 201 train showed up I let myself get crammed in. No photos during the train ride. Way too crammed for that. When I got off at Brentwood Station my camera was working normally again. Not trusting the weather, I had dinner at Wendy's (same as yesterday breakfast) despite the late lunch. I visited a Dollarama at Brentwood Centre and got a couple Blu-rays at CD Trader. I took a 38 bus to near the hostel. I was right not to trust the weather; it was starting to rain again. I think either my own water bottle or the bottled water bottle I was reusing has a leak. I made it to the hostel before the rain got too bad again, calling it an early night. It was time to quit while I was ahead with the camera. Even now tomorrow will tell the tale. If it's still working okay tomorrow, I'm probably okay. I chatted a while with one of the other people staying here, so the early end of the day still had me doing something borderline vacation. Tomorrow if it comes to it I'll take a bus somewhere to get a day pass despite the extra fare, as my main priority is having a working camera Friday for the flight home.
[NOW: As it turns out, the weather held for the remainder of the trip.]
No comments:
Post a Comment