Alberta Trip 2023 Day 12 Friday June 16 Calgary to Victoria

 

This is the 12^th 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”.

 

Doing a morning edition so as to have less to type later (and to prevent myself from getting too sweaty doing another walk).

 

Forgot to mention yesterday: smoky all day. Just before getting back to the Calgary Hub hostel I saw a cat. I think it was only the second cat I had seen the entire trip, the first being the store cat in the 82^nd Ave branch of Wee Book Inn, Edmonton.I think I interrupted a dispute between it and a couple magpies.

 

Leaving the Calgary Hub hostel today, I saw another large rabbit/hare. I walked north along Centre St then east along 64 Ave to the Deerfoot City shopping area. I made note of a couple opening times. I walked to the McDonald's from Day 2, at Aviation and McKnight. I might have been able to go to one at Deerfoot, but I had time to kill. Heading back to Deerfoot a somewhat different way, I took some plane photos my dad would have liked if he was still around. I got turned around a bit (multiple streets named Aviation in the same area). A territorial magpie started following me and scolding me. Back at Deerfoot I visited Walmart to kill time and then after it opened I bought some comic trades at Dollarama.

 

Leaving the mall, after a short hike west, I went south down 4th St SE and then checked out gas stations and a 7-11 at the corner of McKnight and Centre. For future notes for my photos I wanted to get a map book. I had passed on a larger one once earlier, at the other Walmart, but now I felt it would be nice to have. No luck but maybe at the airport. This concludes the exploratory part of the trip other than the Calgary Airport. I might stop off at Elk Lake on the way home from the Victoria Airport, weather and energy level depending. Have a great day everyone!

 

[NOW: I did have a map book but it’s outdated and got a bit damaged during the trip. I didn’t make it to Elk Lake. As noted, the above was written in the morning, the next part in the afternoon.]

 

Wasn't going to do an afternoon edition but bored.

 

The owner of the hostel was kind enough to offer me a ride to the bus stop, thus saving me a tiring hike, albeit not that far. The 300 bus (Calgary Transit) arrived soon after. At Calgary International Airport I realized that the bag that was going to be my carry on bad was a little too big so I shuffled things around to put that bag in my suitcase and use my backpack as carry on. The woman at reception recommended moving a few things to carry on and said that while my gate was C, Gate B was faster for going through security. As opposed to Gate C being about 30 minutes, I was through in less than 5. I beeped going through the metal detector but that resulted in a minor check.

 

I didn't like the dining options in Gate C so I checked the other gates. Burger King in Gate B's menu was hard to read (white lettering in black background) so I found an A&W in a Food Court in Gate A. I think it was the place I ate at in a layover from my second last flight home from Toronto. Returning to Gate C, I learned my flight was delayed 30 minutes. Hopefully that's it.

 

[NOW: The rest was written in the evening.]

 

The plane was pretty packed so I decided I'd better doublecheck my backpack before boarding to make sure it still fit in carry on. It didn't so I agreed to have it moved to check in because it would probably prove mandatory anyway. I still had to keep my laptop with me. The plastic bag I had in my backpack quickly started to tear so I arranged to get a tougher plastic bag. The flight itself was cloudy most of the way, though I did get decent take-off and landing photos. It was interesting seeing downtown Calgary from above after seeing it below so often lately. I think the flight was about an hour late getting into Victoria. It was warm but overcast at the Victoria International Airport, North Saanich so while I decided to hike to McTavish Exchange instead of spending the extra bus ticket there, I decided to pass on going to Elk Lake. I arrived at the exchange around the same time as people taking the 88 bus (Victoria Regional Transit) did.

 

I look the 72 bus (also Victoria Regional Transit) to the Legislature and walked home; en route I saw that Ricky's Grill had clearly had a fire earlier today.

 

[NOW: The restaurant proved to be unsalvageable and has since been demolished.]

 

In terms of the CTrain, it appears that the delays two days ago were due to a man wielding a hatchet, though a stabbing the day before might also have been part of it.

 

This ends the trip reports.

Alberta Trip 2023 Day 11 Thursday June 15 Calgary

 

This is the 11^th 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”.

 

Rain was supposed to happen all morning today but when I left the Calgary Hub hostel the air was brisk but no rain. A bus arrived at the bus stop at the same time as I did, but since it wasn't bad out, I decided to abandon my original plan of taking a bus downtown and then getting a daypass. Instead I switched from Edmonton Trail to Centre St and walked downtown. I grabbed breakfast at the downtown McDonald's I went to the most. I think a street woman wanted the cashier to fill her larger coffee cup for free; instead the cashier gave her a smaller cup.

 

[NOW: This McDonald’s is on 8^th Ave SW.]

 

I returned to the Saddledome. This time despite the construction I managed to get some better photos of the arena. I walked to The large field at Fort Calgary. Soon after it started to rain but it wasn't windy, so the umbrella protected my camera for the minute or two that it rained. No further rain today. I walked along 9th AVE SE, going a bit further east than before; along the way, and I saw this a few days ago, I saw I think a novelty fashion store where one of the mannequins had a skull for a head; before that I saw Park Park, a combination parking lot and park; there's a basketball hoop by one off the parking spaces. What could possibly go wrong? Going west, I revisited Fair's Fair Books. I walked to Centre Street Station and paid my only transit fare of the day. I took a 201/Red Line CTrain (Calgary Transit) to Chinook Station. I revisited Comic-Kaze and bought a book at the other Fair's Fair Books. I walked through Chinook Centre, passing through Shopper's Drug Mart, and had lunch at the KFC at the Food Court (I had originally planned to eat there en route to Weaselhead Flats but tweaked my route).

 

I took a walkway from Chinook Centre to near Chinook Station; this let me bypass a couple of street lights. A return 201 CTrain arrived a minute or two before the 90 minute ticket ran out and I took it to City Hall Station. I revisited the fountain close to City Hall (I no longer think it's right at City Hall) then walked along 7th Ave SW a ways. At a Circle K I bought a Jones fountain drink. I crossed a bridge to the Sunnyside region.. Walking along Kensington I revisited Pages (which did not want me to leave my bag by the counter, unlike most bookstores. Heading north, I visited the 16th Ave Phoenix Comics, very close to SAIT. I( returned south the same way and revisited Another Dimension Comics; there were issues I didn't have of a magazine I read (Alter Ego), but wasn't sure of the s[pace situation with my luggage so I passed; the cost would have added up anyway. I also revisited A Rare Bookstore by DJ.

 

[NOW: The fountain is at Olympic Plaza.]

 

I crossed the Bow River and back a few times via various bridges, including one where the light rail went overhead. I crossed a fourth time but to Prince's Island Park. I headed easy and then left the island and checked just the video store part of Sanktjuri-buks. I returned to the fountain, then went to the Calgary Library and the municipal Centre across the street, then back to the fountain. I worked my way north mostly via Edmonton Trail. I revisited Redd Skull Comics before dinner at the A&W near the hostel. I packed for tomorrow; looks like I managed to get everything into one check-in bag and one carry one, with my backpack in the latter. I think tomorrow I'll skip downtown even though I’ll have time, as it feels like I said my goodbyes to that part of the trip. Likely will explore a bit to the north of the hostel instead.

 

[NOW: Sanktjuri-buks is in Eau Claire Market. I did in fact explore north on the last day.]

Alberta Trip 2023 Day 10 Wednesday June 14 Calgary, Airdrie

 

This is the 10^th 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 8^th 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.]