Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Let's go West in 2015

Mike Turner
In December Sarah took us to see  William Turner's exhibition called 'Painting Set Free' at the AGO.
Mike Turner
Citizenship Ceremony held in Hamilton  Ontario. Photo courtesy of Robert.


Lynda Turner
Lynda handling a garter snake with some trepidation, asking "will it hurt me"?
Fall colours in Bronte Creek Provincial Park.
Fall colour maple tree by the Credit River
The fall colours displayed on Canoe Lake.
We have finally seen a big bull moose in Algonquin Park.
Phil came over to Canada 1st Oct 2015 and we spent 3-days in Algonquin Park to canoe, hike and see the fall colours. 
Canoeing in the Kawartha Highlands on Long Lake.
Lynda Turner
Sarah and Lynda at Workman Arts 15th Annual 'Being Scene' Juried Exhibition. Sarah was heavily involved in the organization as 'Visual Arts Coordinator'.
An American Kestral at Mountsberg Conservation Area.
A blue heron in the pond checking out the new sign. A popular visitor with the neighbors.
New sign for the pond
Robert and Brielle set to and finished the garage with plenty of finishing plaster, rubbing down and painting.
Breakfast in Bronte Provincial Park, Aug-2015.
Luke and Jass come to see Robert and Brielle in July.
Mike Turner
10 days of unimaginable beauty to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. The Rockies were pretty neat as well!
From Ladner it was only a 30 minute drive to Vancouver.
Our final destination was The Duck Inn in Ladner BC on the Fraser River.
The flag of British Columbia has the Union Jack at the top with a central crown and a setting sun below representing its location on the west coast of Canada. Also note that the flag has similarities with the flag of Suffolk county in the UK.
Driving through Rogers Pass, British Columbia was no chore!
Some views on the Trans Canada Highway were equally as impressive as the Icefields Parkay, IMHO!
With Jasper and Banff National Park's behind us we were back on the Trans Canada Highway heading to Vancouver, BC.
This was our second sighting of a black bear. Just before we took this picture the bear had run across the road in front of us.
Lynda Turner
Pyramid Lake high above the village of Jasper. We took the 10 minute ride up to the lake to have our morning coffee and to take a few pictures.
This view of Spirit Island in Maligne Lake is one of the most photographed locations in the Canadian Rockies. No surprise really.
We took the boat on Maligne Lake heading towards Spirit Island.
Medicine Lake in Jasper National Park.
Mike Turner
Columbia Icefield. The edge of the glacier is the light grey band just below Lynda's left elbow. 
A young grizzly bear just 10m of highway 93. In fact this was our second sighting of a grizzly.
The turquoise waters of Bow Lake and Crowfoot mountain on the left.
A hill side on the Bow Valley Parkway that had been ravaged by wild fire a couple of years ago. There were 180 wild fires in BC alone during our visit. The smoke from the fires reached as far as Toronto.
We had two visits to Lake Louise to try and see its true splendor. The first visit was wet and rather bleak. It had at least stopped raining the second time.
We took the Banff gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain.
Couldn't resist taking a picture of Lynda coming out of the Safeway store with the mountains in the back ground. I wouldn't mind doing the shopping if we lived here!
Grassi Lake and our first experience of the turquoise waters.  
A short climb up to Grassi Lake under blue sky and big mountains in Canmore, Alberta.
The open highway and the 'Rockies' ahead of us.
Heading west from Calgary to Canmore on the Trans Canada Highway.
On top of Nose Hill, enjoying the view of down town Calgary.
On the steps of Alissa's new home in Kensington, Calgary.
We have finally arrived in Alberta after eight years of talking about visiting western Canada. Our road trip started in Calgary on  June 26, 2015.
Practising using Dad's Sony DSC-T50 camera out by the pond last evening, June 13th.
More practice with the new camera. My Sony stopped working last week. Electronics are not made to last these days.
We found another gem of a river for kayaking called Nonquon River in the village of Seagrave, Ontario. We also found a great ramp to launch our kayak at the end of Riverview Road in Seagrave. The Nonquon River runs into the Scugog Lake at the point where Lynda took the picture.
Lynda checking the survival pack before we set off on Lake Ontario. "Whistle - check, string - check, cork screw - check".
A blustery day in May on lake Ontario.
We came across this Whitetail deer in Rattray Marsh.
A calm peaceful day on lake Ontario, May 2015.
The last week in April and still no leaves on the tees but it definitely feels like spring is on the way.
This family of raccoon's were in our tree waiting to greet us as we left for work this morning 23-Mar-15. Needless to say we were all late for work!
The families getting together in The Cannon Brewery in Bury St Edmunds.
Lynda went to see Alfie in March.
Robert's house is taking shape just off Appleby Line.
Unfortunately this was Lynda's only ski trip in 2015. At least she had a chance to try her new ski boots.
Lynda making friends with a Chickadee. We met some bird spotters who had come to the park to see the Boreal Chickadee which flies down to southern Ontario from the Boreal forests of Canada.
Taking a break! We both suffered aches and pains this winter. As Lynda's dad would say "it's a sign of getting older"! I hope it's just a passing phase.
We ventured out a few feet on to the lake for this photo, which was fine until Lynda saw water filling up our foot-prints in the snow.
A painting by Sarah. I call it 'Geese in Flight' but maybe that's not the official title! Either way I love the painting,
Peck Lake, Algonquin Park February 16th. Temperature -28 degrees C. This morning we enjoyed one of the prettiest walks ever around this lake in the park. Our trip to Algonquin was the highlight of what was an extremely cold winter.
Mike had a day at Glen Eden 24-Jan. Unfortunately the winter of 2014/15 was a disappointing ski season. We just didn't get out enough!
A winter walk on the Escarpment.