Saturday Jan 8

 The following photo says much about my thinking about why we choose Manzanillo to spend some time in.

Our apartment floor has two different levels with one part about six inches higher than the part where we spend most of our time.

This morning (our first here) Caro forgot the floor height difference and consequently took a tumble down to the lower level, spraining her foot in the process. 

She iced it for a few hours and later, after consulting with Edu in Mexico City I was sent to the nearest farmacia (pharmacy) to get some medical ointments etc. This farmacia was about 1.4 km away so it was a nice healthy walk for me!

Supper was from the beach restaurant. Caro had ceviche and I had quesadillas de camaron (shrimp).The food was awesome and delivered right to us. It cost $21 (with tip) and was so tasty I imagine we will have food from there many more times.

We Facetimed everyone in the family today at one time or another. Awesome!!

The sunset tonight was another amazing one.

At the entrance to the beach you can see the canvas roof where the restaurant people are.After we go there to make our food choices I believe they cook the food in an old abandoned building located right beside us.This location was overgrown,full of trees and weeds two years ago but is now cleaned up and for sale. I think it must be temporarily repurposed until sold.

Finally in Manzanillo

 

The view from our 2nd floor veranda apartment beside the beach here in Manzanillo.

This morning we were up before we had to be. I slept sort of OK, but Caro slept poorly. We ate the hotel provided self serve breakfast which was great and were on the shuttle bus at 0700.

Checking in with Westjet went smoothly and the security was thorough,but quick.My chromebook is like a magnet to the CTSA people and is checked every time for explosives (I presume).

Our flight was delayed 30 minutes until 10:20 and was fully loaded (as expected due to yesterdays cancellation). We spoke to one couple in the same situation as us and they were sent to Puerto Vallarta instead of Manzanillo but they got their hotel paid last night by Westjet so perhaps that was their compensation. They had friends coming to meet them from a town 90 minutes north of here (which is about three or more hours drive south from PV).

After a 40ish minute cab ride from the airport we arrived here. First things first; Caro went to the beach restaurant and ordered fresh seafood for supper. a nice way to start!

We got our apartment tour from co-host  Adrian and later, with Emma (the family/owner representative) on speaker phone we got the go-ahead to pay him (Adrian) our seven weeks rent of $C2200. I consider that price fairly good for being next door to the beach. I am pretty sure we can get much cheaper options elsewhere in town but the location is worth it! As I write this just after 9:15 PM it is 24 degrees, the doors to the veranda are open,a breeze is cooling things down (a bit) and I hear the waves lapping onto the beach. This is a quiet area so even though it is a Friday night and there are no parties on the beach . 

That is why we pay the OUTRAGEOUS price of $44 a night (tongue in cheek!)

We popped over to the OXXO store for some breakfast supplies for tomorrow. 

I have been using Surfshark VPN at home for awhile, making my computer  look like I was located in Vancouver My reasons for doing this was to see if, when I was here in Mexico, I could do the same thing (i.e. setting the VPN so it looked like I was in Vancouver) and be able to do banking easily without grief from the banks (wondering if I was really me and not someone else using my log-ins). I was able to get on ATB and BMO without any issues (which I couldn't go two years ago when here). Fingers crossed this continues to be the case!

Last year when I got A/C installed at the house I put in a NEST "Smart" thermostat. This enables me (and any else I designate) to see and adjust the house temperature. I was able to see the house temperature from here (and I know Lisa and Vanessa are also checking) so that is a sense of relief that our house can easily be checked without physically being there (and the water is turned off as well)

A great day and now it is time to have a rum and listen to the ocean.

or 

Shouldn't the Title heading say "Manzanillo?

We have each received three covid vaccine shots (one Astra Zeneca and two Pfizer) last year and so decided to get out of the cold, thinking that as long as we were careful we shouldn't run into any difficulties. We booked a seven week stay in Manzanillo directly with the apartment place we stayed at two years ago, getting a very good nightly rate in the process (we choose a bigger apartment than last time as well)

Last night Mike took us to the 4points by Sheraton airport hotel (Thanks again Mike) and by 10:30 we were asleep; sleeping much better than we thought we would. We were up at 4 AM and caught the 5 AM shuttle. Check-in went smoothly and our 0715 Calgary flight left pretty much on time.

Upon disembarking and making our way to the next gate we found that our flight to Manzanillo had been cancelled during the time we were flying from Edmonton. Many Westjet employees were coming down with covid (or having close contact) and having to call in sick. There were quite a few cancelled flights.

We had to retrieve our checked luggage (which seemed to take a long time) and get new flights. Passengers were scrambling, looking for alternative flights but in the mean time Westjet had been busy (behind the scenes) re-booking everyone as best they could. We lucked out completely by getting the same flight tomorrow where as others have to go to Vancouver, then Mexico City,then to Manzanillo. 

I was having trouble with the Westjet app and while it appeared that we had been already booked for tomorrow's flight I wasn't completely positive. So while Caro waited for the luggage I left the "secure" area and headed to the departure floor where a Westjet employee very nicely gave me a hand confirming we were good to go for the Friday flight.

Shortly after that Caro texted me saying she had our luggage. EXCELLENT! Turns out we got another stroke of luck as only a few bags from our flight had been off-loaded and ours were two of them. Caro said that hardly anybody else had received their baggage at that point. Not sure why this happened but we're happy with the results!

We booked a room at the Wingate by Wyndham hotel near the airport. We had to call the hotel for the airport shuttle and while on hold waiting,....and waiting ...and waiting  (sigh) I went outside to look around for the shuttle (just in case it came by) and "Holy Cow", there it was!! Major luck there as it is bitterly cold and not nice at all. I couldn't believe it.

Our room is very nice however we were surprised that there were no restaurants nearby so we just snacked for a bit. Caro did an hour long work out in the exercise room (I did a fast paced mile on the treadmill) and afterwards we went to the pool room. Covid rules were that we had to book the pool room at a specific time,for a limited length of time and with just the two of us there. OK by us!!

Caro made it to the main pool; I made it as far as the hot tub.

Supper was a delivery by Panago Pizza, as it was 0.5 km walk to a Tim Hortons (and we are not dressed for  the bitter cold).

Caro and I can not remember ever being impacted by a flight cancellation (while in the middle of a travel day). Still, all in all a good day!

Radium to home

 This morning we started heading towards home thinking that we would probably make it to Calgary depending on how many things we would do, or go see.

After a fabulous night of sleep and an excellent breakfast purchased from a very busy cafe we were on the road around 9 A.M.

Our first stop was Numa Falls on highway 93 in Kootenay National Park. This is a cute little water falls right beside the highway. It had a nice picnic area too.

A little further up the road was our first hike at Painted Pot. We had anticipated doing a couple of kilometres there but the trail conditions were quite bad and we soon returned to our vehicle.

A few kilometres more was Marble Canyon. This canyon is like a smaller version of Maligne Canyon and was very beautiful to walk alongside (and up to the start of the falls). There were a few people enjoying the canyon with us

The drive north through Kootenay Park was fabulous. The colors of the trees were stunning and the mountains spectacular. I like that mountain scenery better than Banff National (at least the areas I am familiar with)

When we reentered Banff we took a chance and headed north to the Lake Louise area. I knew that it would be impossible to get parking at the lake however we weren't going to even try there but instead to go to Moraine Lake. As we were getting closer to the town we saw the "park and ride to the lake" parking lot jammed and shortly afterward an electronic sign saying both the Lake Louise AND Moraine Lake parking lots were full.I was surprised that Moraine Lake was full as it is a fair ways from Lake Louise and not as famous. Oh well.

We headed down the Bow Valley Parkway at a leisurely pace and stopped at a hiking location; the Castle Lookout hike. A long one at 3.7 km but we decided to give it a whirl. Turns out it is a hard core hike beyond our "old people" capabilities. We did about one km and were going hard up the mountain puffing away when we met some people who had just turned around. They had a sophisticated hiking app on their cell showing that we had only gone up 120 vertical metres with about 350 more to go in the remaining 2.7 km to the top. Back down we went!

We bypassed Johnston Canyon as it was a zoo with many people there

Caro wanted to see a quilt shop in Canmore so that is where we went next.

As we had completed everything we had wanted and didn't feel like hiking trails in Canmore we decided to head for home.

We arrived back about 7:30.

Radium Hot Springs Friday Oct 1/21

 This morning we woke to heavy fog in the valley. I had had a poor nights sleep on a mattress that sloped towards the middle. Caro slept well as she was tired from driving so much.

After our breakfast ( included in the room cost) we headed to Sinclair Trail here in Radium. It was an easy 2 k. walk along the creek; very enjoyable.

Next it was off to Invermere. Beautiful town! We drove around the town, enjoying the beautiful houses, and after a bit we stopped at the Kinsmen Park on Windermere Lake. Beautiful photo opportunity at 10:45 A.M. this morning.

Next we went to Panorama ski resort. After a 20 -25 minute drive through twisty turny roads we got to the resort. The hill wasn't as great as we expected but the time share and hill resort houses were gorgeous and we spent 30 minutes walking around these locations. I can see why some people love to come there for vacation weeks.

Our next stop was Fairmont Hot Springs where we intended to sit in the hot pool for a while. Unfortunately in order to swim there you had to have purchased a membership or be staying at the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort (at $329/night). Plan B was hiking so that is what we did!

Just a few miles south of the hot springs is a wonderful area with a trail to the HooDoo's. Another 2 k. under our belt after our visit. A  really interesting hike (about 100 metre height change overall so we had a good work out)

We drove a back road back to Invermere. This road has an adjoining bike path for the 20 ish kilometre drive back to Invermere. Not for us! Looks like a fabulous bike ride but too much for us to do. There are some really steep portions to climb.

We ended up going back to Radium. We spent over an hour in the hot springs pool, then ate supper at an Austrian restaurant where we had eaten some years ago (with Mike, Michelle and Vanessa if my memory is correct). Great food!. We shared an appetizer plate and then shared a main course.

We are at a different motel tonight as last night's place is full.

Radium Hot Springs

 Thursday Sept 30/21

We decided to go away for a few days and headed to B.C.

We were on the QE2 by about 9.A.M. with Caro at the wheel (we are using her Ford Escape- and listening to 60's on 6 of course).

A quick stop at Red Deer (Tim Horton's in Gasoline Alley) and then we were on the road to Canmore. Here we stopped at Subway and had a gas fill up. I found Canmore very busy and getting more and more like Banff. YUCK !!

We continued towards Lake Louise and then took highway 93 towards Radium. Highway 1 is closed near Golden so all traffic heading west had to take a detour down highway 93 to Radium before heading back towards Golden. Traffic got very heavy and slow at times.

We got to the hot springs about 3:45 and enjoyed an hour of relaxation and unwinding. Caro had driven from the Fort to Canmore and was quite tired. I had only driven about 90 minutes but it was stressful with all the traffic and the curvy mountain roads.

The photo above was taken as we left the hot springs. There were maybe three times as many people there when we arrived however even with covid restrictions there were no issues. Everybody's group  seemed to keep about a six foot difference from other people and everything went smoothly.

We got a motel room in town high up on the mountain so there isn't much traffic noise from the extremely busy highway. Our room has a nice view down into the valley

The road in the photo is the street that goes to the place in the valley where we stayed with Mike and Michelle a few years ago

We ate a local (recommended) pub (YUMMY) and came back early to our room to relax. The pub checked our vaccine status but didn't confirm that our vaccine card matched our drivers license name. I suspect it will be like that everywhere. 

It has been raining quite a bit this evening so we are hoping the hiking trails are not too bad in the morning.

Aug 1-Back home

We left Fort St. John about 8 A.M. 

Just outside Grande Prairie is the Currie Dinosaur Museum which I had wanted to see. We made a stop there but we didn't spend a lot of time. The museum is nice and well done.

We continued on the Grande Prairie and Caro took over the driving on the four lane divided.

We were home just before five and got right at cleaning out the car and getting the Yukon dust removed at the car wash.

 Kms driven 672 for a vacation final total of 6206 km.

The engine clock showed 71.24 hours total and the Escape got 12.2 km/l (34.5 mpg)

The only issue (after the windshield replacement on day 1) was a burnt out low beam headlight bulb.

There was no use of the spare tire or the camping gear.

As always we had a wonderful trip