Saying Goodbye To The Nephews

From the left: Ryan, Kyle and Erik.

Ryan and Kyle weren't smiling, I think they we're sad to see us leave, they were holding back the tears. I must have had such an affect on them. It's ok guys, you'll see us again soon.

More Hidden Cranbrook History

Here's Donna standing on the wrong side of the bridge that leads from Cranbrook to Kimberley.

Donnas Dad helped build this bridge, she showed me his initials (AM) in the cement overlooking the beautiful valley.

Photo's on Facebook

Tony (Anton) Moskal Ranch

Donna writes:

I brought Wes to this place on one of our last nights in Cranbrook. No trip to this area was complete without seeing the farm that my Dad built and which was the last place where he had lived. I felt it was a way that I could introduce Wes to my Father because it still bears witness to the perfectionist that he was as well as showing Wes a little of how I grew up on "the farm".

Unfortunately we didn't get to see the house that he built but we viewed it from a distance as we drove onto the property turning around at the lower barn area. We sat down at the old out buildings for a bit while I rattled on about the place and all the memories it held.

As we were leaving I asked Wes to stop and take a picture of me at the gates to the property. I was overcome with sadness standing there. The gates were still unfinished and looked exactly as they looked so many years ago. I felt they represented my father in a way. He too was taken from us far too young and left us... unfinished.

I don't know if the present owners ever intend to finish these gates but part of me doesn't want to know. For me they will always remain like this, waiting to be finished, wondering what they would've looked like if they had the chance... just like my Dad.

Gravity Hill

So we're back, after a long hiatus, back on the journey towards the the wedding on the beach. We know you've all been faithful and patient as we waited for our broadband to come on and to sort through things.

This image is of Gravity Hill. That's the unofficial name. It looks like we are standing at the top doesn't it? Well, Donna took me to the 'bottom' which is like, the third telegraph pole down and asked me to stop when I thought we had reached the lowest point. Then she put the car into neutral.

The car rolled back to where we are now and the photo was taken from. Weird huh?

So that's the story of Gravity Hill.

Stand by for more posts, I am now abandoning the back-dating system and simply posting with current dating.

On The Road: Calgary to Cranbrook

Some random photo's on the road to various places.

Views of Highway 22X "The Shortcut" Cranbrook to Calgary. Canadians are a friendly people, it's almost as if they purposefully put all these landmarks and interesting things out for your enjoyment and amusement as you travel. Above is a fence with a baseball cap on every post, and one even had it's own bra.

This is possibly the most photographed tree in the world. It's located on a highway near Crows Nest and is regularly used for magazines and publications, recognise it?

Pizza Time!

Far left: from the left: Mike and wife Shannon, son Erik and me. Near left: Donna's mum Elsie, Mike and Erik.

MIA: Kyle & Ryan Moskal

There are 4(?) computers in their house (next door to Elsie). My brother-in-law, Mike has even built his own games arcade (below). Mike if you build a fruit machine we could be on to a winner.

Jetlagged

We finally made it to Elsie's (Donna's Mum) house Cranbrook, so far I survived jetlag from a 9 hour flight, then a 4 hour car trip and it shows. No sooner had I arrived I got to meet new inlaws
as they came round to interrogate welcome me.