on the road again...days 4 & 5

day 4 took us through big sky country - montana. miles and miles of rolling grass hills and farmland, including cows, bison, antelope, emus, llamas, and sheep. we felt very much out of place in our shorts and flip flops, garnering stares every time we stepped into a local establishment. we crossed over the northeast tip of wyoming and then into south dakota for the night. we visited mount rushmore to get a photo of the infamous presidental faces and then settled back into rapid city, south dakota.






day 5 was a long one, but both of us were keen to drive so we just gave 'er. an hour into our drive we arrived at the Bad Lands in south dakota and took some amazing photos below. imagine crossing these rock formations on horse, because that's what the native american sioux did hundreds of years ago. the bad lands reminded us a lot of Moab, Utah, which we visited on our trip west over a year ago.





this is a prairie dog. they are tiny and hilarious. we spotted hundreds of them from the car and when aimee got out to get a picture, she scared all of them away. we managed to get this picture with our telephoto lense (which exaggerates their true and tiny size).


another installment of "where's aimee?"

after the badlands, the photos ended, but the driving continued...and continued...and continued. today, on day 5, we crossed south dakota, minnesota, and crossed into wisconsin after 11 hours on the road. and in south dakota, we finally entered the central time zone! woot! we decided to settle in at la crosse, wisconsin; however, when we got there, we found out that every hotel within a 50 km radius was booked because of oktoberfest festivities. so, we drove some more, and find ourselves in the last room of a family-owned inn in tomah, wisconsin. where you ask? ...good question! it's east and that's all that matters! day 6's destination: somewhereville, michigan!

on the road again...days 1-3

we left vancouver on september 30 wide-eyed and ready to take in all the beauty around us that is BC. we did a quick trek to kelowna, bc and were again lucky to spend it with chris' aunt sandy and her family. we left early the next morning and began our drive to calgary. this, of course, took us through the canadian rockies. so beautiful. so majestic. especially with the fall colours in full force. on our way to calgary, we had to stop and spend some time in banff where we visited the hot springs for a quick dip as a reward for all of the driving that day. in calgary, we were so lucky to catch up with friends (greg & rachelle, andrew mac, johnny mac and angela). and thanks to greg and rachelle (& adelle) for putting us up for the night.




we left calgary at 6:30 this morning and made our way south to montana. montana - so beautiful, so serene. cowboys. cowboy boots. cowboy hats. big belt buckles. funny drawls. but friendly. we drove as long as we could and 10 hours later ended up in billings, montana where we've settled for the night. as for tomorrow, we decided to take it easy and do a half-day drive to mount rushmore in south dakota to take in the presidential sights. so timely. speaking of which, we made sure to rush back to our hotel room this evening to see the VP debate. our favourite buzz words this evening were: heckava, maverick, round'em up, reerin' its head, ramp up...good grief!





good signage in montana...

so long. farewell...BC

so, just like that, 13 months of living in vancouver is over. kaput. done. and what a time it has been. the van is packed, the apartment emptied. we leave in a few hours. next adventure: the drive home! kelowna, bc today, calgary tomorrow. then, montana, south dakota, etc. until we reach ontario, which will include some familiar pit stops and visits with family and friends. final destination: halifax. ETA: thanksgiving weekend. and like the 1st time around, this blog will chronicle the journey back...so stay tuned...we may be hitting a city near you!

some images from this summer...

kayaking & camping - north vancouver, bc





jason & ziggy visit from australia


brotherly love


view from grouse mountain


grizzly habitat (grouse mtn)


mountain biking in whistler

looks like we got out of here in the nick of time...chris was really pushing the limits (and my buttons) with these jumps...



our favourite beach - spanish banks, vancouver


our friends' dave & neil threw a bond-themed going away bash for us...


dave, chris, & neil doing what they do best

snowboarding in august...seriously!

when you're in oregon in august, what else is there to do but windsurf or bike, right? how about snowboarding?! that's precisely what we did on 08/02/08 - snowboard on mt. hood. totally spontaneous. totally outrageous. totally wet. totally fun.

yes, those are jeans. JEANS! we had nothing else, but it was perfect.

chris looking 80's retro with his red biking gloves

above the clouds. 11,000 ft elevation.

photo credits: lisa currer

long time, no blog

we've been a-buzz these last few months...multiple visits from family and friends and trips of our own (oregon, victoria) and of course work...work...thesis...work etc etc etc etc.

we had a great visit with mom and dad. then came a fun-filled week with lynn, who as expected, did the most wonderful job of tour-guiding herself around the city while we worked. we highly recommend you having her to your home if the opportunity arises. and how fun was it to have my big sister, monique, here to catch a glimpse of our lives here in the big city of vancuever (that's how the locals pronounce it; our vancoover is a dead give away that we're misplaced, from another city. i've decided to conform, chris refuses). then came tanya, chris' classmate from TUNS/Dal-Tech (whatever) who was about to embark on a bike race across BC (and who subsequently did amazingly well - yah tanya!). chris' folks will be here in a few weeks, after we spend the long august weekend with them, back on the oregon coast.

it's hard to imagine that i have 4.5 weeks of work left and chris is not far behind. vancouver did not disappoint. we've had the best year.

some highlights from the last few months...


kayaking at deep cove. north shore, bc:



view from granville bridge:


hiking on the north shore:



fireworks viewed from chris' work:

trip to victoria. we decided to ride in style and take a helicopter:



oregon coast:



yes, this is chris:



(show-off) :)


hood river, oregon (view from our house):


good times sailing with ian:

vancouver aquarium:




who doesn't love otters?

spanish banks beach with lynn:



whistler in the summer (bear-crushing):