Innsitting, eh?
Following our Calgary trip, we headed to Kelowna for a week of Innsitting at Willow Beach. Carly and I met Jim and Deb (the owners at Willow Beach) last summer when we stayed there for a few nights. We hit it off, and they asked us if we'd consider innsitting for them this summer so they could take a week of vacation. It sounded like a great time, and the rest is history.
We has a lot of fun, met couples from Alberta, Ontario and Belgium. We made dinner reservations, called taxis, did laundry (did more laundry) (then we did more laundry after that), mowed putting greens, swam in the lake - the whole works.
This was definitely one of the highlights of our summer vacation. We love to entertain, enjoy meeting and conversing with people, and food (if it wasn't obvious already) is quite possibly one of our favorite pastimes.
Calgary Stampede
Now that we're back in the saddle (groan), vacation is over and it's time to write some posts. We spent about a week in Calgary, enjoying time with friends and family, and also headed to check out the stampede.
I haven't been to the stampede since I was about 8 or so, and Carly had never been. We had a good time, to be sure, but looking back - I wish we'd gone to some of the rodeo events. I'm not sure what I was thinking when we only bought tickets to the chuckwagon races and grandstand show (more on that later), but we did manage to see some sheep-shearing competitions, cute animals, etc. The best part of the day was definitely the USA Break Dancers - funny and entertaining (and free, unlike the grandstand show).
As for the grandstand show: colossal disappointment. To be honest, I still have no idea what went on for the whole show. Our $82.13 tickets (EACH), apparently in the "gold" section, was so far away from anything that we pretty much might as well have not shown up. We were so high up in the grandstand that the overhang blocked our view of nearly all the fireworks. If the show could be considered entertainment at all, it was only by sheer sensory overload.
From dancing crazy-people to goth-man in spandex (or leather? or some sort of plastic?), to bands that you couldn't understand playing music from the back of GM pick-up trucks, to motorcycle jumps, back to some patriotic Canada song about something or other, back to crazy-dancers and goth-man - I have no idea what this show was supposed to be/do/convey. Needless to say, we'd never, ever go to another.
On Alberta
It turns out, Alberta does have some redeeming qualities. A shot we took on the iPhone 3GS while driving.
Hopefully off to the Stampede today!