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tolerate everything in moderation

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Chasing views, a comet and hot springs

If there is one word to describe the Canadian Rockies, it's majestic.  The last time I was in AB was in the early 90s visiting my brother, and he took me to Banff and skied Lake Louise and Sunshine.  I didn't appreciate skiing the Rockies back then as I wasn't as confident of a skier.  


One vision that has etched in my mind's eye was the drive from Calgary to Banff on Hwy 1. You see the mountains in the distance.  Then all of sudden they are there looming over you like giants.  You have to drive to understand what I mean, cuz I am not good enough with words to give it any sort of appreciation.

We live in an amazingly beautiful country and this region is majestic.  We were in the most western part of the Mountain Time Zone.  It gets dark early and that's due to the mountains surrounding you.   Watching the sun set behind the mountains is something to behold.   Watching their shadows move across the landscape is like something from IMAX, just in real life.   Any photo I take will not have the same effect.



Radium hot springs was a great spot to take a road trip break.  We weren't on the road that long, but I found out after that this was much better than the Banff hot springs.  This was a geothermal heated water in a pool that was just off the highway. 

It kinda looks and feels like a rec centre and the pool was below grade and open to the sky.  It was $20 for towel and locker. The Banff one is literally just a hot tub at a fancy hotel.  For sure you'll pay a lot more.  Everything in Banff was more money even the views.


The only less than impressive spot was the Continental Divide.  Basically it's this concrete pillar with AB on 1 side and BC on the other.  And these signs that need some fresh paint.  If you read the Google reviews on this site seeing spot.  It basically said the same thing.  It's a 1min stop, take a selfie and get back on the road.

Banff is more beautiful than I remember.  Maybe it's because I've been to other parts of the world, or I see what we have in ON, and we don't have anything that compares.   In any case, it made us appreciate our country that much more, and excited to visit other parts.


When you are in the Rockies, you feel so small.   But that's nothing when you compare us to the vastness of space.  Then we are so small we are nothing.   This comet Tsuchinshan was passing by our planet and we could see it in the sky at around 7pm in the west, just when the sun was setting.  It looks like a small vapour trail of a plane.  Always in the same West-SW spot.   It's hard to see in the city, but we did get a glimpse.  


But we saw it just north of the city where there's less light pollution and obstructions.  Imagine, the last time comet Tsuchinshan was in visible to Earth, was a couple of ice ages ago (80,000 yrs).  That's long interval between visits.  Makes you feel a bit insignificant in comparison to our solar system, never mind the galaxy or universe.  How they determine celestial specifics is beyond my comprehension.

I was happy to have finally found a solution that T and I were happy with in terms of the trim around our side mail box.  It was once a MILK delivery box back in the 50's.  But when that service ended, it became a Mail Slot.  Our post delivery person drops our mail in this slot on the side of our house.  I forget what the original looked like when we first got the house 22 yrs ago.  All I know is that 15yrs ago I insulated this wall and had a new door made, and never finished the trim on it.


All I knew was that it needed to be low profile.  Trim sticking out can be a problem in tight quarters.  So I thought about it, and 3D printed the trim and covered it with drywall tape and mud.  I didn't have to cut anything.  I glued it on like it was tile for a backsplash.  And its thickness matches the depth the door protrudes from the wall. Which is 3mm.



It turned out really well.  It looks like it had always been there, like it was embedded into the wall.  I saw the nearly finished renovations next door since the fire incident.  And noticed their mailbox.   It gave me the inclination I needed to finish ours.




One checkbox closer to a finished house.