This has been a week of considerable traveling; some
enjoyable, some not so much. If you read last week’s blog, we had just been
informed as I prepared to post it that Kathy and I would be traveling to SLC on
Monday morning with a sick missionary.
Unfortunately, when travel arrangements are made at the last
minute, flexibility for travel arrangements is pretty much gone. As it turned
out, the only thing available (Alaskan Airlines) took us to Seattle and then on
to SLC. Getting to SLC wasn’t too bad, but coming back on Tuesday via Delta
Airlines necessitated a 4-hr layover in Seattle followed by a departure delay,
followed by another delay once we arrived in Calgary where our plane couldn’t
pull into our gate as it was occupied by another plane. It took ground
personnel another 45 minutes to get the problem sorted out so we could taxi in
and deplane. Fortunately, getting through Customs was a breeze; still, it was
midnight by the time we got to our apartment so we were 12 hours just getting
back home from SLC. As Kathy put it, add another hour and we could have driven
it in less time.
We had a surprise to deal with in our home in Sandy. We had
called ahead to the wonderful people taking care of our home to tell them we
would be returning briefly and would be staying in the home overnight. They
went over to turn the water on and get the water heater going. Then the fun
began……Water could be heard spraying somewhere and after locating the source,
discovered water spraying out of the top of the water heater where a weld had
apparently failed. There would be no hot shower on Tuesday morning at home. So,
before heading back to the SLC airport, we had to make arrangements for a new
hot water heater, which will be installed tomorrow morning. While the timing
was unfortunate, it is all good; no real damage was done during the brief time
the water was spraying, and the hot water heater, now more than15 years old,
needed to be replaced. This will be one thing we won’t have to deal with when
we return home. Things have actually gone well with our home during our absence,
thanks to the good care it is receiving.
Okay, so I am the car czar so I have to say something about
cars. We received one new Nissan
Rogue during the week. The plan always is, upon receiving a new car, to take an
older car out of service, get it all fixed up and sell it. Again, however, more
new missionaries are arriving this coming week than are going home so two
additional areas are being opened and the new Rogue will go to some Sisters in
the new area. Another 11 Rogues are coming to us sometime over the next several
weeks, so gradually I will soon be back in the car selling business. If you
aren’t in a big hurry and are in the market for a used Chev Cruz, a Subaru
Ipreza, a Chev Equinox, or a Chev Colorado crew cab truck, all in great
condition, I know a guy……
If we hadn’t had enough traveling, Saturday Kathy and I
decided to drive to Golden, British Columbia, - about 3 hours away.
While
Golden isn’t much of a destination in and of itself, it was the scenery on the
way and back that was our motivation. We want to see as much as possible of
Southern Alberta before winter arrives. The scenery didn’t disappoint. I will
include several pictures and share our trip with you.
Unfortunately, some of the mountaintops were a bit obscured
by clouds, and we had some intermittent rain on our way back; still the views
were extraordinary. The route took us through Banff, past Lake Louise, and
through a mountain pass and on into the Yoho National Park.
Of particular interest is the beautiful clear aquamarine
rivers that flow down the east side of the Continental Divide. On the west side
of the Divide the rivers are equally as beautiful but the water is a kind of a
milky jade color. The western slope water gets its unique color from sediment
and glacial water coming from the high mountain areas. The eastern slope water
is a beautiful aquamarine color but quite different from the west slope.
After returning from our drive yesterday, we returned home,
got dressed, and went to a baptism for a wonderful Hispanic lady in the Spanish
Branch. While I didn’t understand much of what was said, the Spirit there was
wonderful and I had Kathy to translate some of what was said. We have talked
about the wonderful mix of ethnic groups here in Calgary. Such was also the case
last evening at the baptism with a mix of Spanish speaking Saints from
Argentina, Chile, Columbia, and several from Mexico. In his welcome, the Branch
President commented that, even though they share a common language, they
sometimes have difficulty understanding one another. It brought a chuckle from
all who were in attendance.
Have a wonderful week.
No comments:
Post a Comment