Milo Pictorial

 We left Vancouver Island and spent 3 mostly cool and snowy days touring around Lake Louise, Banff and a scenic drive up to the Columbia Icefields.  I will get to those pictures in a few days but for now I have a pictorial of the goaltender in our family.  

We left Lake Louise and drove to Lethbridge to spend a couple of days with Jeff, Carrie, Oscar, Jack and Milo.  The 3 boys have grown so much since we saw them last.  We were fortunate to be able to take in two of Milo's soccer games and attend one of his hockey games.  

Milo was in goal for the first of the 2 soccer games we watched.  

It was fun watching and seeing the intensity and focus on the task at hand. 

This one got by him.

Proud Papa and coach looking on.

Got a piece of it. 

Got just enough of it as it sails wide.  

Milo was pretty busy in net.

Words of wisdom from Jeff to his team.

Jeff seems happy.  They must be executing his strategy.

Second game Milo took on a new position, Striker, and a new hair style, man bun.

Milo - "hey guys, I'm over here.  Behind the giant"

While the players are all from the same birth year some have hit that growth spurt a little faster than others.  

A little different shooting a hockey game.  Lighting isn't nearly as good.  Have to shoot through the protective netting and the players, particularly the goalie, have so much equipment its hard to get the facial expressions.  

Milo in net but his team was dominant and he didn't see a lot of shots.  He should adopt a Ken Dryden pose however he'd need a step ladder or a much shorter stick. Perhaps in a few years when he hits his growth spurt.   

Milo showing good form to stop anything they can shoot at him. In my day, last century, goalie coaches would have cringed at showing that much five hole but today its a whole different game.  

This shot was earmarked for the top corner.  You can just see the blurred motion of the puck outside his catching glove.  Milo managed to catch up to the puck just in time to deflect it over the crossbar.  Good save Milo.  

 

Meanwhile Jack was competing in his school's track and field qualifying meet in the 100 metre, high jump and long jump.  Oscar had school, bummer.  Meanwhile Jeff and Carrie were running a shuttle service to get everyone where they needed to be plus volunteering at the hockey tournament and Jeff coaching the soccer team.    Busy, busy, busy.  

We head back home early Saturday morning which will make our trip 187 days long and we will have put on almost 20,000 km on our car.  Has been a great snowbird season but, as always, will be really good to be home.   

Will get the Lake Louise pictures posted once we get back home and settle in a bit.

Till then.  

Notch Hill and Moorecroft Regional Park

Last post from Nanoose Bay.  

We took a couple of short drives to do a few short hikes on our last day on the Island.  The next morning we were getting up early to make the 8:25 ferry to the mainland.

Notch Hilll was a short steep climb and provided a great view of the bay that was below our suite.  It also provided some interesting forest shots.

The Arbutus tree is quite unique and beautiful.  The bark seems to shed leaving a beautiful smooth gold skin.  

Dappled sunlight making its way through the canopy of spruce trees overhead lights up the leaves below. 

A short drive to the other side of the peninsula took us to the coast and a great view of the Straight of Georgia.  Moorecroft Regional Park is a nice picnic area with a short hike from the parking lot to the waters edge.

Tide pools and the sea weed provide some interesting shots. 

 

Hard to see but this Harbour Seal was keeping an eye on us. 

 Up next.  Lake Louise. 

Nanoose Bay

 Our lodging at Nanoose Bay was a very nice suite on the lower level of a home which we rented through VRBO.  It was a 1 bedroom with a pull out couch, so great for a couple but would be doable, if a little crowded, for 4 people.  We paid about $200 per night which may seem like a lot but its a prime area and having a full kitchen allowed us to buy groceries and eat most of our meals in our suite.  It also felt more like being at home than in a hotel room.   

The house, like most in the area, was built into the side of a hill so while we were essentially in the basement, the rear of the house provided us with a nice balcony that ran the length of the house and as you can see gave us a great view.  

A real bonus, at least for Lori, was that the cable came with a subscription to the Magnolia Network.  Lori is a big fan of Chip and Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper fame.  So much so that a few years ago we made a stop in Waco, Tx specifically to see their operation and Lori insists that a return visit is required.  

Here are some random shots of our view from our balcony.  

Most of our days were cloudy, some rain and some brief periods of sunshine.  Often these wisps of clouds would float through the bay below us.   

When the skies cleared we had a great view of the snow covered peaks to the west. 

A pair of eagles had their nest high up in a tree but still quite a distance away from our balcony.  My pictures were taken with a 600mm lens and I still had to do some heavy cropping.   The shots are a little fuzzy because of the cropping required.   It was interesting watching their antics in the nest as well as Dad circling overhead looking for meals. 

I think I saw the head of an eaglet at one point but because of the distance and heavy cropping required it was basically just a ball of fuzz.  

Mom was on the nest most of the time with Dad either circling looking for food or perched on a tree nearby. 

Mom stretching her wings.  

Being a land lubber I'm not sure what the boat is used for or what the boxes on the  rafts are for.  We did see the boat make a few trips across the bay but not sure what they were doing.  If someone knows drop a comment and enlighten me. 

The rafts never moved and we never noticed anyone out on them so I'm guess that those containers on the rafts are traps for oysters and perhaps its not oyster season.  Like I said I'm a land lubber from the prairies so what do I know. 

Not sure what these 2 were digging for.  Oysters, clams, gold???  At high tide they would have been swimming but low tide exposed a large spit of land and these fences in the ground.

It was a great place to stay for a couple of weeks and provided us with a central location for our sight seeing.  I'm sure the view would get ho hum after awhile but for us it was simply beautiful and always changing.  

Nanaimo Harbour

After spending a few hours at the Wildlife Centre we drove down to the Nanaimo harbour for lunch and a little walk on the waterfront.  

A very pretty harbour with a great walk that goes on and on and on.  

Some very nice condos in the distance.  The gangplank in the foreground takes passengers to their waiting plane.  A coastal version of a taxi service. 

Cruise ship docked in the distance. 

Plane was loaded with passengers heading somewhere where land travel won't take them. 

These boats were devoted to cleaning up spills in the water.  Lets hope they are seldom utilized. 

Tug boats waiting to guide a boat into port. 

 A great way to finish off our day.