Regular blog readers will already know that Michaela is also writing some things in German on these blog entires. They are italicized in blue. Just pointing that out so you don’t think I had my fingers on the wrong part of the keyboard (LOL).
After Em’s volleyball game on Sept 3rd, we took a VERY LONG day/night drive to Calgary to pick up Michaela. I had NO IDEA that Calgary was *so big*. I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I wasn’t thinking 5 lanes of traffic big.
Nach Emily’s Volleyballspiel am 3. Sep. sind Broadbents nach Calgary gefahren um mich abzuholen. Eine lange Tag- und Nachtfahrt haben sie dafuer auf sich genommen.
At the last minute, I decided to grab the GPS and I’m so glad we did because we were able to drive right to the airport, our motel, and other things without wasting time trying to figure out where we were. Now I know that Calgary has over 1 million people and is the 3rd largest civic municipality in Canada – the largest in Alberta.
In letzter Minute hat Cindy noch das Navi eingesteckt. Zum Glueck, denn Calgary hat ueber 1 Million Bewohner und drei Flughaefen.
Calgary is located in the southern part of Alberta in an area of foothills and high plains approximately 50 miles east of the Canadian Rockies. Michaela took the two pictures above and the one below of this region from the airplane. I bet she didn’t know they’d become part of a blog entry on Calgary’s geographical information.
Calgary liegt gleich hinter den Rocky Mountains, wenn man wie ich von der Westkueste kommt. Die beiden Fotos oberhalb und unterhalb des Textes sind von meinem Flug. Jetzt sind sie auf dem Blog. Cool!
Michaela’s flight from Victoria to Calgary was only a little over an hour. We arrived in Calgary about 2 hours before she landed so while she was flying, we were…..
Die beiden folgenden Bilder sind entstanden, als meine Gastfamilie auf mich gewartet hat.
….checking email, the status of her flight, posting on FB etc., and having some lunch! Those who have read the blog for any length of time are probably starting to recognize that Josh is always hiding behind something when I pull the camera out of my purse.
Josh versucht sich immer hinter etwas zu verstecken, wenn Cindy Fotos macht : ).
We arrived at the airport with a good 15 minutes or so to spare and since it didn’t look like a very big airport, we figured we shouldn’t have any problem finding her. We walked in and found the place that says “meet passengers here.” So, we stood there. After awhile, I noticed a sign that said “D” and that was it. I started to wonder what it meant and I started to wonder why a flight that arrived after hers was already there picking up their luggage. That’s when I noticed that the flight screens showed A, B, C, and D and putting two and two together realized there must be other meeting points as well. So, we were at D. And she was at A. YIKES! We rushed down there and waited and waited. Tim went to check outside and there she was. She had already picked up her luggage and was patiently waiting on the park bench right outside the door. She had our cell phone # so I wasn’t too worried that we wouldn’t find her, but…. I was starting to get a little anxious!
Mich auf dem Flughafen zu finden war schwieriger als gedacht. Es gab 4 Terminals und natuerlich war meine Gastfamilie nicht an dem wo ich war. Sie haben mich aber nach ein paar Minuten gefunden. Nochmal Glueck gehabt!
We loaded her things in the car and then headed out to find our motel. I was expecting Calgary to be more like Victoria, but it’s not. It reminds me more of Denver with large contemporary buildings. I inquired about any older parts of Calgary where we could walk around and shop, sight see, etc., Someone pointed us to Stevens Avenue Walk which still wasn’t what I would have expected, but it was interesting nonetheless. There were lots of street vendors and restaurants, but not a lof of little interesting shops that we had hoped to look through so we basically just walked to one end and then back not really staying long to do much there since the boys were anxious to get back to the motel for some swimming. Die Innenstadt von Calgary hat leider nicht so viel zu bieten. Also sind wir zum Motel gefahren und ab in den Pool.
Evidently, Calgary suffered a major fire in 1886 which obliterated its main street. The townspeople found that the native sandstone was easily quarried and carved and rebuilt using this materal which is said to be especially evident on Stevens Avenue Walk. Below is a piece of architecture we all found interesting.
Here is a picture of Tim, Michaela, and the kids standing in front of the 627 foot tall
Calgary Tower which was opened in 1968 and housed the Olympic flame in the 1988 winter Olympics. It’s said to offer one of the best views of Calgary, but we were too tired to pay the fee and venture to the top so we settled for a picture in front of it.. quite aways in front of it in order to get it and everyone in the picture.
After swimming, we ordered in some pizza and called it a night. We were exhausted because we only stopped for 4 hours to rest along the way.
Those who know our family will recognize my dad in the photo above. Grandma Jan and Grandpa Jim made the trip to Calgary with us to pick up Michaela. They left 1/2 a day ahead of us though and we met up with them about an hour from the border crossing into Canada.
And this begins Michaela’s whirlwind three week visit to our home.
