Weekend in the Mountains

I am just getting a few things tied up in the office before my mom and I jump on a plane to head to Chicago for the weekend. In the mean time I thought I would share some more photos of the weekend "the Eng" and I spent in Canmore. I am sure to have lots more stories and photos when I get back on Monday!

The view from the top of the mountain was great

Hanging out with Eng at the top!

I Love AB Beef Stickers for $4.95 each! I have a few of those

The giant cow in the Cows ice cream store!

Silver Tip Golf

The last part of my weekend away with "the Eng" was a trip to the Silver Tip Golf Course. Both "the Eng" and I love to golf, and it has been something that we have not only been able to do together this summer, but also with out friends and family.

I started out golfing a lot this summer, but that had kind of come to a slow down when things started to pick up on the farm and at work. I was a bit rusty and was not sure how I would fair on a tougher course. However, the picture below shows the first hole we played. Yes I made it there in 2 and got Par on the first hole.

Eng's ball is also there, but mine was closer to the pin!

 The curse is really beautiful. There are great views of the mountains on every hole, and the course is in awesome shape. It made playing that much more enjoyable, especially on one of the nicest days of the year!

This might have been on of my favorite shots of the weekend. This is the 18th hole and a daunting one at that. I out drove all of the guys that we played with to tap in for a solid score of 99.

I would highly recommend this course for a special occasion. Not the kind of course you are going to play every weekend, but for a special day, or once a year treat to yourself this is a great pick!

The Day I Almost Died

This last weekend when "the Eng" took me to the mountains I thought that we would go for a relaxing weekend. On Saturday morning when he told me to get my running shoes on I figured we must be going on a walk or something. 30 mins later we were at the base of Sulphur Mountain, and he was tell me that we were going to hike up the mountain....

 Now let me clear a few things up for you.

1) I am in relatively good shape, but I do not enjoy working out.

2) I hate hiking

3) and while I love the mountains, when there is a gondola right on the mountain we are hiking, take me up the gondola not the 2-5hr hike up the mountain!

Regardless, "the Eng" was not going to take no for an answer. So up the mountain we went. Thank goodness we had gotten a water bottle and some snacks for the journey up!

The view is spectacular, there is no argument there. You can see the town of Banff, the Fairmont hotel, Banff Springs Golf Course, and the most crystal clear water ever.

Once we got to the top of the mountain there is a restaurant, more amazing views, and the option to hike to the Observatory on the next mountain over. I told "the Eng" that I might kill him if he made me hike anymore!

The hike was probably good for me, even though its not really my idea of a relaxing weekend. We had many laughs and good talks up the mountain. However, after the nice easy gondola ride down the mountain, I would suggest doing that both ways next time!

Girl's Weekend

This weekend my best friend and guest blogger Bethan and I ventured out for a girls weekend. It was long overdue, and so we made the most of this trip!

We started Friday night heading to Calgary to celebrate a friends Birthday. We all loaded up and went to the Back Alley for a night of dancing and a few beverages. There was lots of laughs along the way, and it was a really fun night.

The next morning we ventured back onto the highway to head to Canmore. The Rapunzel Salon in Canmore was our destination for a Spa afternoon. We had 1 hour hot stone massages, pedicures, as well as having our hair and make-up done. It was a great way to relax and just have a fun weekend.Our next stop was the Delta Lodge in Kananaskis. Due to a wonderful employee discount we had some great food, and an amazing stay. We did not want to get out of bed to check out the next morning!On our way back to Olds, we kept seeing all of these people pulled over on the side of the road taking pictures. Now this is not an unusual scene while driving in the mountains, however, it was not deer and mountain goats they were taking pictures of, it was swans!

It turns out that there rare swans have made there home in the Rocky Mountains right now. No one really know why they are there, but we seen hundreds of them. It was really neat.

We had such a great time that we are now going to do this every 3 or 4 months. We have developed a rating system to find the best Delta and spa's. I think it should be a fun journey!

Now I know you are probably saying where are your pictures from the weekend!! Well... Bethan and I both forgot our cameras. So the pictures you are stuck with are some stock photos I found. I know, I was event told before I left not to forget my camera....

Home away from Home

On my mom's side of the family there is a place that seems like home for the Groeneveld's. It truly is a second home for my Grandpa Chuck, and home of the best beef on a bun you will find!

Highwood Auction Mart is located at High River, AB. It is one of the coolest auction marts that I have ever been in, and the view definitely does not hurt it either!

Highwood is more then your typical auction mart. It is extremely dull purpose. Several bulls sales are held there each spring, and a few purebred production and consignment sales, and of course huge calf sales each fall.

On the Road Again

Monday afternoon my dad strongly suggested that I should travel down to Remington's sale. He wanted me to see some old friends and see how the sale went.

I stayed in Lethbridge Tuesday night, and got to catch up with some friends. On my way home today I did the slow trip home. I got to stop and see some really cool stores along the way. Watch the Copper West blog for those stories.

It was great to get back into southern Alberta. I hadn't been back for over 2 years, and forgot how much i missed the drive. From Lethbridge to Carstairs is so pretty on a clear day.

These are some of the pictures that I took along the drive.

Beautiful houses by my grandparents

View from Highwood Auction Mart

Beautiful mountain viewsThe Alberta Beef sign at Red Deer