Labour Day weekend at YYC

Oh labour day weekend.  It's that last weekend of camping you can fit into your summer before fall sets in.  It's that last little hope that summer isn't quite gone....  Well for me, I got to miss out on that weekend because I'm working.  Yay for me :(

There are some nice perks about working this weekend though...  Like today, we saw a couple of Swainson's Hawks along one of the haul roads.  

And I though I'd share a couple of pictures of the action going on here...  I used to feel terrified of walking around these machines... but now it feels normal.  As for my job, I just drive around all day making sure that all environmental protocols are followed and resolve any situations that may occur.

It's not a bad job for the weekend, but I can't wait to get back to writing my reports on results that I found personally... It's far more gratifying when you see reports going off to clients.  It's a finished product.  All I need now is a finished master's... 

In memory of Tiki Lucas, my beloved pet cat and family member

This post is to honor the passing of my dearest cat, Tiki Lucas.  We also called her Mimi or Meez, or MiMeez.
We will always love you.  You were the best cat in the world and I'm sad to see you go.  You were my best friend and I want you to know that I felt terrible leaving you behind when I went to university in Waterloo, but Ottawa was better for you anyways.  It broke my heart to leave you behind, and I'm sorry it broke yours too.  I'm sorry that I couldn't be there when you had to go but I'm glad that mom and dad were there for you.  I want you to know that you were always on my mind.  I miss you.
- Your long lost friend.

 Tiki Lucas, 1997-2011

Forest Fires in Northern Alberta

Many of you have likely heard of the wildfires that destroyed half of Slave Lake, AB...

The town of Slave Lake is located just at the bottom right hand corner of Lesser Slave Lake (Source: NASA)

But you might not have heard about the out of control fire north of Lesser Slave Lake near Utikuma Lake.  Over 30,000 hectares have been burned already and that includes the area where our research camp used to be.  You can see the fire I'm talking about in the photograph above, which is the largest and centre-most fire.

Link to the most up-to-date map of active fires in the province of Alberta

Unfortunately, we have lost some equipment as well as our shelter at camp.  As of right now, I have no idea if my research site at Pond 40 (about 20km west of camp) is intact or has burned to the ground.  If the fire has gone through our site, then a decade worth of research has gone into the history books.  Unfortunately, we've run out of funding for this research... However, since the site was so well studied, it would be great for the next generations of students to go out there and see how differently the site behaves after a fire than a harvesting event.  It would be kind of epic.  But alas, no money=no research.

As for now, I'm wrapping up my thesis on a study site that may or may not exist anymore, which makes me kind of sad.  After all, it was my home for two whole summers.

My friends from Slave Lake are in shelters scattered across the province and no one knows when they'll be able to go back home.  Slave Lake was a beautiful town and it can be once again with your help.  Please help by donating to the Canadian Red Cross.  Thanks.

 Slave Lake Relief - Canadian Red Cross

Global News Edmonton Footage of the Aftermath

Hey Coach!

While working in Kanata with my dad, I ran into the Flames coach at the coffee shop downstairs.  Olli Jokinen and Rene Bourque were behind me in line for a coffee too.  I didn't realize they were behind me until I grabbed my tea and Olli looked right at me.  My eyes must have shot out of my head.  I quickly turned around and walked away.  He must have had a little chuckle, because thinking back on it, I know I looked silly!  Oh well, at least I got a picture with Mr. Brent Sutter.  I might even end up playing golf in the same tournament as him because apparently he's done it a couple times before with the Forzani Group.  Pretty cool nonetheless.

My cat has the hiccups?

For some reason, I didn't know cats could get the hiccups.  Here's a video of my cat with the hiccups.  Too cute!

Road Trip from Ottawa to Calgary

Hello Everyone,
Most of you should know by now that Brady and I have decided to move out west.  And so this is the beginning of our western adventures -- once more -- Hence the "Take 3".

On Jan 26th 2011, I left Ottawa to meet my buddy Mike (who was nice enough to volunteer for this crazy drive across Canada) in Sturgeon falls the following morning.  I got to spend the night with my memere in Sturgeon Falls, so it was nice to see her again before I left Ontario.

Let me begin with photographs of our Journey starting in Superior Provincial Park.  I didn't have a chance to photograph Sudbury or Sault-Ste-Marie, mainly because I've been there many times before and to me, it's just same old, same old.

And our journey begins with myself (Kayla), my buddy Mike and my cat Bowser.

Driving through Superior Provincial Park and onwards, we didn't quite make to Thunder Bay that day.  We had to spend the night in Marathon due to snow and darkness (I'm terrified of hitting a moose or any other animal on the road that may just kill me upon impact).  Marathon is a cute little town with an excellent chinese food restaurant named Wok with Chow. Yum.  It's also the perfect town for ice fishing in the winter. 

Started the next day bright and early... Off to TBay!

Made it to Thunder Bay to realize that people are not too friendly here! Well... no. That's not true.  Just the people at Nissan who wanted to charge me to torque my tires... Yes, charge me! After being upset for wasting 45 minutes of my time (important travel time might I add!) I decided to go over to Canadian Tire where they torqued my tires for free!  Thank you to the young man who torqued my tires for me.  Yay, no more wobbly steering wheel on the highway!

 One of the many many fillups required to drive across the country.

To our disappointment, we hit another snowstorm just outside of Dryden.  It's a nice little northern town.  A lot of hockey going on that weekend, lots of kids everywhere!  We couldn't go any further because Highway One was shut down at the Manitoba border so we spent the night in a little motel beside the highway.

Next morning, off to Manitoba we went!

 MANITOBA!

 The terrain starts to get flatter at the border.  I never realized how instantly the landscape changes (mainly because this was the first time I had ever driven across the country).

And this is where I wet my pants.  Unfortunately you can't really tell from the photograph below but...

 That day, the road was covered in black ice and we had cross winds of 30 km/h with gusts of ??? TOO MUCH, that's what.  Not cool if you don't have studs on your winter tire.

 I freaked out some more... but at least Winnipeg was somewhat in sight!

I had to stop short of Winnipeg to calm my nerves.  I have never driven in such absolutely terrible conditions... especially on a bright sunny day -- go figure?  Had a little A&W and we were back on track to Winnipeg.

 Oh. Hello Winnipeg!

 Nice little stroll through Winnipeg.  Too bad you can see much of the picture above... That's the Red River and people are skating on it like the Canal in Ottawa.

At least in Winnipeg, the roads were covered in snow, so I had a little traction to keep me going.

We leave Winnipeg to find THIS! More blowing snow and black ice! Bahahahah I wanted to cry.

Ok.  We decided to stop in Portage-la-Prairie because the internet says the roads were even worse beyond this town (Thank you Mike for your cell phone technology!).  So we spent the night.  It was THE coldest night I have ever spent, EVER! -35 degrees Celsius!  I had to plug in my block heater for the first time!  Nearly froze my fingers off trying to untie the straps that held the cable in place by my battery.  Anyhow, I was so overjoyed to finally be able to use my block heater that I think the lady at the Super 8 thought I was crazy.

 CN Train!

 Next day... We're off to Brandon...

 Skip Brandon... We're on to Regina!

 Lots of these windmills out here!  Maybe I'll get a chance to analyze data from some of these if I can get a job in the energy sector in Calgary!! How awesome would it be to climb a windmill?  The tallest tower I've climbed so far is 150 feet and these totally top that!

 Plenty of grain elevators...

We didn't get a break -- the snow started up again!  I was so annoyed that this time, I just wanted to continue driving.  And so we did.

 REGINA!!! We press on...

Cat chilling on my snowboard in the back seat/in between the two front seats.

 More flat land...

OMG! It's Moose Jaw! Such a cool name for a town don't you think?

Only in Saskatchewan will you find a backhoe on the trans Canadian highway...

CP Rail!  By the way, this is one of my favourite pictures taken along the way.  The snow billowing out from underneath the engine was such a great sight!

The first mileage sign with Calgary on it!  What a glorious moment!

It was getting darker... snowier... But we finally made it to Alberta! :)

It was starting to get too dark for pictures, but the sign below was for the main highway in Calgary -- The Deerfoot Trail.  My god, was I ever happy to see this sign.

And that's traveling Canada in the winter 101.

Lessons learned?

1. Purchase studded tires before the trip.
2. Bring books on tape or ipod.  But not ones that were taped 50 years ago.  Reader is very boring and monotone and just puts you to sleep.  NOT good if you are driving!
3. Always have at least half a tank of gas at any moment in time... also bring a survival kit in the car.
4. Packing several small bags is a better idea than lugging fewer large suitcases.  Especially if you are in a compact car.
5. Make sure your pet is totally comfortable with the car.  We didn't have this problem... but I did come to realize that my cat is terrified when I open the window doing a buck-twenty down the highway.
6. After a long trip like this... it's really nice to sleep in afterwards!