good day sunshine

The weather reports called for horrible weather for everyday we were meant to be in Alberta. The forecast called for rain and cold and perhaps a thunderstorm or two. We woke up to another gorgeous and sunny day! Hallelujah!


Here's the miles and miles of blue skies and sun drenched landscape.

We all got a bit of a lazy start to the day, sipping our teas and coffees on the deck. We eventually showered in the outdoor pump shower (we had to boil water on the stove!) and got ready for the day. We skipped breakfast and went straight to lunch.


Here we are about to enjoy a Thai feast that Tanya whipped up for lunch. Tanya is an amazing cook! She can turn a hand full of lint and nuts and some leaves into a gourmet meal! There was no lint in this meal, however. Just deliciousness!


Here we are climbing up to Jason's fire watchtower.



Here we are looking for fires. There were no fires today; just gorgeous views.



Later on we played a nice long game of disc golf and then we were off to more hot springs! On the way there, we stopped at a small waterfall and did a photo shoot!


Here's the waterfall, trickling away. The real attraction was just behind the waterfall.


Here's the amazing woods! There was at least six inches of cushiony soft fresh green moss on the ground and all the trees were bare and turning silvery grey. It was an amazing sight.


Here's our photographer, Tanya, getting artsy to great effect! I never think to use that "colour accent" setting!


Here we are doing another couples portrait. We took quite a few until we couldn't take it anymore. There were so many hungry mosquitoes here!!!


Here's another effing majestic mountain on the way to the hot springs.


Here's another couples portrait.


Here I am sneaking up on a mule deer. That is sheer joy you are seeing on my face, people. I really wanted to touch it, but I didn't because I know that would be bad.


Here's the mule deer ignoring me.


Here's the river along the path that we followed to get up to the source of the hot springs.


Here's Shane warming himself on the boiling hot water of the spring. These were manicured with concrete blockades and the water had been redirected and piped in to the blockade. Not as impressive as the natural spring, but still pretty nice.


Here's the ruins of the original hot springs resort that was built in the early 1930s. It's only been abandoned since 1984. The white cracks and streaks on the walls are mineral deposits from the spring water.

I didn't bring my camera into the pools. It was your average swimming pool type resort. Turquoise pools and concrete, the smell of chlorine and sulphur, lots of people, etc. It was nestled into some pretty spectacular mountainous scenery though. We hung out there for a bit and raced back home to catch the final bit of sunset, and to have a bonfire!


Here we are posing for yet another couples portrait. This time with sunset and windswept faces.


Here we are getting our wiener roast on! Marshmallows too! I'd been waiting for this moment for the entire trip! A perfect end to a perfect day!