In most ways, it was a pretty quiet weekend that, in retrospect, seems to have revolved a lot around food.  Karin & Adam were back in town (from Vancouver) as Karin’s parents & their friends are visiting western Canada from WA (that’s Western Australia for the non-antipodeans).  Sometime Friday a plan was hatched to make pizzas – by the time all the out-of-towners turned up our pizza production was in full swing & we had well too many.   Good to catch up with Adam & Karin & hear some of their plans – I look forward to seeing them in Vancouver, plans are afoot.

With the older generation booked into dog-sledding up the Spray Valley (I assume) somewhere, Karin & Adam were free to have their last ski of the season with Kristy, Anya & me.  Another moist band of air had moved its way up from Montana (Calgary got hit pretty hard with snow early on Thursday), there was a little new snow & it snowed on us most of the day.  After the inevitable delays (it took Adam quite a while to rent telemark skis) we got a good day’s skiing in.  The light was a bit flat at times & made life a little interesting.

Adam & Karin somewhere off Wawa

I was most amused by a lot of falls from Adam trying to remember how to telemark & from Karin trying to keep up with me – most impressed by our little adventure down the South-side Chutes, it was carnage for the multitudes down there.  After my best run of the day it was very funny & slightly horrifying to see Karin sliding head first down a steep slope for more than ten metres.  But she’s a trooper & after eventually getting skis back on, we were back playing in the trees.

The sun came out briefly, so we mucked around a bit taking group photos

Mt Borgeau looking out over us & the gondola on the ski-out

A quick dash back to Canmore to scrub up a little & then we were back in Banff to take the western-Australians out for some good Alberta beef at a rib-house.  They were very good ribs, but I’m a little concerned that the highlight of the meal for me was the broccoli – it was scrumptious.  Perhaps that is more a reflection of the quality of fresh produce that we get at the grocery stores here in Canmore.

More snow was still falling as most of us slept-in Sunday morning – eventually I got around to organising late brunch at Megan & Alex’s.  I finally had an opportunity to cook that divine French Toast that Shelley produced on my last day in London six or so weeks ago.  We managed to get the ingredients together between four of us & it was surprisingly easy to cook – not quite as good as Shelley’s (think I put a bit too much milk in), but it was great & got polished off easily.

No one was particularly energetic & vague plans for watching films at our place were made.  Quite a few hours, a bit of reading, a nap & many episodes of Corner Gas (“You can tell me that your dog ran away, then tell me that it took three days”) later – we finally decided on what to watch.  Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel was as good as the first time I saw it & The Fantastic Mr Fox was exceptionally good – so much more than we were expecting.  Kristy brought bags of bagels around & we whipped up scrambled eggs & other accompaniments to make my third breakfast for the day.

I’m on my third vehicle in a week – the first loan car (a large mid-nineties Buick that needs just as much work on the suspension [albeit, different] as my forlorn Outback) has problems holding charge & I’ve had to give it a boost/jump-start twice already.  I’ve now got a Chevy Venture (minivan) & I hope it starts in the morning.  With a bit of luck, I’ll have my car back before Easter weekend.

While I’m talking about boosting a car to get it started, I’ll make a note for my own future reference of some Canadian sayings:

• Giterdun – Get her done, basically do something
• For sure – answering in the affirmative
• Right on – I agree
• Hoser – bogan
• Buddy or buddy – used to describe an acquaintance/work-mate whom one doesn’t necessarily know the name of.  Often capitalised.

I’m sure there are more that I’ll remember later.  Winter still dragging on, -12ºC this morning; only two weeks until the roadtrip begins & I can go south & find some warmth.