by Suzanne Stengl | Jul 24, 2018 | Travel
Sometimes you need to go far away to get away from it all.
Last week, Rolf and I left Calgary and drove all day to Hope, British Columbia where we spent the night.
The next morning, we drove another two hours to the ferry at Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. It was only a short wait for the ferry, but I had enough time to get a latte at the Lookout Coffee House.
Once I am on the ferry, I feel like the vacation has begun.
We had lunch onboard and landed in Nanaimo one and a half hours later. (Yes, Nanaimo is the home of the bathtub races.)
Then we drove up island to Campbell River where we spent our second night on the road.
That evening we had the best ever halibut and chips at Dockside Fish and Chips. I also had a pint of the excellent local pale ale called High Tide. It’s available at Campbell River’s Beach Fire Brewing.
In the morning, Rolf and I got most of the groceries we would need for the next week. Then we caught the ferry from Campbell River to Quathiaski Cove on Quadra Island.
Here we visited the Saturday Farmers Market and waited for the rest of our family to show up.
Earlier that morning, like about 3 a.m., one of our sons reached the ferry at Horseshoe Bay. He was driving from Alberta in his truck which was loaded with camping and fishing gear. He also had Makita with him. He caught the first ferry out of Horseshoe Bay, and by 10:30, he was at the Comox airport (south of Campbell River) to pick up the rest of the family.
We all met up at the Farmers Market: six adults, one two-year-old and a Labradoodle.
Next, we drove about a half hour to Heriot Bay on the other side of Quadra, and then another half hour to the area called Bold Point where we found Dragonfly Lakehouse. Our home for the next week.
About a kilometer away from the lakehouse, there is a dock on the ocean. Our son launched his Zodiac from here.
ocean dock
Zodiac
There are oysters all over the beach, so our meals were supplemented with barbequed oysters most nights. We also had crab and salmon.
I brought a printed proof of my next book, WEDDING BELL BLUES. Only I didn’t get to proof it because my D-I-L was reading it and I was spending a lot of time swimming or just sitting in a chair on the deck and looking out at the water. I will finish checking the proof this week. The story is set in September, so the book will be released early in September.
This is our cottage.
Dragonfly Lakehouse – as seen from the lake
down the stairs to the lake
and out onto the dock
I love sitting on that dock and feeling the gentle rock of the water. I also love my morning yoga spot.
sun salutations here
Do you have a favourite vacation spot? Is it a long way from anywhere? Do you enjoy early morning yoga in the fresh air? How about swimming across the lake?
by Suzanne Stengl | Oct 3, 2017 | Travel
Chicago is known as the Windy City, but during the week I visited, the place could have used a bit more wind.
I attended my nursing reunion here from September 21 to 27. We happened to show up during a heat wave with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit). On my last day, the temperature dropped 20 degrees Fahrenheit to a very pleasant 70.
Another nickname for Chicago is “Chi-Town” pronounced Shy Town. And still another nickname is “Second City”.
I always thought that meant it was second to New York City, but apparently that is not so. Our tour guides told us that Second City refers to how the city was rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1871.
Legend says that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow knocked over a lantern which set fire to the barn, and from there, the fire spread. Some of our tour guides dismissed this legend, saying that back in the day there was a tendency to blame the Irish for anything that went wrong and that more likely, the fire began as a lightning strike. At any rate, the fire spread and burned for three days. Rain finally put it out.
Following the fire, legislation decreed that buildings not be built of wood. The materials that could be used were brick, stone, marble and limestone. And thus began the era of the skyscrapers. 
Our group stayed at the Embassy Suites near Navy Pier. Here is our crest on their Welcome Screen. 
The hotel gave us a hospitality room. Here is the signage. Our school is called HADSON, and the hotel almost got it right, calling us HUDSON. Pretty close.
almost HADSON 🙂
One of the nurses made a cap, which does resemble our original nursing cap. As far as I know, nurses don’t wear caps these days.
something like the HADSON nursing cap
We did “hop on hop off” bus tours, and boat cruises of the harbor. We ate hot dogs and deep dish pizza. And at Maggiano’s, we had some of the best chocolate cake in the world.
the best chocolate cake in the world!
Everyone loves a Chicago hot dog.
At Giordano’s, we tried the deep dish pizza. 
Absolutely delicious!
Suzanne and Tracy
On Saturday, twenty-two HADSON nurses boarded the boat for the Chicago Harbor Cruise. As we floated along the Chicago River, we passed this building which curves with the river. 
In 1887, the flow of the Chicago River was reversed. Instead of flowing into Lake Michigan and discharging sewage into the great freshwater lake, the River took in fresh water from Lake Michigan and discharged its sewage into the Mississippi River watershed. Here are the locks that allow that to happen.
locks
Chicago – our view from the boat
It’s a windy day out on the lake.
Navy Pier
I like tall buildings. I have climbed the Calgary Tower twice (it’s only 802 stairs) and I have taken the elevator to the top of Toronto’s CN Tower. So I had to visit the two tallest buildings in Chicago. First the John Hancock Building.
John Hancock Building
At one point, the John Hancock Building was the second tallest building in the world. Now it is the eighth-tallest in the USA.
Willis Tower
This is Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower, and formerly the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. I think it is now the second tallest in the Western Hemisphere. At any rate, I like being up high and here is the view.
way up high!
the view
There was so much to see that I know I will have to make another trip to the Windy City.
The Harold Washington Library
the L
Sidewalk café’s
What locals still call Macy’s Department Store
Cloud Gate, or, more fondly known as The Bean
And of course, we reminisced, as we walked through Millennium Park, cruised the Magnificent Mile and ate Chicago’s version of poutine at the welcoming Timothy O’Toole’s Pub.
Thanks to all my classmates for a great visit. See you all in three years!
by Suzanne Stengl | Jun 30, 2017 | Travel
The Tuesday Café is rather quiet these days. You may have noticed that I’ve only been posting monthly for the last little while.
That’s because I’m hard at work on the next book in my WEDDING series. This one should be available by October 1st. It is the prequel to ON THE WAY TO A WEDDING. I’m just wrapping up the final chapter and then I’ll let it simmer for a bit before sending it off to my editor. Next, the fun will begin with choosing a cover.
Besides writing, I’ve been doing some traveling. At the beginning of June, I spent a week in Regina and the Saskatchewan countryside.
Nothing but prairie for miles and miles.
Here is the grain elevator in the little town of Limerick. The hotel in this town makes the best chicken wings in the world.
Saskatchewan’s provincial flower is the western red lily, also known as the wood lily or prairie lily.
western red lily
Last week, I was in Ontario for the annual family reunion. We are fortunate to have a great photographer in the group who happens to have a “drone” and so we even got some aerial shots this year.
Everybody wave!
One of the farms I visited had peaches ripening in the beautiful Ontario sunshine.
peach tree
As usual, I visited Pinecroft for lunch with some of my cousins. And I bought an art card of trilliums, Ontario’s provincial flower. I’m holding the card here.
at Pinecroft
I intend to frame it, maybe with a double mat, some white and a bit of green. Trilliums have three large white petals and they bloom in the springtime. Here’s a picture of trilliums up close. My sister has some in her backyard. I wish I could grow them in Alberta but we don’t have the climate for it.
trillium
Alberta’s provincial flower is the resilient Rosa acicularis, otherwise known as the prickly rose, the wild rose and the Arctic rose.
Alberta Rose
This little flower starts blooming in late May and will often continue to bloom into August.
Do you know what your provincial (or state) flower is? Got any growing in your backyard? Do you have an annual family reunion?
Ontario trillium from bigstockphoto #164564648
Saskatchewan western red lily from bigstockphoto #164564648
Alberta rose from depositphotos #47112519_l-2015
by Suzanne Stengl | Sep 7, 2016 | Travel
I finally got another profile picture. What do you think?
My last one was from 2011—taken by the University of Calgary people when I was enrolled in Spanish classes there. Now, five years and one grandson later, I am embracing my grey and silver and white and blonde hair. It’s like having natural highlights. Mother Nature has given me changing colour.
Besides the new ‘me’ you will notice a new layout for my website. I used to blog more often, and maybe I will again, but for the time being I am heavily involved with the Thurston Authors. I will tell you more about the project next week. Right now, I can let you know we are launching our first book on September 29th. My book is the ninth in the series and it will be released on November 24th. Here’s the cover:
My book is set in the month of September. That background image on the cover is of Larch Valley in Banff National Park, Canada. In autumn, the Larch turn golden and lose their needles.
Yes, these trees that look like evergreens lose their needles.
There are several ways of classifying trees. One is by hardwood or softwood. Another is by the leaves and seed production—in other words, the tree is deciduous or coniferous. Deciduous comes from the Latin ‘to fall’ and means the trees lose their leaves in the autumn and are bare during the winter. Usually we think of maples and oaks when we think of deciduous trees. Deciduous trees change colour in the autumn, turning red or yellow or orange.
A coniferous tree bears seeds in cones.
An evergreen keeps its leaves (needles) year round, and as such, it is the complete opposite of a deciduous tree. Pine, fir and spruce are evergreens. They are also conifers.
But not all conifers are evergreens. Some of them, like the Larch, are deciduous conifers. Mother Nature has created what looks like an evergreen and has let it change colour.
The Larch typically grow in the cool temperate zones and high in the mountains. Every year, a huge number of hikers head to Larch Valley to see the trees change colour.
Have you ever been to Larch Valley? Do you like watching the leaves change colour. Do you colour your hair?
Larch Valley image from bigstockphoto.com # 127344314
by Suzanne Stengl | Aug 30, 2016 | Travel
Quadra Mountain and Bident Mountain at the end of the lake
Yesterday Rolf and I hiked the five kilometre (3.2 mile) trail to Boom Lake in Banff National Park. There’s an elevation gain of about 175 metres (575 feet) and it’s nice, gradual climb.
We’ve had a wet summer this year, so the trail was muddy in places, but nothing serious.
The rain has provided lots of moisture for the vegetation.
We had lunch sitting beside the lake and looking up at Boom Mountain.
Here are Suzanne and Rolf. They play minor characters in my next book THE THURSTON HEIRLOOM which will be released on November 24th.
Boom Lake has clear cold water and good fishing.
“the boom”
Near its east end, the lake flows over an old moraine that barely touches the surface. The crescent-shaped moraine extends just beneath the water and catches the driftwood floating down the lake, thus creating what looks like a lumber boom. For this reason, the lake is called Boom Lake.
I love hiking, especially in the Rocky Mountains. I love the views and the quiet and the way the air smells. Hiking is one of the best ways I have found to relax, rejuvenate and reorganize my mind. Plus, it’s pretty good exercise.
by Suzanne Stengl | Sep 16, 2015 | Travel
The leaves in Calgary are changing to gold. No frost yet and, so far, none in the forecast. Of course, it’s still technically summer until the twenty-first. And I’ve heard predictions that we’ll get a very warm autumn. That would be nice.
This past July, we spent over three weeks in British Columbia.
On July 4, we left Horseshoe Bay on the mainland , taking the BC Ferries ship called “Coastal Renaissance” and landing 90 minutes later at the terminal in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
From there we drove north to Courtenay to stock up on groceries. Then we headed back down the island to Buckley Bay where we caught another ferry, a much smaller one, which delivered us to Denman Island where we stayed for a week. During that time we visited Hornby Island twice.
Denman and Hornby are two small islands on the east side of Vancouver Island.
Vancouver Island with Denman and Hornby in the circle
Denman and Hornby
Our son (Ryan) and daughter-in-law (Liz) and their Labradoodle (Makita) joined us on Denman. They were coming from further north on Vancouver Island where they had spent a week at Nootka Sound salmon fishing.
We stayed in a little cottage and, with a five minute walk through the trees, we could be at the ocean shore.
nighttime on the deck of the cottage
Denman Island is about 19 square miles and home to approximately 1000 year round residents. Tiny Denman Village is made up of a general store, a bookstore, a couple of cafes, a hardware store, some craft stores, a library, a church, a school, a community hall and a post office.
Hornby Island is a bit smaller, about 11 square miles, and also has about 1000 year round residents. During the summer months, the population can swell to 5000.
The people who live full time on these islands are farmers, crafts people, artists, potters, writers, retirees and others looking for a laid-back lifestyle.
~ Walking around the “downtown” on a warm summer’s day ~
While exploring the island, we visited a vineyard. The farmer was out with her vines so she left this note.
We called her, she returned and invited us inside to taste some wine, and I bought three bottles of the Sandy Island White.
On Wednesdays, there’s a Farmers Market on Hornby Island so we took the ferry across.
Makita watching the ferry’s progress on the short trip to Hornby Island.
~ Approaching Hornby Island ferry dock ~
The market is in a treed area with a huge array of stalls selling muffins, jams, vegetables, jewelry, clothing, wine, massage, pottery and more. After the market, we went into “downtown Hornby” to one of the restaurants.
~ Watermelon, cucumber, feta, mint and spices ~
~ A wrap of avocado, romaine, red onion, cucumber and hummus ~
Later we walked down to Tribune Bay.
Tribune Bay, on the south side of Hornby, has a white sandy beach and warm, shallow waters.
Still later we ended up at the Cardboard House Bakery for some blueberry sour cream pie.
That’s Makita hiding in the shade of the picnic table.
The next day, we went back to Hornby using Ryan and Liz’s boat.
~ Makita in her life jacket ~
We anchored in Tribune Bay for some swimming. This is me with Makita. We both like swimming but I think she prefers fresh water over the salty seas.
Then we motored over to Ford Cove for fish and chips.
Here I am relaxing on the boat.
There’s a public boat launch at Bill Mee Park on Denman.
Liz is lining up the boat and Ryan will secure it to the trailer.
While Ryan and Rolf went fishing, Liz and I relaxed at the cottage. Liz (an artist, as well as an engineer) did some painting. I did some writing. And we both worked on this jigsaw puzzle which reminds me of Tribune Bay.
On Saturday, it was time to leave Denman. We said goodbye to Ryan and Liz and Makita. They headed back to Calgary and we were going up island to Campbell River.
It started to rain that morning, a very welcome rain considering the island (and much of the west coast) had been experiencing drought. The Denman Island Farmers Market is on Saturday so we stopped in before we left.
As I wandered around with my umbrella, I bought a hand woven dish towel and another bar of homemade soap. I also had a cup of steaming hot coffee and the best rhubarb coffee cake I’ve ever tasted.
