Thursday, June 28, 2007 – Calgary

Today was a short hop because we were trying to get close enough to Calgary to be able to drive in but not get too far from the dinosaur digs. So we ended up in Strathmore, Alberta – about 30 miles east of Calgary. We got here shortly after noon, and following a quick bite to eat (and a quick nap for yours truly), we headed to the big city.

And what a big, modern, sophisticated, shiny city it is, this Calgary town. Not too many horses or cattle in the street though there stampede banners on each light pole. As is the case in many larger cities, they have converted many of their downtown streets to one-way. After fighting through the afternoon traffic just to get downtown, we drove up one street and back down the next. I did the driving; Margaret did the rubber necking. Lots of shiny glass high-rises, flowers, indoor gardens, museums, galleries, theatres, etc,

A large portion of towndown houses the financial district. I think every Canadian bank has a large office building there. There was another huge building for the Canadian Stock exchange – Calgary branch?

Because of the winter weather, there is a pedestrian walkway over just about every street and one in almost every block connecting the buildings at the second or third floors. Today though, the folks were out and about, just enjoying the weather. Even though it’s cloudy, it is in the mid-70’s. Attire ranged from shorts to business suits. We even spotted one fellow in a tuxedo, sans bow tie.

One eye-catching structure in downtown is the Calgary Tower. (Photo above.) I believe the elevator announcement (on the way up) said it was 540 feet and the tallest single-structure observation tower in the world – then went to say above sea-level, since we’re about 3,600 feet above sea-level (according to my altimeter).

One of the tower “features” on the observation deck is a glass floor over the street so you look straight down. It goes without saying that yours truly did not try it out. Margaret, however, was brave and walked and stood on the glass. “It was quite a sight, the tiny people below and the cars zipping past.”

There was a group of Japanese tourists, college-age. One young man was afraid of heights and didn’t want to try it out. To his credit, he finally got up nerve to crawl out on the glass on his bum – while clutching the post behind him with one hand and the viewing window support with the other – he succeeded in inching out about a foot, then threw in the towel. His friends tried everything from encouragement to pushing. He was stressed and sweating. (See photo above.)

How does one photograph a scenic from an observation deck when afraid of heights? Point and shoot? Close your eyes and hope for the best? Fortunately, Margaret didn’t have this problem. The problem is trying to capture all the downtown in one photo. The above photo gives you a feel for downtown.

M. We got up and out early this morning, stopping to buy a Medicine Hat newspaper to see if it covered the excitement of yesterday. Nothing there, or on the evening news. Neither did we see the police return to question our neighbor who saw the suspect running through the camp area and down the hill. From the newspaper, we learned they have their fair share of crime, ethnic problems, and gangs. I suppose there are few countries free from that.

While I was getting change (a loonie and four quarters), a lady came up to me and asked if I knew the area, as she was from Nevada. I replied “some”, as I was from Florida. This caused a chuckle. But she was antiquing and wanted to start at the best places. The manager helped her, and me as I couldn’t find the slot for the loonie – neither could she. We had a good laugh.

Another odd observation of something adapted to the cold winters – the car was so dirty we found a do-it-yourself car wash to get the worst off. We have seen many cars that are almost unrecognizable due to the caked-on grime. Well, we pulled into this two-story building to find the interior divided into 8 stalls, four per side, each separated by a blue tarp (and I thought those were only used for hurricane roofing). You insert your money, extract the wand and hose the car in the normal manner. The sign next to the directions requested that we not “dwell” there after the wash was completed. We didn’t.