Grandkids – Page 7 – Skelton Sketches

Our Princess in Prince George

Posted on October 30, 2016April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

We were on our way with the first blush of sunrise on our mountains…

The roads were not as clear as we’d hoped (considering our last eventful drive to Prince George two years back), and were in fact clear ice for whole stretches of shady highway….

But traction was good nonetheless. At least we were not riding bikes like this brave couple!

And the views were fabulous!

Eight hours later, there was Prince George.

But better yet, there was the little princess!

Now five months old, this is only the second time we’ve seen her but she seemed glad to make our acquaintance and we had a delightful visit!

And then home again, home again, through wintery wasteland…but this time on clear roads…

We’re grateful for family a little nearer than they used to be, and for safe travels!

–LS

You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways…

The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Ps. 139:3; 121:8

A cup of Tea?

Posted on August 27, 2016April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

Summer will not long be with us. Already a dusting of snow has appeared on the mountain ranges around us. So we’ve squeezed in a few hikes this month…I’ll let you guess which was my favorite!

Up, Up and UP we went to find the fabled ‘Teahouse’ on Lady MacDonald, which rises just across the highway from town…

The ascent was a doozer, steep and relentless, and we never did find the teahouse, only a helicopter pad…

Had we read more closely we would have realized that the elusive teahouse was never completed. This failed enterprise of some tycoon visionary was demolished a few years back. All that remains is the helicopter pad that would have saved the diners an arduous hike!

But had we come just a few years sooner we might have seen this:

[from Internet archives…]

Climbing three thousand feet in under 2 1/2 miles is difficult but the descent was at least as bad!

My quads complained for days! They are accustomed to pedaling, not climbing and descending.

At least now I can point to this mountainand tell you just where the helicopter pad sits and how once-upon-a-time we climbed up to it…

Well, that was last week. Hoping to ‘lock in’ these climbing muscles we went for another summit in Banff a couple days ago—Sulphur Mountain.

We once took the gondola but not this time.

A seemingly endless series of switchbacks tamed the 2,283 feet of rise, spreading it nicely over 3 1/2 miles. And this time there was a real coffeehouse at the top from which to survey the expanse of Banff