Calgary visit details

So as I mentioned, we decided to take a quick road trip to Calgary and while we were there take a day trip to Banff. We have also been doing tons of work related to baby prep, and I will post photos of our nursery progress next week, but I haven't taken any pictures so can't post them today.

Just before we left, we had to do some last-minute garden maintenance – we have many, many peas, and they are growing so tall that they are starting to fall over off the tomato cage trellis that I have them on, which has not happened in previous years. The peas are really growing more as a thicket than a collection of vines. In any case, we had to be sure to pick some peas before we left so that they wouldn't be all over ripe when we got back.

Then we made the long drive – about eight hours with stops for bathroom breaks and lunch – with Jeff doing all the driving. Not too fun for him, and quite tiring, but driving is very fatiguing for me so we don't switch off, and Jeff gets to be behind the wheel the whole time. We stayed at a condo that we rented through Air B&B, and it was great except that we didn't think to ask whether there was air-conditioning. Fortunately there was a small portable AC unit in the bedroom, because while we were visiting it was super hot – highs around 32°C/90°F.

The day after we arrived, we went to the Calgary Stampede, which is like a fair but enormous. It is known as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth." Everyone wears cowboy hats:

Jeff and his brother tried out some pitching at the major-league baseball roadshow:

I rode my scooter around, which allowed me to see lots of the stampede grounds without getting too tired. However, I am not used to sitting for that long, and being in the seated position combined with the heat, was horrible for my feet and ankles – they swelled up like little sausages and I had trouble fitting them into my shoes after that. They kind of stayed that way the whole time that we were in Calgary because it was so hot. Fortunately they are back to normal size now that we are home, with air-conditioning at home and work, and a lot less sitting.

Besides the stampede we also spent lots of time visiting Jeff's brother and family:

And on our last day before heading home, we spent the day in Banff National Park, which is only about an hour and a half drive from Calgary. It is beautifully situated in the Canadian Rockies, and although there is much more to see than what can be done in a day, a day trip was better than nothing – this was my only chance to see mountains this summer!

We went for a short hike around a lake, which ended up being quite tiring for me even with the aid of my trekking poles and a lot of help from Jeff. Fortunately it was not so hot in Banff the day we went, because if it was I probably would not have been able to finish the hike at all (even though it was only about 3 km and mostly flat). However, despite being a bit difficult it was lovely to be out in the woods and in the mountains:

After our hike and after lunch, we went for a ride up the Banff gondola. It was a great way to see lots of mountains without having to do lots of hiking.

All in all it was a great trip. We don't have any specific trips planned for the rest of the summer, and there is some chance that we might go camping, though not super likely because it is getting harder and harder for me to get up off of chairs and especially off the ground. I also likely would sleep very poorly. It is hard to think of a summer without any camping, but probably better to stick to day trips at this point. My belly has been growing rapidly the last few weeks. Jeff took a picture of me sitting on the couch while I was talking to my mom on the phone a few days ago, and this is currently what I look like:

I have two months to go, and growth is likely to be fairly pronounced in these last two months. Looking at this picture is a good reminder of why I may find it hard to go camping as the summer progresses :-)