just a few impressions

Hope

Vernon

Kelowna

Big White

Kelowna

Osoyoos

Nelson

Sandon

da het mer nu viil ke empfang :P 

Revelstoke

Golden

Kicking Horse

Invermere

Calgary

From Social checkers from Kicking Horse to Blizzard in Lake Louise

6. Day

Golden – Kicking Horse – Invermere – Radium Hot Springs

As we woke up in the morning it was pooring, so we thought we couldn’t go to ride on Kicking Horse, what made Susi really sad. Suddenly the sky cleared up and we decided to give it a shot.

Thank God we went there, because it’s an amazing ski resort for people who are good in winter sports. There aren’t really sloops, which are prepared, there just some trails and you can drive wherever you feel like. For the pros in our family the best thing was the fresh powder as it had snowed during the night. Mario, Claudio and Susi made some amazing runs down some cliffs and steep powder hills. But I was a little bit lost, because I couldn’t find my way and the hills were tooo steep and powdery. But I guess I am getting better day-by-day. Maaaybeee :P

After buying stickers from Kicking Horse and T-Shirts, a sweater and sun glasses we drove down to Golden but not just our family, we were soooooo nice that we took two hitch hikers with us! :P So we dropped them off in Golden “Downtown” and continued our way to Invermere.

When we were there we walked through the village and found a butcher with European food…. =) We had to go in there and buy some Bratwurst and Swiss cheese. The best thing was that this butcher emigrated from Switzerland to Invermere.

After not having found a camping ground for the night we drove back to Radium Hot Spring because we were told that there is an open camping.

Minutes later we were on a really beautiful campground right next to a river! It was really nice! And so was the dinner this evening, we had all the Swiss food with “Gschwellti”. =) mmmmmmhhh…

To finish the day we watched “Lord of the Rings” in our comfortable living room. =P

And as always the motto of the day… =)

“Social checkers from Kicking Horse” :-)

7. Day

Radium Hot Springs – Panorama – Calgary

That day we got up very early… =) (like every day)

We just drove to Invermere where we ate a suuuper breakfast at ‘Huckleberry’s’.

Later on we tried to hit the slopes of Panorama but unfortunately the snow was rather shitty than crappy. It was really icy and most of it was already melt away. The 3 pros walked on the top of the mountains to get to a double black slop which was called ‘Never never land’, so they rode down that way and I took a blue slop (which is the red one in Switzerland) and tried to ride that one. We didn’t spend a lot of time snowboarding but continuing our way to Calgary, which is the most eastern point of our trip.

The way through the Kootenay National Park and the National Park of Banff was amazing. The landscape was just stunning!

After a few hours driving through these parks we finally arrived in Calgary but as everyday we had to look for a camping, but couldn’t find an open one.

So we decided to visit the Olympic Park first. We saw all the constructions which were made for the Winter Olympic Games in 1988. It was really impressive to see that all the constructions are still the same as 22 years ago.

Getting lost in Calgary, having no detailed map of downtown and finding the way to a parking space was the next challenge that we had to manage.

Last night we were staying on a parking that means that we had no energy and no water. That’s way we had to save energy and didn’t heat until we went to bed. Since we didn’t want to spend too much energy on lights we just watched the end of “Lord of the Rings”.

And for sure our motto of the day…

“Never never land or Lost in Calgary!”

8. Day

Calgary – Banff – Lake Louise

This morning we had the same problem as we had when we were in Nakusp.

Our washroom is still unused and we couldn’t go to a washroom the whole night :P So we just ate some toasts and went for looking for a Starbucks, where we could go to a washroom, have our daily amount of coffee or tea and check the internet where we should go snowboarding next, in Banff or Lake Louise. Finally we decided to visit downtown Calgary and then go to Banff and later on to Lake Louise, where we want to snowboard tomorrow.

Once walked through downtown, which is not really big, we stood in front of the tower of Calgary. So we took the change to see the whole city from above.

On the top of the tower is a lookout, and the floor of a little spot of it is made of glass. I was a bit afraid of stepping on the glass because it was 190 meters above street level.

On the way back to our motor home we visited ‘China Town’ but saw just a small part of it.

Could you imagine seeing hitch hickers on a highway? No? I couldn’t! But I know it better know. We saw a few people hijacking or crossing the highway, that’s way there is also a sign ‘Watch out for pedestrians on the highway’!!!

As we arrived in Banff there was a big snowstorm, it’s almost unbelievable that it was sunny and really warm in Calgary and so snowy and chilly in Banff.

So we walked through the village and visited every boarder shop which we saw. We were also a bit hungry and enjoyed a burger in a cute western pub.

It wouldn’t stop snowing so we were a bit afraid of not getting secure to Lake Louise, so decided that we will do our grocery shopping in Lake Louise and not in Banff. We drove through snow and it was really windy, that’s why Susi and me were scarred of getting involved in an accident.

60km later we arrived at the “shopping mall” in Lake Louise.

Luckily we didn’t have to look for a camping as we knew that there was one which is open all year round. Hehe =) but actually it is all packed of snow so we just have energy but at least that.

The children of our family went outdoors for a snowball war, I preferred to stay in the warm and cosy motor home and read a little bit more of Harry Potter.

After having dinner we watched the second part of the trilogy of “The Lord of the Rings”

Today’s motto…

After sunshine comes the snow storm… - Watch out blizzard check the brakes!

Where is the washroom or Have you energy? Strom?

4. Day

Kalenden – Oliver – Osoyoos – Christina Lake – Nelson – Sandon – Nakusp

This day should have started with the sunrise, but as it was cloudy we stood up for nothing. Okay not for nothing, we just ate breakfast and then started our car for another adventurous day.

First village to be visited was Oliver but actually it wasn’t very interesting, was pretty small and I guess it’s just interesting if you are interested in wine. So after a short walk we continued our trip in direction of Osoyoos.

Arrived in Osoyoos we were looking for the town centre, which was not so easy to find. :P Later we found the visitor info, where we took some prospects to inform us, what tourist attraction they have. This led us to visit a beautiful park. After that we drove to a viewpoint we you could see quite a lot of the Okanagan Valley. Just amazing.

On the highway to Castlegar we experienced how sudden weather changes can be in Canada. From snow to sun to very windy and snow again.

Since everybody was hungry and had to go to the washroom we decided to make a quick stop.

When we reached Christina Lake, we unfortunately couldn’t really find the shore or the village that we should have visited. That’s why we just stopped on a parking place in front of the lake and took some pictures of the lake. And because we had to go to the washroom again we continued our way to look for a toilet. You might ask yourself why we not just use our own washroom it’s still the same reason that I already told you – the washroom is still unused and now one wants to clean the shit tank. :P haha

After a stop in Castlegar for visiting Starbucks we drove to Nelson, another really small village.

Our next village to be visited should have been Sandon a ghost village. So we drove to Sandon, the road which leads there was rather a trail than a street.

This ghost village wasn’t very special… or maybe we just didn’t find it.

As it was close to the dusk we had to look for a camping.

The next camping should be in Nakusp so we made our way to this town. On this way we saw deer for the first time here in Canada. Later on there were some biiig deer on the road.

When we arrived in Nakusp we couldn’t find the camping ground, as it happen a few times until now. :P And it got soo late that we just took another one as we saw a sign for that camping ground along the street. We were a bit worried because in our brochure stands that this camping opens in May. But since were tired and on the sign was all year open we drove to this camping. What we didn’t know was that we had to drive a small, narrow street with no light for 12km, so it took us a while to get up there.

When we got to the end of the street we just saw the hot spring but nowhere a camping ground. That’s why the guys asked the girl from the hot spring where we could stay for the night and she told us that we could camp here but that they just have energy and no water. So we stayed there for the night, it was a bit creepy but the stars on the sky were really beautiful.

So after a exhausting but amazing day, in which we saw a lot of different lakes and mountains we were glad to have something to fill our belly and ate some pastas.

Motto of the day…

Where is the washroom? =) 

5. Day

Nakusp – Revelstoke – Golden

Since our washroom is STILL unused and nobody wants to make the first step we have decided that we would get up early this morning and the first thing to do would be finding a coffee where we could go to the toilet.

So we left a 7:30 and looked for a coffee in Nakusp.

We continued our journey to Revelstoke and Golden, after 50km we had to take a ferry but it was really nice, as the scenery was amazing once more.

After a short ride we arrived in Revelstoke where we got some new fuel and took some pictures. When we saw the restaurant Emo’s we got hungry and went for lunch.

Just 1.5 hour later we arrived in Golden and searched once more for a camping :P Luckily we found one and were the first guests of the season! =) wuuuuhu!

On the other side of the river is a railway track and I have seen the longest train ever, it was more than 3.5km long!!!

After a short football game Susi and Mario cooked a very delicious dinner which we ate outdoors as it was such nice weather.

Later on we made a campfire, we got firewood for free as a present as we were the first guests.

To finish the day we watched two episodes of “Fascht e Familie”. =)

I heard the best expression ever… haha

Flip: Hans, ich hans!

Hans: Flip, ich flip!!! Hahahaha

Motto of the day…

Have you energy? Strom? hahahaha

get the knowledge or double-double triple double

 2. Day

Kamloops – Vernon – Kelowna

Today we wanted to wake up at 8 o’clock….

At this time Claudio was already awake and ready for breakfast, but Susi and me didn’t want to get because it was very cold and we had to go to the washroom urgently. But our problem was, our washroom was still unused and we didn’t know the code for the washrooms of the RV Park.

So we were waiting in our bed until Claudio went to the office to pay our stay and ask for the code of the washrooms.

After a delicious breakfast we tried to solve our problems, which we had with the motor home. But we couldn’t find all the answer in our handbook, that’s why we decided to ask the lovely lady from the office for help. As Mario and Susi were waiting outside of the motor home our “neighbour” came for asking if he could help us with something because they were walking around the motor home and he thought that we would have problems.

This led us to get the motto “Get the knowledge” for today.

Problems were solved so we continued our journey and visited the city centre of Kamloops. Susi is addicted to coffee so she needs her daily amount of coffee otherwise she gets angry and moody :P So our first mission was to find a Starbucks but this mission stay uncompleted as we couldn’t find anything but a Tim Horton’s.

After visiting Kamloops and its Thompson River we took our motor home and headed to Vernon.

In Vernon we parked on a big parking and suddenly Susi saw a Starbucks, which for sure was mandatory for a visit. So we asked the barista for tips where to go. We walked around and finally found “downtown Vernon”. :P

This town is full of wall paintings that are really nice! All of them were about war and this little town.

After a coffee and short walk through Vernon we drove to Kelowna, which is another Indian name and means “Grizzlybär”.

We were looking for one special camping place but unfortunately couldn’t find because we thought that this camping is in Kelowna itself. So when we drove through Kelowna but were lost as the street of the camping ground was not on our map. After crossing the bridge, which leads out of Kelowna, we stopped and took some pictures. :p

But our goal was to find a camping before dusk so that we can install everything properly, so we had to hurry up because it was already 6 o’clock, that’s why we used our iphone to find the camping. So we found out that we drove 23 kilometres to far and the camping is 5km north from Kelowna International Airport. On the way back we needed to go to Wal-Mart to buy another blanket.

Finally we arrived at the camping and were surprised that it was a huge 5 star camping ground with hot tub (but without water), indoor swimming pool, outdoor pool and much more. As we are more or less in the wild Wild West I saw a cute little bunny lolloping around. =)

This evening we cooked in the motor home for the first time, and as it was Good Friday we didn’t cook meat, but eat delicious pasta with tomato sauce and salad.

Later on, after a walk to the shore from the lake that is at de camping site, we tried to watch “ faschte Familie” but the neighbours Internet connection wasn’t really good, so that we gave up and read instead.

Gooood night…!

Allie, this is your first Swiss-German lesson :D

Hello! How are you?

Hoi! Wie gahts dr?

3. Day

Kelowna – Big White – Kelowna – Okanagan Falls - Kalenden

The 3. Day of our trip was dedicated for snowboarding.

It took us one hour to get to Big White from Kelowna, this was the reason to get up early. We ate breakfast a 7:30 and then just left the site in direction Big White.

Soon we were hitting the slopes and enjoying the snow and the more or less beautiful weather. I rode the green slopes and my “homies” took the snowboard cross run. They made a contest, who’s the fastest and Susi won.

“go Susi go”. Claudio was a little down because he lost, but I think he’ll get well soon.

A few minutes later we were to be found in ‘Snow Ghost’ where we ate really good chicken stripes. :P

Our last run was crazy… We had to take the black slope and I was totally lost there, because I am still a beginner in snowboarding.

So we went back to Kelowna to visit downtown and the beach. :P

It was really nice, the sun, the lake and the beach made you feel soooo good.

After a short football game and some funny pictures we continued our trip direction south.

The countryside on this way was sooooooo picturesque. We drove along the Okanagan Lake and it was amazing. Just stunning!

Like yesterday, we were looking for one special camping ground in Okanagan Falls, buuuut unfortunately this camping was still closed. But it was sooooo amazing there that we took some pictures.

So we drove back to Kalenden where we found a small camping ground with a breathtaking view.

Susi and Mario went for taking a shower and Claudio and me stayed in the motor home as Susi suddenly came back and told us that she forgot her shower gel and shampoos in Kelowna. J haha

Later we enjoyed our dinner, which was curry rise and salad. :D

As the snowboards have to get ready for the next mountains, Susi and Mario gave their babies a spa program and waxed it.

Oh by the way I almost forgot to tell our motto of the day.

“Double-double triple double” or “Drawer is open, please write down, drawer closed again”

Schulz…

Rooadtriiip through BC =)

1. Day

Vancouver – Hope – Kamloops

We started our trip on April fools day =)

In the morning, we took the sky train to pick up the RV that is our home for the next 30 days. After a „perfect“ instruction we started the motor and our journey begun

First we had to go back to our apartments to get our luggage. The motor home was sooooo packed after putting in all our suitcases and boards that there was nooooo way to reach the washroom. So we decided that the slogan of the day was to clean up the motor home. :-)

Unfortunately we got in traffic jam and our way to Hope, which was the first stop of our trip, went on really slowly.

As we were really hungry we had lunch in Triple O’s. =) After eating delicious burgers, we continued our way to Hope and experienced hail for the first time in Canada.

An hour later we arrived in Hope which is a very small village but soooo cute.

As we had parked our motor home a man came to ask us where we are coming from. After buying our breakfast for tomorrow we walked around the village and looked for a washroom. I guess I have to say that no one wants to go to the washroom in our motor home because the first one, who uses it, has to clean the shit tank.

Later on our way from Hope to Kamloops, as we were driving I said that the last time I was there everything was snow-covered because today it was green, we got in huuuuuge snowstorm. After a while the weather conditions changed from one minute to the other and the snow was gone.

After driving a few hours in the dark we finally got to see the lights of the city Kamloops.

Kamloops was named by the Shuswap-Indians and this means „Zusammenfluss“.

15km later we reached a place for staying over that night.

Then we had to manage the biggest challenges of the day.

-      How should we organise our luggage so that we have enough space for ourselves?

-      And how does the motor home work?

Later our motor home looked like a home. =)

But we were tooooo tired to figure out how everything works in this RV, so we went to bed. =) 

(pics are going to be in another blog) 

remember the 90s =)

as I told you, I was working for the paralympics :P 
this has been a great and unforgettable experience. in the thunderbird arena they have had some stands where you could try how it is to do sports with a handicap. 
so we tried how to play ice sledge hockey (but on the floor), and we gave our best in wheelchair curling. =) it was really interesting to feel how exhausting these sports are. :P 


and as we were in the stadium, we had the chance to sneak in and watch the games. :P 
it always was a biiiiig party :D 


our roommate nicolas left more than a week ago, that's why ha were having a biiiig party in our apartment. the theme for that party was 'remember the 90's' =) 
soo we went to value village which is a second hand store for buying clothes from the 90's. =) 
the party was incredible =) these are a few numbers of our party: 
ca. 50 people
ca. 150 jello shots 
9 hours of paaaaarty =) 
ca. 50 balloons 
reams of beers and other kinds of alcohol :P 
aaaand a few hang overs :P 


on sunday we went to the cinema =) 
this time we watched 'she is out of my league' this movie is soooo funny =) really entertaining =) 


one day later I was invited at my homestay for a delicious dinner =) it was soooooo nice to have seen them again =) they're sooo lovely. when i am there, it feels almost like home =) 


ooon tuesday i went to the cinema again =) and we watched 'bounty hunter' which is a goood movie but not as funny as the other one was :P 


thursday was a sad day, because i had to say good bye to one of my best friends here in van. fernando left and went back to spain. 


huuuu friday hahahahaha =) that was a night. 
but stop, i have to beginn the day in the morning :D 
my neighbours and dear friends, mario and claudio, had their graduation :P sooo i got up early (at 10 or something like that) :P and went to school because i didn't want to miss their great speech. 
after that we went to subway for lunch =) 
and because I am a really good student I did my homework before school :P 
so after school i met Vriiini =) and we bought spaghetti for dinner and went together with Salome to the liquor store :P there we bought some (haha!) liquor =) 
so we ate spaghetti and had a great evening =) 


after sleeping the whole day, my roomies and me went to Hell's Kitchen for having dinner with Alanna, the birthday child =)
later on we joined the farewell party from our neighbours :P but as I was still tired from the night before we didn't stay long :P 


actually my roomies and me were invited for breakfast at our neighbours apartment (miiiit zopf :P ) buuuut they were soooo hung over that they slept tooo long and we went to north vancouver and had our brunch there :P 


hehehe =) guess what I did yesterday evening? =) 
i went to cinemaa again :P this time for the movie 'the hot tub time machine'! 
such a hilarious mooovie :P you HAVE to watch it! 
:P


today is more or less my packing and cleaning day. because i am leaving tomorrow for my roadtrip through BC! =) 
we are going to be on the road for one month =) --> snowboarding, surfing, playing cowboys :P 
soooo this means i won't be online very often and it could be that i am unavailable on the phone. :P 
so just keep reading my blog, because this is going to be the only thing i will update :P 


have a nice day and i hope to hear from you anyways :P 


cheeeers 

welcome to the 90s

with glowing hearts...

on Sunday, feburary 28th, was my first day at work for the olympics. 
i was lucky and could work at the closing ceremony. it was amazing. 
the show was reaaaally good. =) 
although i had to work 10 hours it was an unforgettable experience :D 


the following days were packed with work at the warehouse and school. 


i am taking private lessons now and it's soooooo good! my teacher is hillarious. 
during these lessons i've been learning a lot =) it's a good preparation for possible further exams. 


we went to the cinema last week. we watched 'Alice in Wonderland', which is a really good movie. there is a lot to laugh about :D 


the rest of the week was about the same as the week before, just work and school. 


do you know jello shots? =) 
it's really funny to get drunk with jello shots. 
jello shots are like pudding but made with alcohol. 
so you can get drunk without drinking anything :P 
but actually it takes a while to get wasted. 


last friday was the opening ceremony of the paralympics 2010. 
it was so thrilling to be at this ceremony. these sportlers were sooo impressive. 
if you want to watch it or parts of it, go to: 
www.paralympicsport.tv
there you can see how guys in wheelchairs skate on ramps. 


since then we are working at the thunderbird arena as retail assistants. 


so i have to go back to work now... 


cu later... 

closing ceremony from the olympic games

mmmhh raclette =)

opening paralympics