On Holiday ~ Tuesday 4

 Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

Summertime means travel time for many people.

Let's talk about travel and holidays.

1. Will you be traveling this summer at all?

I will be travelling up country to Kamloops two or possibly three times to visit my niece.  We generally don't overnight on these trips but it makes for an extremely long day there and back.  On one of those trips we hope to carry on and keep on going to Edmonton, Alberta and possibly even farther north to visit some relatives.

I've posted a few very old photos of Kamloops and a map from Kamloops to Edmonton.  Vancouver to Kamloops by car is a distance of 354 kilometres or 220 miles.  It is an additional 807 kilometres or 501 miles from Kamloops to Edmonton.  From there we would likely carry on to other northern towns and cities before returning to Vancouver.  You can get a better look at the map if you click on it to enlarge.

A view to North Kamloops and Bachelor Heights

2. Will there be day trips in store for you? visits to the beach, evenings out?

A true day trip to local area probably won't happen but there will be some visits to different venues at least once or twice with friends.  I'll likely post about it on this blog and share some photos. I always like to go to the beach as well and take some photos there though I'm not sure I'll get there until autumn this year.

I love going to the conservatory but don't get there so often. Here you can see a lot of tropical birds and inside the conservatory is very nice, warm and tropical so it mimics the natural habitat of the bird life.

Another nice location is the rooftop garden at the city's main public library branch downtown.  In the photos below the sky looks overcast. I remember the day well and it was alternately hot and cloudy/windy. I hope on my next visit there it will be a day of sunshine.

There are a great many places to visit but sometimes it's difficult to find time to be a tourist in your own city.

3. Do you eat out more in summer ...  do you go for ice cream or treats more?

I probably eat out a little more in summer though not too much more. Eating out is just too expensive but if I'm out and about and I feel too hungry then I will have a sit down meal most often rather than a snack on the go. I do like ice cream and tend to it all year long, lol. I especially like to have a Banana Split at the DQ on summer days.

4. What is your favorite place to visit and what is the most exotic place you've been to?

My favourite place to visit is Kenya for the scenery and the people. I also love Australia for the spectacular scenery and the informal nature of the Aussie people. 

Green Island, Australia (Great Barrier Reef)

Sydney Harbour, Australia

I've forgotten the location but it's near Nakuru, Kenya

Typical huts in the countryside & laundry hanging to dry

Wildlife freely roams the park while you dine nearby.

Fisherman on Lake Bogoria

A buck peeks out at me

Water buffalo with pink flamingos in background, Lk. Nakuru

One of many food distributions we did near Kericho, Kenya

Both of these continents are exotic with their unique flora and fauna and the people are very hospitable. I'd love to visit these two places again but more than likely will get to Kenya before I make it back to Australia. I'm hoping that I'll be able to travel to a new country on my next visit to somewhere but we'll have to see how things go.

Wordless Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Click here to see more Wordless Wednesday entries :-)

Fall is the Perfect Time of Year: Scenic Sunday, October 3, 2010

I think Fall is the perfect time of year. I can never get enough of the Fall colours though when I see the leaves fall, I do get saddened that winter is around the corner. I was never one who loved the snow. Though I might enjoy snow for a few days, I think the childhood memories of freezing cold, freezing a few toes and winters which dragged endlessly on, are never far from me. I do love one thing about winter which I will leave for the winter season to blog about *smile.

In the meantime, let me leave you with some final snap shots of Kamloops. These are likely the last photos I will take before I depart for my home on the coast on Sunday. It is Fall now but these shots are landscape shots of the city from the vantage point of the mountain. As you can see, the city is beautifully located alongside rivers and nestled in the valley.  When you drive in at night and see all the city lights it is particularly beautiful.  (Click on any photo to enlarge).

I hope you enjoyed these photos of Kamloops. If you would like to see some of the city in it's Fall splendour, please click here. Otherwise do join others here from around the globe for more beautiful Scenic Sundays.

Downtown Kamloops: Scenic Sunday, September 19, 2010

Thank you to my newest follower, Kiprotich from Kenya.

This is a continuation of a series of photos I've been taking of the City of Kamloops while I am here on a month long stay. I snapped all of these on September 6, 2010 when I first arrived. It was very quiet downtown as it is an annual statutory holiday and very little is open downtown. You can see more photos of this city if you click here, here and here.

View towards the north wherein lies the city and beyond that, the rivers and mountains.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Such a pretty little brick building.

I love the balustrade.

Canadian and Provincial flags flying on hospital grounds.

A view of the city from the 6th floor.

Main street of the downtown core.

Lamp posts and fare meters for parking.

Another view of the main street.

Yet another view of the main street. Though virtually everything was closed there were actually quite a few walking downtown. Mostly young people. My guess is they were college students as the library is close by.

The Plaza Hotel  is in the background with the green roof top. This is an historic hotel and it is furnished in Victorian style.

Some lovely planters line the streets.  You can see it was rather windy.

I love the vibrant red of these petunias.

Thanks for stopping by!  You can look for more Scenic Sunday blogs here.

Views of Kamloops

A week ago Monday, I was visiting my mom at the local hospital. If you'd like to, you can read about it here.  I had to walk up this hill to get to the hospital. I thought you might like to see some views along the way. It was a statutory holiday here in my province that day so the streets were rather quiet.

The big  building in the middle at the end of the street is the hospital. On the right is the red brick Catholic Church.

In the distance you can see an old brick school on the left side just beyond the parking lot. In the distance you can see the mountains. The city of Kamloops is located in a narrow valley and has been built up around the junction of the North and South Thompson Rivers.

A quiet street  facing the front of the old brick school house in the previous photo. In the Summer, this street is the location of a farmer's market where you can purchase wonderful produce and baked goods. On market days this street is lively, colourful and lots of fun.

A building housing many of the city's doctors and a pharmacy.  See the reflections in the glass!

A long shot of the same building.

A view of a long standing hotel chain in the city. In the background the "mountains".

Here is a close up of the school which I reference in the photo near the top of this post.

A view back toward the city as I continue up the hill.

I do hope you've enjoyed the photos. More photos of this walk (to hospital and town) will be posted later.