An ongoing adventure of travel and living while using a wheelchair. Tim has been disabled from birth. Darryl is his father and caregiver who travels with him.
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It's been a fun and eventful couple of weeks checking out history, natural phenomena, and even riding out a hurricane in Halifax, Nova Scotia but now it's time to make the long flight home.
Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from California so we have to change planes in Calgary before getting our last flight back to San Francisco. In between, we have a 16 hour, overnight layover.
To make things easier for us, I book a suite at the Delta Hotel, located in the terminal of the Calgary airport. It's not an accessible room but Tim's wheelchair will fit in and, really, we're just looking for some comfortable beds to spend the night in before catching our connecting flight in the morning.
Calgary is a big airport. Lots and lots of walking here and it's not always easy to tell the domestic checkin from the international. The U.S. has its own departure hall on concourse E. This is because U.S. Customs and passport control are here in Calgary, processing you before you board, so when you get home you can just collect your luggage and leave. It's kind of a neat system, saving you a lot of time when all you want to do is just go home.
The flights are uneventful but we were delayed an extra two hours in Calgary. It sure was nice to get home.
The smell of sizzling bacon permeates our little cabin in the woods. Since we have a kitchen, I decided to save a little money by cooking our breakfast each day. Last night, I went into town to buy enough food for our stay and now I'm cooking the first meal in the cabin.
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It gives it a homey, campout kind of feeling.
The range hood doesn't clear the smoke quite fast enough for the smoke detector, however, so we open the windows and turn on the ceiling fan to help clear it out. This has the side effect of pulling that very crisp, early morning, Canadian mountain air in.
We counter that by turning on the gas fireplace next to the dining table. It's a very good breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and some locally baked, whole-grain toast. Well fed and ready for the day, we head out for today's adventure. About an hour's drive from the cabin, we cross back into Jasper National Park where a snowstorm last week leaves it presence with a covering of snow on the ground as we climb higher in elevation.
It's a long enough drive that Tim falls asleep in his seat but in good time, we're pulling into the lot for the Lake Maligne Boat Cruise. An email exchange before we left home told us that if we called the morning of our tour, they'd have an accessible boat ready for us. I called this morning and was told "that's not accessible." When I brought up the email exchange, I was put on hold while the operator checked. "You're right, they'll have an accessible boat for the 1:15pm tour." It's a bit of a walk from the parking lot since the normal trail to the ticket hut is covered with snow so Tim and I have to backtrack to the road and go around that way. We check in and head to the dock. A lady named Sarah meets us there. She'll be the tour guide on the boat. She leads us onto the dock, to the back of the boat, where the entrance is. There's about a 12 inch step into the boat. "Do you want us to back up so you can bring out the ramp?" I ask. "We don't have a ramp," she responds. "How are we supposed to get on board?" She calls up for help and the boat's driver, Scott, shows up. He helps me steady Tim while I pop a foot-high wheelie to get him over the lip. On the boat's fantail, I see the next challenge...a skinny door with a 4 inch lip. I ask them, "do you expect him to sit outside, here on the back of the boat?" The sheepish looks on their faces tell me that they did. That just won't do in this near-freezing temperature on a speeding boat.
We're very lucky that Tim's travel wheelchair was just skinny enough to fit through the door. A little manhandling over the lip, then the aisle to the front of the boat was plenty wide enough and there is ample space up front. It does concern me that they told me ahead of time that it was wheelchair accessible. If we'd had Tim's regular power chair, we would have never have made it on board. You definitely need a light, fairly narrow chair, a lot of gumption, and patience if you're a wheelchair user who wants to take this tour. Well, we have the necessities so Tim's ensconced in his position near the bow. Scott backs the boat out and Sarah begins her spiel. The journey is underway.
Maligne Lake sits in a glacial valley between two sets of mountains, the Maligne mountains on the east side and the Queen Elizabeth range on the west. The surface of the lake is over a mile high and recent storms have left their mark with the snow. It's cold outside but warm inside the cabin of the boat.
The guide passed around rock samples from the surrounding mountain ranges. Fossils are apparent in the rock from the Queen Elizabeth side.
After we clear the bay where the docks are located, it's full speed ahead. The boat is surprisingly fast. It slows when kayakers or canoers are about but continues it's pace when another tour boat passes the other way. This makes for a little thrill as the craft bashes through the wake of the other boat.
Along the way, Sarah points out a couple of huge glaciers high up in the surrounding peaks, one of which she says we can only see 5% of. It's amazing how big they are and the power they have within. This lake and the entire valley were carved out by glaciers. About a half hour in, we get to the tour's destination, Spirit Island, several miles south of our departure point. It's actually pretty tiny, maybe fifty feet long, and is not an island. At least not today, when the water level rises in the spring, the small isthmus is covered, cutting off the small land mass from the shore.
We're given about a half hour to explore the area but are told to stay off Spirit Island. This is holy ground for the First Nations people of the area (what we in the U.S. would call Native Americans) and a spear stuck into the ground is evidence of a recent ceremony from these native Canadians. Unfortunately, this part of the tour is not accessible in the least so Tim has to wait on the boat. I stay with him while Letty goes out to take pictures. Tim and I use the time to strike up a conversation with the driver and guide...Scott and Sarah...and find Scott is getting ready to make a 5-week trip to our neck of the woods. This allows for Tim and I to be a guide to one of our guides and let him know what he should not miss on his visit to California. Ten minutes before we leave, the boat's horn is sounded to alert passengers to head back and get on board. The trip back is pretty much without narration. Passengers and crew mingle. We can go outside for fresh air, take pictures, and socialize.
Back at the dock, we work our way out and back to the car. On the way down the valley, we make a stop at Medicine Lake. This lake is famous for it's disappearing act that happens each year. The bottom of the lake is riddled with limestone sinkholes.
While the spring thaw fills it to overflowing, in the fall the Maligne River does not fill it fast enough. The lake drains to a mudflat, with the river flowing down the middle. Today, it looks about ten feet below it's peak showing that the draining is well underway. Next spring it will fill again. We stop off in the town of Jasper for dinner at the Jasper Brewing Company before heading back to the cabin to relax for the night. Darryl Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved Photos by Letty Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved
We've come prepared for the worst weather but we've had remarkably clear skies while here in Canada's third largest city and, for the most part, up north in the Canadian Rockies for the week before this. Maybe a sprinkle here and there but nothing more than mild and temporary.
Waking up on this last morning in Calgary, I look out the window. Fall and the sunny weather is nowhere to be seen. There is a blanket of snow on everything and it is still falling steadily. Hilton gave us a late checkout (2pm) and we'd planned on doing a couple of things around town before heading to the airport for our later flight home tonight at 7:00.
Those plans are pretty much dashed by the weather so we lazily spend the day packing up, eating the rest of our snacks, and gradually getting ready to go. Finally, it's 1:45 so we'd better checkout. I get the car from the lot across the street. It's now very windy to go with that steady snow and it's freezing outside. Gingerly, I transfer Tim into the front seat of our rental Ford Escape. This is where he'll stay until we pull into the rental car return later which is, thankfully, indoors and under a roof.
I have to gas up the car before we get to the airport so we find the nearest Costco where we get two pieces of bad news. The first, a mild letdown, is that our Costco Visa card nor our Costco membership card will work on the gas pumps up here. They use a Costco Mastercard up here and, despite our card being called Costco's 'Anywhere' card, we can not get it to work. The other, more tragic, bit of news we find out while Tim and I sit in the car while Letty runs into the main Costco store to look around...we hear that one of our favorite musicians, Tom Petty, had died of a heart attack. A Tom Petty marathon suddenly breaks out on the FM station that we're listening to. I find another station for gas and slowly make our way to the airport listening to a playlist of the best of Petty. We check the car back in with Enterprise, make our way into the terminal, change out of our winter clothes back into something more suitable for L.A., and check in our bags. One thing that's nice and convenient for U.S. travelers here in Calgary is that TSA, ICE, and Customs are all stationed here at the airport so, once you clear those three (which goes by surprisingly fast and easy), once you deplane in the U.S., you're free to go straight to baggage claim and leave the airport without any additional barriers.
Inside, we while away the waiting time at a very nice Belgian cafe in the departure lounge before taking a very easy and quick flight home.
There's one thing I do not want to leave Alberta without doing. This is Canada's premiere cattle country. There's the world's largest outdoor rodeo here each summer. The land is filled with ranches, cowboys, and oil workers. I want a good steak before I leave.
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In addition to that, there's been something looming over us at almost every step we've taken here. At over 450 feet above downtown, there's the Calgary Tower. If you know Tim, he just can't pass up a good, tall tower. He's been above the skyline in Seattle; to the top at the CN Tower in Toronto; gazed over the Empire State in it's eponymously named building in Manhattan; and even been to the top of the orange tower at Magic Mountain. It's Sunday and quiet in downtown Calgary. The weather's cooling off from the glorious few days we just had. Calgary's patios and pubs are nowhere near the hive of humanity they were on Stephen Avenue just yesterday. A couple of stops on the C-Train get us to where we need to be. Actually, two stops would have but we went three and now we have added another couple of blocks to our walk.
Eventually, we make it to the corner where the tower sits. After paying our admission, the elevator takes us pretty quickly up to the observation deck at the top of the tower. As soon as we roll out of the cab, we see the star attraction.
At 450 feet above the street, standing on a glass floor is not what you naturally want to do. It's bad enough to see other people do it but getting out there yourself is another matter.
Tim gives me a week's worth of butterflies when he rolls right onto the glass. I instinctively grab his chair with one hand and a pole with another as if he were to suddenly crash through the glass I would somehow be able to hold him and his chair in midair until rescue were to arrive. Realizing the folly of that, I let go and Tim is no worse off because of it.
I gingerly step out onto the glass. We take some pictures and then proceed to soak in the views from above Calgary. From here, we can take in the Stampede and the surrounding buildings that were raised for the 1988 Winter Olympics hosted here. The Bow River and Fort Calgary can also be easily seen. Several buildings down below have their names painted on the roof so people in the tower can find them when they get down. The Palomino Club entices me for a drink later. After seeing the sky-high view of the city, we exit through the gift shop and make the trek over to the nearby Inglewood neighborhood. It's here where Letty can browse one of the local yarn shops while Tim and I chat over a beer. Later, it's time for dinner. One more thing...we head to the Keg, which is in the lobby of the Westin Hotel, for some of that Alberta beef.
I'm torn between deciding on the New York strip and the prime rib but the roast eventually wins over the steak.
Letty gets a top sirloin topped with shrimp and scallops.
Tim gets some prime rib sliders. It's very delicious and easily satisfies my cravings for that Alberta cow I've been dying to eat. Darryl Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved Photos by Letty Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved
The one big activity we have planned while we're here in Canada's third largest city is to go see a hockey game. It'll be the most Canadian thing we do while we're here. It's Saturday night, which is hockey night in Canada, and the Calgary Flames are hosting the Winnipeg Jets in their final pre-season match before the season starts next week.
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We had learned from our adventures yesterday that it would be just as easy to walk the half mile from our hotel as to take the train. The weather report is a bit threatening but when it's time to leave, it's still dry. Walking it is, although we'll leave the return by train option open if the weather has turned nasty after the game. Straight as an arrow, we walk the street from our hotel to the Saddledome. As we're approaching, a police officer points us to the accessible ramp to enter the arena. It's pretty well hidden and it's no wonder we didn't see it on our walk yesterday. "It's the only way you'll get in," he tells us. Collecting our tickets from Will Call, we proceed inside. Of course, this only accessible entrance is almost exactly on the opposite side of the arena from the wheelchair seating so we have to walk halfway around to get to our seats. At least, this gives us a chance to see what kind of food offerings are available to us for this night of hockey. We get to our seats which are located on a row across three or four sections at the top of the first level. Basically, in this old arena, they just cleared out a spot on the concourse for wheelchairs. There is no 'built in' seating.
Another thing is that Canada today is like the U.S. was 15 years ago in companion seating requirements. We are only allowed buy one companion seat to go with Tim's wheelchair. I give that to my wife, my assigned seat is about 10 rows away. I decide to sit in the empty seat next to Tim until and unless the ticket holders for that seat show up...with the usher's blessing, of course. (As a side note, the ADA was amended a few years ago for the United States where is is now law that you must sell up to at least three companion seats for every wheelchair seat but, of course, this is not the United States)
The pregame activities begin with a warning that there will be fireworks. This turns out to be nothing more than flames shooting out of the scoreboard but it's still a nice effect. The game starts and about halfway through the first period, I feel a tap on my shoulder. A lady and her husband in a wheelchair are here to claim their seats. I immediately get up as nicely as I can but still get the wish-of-my-immediate-death stare from the caregiver. Jeez...is this an example of the famous Canadian hospitality I've heard so much about? I move to the other side of Letty and Tim. Pretty soon, a mother and her disabled son show up to claim the seats I'm sitting at. "No worries," she says, "we'll just scoot down one spot and you can continue to sit with your family." That's more like it. A little while later, an able-bodied man and his four able bodied kids encamp in the seats on the other side of the mom (the usher said it was OK but he'd have to move to his assigned seats if someone else showed up). When the mom and the kid take off to the bathroom, that family immediately scoots over to take the seats they just vacated. OK, this is getting a bit ridiculous. The lady was so nice to me that I feel obligated to defend those seats. This is a big, burly, mean looking guy but someone has to say something and it looks like it's going to fall to me. I steel myself up for a confrontation... "Excuse me, but those seats are already taken," I tell the gent getting ready for the inevitable shouting match. "Oh, I'm sorry...come on kids, let's scoot back over here," came his gentle and courteous reply. I guess that the first caregiver that gave me the death stare was an anomaly. There really is a overwhelming courteousness to these people. The game continues on. I get some hot dogs and popcorn for Tim and me...which were really very good...while Letty has some pirogi poutine. She says it's the best poutine she's had the entire trip. It's a hard fought game with the lead changing a few time. At the end of regulation, the game is tied 2-2. At the end of a five minute overtime, the game is still tied 2-2. If you know hockey, you know what comes next. Each team takes a turn sending a lone player onto the ice to shoot a puck at a lone goalie from the other team...it's the shootout! It's a very exciting and quick way to decide the match. A Jets player shoots and missed. Same with the first Flames player. Another Jets player misses. A Flames player scores. The games over and the audience goes nuts! Horns blow and more flames shoot out of the scoreboard. We make our way out and it's just starting to rain with a steady drizzle. We decide it's not too bad and walk back to our hotel. Hockey Night was a very fun night for us here in Calgary. Darryl Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved
Darn. I have to finally get the rental car out of the parking lot for today's excursion. I was hoping I wouldn't have to drive again until we went to the airport but it is quicker, by far, to get to today's destination of Heritage Park by car rather than transit. The reason I'm not so happy about that is that it requires me to transfer Tim into and out of the car, not to mention folding up his chair and fitting it into the hatch of our rental car. I can do it...I have been doing it mostly up in the mountains...but it does get tiring and takes its toll after awhile.
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It's a bit cloudy and threatening but for the moment it's not raining. We take the drive to Heritage Park, find a spot to park, and head in. I downloaded a two-for-one coupon at the hotel before leaving. At the ticket window, I ask if they have any discounts for the disabled. I'm told no but a caregiver can go in for free so Tim and I get in for the price of one while Letty gets in for free. We get to pay for one ticket for the three of us. (As an aside, I've noticed that no one will volunteer that a discount is available at attractions while were here in Canada. Only when I've asked did I receive them. One lady at another attraction told me "you'd be surprised that no one asks for discounts." My response is "maybe you could volunteer that information?") A plaza is next to the ticket booth with a restaurant, cafe, and a couple of shops. An automotive museum called Gasoline Alley is just inside the gate. It's about a quarter mile walk from here to the heart of the park. up a slight hill. We walk up. There is also an accessible bus that will take you from here if your unable to.
At the top of the hill, there's a windmill, a train crossing, and a lake off to the left. Crossing the tracks, you are now in the village. It's kind of like a combination of Knott's Berry Farm and a museum.
It's possible to make a big loop and take it all in so we break to the left which takes us by some rentable party tents before getting to the antique midway.
Old rides, such as this caterpillar ride with wooden wheels, are available to ride on.
There's also a swing ride, a carousel, ferris wheel, and a few others. None are accessible. We watch for a few minutes before I see a station for the old steam engined train that makes a circuit around the park.
"Let's go see if that train is accessible," I tell Tim. We see nothing to suggest it is, there's even a sign that strollers must left at the station. I ask a gentleman working there if it is. "No, it's an antique train and it's impossible to adapt it to wheelchairs," is his answer. Now, we've been on plenty of antique trains south of the border that have very easily been adapted for wheeler with the addition of a portable lift at the station. This line of reasoning is not dealing with reality and points the way to assume that park management just isn't that creative when it comes to its disabled customer base.
We move on to the train shops and locomotive turntable, which are accessible, and check out some of the antique coaches and equipment stored within. Back in the village, we find accessible points on the boardwalk and are able to go into a few of the shops but the majority are still inaccessible to wheelchairs. It's not long before we're heading back down the hill. We make a stop at Gasoline Alley which is completely wheelchair accessible and take in some marvelous pieces of automotive history.
The complex is named for a large row of restored antique gas pumps that you can wander down in addition to seeing the old autos and trucks.
This Cadillac is left unrestored so patrons can get a look at what the vehicles looked like before restoration.
A couple of Auburns take their place at the head of the large room.
A family wagon and travel trailer are on display in a special 'family vacation' exhibit. We make our way out, and eventually back to Calgary when done. To address the elephant in the room, however, we do note that while Canada seems more progressive and inclusive for the most part than we are in the U.S., we continue to note that they seem to be a few years behind us in inclusion for those with handicaps. This visit to Heritage Park brings it home for us, much of this park can easily be made accessible and adapted for those with special needs without destroying the historical nature of the buildings and equipment but the attitude is 'it's history and your kind wasn't accomodated back then so we won't do it either.' Along with a real trial to find a good, accessible room in Jasper and the afterthought of the wheelchair seating at the hockey game, it's getting a bit hard to ignore (as was the inaccessible subway in Toronto a few years back). We hope that Canada, which is a wonderful country populated with wonderful people, can address some of these shortfalls soon. We can say that the transit in Calgary, the sidewalks, hotels, and many other attractions are greatly accessible but there are still a few glaring examples out there that need improvement. Well, we don't want to knock it when so much else is perfectly fine so we'll end today's report here and get back with some more accessible adventures on the next one. At least they only charged us for one ticket. Darryl Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved Photos by Letty Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved
It took us a little while to find where the pubs and bars of Calgary were but Stephen Avenue in downtown was filled to overflowing with all the watering holes having extensive happy hours there.
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While we didn't have time to partake in the beginning, we finally got around to doing a crawl before we left but then we found out why the pubs were so crowded on the preceding days...the weather was gorgeous, fall, "perfect temperature", outside weather and Calgarians were spending what would be the last of that great weather on their patios. Patios to Calgary are what biergartens are to Munich...great, outdoor drinking spots where local go to mingle and imbibe. Our day was decidedly chillier and most of those Calgarians seemed to be home in front of a cozy fireplace. No worries, we're still out and about, let's go see what we can find...
Starting off nextdoor to the hotel, we're at a popup beer garden put up by the National restaurant chain at evJunction, a container park with little shops in each shipping container and entertainment via a local hip hop group. The selection is a little limited, a blonde and a berry based brew are the canned choices here, and Tim and I lean toward the blonde while Letty likes the berry beer. The C-Train gets us over to Stephen Avenue where we hit three more pubs, all within a block of each other.
Our first stop is Bank and Baron, a huge pub in a former bank. The bartender invites us to go to the basement to see the old vault and take pictures. Tim and Letty go with the mimosas which are on special this day while I get my Molson Canadian fix. Yeah, it's a cheap beer but it's better than most of our cheap beers back home. Across the street, we visit the James Joyce Irish pub.
Here, we find a little privacy at a wheelchair-accessible nook near the entrance (while their 'secret' wheelchair accessible bathroom also comes in handy mid drinkathon). Tim goes fruity with a strawberry colada, Letty goes with their special Moscow Mule, while I have a reserve Canadian Crown Royal whiskey shot with a Shock Top beer chaser (picture at the top of this post).
We end up around the corner at the Palomino Smokehouse where we have the best, juiciest brisket we've ever had. Seriously delicious food here.
As for drinks, Letty has a Rock Creek cider and I go for a local craft brew, a Big Rock Traditional Ale.
From here, it's not a long walk back to the hotel. Wobbly, maybe, but not far. Cheers! Darryl Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved Photos by Letty Musick Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved
