July 13, 2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GIRLFRIEND!
Dragged our sorry butt’s out of bed this morning to attend my modeling debut, aka Kim’s presentation on some of the E.coli work we’ve done. Afterwards, we tried…we really did…to take in more of the conference, but we were exhausted. We went back to the hotel and crashed.
For her birthday Michelle wanted to take some photographs downtown, and she wanted Italian. So later that afternoon we headed out, camera’s in tow.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GIRLFRIEND!
Dragged our sorry butt’s out of bed this morning to attend my modeling debut, aka Kim’s presentation on some of the E.coli work we’ve done. Afterwards, we tried…we really did…to take in more of the conference, but we were exhausted. We went back to the hotel and crashed.
For her birthday Michelle wanted to take some photographs downtown, and she wanted Italian. So later that afternoon we headed out, camera’s in tow.
We toured around and stopped at Coyote Ugly to buy a couple of souvenir T-shirts ;). Then we tracked down this amazing little restaurant that makes its own pasta and cheese. I had ravioli and Michelle had another pasta dish…it was to die for.
Even with our afternoon nap, these Alberta girls were still played out; I’m STILL a little ashamed to admit we called it an early night.
July 14, 2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!
Feeling a little rested we headed to the conference this morning to meet with Michelle’s master’s supervisor, Karen. For breakfast we had crepes…yummo! It was good to chat with Karen, she is ‘the’ animal welfare scientist here in Lethbridge…its all work I’m very interested in, and its future is so big!
Temple Grandin was scheduled to speak that afternoon and I was determined to catch it, so while I listened to her, Michelle went to a Livestock Transport session. It’s a well known fact that Temple has autism and I was super curious to see how she presented herself…I found her quite funny! Its mind-boggling the amount of reading that woman does, and how much she retains.
I was able to catch Karen’s presentation on cattle transport. Although I helped collect some of the data, and am fairly familiar with the work she was talking about, it was really neat to see it compiled and presented.
I also got to attend Cheryl Morris-Dikeman speech about enriching our pet’s lives. Little did I know she trains agility dogs and actually competes at a national level. Was a very interesting seminar…I am glad I caught it, and wish I’d had time to talk to her after.
That night was the awards banquet for the Canadian Society for Animal Science. We got to chat with some familiar faces and a few new people as well. And the food was fantastic! Later we headed out with a couple co-workers to find a place to ‘celebrate’. We played some pool and some beer pong, fine tuned our line-dancing skills and in the end we shut the playground down…it was a fabulously fun time.
July 15, 2010
I woke up to find Michelle had put her contacts in with mine. Awwww.
It was time to start heading back to Canada...I was sad. On our way out of Denver we found this...
Feeling a little rested we headed to the conference this morning to meet with Michelle’s master’s supervisor, Karen. For breakfast we had crepes…yummo! It was good to chat with Karen, she is ‘the’ animal welfare scientist here in Lethbridge…its all work I’m very interested in, and its future is so big!
Temple Grandin was scheduled to speak that afternoon and I was determined to catch it, so while I listened to her, Michelle went to a Livestock Transport session. It’s a well known fact that Temple has autism and I was super curious to see how she presented herself…I found her quite funny! Its mind-boggling the amount of reading that woman does, and how much she retains.
I was able to catch Karen’s presentation on cattle transport. Although I helped collect some of the data, and am fairly familiar with the work she was talking about, it was really neat to see it compiled and presented.
I also got to attend Cheryl Morris-Dikeman speech about enriching our pet’s lives. Little did I know she trains agility dogs and actually competes at a national level. Was a very interesting seminar…I am glad I caught it, and wish I’d had time to talk to her after.
That night was the awards banquet for the Canadian Society for Animal Science. We got to chat with some familiar faces and a few new people as well. And the food was fantastic! Later we headed out with a couple co-workers to find a place to ‘celebrate’. We played some pool and some beer pong, fine tuned our line-dancing skills and in the end we shut the playground down…it was a fabulously fun time.
July 15, 2010
I woke up to find Michelle had put her contacts in with mine. Awwww.
It was time to start heading back to Canada...I was sad. On our way out of Denver we found this...
I’m not trying to make a political statement here…but it kinda hurt my feelings!
Left Turn navigated us the Coors factory which we ‘toured’ M&J style. Unfortunately I was driving, and I’ve turned into somewhat of a light-weight…so I didn’t get to enjoy my samples.
Would LOVE to work in this lab;).
Next stop was a western store where Michelle found a to-die for pair of cowboy boots (watch for them later!!!).
So we are driving along, minding our own business, when out of no-where a Budweiser factory pops up…my girlfriend very kindly let me stop. Left Turn, on the other hand, was not so pleased with this turn of events.
A co-worker/friend of mine is in the process of moving to the ranch her husband now manages in Lander, and she had offered us accommodations for the night, so after the factory we raced across Wyoming so as not to be bad company.
The Red Canyon Ranch is absolutely beautiful. I believe it’s actually a state-owned nature conservancy of ~60,000 unfenced acres. It hurts my brain to think about how big that is. The farm house is historic, and although it has had some updating, plenty of charm remains. I had a great visit with Emily & Bob; it was neat to talk to them about the ranch, about school, agriculture, etc. And of course there was some girl chat too lol!
July 16, 2010
Big day today...Yellowstone National Park in a day! We called it our quick & dirty visit. Drove in from the south and stopped to photograph some water falls.
Next stop was Old Faithful…which we timed it perfectly. We walked up, she did her thing, took a few pictures, and walked back to our car.
My navigator (not Left Turn!) decided we should check out this Canyon Village area…so we did. And I am so glad. It was beautiful. One stop was called Inspiration Point…and it really was inspiring.
By this time we were sort of in a rush…the plan was little red dress night in Bozeman, Montana! We arrived with just enough time to check ourselves into a seedy little motel, primp and prep ourselves into our dresses, and do a quick photo-shoot in the remaining light. Only a few people stared at a couple gals in red dresses lying in a weed field in Bozeman, Montana.
I absolutely hate to write this…but it just wasn’t my night. And I think that’s enough of that.
July 17, 2010
My girlfriend…she just blows me away. I woke up to a latte and breakfast. I heart her more than I can write.
We had scoped out a few stores during our walk the night before…so that morning we did the last of our shopping at pet and western stores. When we’d finally blown the bank we raced across Montana in an effort to make it back to Canada for a modified race and a Miranda Lambert concert.
I can honestly say I’ve never had a trip like that. I'm not sure I ever will again...some things just seem to be once in a lifetime experiences. I've been fortunate enough to have several of those this summer...hopefully I have many more to look forward too;).
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