Positively Refreshing

It has been such a busy three weeks, traveling around Alberta, for conferences and football games, but the time away has been positively refreshing.  It has been wonderful for me to not only gain independence, but also to spend time away from home with my loved ones.

Today's photographs are from my trip to Canmore.  I drove to Canmore by myself, which freaked me out a bit.  Driving through Calgary is the part that makes my heart palpitate.  My husband advised that I stick to 16th Avenue and go past Olympic Park and keep following the highway.   He assured me that I would find Canmore easily.  He was so right, bless the souls who created the street/highway!

My last lone driving adventure to Calgary and Edmonton took me nine hours of  steering wheel gripping at a crawling speed through snow and ice, and I wasn't eager to repeat the experience. Fortunately, the drive there was wonderful.  The roads were dry and clear, up until about half an hour away from Canmore.  It was, however, only a little bit of spitting rain and a few wind gusts and a very dark, dark night!  I arrived safely to attend my Fine Arts Council meeting with a major tension headache, but eager to attend the following days conference.

Fortunately, I was able to sneak away a few times to snap some photos.  It is so difficult to capture a good shot in the mountains, the clouds and lighting consistently changing.  I would just get the setting adjusted and by the time  I pressed the shutter button, the settings were all wrong!  I salute anyone who has figured out how to take mountain pictures!

There was a delightful little with water flowing gently!  I loved how the light was dancing merrily on the ripples.  A sign that the clouds were lifting!

This brilliant yellow aspen tree and  bush captivated my eyes.  The brightness against the cloudy mountain side tickled my senses!

Canmore is such a busy place, it is difficult to get a photograph without a car sneaking in!

It is equally difficult to get a shot without buildings from the location I was staying in!

Love that yellow aspen and green spruce tree combo!

The train goes right through downtown, like a lot of cities and towns!

Bunnies infest the town!

What a grand conference and location.  I was thrilled that my husband and son could join me on the weekend for a mini vacation, and enjoy the mountain retreat!  It was positively refreshing!