GrannyRant

Good evening, Granny Calling…..Day 16 is the first day of our road trip. Robyn and Adam have been planning where they would take us for months. They are two of the best, a great couple who have kindly given up their holiday time to drive us to some special destinations and we only found out a few days before we left the UK that we would be going into the USA for a couple of nights. How exciting, and how lucky are we to have such special people looking after us.

Due to us losing all our stuff on the raft escapade, we have to sort a few things out before we leave. Robyn said “There is no way I am going on a road trip without a cell phone”, I have to agree, sometimes you are driving for over an hour here without seeing a house, farm, or Service station. Adam’s phone was also water damaged so he was going to get a Blackberry which he has wanted for some time. I think falling in the river did him a favour as his old phone was a bit of a Dinosaur!

I was up a 6am as I had to call the UK to report my phone missing, my debit cards and find out how to sort out money, I lost all my money and my cards to the Bow River. 6am here is 1pm UK, so that seemed to be a good time to ring as I didn’t get held up on hold as you usually do. They said I could get an emergency money fund but it would cost. I decided to go to my online banking page, transfer money to Martin and he could access it from his account. No extra cost…simples ttch!

Blackberry were great, it’s insured they said, ring us when you are back across the pond and we’ll send you a new one within 48 hours, doesn’t it just make your day when something is sorted easily, hassle free…..we didn’t need anymore hassle after yesterday.

We went to a Mall and bought a new camera. Robyn and Adam are going to share it for now, I am going to keep the camera when we go home. Martin has Nikon insurance so he should be able to get his replaced easily. Phew…so much to think about. We got some crutches for Adam from the pharmacy, got a huge filled pita for lunch and piled into van and left Calgary. We were heading south towards the Rocky mountains.

It was a gorgeous day, clear blue sky, warm breeze and around 25 degrees. Everything looks so nice in the sun and we were all in good spirits as we headed out of town. We drove through Banff National Park and into Kootenay National Park and Adam and Robyn described points of interest as we travelled. In the mountain, the roads start to twist and turn, a change from the mile after mile of straight roads in the cities and on the outskirts. We climbed up and down hills as we went further into Kootenay, Robyn driving as Adam’s foot was painful. As we drove along we got our first sight of some wildlife, four deer, two standing and two young ones laid down in the grass, they are really pretty and we all oohed and aahed at the sight. A little further on the road split into two lanes our side and Robyn managed to overtake some slow vehicles as we climbed a hill, she squeezed the van back in between two cars and suddenly, the vehicles ahead started braking and slowing down. What’s going on now we wondered, more road-works maybe? As we slowly rounded the bend a Female Black Bear and cub, were casually crossing the road, I struggled to get the camera, still wanted to look at this amazing sight but by the time I switched the camera on and pressed the button, the delay meant that they had gone over the bank and disappeared into the trees. I am disappointed that we never got a picture, but I still have goose bumps thinking of how close we were to them, I’m not good at distance, but I reckon we were about 4 car lengths away…amazing. Some people I have spoken to have lived here all their lives and never seen a Bear and Adam said it was the closest he has been to one. We were really lucky. Further on we saw some wild Canadian Mountain goats, just lurking in a parking space, like they owned the place. What a great way to start a road trip and there was more great stuff to come.

We drove on towards Moose Lake and Radium and as we turned left into the mountain road (well dirt track really), Robyn swapped seats with Adam for the drive up the mountain. Wow! What a scary drive, Gravel road, very high and narrow in places. I am not happy at height and I hate height and movement, makes me feel nauseous but if you want to see things you just have to grit your teeth and go for it. On the way up to Moose Lake we saw, black squirrels, chipmunks and cows! Yes cows, now that is really wild! At the lake, which is really pretty, we stopped and ate the watermelon we had in the cool box and finished off the ham, salami and cucumbers that we brought from the fridge. We didn’t stay too long as the flies are like bumble bees and they BITE! Martin got bitten and so did I, these bugs like British flesh.

On the way down the mountain, we stopped at a natural hot spring, we paddled in water that was hotter than bath water, the smell of the sulphur wafting all around. Martin tried the cold pool too, not for me though, I have had my fill of cold water for a while. We decided not to get right into the water as we had to go on further and didn’t want to get the van wet or our clothes. What a great day and we have some brilliant pictures.

We got back to the van and drove on to Kimberley, our hotel was fantastic, in fact it was more than that. Kimberley is quiet in Summer as it’s a Ski resort, so we got a great suite, 2 en suite bedrooms, balcony, fantastic living room complete with cooking facilities and the beds were so big, it felt like I was sleeping on my own! You can view the resort at www.mountainspirit.ca What a great place. We ate supper across the road at Kelsey’s which is similar to Brewer’s Fayre at home and the waiter (David) was kind enough to sell us a bottle of wine to take back to our room and he even loaned us a corkscrew, even though it was officially against the rules. When we went back to the hotel, we sat at the high table in our suite, drank the wine, took pictures with our new camera with the self-timer and had high jinks taking pictures, even one of Robyn, fully clothed in the bath-tub! We all fell into bed exhausted, what a day, I love holidays …..

Monday morning and we woke in the huge bed which could easily sleep 8. I was first up, I usually am, I think I’ve been second up twice……. What a woman! I switched on the net-book, we have complimentary wi-fi here and I wanted to message people on Face book, I am now without my usual way of contact (my deceased Blackberry). I messaged Joanne, transferred money to Martin’s account and phaffed about, I also made a pot of coffee, there is no kettle for tea. Adam and Robyn got up and hobbled around sorting out their sore feet and got straight down to finding us a Hotel in CouerD’Alane IDAHO we were going to be in America today, earlier than we expected.

We wound our way through mountain roads, past huge green fields and ranches, over railway bridges and through small towns with just a few houses. The scenery is stunning in this part of the World with huge lakes and rivers that wind through the valleys like big blue veins. We counted down the Kilometres to the border and got passports ready. We all laughed at our passport photos and Robyn and Adam thought it was funny that I said Martin looked like an escaped convict in his!

We passed through Cranberra and we all agreed that it looked a bit dodgy, one of those places you didn’t really want to stop at. Maybe it’s a nice place, but it looked dirty and run down. We passed by Elizabeth lake, went through Moyie, where the lake is enormous and the deepest blue and a little place called Yahk, the saloon there was called ‘The Horny Owl’ I’m curious to know where that came from.

We arrived at the border at 1.15pm local time and we had to put our watches back one hour. When you live in little old GB it seems strange to go through time zones while your still in the same country! The Border Policeman was really surly and snapped off questions really quickly. Have you been convicted of anything are you carrying any firearms, drugs, food and so on. I had difficulty understanding him and he instructed Robyn to take off her sunglasses as he checked the passports. Some people just have such an attitude, welcome to America! He told us to park around the corner, go inside and sign up for our I-94 permits to enter the US. We had to fill in paper work, get our fingerprints taken and get mug shots done. It cost us $12 and he asked for it in America, thank God Robyn had the sense to pick up some dollars at the bank and she could lend us some. By the time we got back to the Dodge we felt like criminals. I’m sure we don’t cause the Americans so much stress when they visit the UK, maybe we’re too soft!

About 3 miles over the border in Idaho, we stopped on a hill to take in the view, our first real look at the US, the expanse of land in front of us is immense and you just can’t quite describe the feeling you get. The way you feel like a dot, in a huge world, insignificant and tiny, as they say in America…Awesome! We drove on and passed small towns, with lovely place names like, Songbird lane, Dusty Lane and Silhouette Drive, stirs the imagination and you start to wonder where the names came from? As we drove on, we came to a huge lake in a place called Sandpoint. This was almost a small ocean and there were boats and jet-skis screaming up and down at break-neck speed. Near Sandpoint Lodge, there is a small ‘beach’ with sun beds, chairs and tables, just like the seaside at Blackpool, but with a lake where the sea should be. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The temperature outside was 32 degrees, so the people on the sun beds must be frying!

We finally arrived at CouerD’Alane at around 3.15pm and found the hotel, it’s not as nice as yesterdays ‘suite’ but the room is pleasant and clean. It has a microwave, fridge and coffee maker and a huge Queen size bed. The air conditioning is really cranky and hums constantly but it’s a muggy 32 degrees outside, so you need it on.

We chilled out for a couple of hours and then went out to ‘The Olive Tree’ restaurant for supper. I had Parmesan sirloin with garlic mash, Martin and Adam had a seafood dish with scallops and shrimp and Robyn had Chicken Marsala, with fried potatoes. They brought us hot bread, coated in garlic butter and a huge bowl of salad before we started and I sampled their signature wine, a Rose blush which was gorgeous. Robyn ordered a cocktail, Long Island Ice tea, but she didn’t like it, so Adam drank it, along with his beer and was just a bit squiffy! He and Martin also had 2 pints of Budweiser and Robyn had a strawberry Dachari which looked like a milk shake with whipped cream! At the end of it we were stuffed and made our way back to book a Hotel for tomorrow night.

We have just left the ‘young people’. Hotel booked for tomorrow, we will be staying in Seattle, but that’s day 18 and another blog post, so for now goodnight….Granny….to be continued………..

From the outset, the whole point of me writing this blog was for me to have a place where I could vent my feelings about all sorts of things. Every day there was something, which really ticked me off and I wanted to find out if anyone else agreed with me. So why now, three months in, am I feeling really insecure about my blog? I feel that I haven’t yet found my writing style, that I haven’t found anything which really catches the imagination of others and I really haven’t got that much to rant about at all? So is my blog dead before it ever lived?

I wanted it to be witty, eye catching, interesting and thought provoking? The only thoughts it’s provoking in me now, is that maybe I am not cut out to blog, but should carry on speaking my thoughts out loud for the entire world to hear, which seems to make people laugh out loud (occasionally). Maybe the world isn’t yet ready for another middle aged woman regurgitating words of no significance to the rest of the world?

I have checked out other peoples’ blogs and they all look far more interesting than mine. Most of them are well written and seem to be far more well informed. I have flogged it to death on Twitter, Facebook, Digg etc and while it has had over 6,000 hits in 3 months, there are very few comments and this is what makes me think, is there a point?

Maybe this is what I needed to do, ‘ramble’ a bit, because these words seem to be flowing far more freely than some of my other blurbs, maybe I should be a bit more controversial, maybe I should swear more or put some pictures of naked men on here…..any ideas?

I had a visit today from an old friend who emigrated to Perth in Australia 3 years ago. A wonderful new life, a relatively new country and great opportunities for the kids. So what are the negatives we may ask? “Well. she says, we have to work so hard to stay white!” Aha, said I feeling smug, so it’s not all hunky-dory.

Skin Cancer, is a huge problem in Australia and she and her lily white family, struggle to avoid the sun. If they have anything to do in the garden they have to get up at the crack of dawn as by 10 am in midsummer, the temperature is in the high 30′s and in the afternoon they stay in their air conditioned houses, or the alternative is to go to another air conditioned building e.g. shops. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the positives, far outweigh the negatives and she says that there is no way they would come back to the UK, altough she admits to missing family and friends.

This conversation started me thinking once again, about how lucky we are in this country. Yes we get lots of rain, yes, the sunny days are few and far between and not particularly hot; but the benefits are not to be sniffed at. We have beautiful lush countryside, fascinating weather patterns, (even if sometimes they can be quite extreme) and with the correct clothes, nothing so extreme that we have to hide away from it.

If only we could have a 3 month summer, where tempartures averaged 27 degrees and the seasons were defined. then we would all be completely happy! Is that too much to ask?

IF ONLY WE HAD THE WEATHER

I have to admit to being a bit of an ‘undecided lurker’ at the moment, reading this and that about the different parties and I have to say that I still haven’t found anything that sets the world alight for me.

From the newspapers recently, it seems we now have the Tories getting themselves into a pickle over National Insurance rates and people are surprised and confused at Osborne’s announcement this week. It almost seems as though both Labour and Tory bigwigs, were caught out by a renewed optimism amongst the British people.

Until recently, Tory Policy had centered on the doom and gloom politics of so-say Labour failure over the last decade or so. Tory front benchers claiming that these were desperate times and hard decisions were the order of the day. Indeed, there could be a return to ‘doom and gloom’ if there is a sudden downturn prior to the election on May 6th. At the moment though, there seems to be a suggestion of a recovery, albeit a tentative one. People seem to be more optimistic, even excited by all the shenanigans going on around the country right now.

After the expenses scandal, the Iraq war inquiry and the Hoon/Hewitt failed coup, who can blame anyone for trusting no-one? The truth is that the public think that all the parties, especially the Reds and Blues are almost like for like!

So who to trust? Here’s what they have to offer? The BBC has produced a sort of ‘Idiots guide’ to the political parties, the main ponts being

The Labour Party

Wait until 2011 to cut spending, to halve deficit in four years; increase spending on “frontline” NHS services and schools but freeze or cut spending in other areas from 2011; ensure all people who suspect they have cancer get test results within one week; ensure that 60% of any tax increases adopted as deficit-reducing measures will impact only the top 5% of earners; restore the link between the state pension and earnings from 2012; guarantee a place in education or training for all 16 and 17 year olds; guarantee people aged 18-24 a job, work experience or training place if they are unemployed for more than six months.

The Conservative Party

Begin spending cuts in 2010 to eliminate most of the UK’s structural deficit within five years; real terms increases in health spending; allow charities, trusts, voluntary groups and co-operatives to set up new Academy schools, independent of local authority control, and to run other public services; scrap identity card scheme; “recognise” marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system.

The Liberal Democrats

Identify and cut £15bn of “lower priority” spending to protect front-line services while reducing structural deficit at least as fast as Labour plans; raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax from £6,475 to £10,000; ‘mansion tax’ on the value of properties over £2m; scrap identity card scheme; replace the Council Tax with a Local Income Tax; introduce a written constitution and single transferable vote (STV) system for all UK elections.

If you live in Scotland, you also have the SNP to think about and here in Wales we have Plaid Cymru, me though, I believe I have to vote for someone who will do more for my local community. Who will look after front line services and at least be trustworthy (whatever that means)?

So there you have it, clear as mud, for me at least I have a few more weeks of sitting on the fence!…to be continued

Here we go then, April 6th 2010 and Gordon Brown has met with the Queen to kick start the campaigning. The suited and booted will all climb out of their hidey holes to try to persuade us to vote for them.

The Website ‘Politics.co.uk’ reports today that…”Gordon Brown left Buckingham Palace to inform the Queen of his decision to go to the country this morning before making the short trip to Downing Street, where he announced the May 6th date to journalists.”

According to an ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper, the Tory lead stands at just four per cent – enough to give Labour the most MPs in the next parliament, but still 30 short of an overall majority.

So there you have it, after months of hype, dodgy poster campaigns and argument the date is confirmed…tell us something we didn’t know! The question I want the answer to, is how do we get people to vote at all, for any party?

In 2005 voters turnout amounted to 61.3% therefore 38.7% did not vote. The Labour Party won the 2005 UK general election with 35.3% of the popular British vote. The Conservative Party was just a few points behind with 32.3% of the votes, but because of the first past the post voting system, the Labour Party had a significant majority with 356 parliamentary seats (MPs) compared to 198 seats for The Conservative Party.

Just over 4 years on with political scandal after scandal, all political polls point to a Conservative win at the 2010 general election with speculation of a hung parliament. People are confused, they feel betrayed and who can blame them if they voted with their backsides and stay at home, sat in front of the Telly. Can we trust anyone?

My own opinion is that at the moment, it’s a bit like a playground fight, with name calling, back-stabbing and mud-slinging. No-one seems to be appealing to the undecided and all this bullshit is playing right into the hands of the BNP (AKA British Nazi Party)!

Whatever your politics, surely we all agree that politicians have a long way to go to persuade people to vote and the first step should be to stop all the childish nonsense, tell the ordinary people of this country what you are going to do for us and most of all………….get on with the job you are paid for!