Kersti and Tarmo's trip to Canada!!

Finally we had our first visitors from Estonia! Now fall time is usually not the ideal time to take a vacation in a country that is roughly on the 59th parallel when your country is on same 59th parallel but I assured Tarmo and Kersti that with the unusual weather we can sometimes get in Cochrane, (which is on the 51st parallel to note!) they just might get them that last taste of summer that had eluded them in Estonia much of July and August. Now we're not talking +35C temps on a turquoise sea postcard-like lined with white sand beaches here, but a +20C day overlooking an ice cold, turquoise mountain lake lined with white limestone could maybe do the trick??! And a mixed bag of weather is what we got.

Their trip started out with some actually nice, fall weather, and I made sure to come to the airport in shorts just to reassure them that I wasn't joking about the summer weather running well into the fall months here and I was met with jackets and sweaters so I'm not sure they believed me?!

As Anni and I waited patiently, watching intently every time the doors opened our minds anticipating seeing them come strolling around the corner suitcases in tow with each time getting a little more anxious and less patient to get the phone ready for that one time photo to capture the inaugural moment, we were fielding texts from mom and Kärolin wondering if they had arrived yet. After a half an hour or so they were through immigration, had retrieved their suitcases and finally walked through the doors onto Canadian soil. After a couple of big hugs and some wet eyes we set off to the car to start making our way home to Cochrane to see an anxiously waiting Kärolin ready to watch her good friends walk through the doors of her new home in Canada.  Anni sat quietly in the car on the ride home, eye's fixed on these two strangers who I'm sure she thought she had remembered, and was fast asleep by the time we rounded the off-ramp onto Stoney Trail. My excitement mounted as I tried to fill their tired minds with tid bits of information much of which ultimately bounced out of the two travelers minds half a world away from their home and already overwhelmed with the adventure they had embarked on 15 hours prior, but we soon arrived to Cochrane and the awaiting Kärolin. The pictures to follow will tell the rest of the story. :)

 

Waiting for Kersti and Tarmo to come through into Canada! I was quite proud of Anni

Here they are!!

There is a very happy Estonian/Canadian in the middle :)

In typical Estonian fashion we were showered with gifts and candies by our guests

Kim showing off the shirt Tarmo got made for me. It was prompted by a photo I sent to Tarmo a few months before they arrived that said, "To fish or not to fish? What a stupid question!" So tarmo got a shirt made up for me that says, "To hike or not to hike? What a stupid question!"




 

Fishing for trout at McLean Pond in K-Country

Unfortunately we didn't have any luck. It was great to be outside though and to just hang out

Elbow River leading into Elbow Falls

We tried our luck here to in some pools but to no avail

 

Tarmo and Kersti were fascinated by all the cows, a sight that isn't very common in Estonia. This stretch of road along highway 66 near Bragg Creek has a lot of free range pasture so we were able to see cows right on the highway

Top of Elbow Falls

Kersti, Karolin and the girls drove to For-Get-Me-Not Pond and Tarmo and I met them for a wiener roast after fishing

New driver. The world is about to REALY open up!

Elbow River with a nice backdrop

Anni was having some fun!

For-Get-Me-Not Pond in K-Country

Site of our wiener roast. There are some fantastic picnic site around the

These river valleys really got widened out from the big floods we had in 2013

Common squirrel. This also is not a common sight in Estonia. It is also a hard English word to speak when your native language is Estonian!

I think Tarmo was trying to entice the squirrel here

Helerin did a fantastic job of getting her hands covered in sticky spruce sap here. It worked really well for sticking sand and gravel to them!

Bighorn Sheep licking left over road salts along the Kananaskis Lakes turnoff from Highway 40

On our way to Upper Kananaskis Lake to sight see, have a picnic, and do some fishing

Lower Kananaskis Lake

 

Nice shot of a Kayaker on Upper Kananaskis Lake

Clarck's Nutcracker, also known as a Whiskey Jack. We had some fun letting them land on our hand for food

This shot was captured perfectly. Kertsi is a real bird lover and enjoyed this immensely. She would have loved to hold and study this bird for awhile

 

Trying our luck again on Upper Kananaskis Lake

Lunch break. Anni was going down for a snooze in the stroller

Tarmo took his turn with the Whiskey Jack

Common Chipmunk

Still fishin'!

Here we decided to go for a short hike to this rock peninsula we could see from shore. It was a great place to try fishing

Helerin enjoying her mommy time by the lakeside



Kersti got these photos from the shore looking at us on the peninsula

Water dropped off quite quickly from this rock peninsula

The happy Estonian couple enjoying their day in nature

 

We stopped in Canmore at Quarry Lake to try some fishing there as well. It's stocked with Arctic Grayling

Beautiful fall day in Canmore with the Ships Prow, Mount Lawrence Grassi, and Ha Ling towering above us 

Little Sister with the Middle Sister just coming into view on the right

The famous Three Sisters above Canmore

Tarmo and Helerin having breakfast together and a little bonding time

Camping again at Surveyors in Kikomun Creek Provincial Park, BC

Anni has a thing with dad's hats apparently

Pileated Woodpecker. Picture doesn't do it justice but this bird has a brilliant red head

Large mouth Bass swimming in Surveyors Lake. We didn't have any luck with these fish either

Turtles doing what they do best; sunbathing!!





Some cute baby turtles you don't get to see very often

Hot dog time at the beach. I think Helerin was just letting Anni know to, "don't touch my hotdog!"

Kersti and I did some really nice snorkeling on 2 shore lines of the lake.

The girls and I walked over to view 3 Whitetail deer drinking from the lake shore

Anni would much rather be 'buck' than keep her swimsuit on

 

The water was definitely not in summer swimming conditions but with our wetsuits, gloves, and booties it wasn't too bad

Nice young Mule Deer

 

Premier Lake in BC. Gorgeous spot and campground

Trying our luck here as well for Rainbow trout

FINALLY! Tarmo reeled in a couple of Rainbows.

Bow River in Banff below Bow Falls

The famous Bow River Falls

Nice shot of the cloud stopped by Mount Rundle

 

The lovely Kersti at Bow Falls

We lucked out and had some great wildlife viewing at the Banff Springs Golf Course. The Elk were in the rut, so we heard some fantastic bugling and witnessed some
pretty amazing tests of strength as the male Elk sort out who's the dominant males among the herd

This large male didn't have any challengers



Here this large, older male looks on as 2 younger males dual it out to establish their dominance in the herd

Tarmo said our neighborhood looked like something from and American movie