Sunday, September 25, 2016

2016.9.24-25 Jefferson Park

9/24 Saturday. Cloudy - sunny. Rained Friday night. Weather forecast at Russel Lake. Whitewater Creek trailhead is 7.5 miles off Hwy-22 (on 2243 - Whitewater Rd), 10 miles east of Detroit. Privy at the big parking lot. It's 2.5 hours drive from my home. Being so close to Portland metro, this is a very popular hike. The trail is in very good shape. It starts out in the woods, and an hour later, you join PCT (hard to miss). Follow PCT north all the way to the park. Jefferson soon appeared beyond red huckleberries and trees.

I reserved Campsite 15 on the north shore of Bayes Lake. This photo is the view when I ate my dinner. Took sometime to find the correct site, even though I picked the site online, but that was months ago. It's in the woods above the lake shore, has privacy. Has a limited view, but an easy access to a great waterfront seating area. Camp 16 is more open (better view from the site itself), but would have to endure traffic. After pitching the tent, we checked out the surrounding lakes and campsites, during which I lost my hiking pole :( I like Camp 25 by Park Lake, as it is totally open. Great view, but no privacy. Camp 4 at Scout Lake is good for big group, and has great view.

9/25, Sunday. Headed towards Park Ridge along PCT. One of my favorite place here is this plateau. Not many people stop by. Too bad, no water if you want to camp here. Continue up. Once reached Park Ridge, you'd see Hood in front, Adams and St Helen further left and north, many bumps below. Still has a bit of snow left to cool the water. Saw one woman and her dog camping here. We walked up to the top on the west side of the ridge. There were 3 tarns below.

Stopped by Russel Lake's northern shore on the way back. Very pretty now with crisscrossed creeks. A bit muddy, but not too bad. Berries were plenty here, even though they were small. Most places in the park, you only see the red leaves, almost no berries, or shriveled-up remains of a berry. Too many people?

Thursday, September 22, 2016

2016.9.22. Swift at Chapman School

Every year around September, thousands of swift came roost at the chimney of the local elementary school: Chapman. Audubon Portland publishes a swift count during the month. I decided to check it out this Thursday evening. They started showing up shortly before sunset, and flying around for at least 20 minutes before slowly finding some order to go down the chimney. Lots of people brought picnic dinner. It smelled of food, and made me very hungry.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

2016.9.20. Anne Patchett - author reading at Powell's

9/20, Tuesday 7pm. Powell's Cedar Hill branch hosted Anne Patchett for her new novel Commonwealth. She praised Powell's, and promoted her recent favorites books. Being a book seller herself, (she owns a bookstore in Nashville), she certainly has a knack at it. She's practical, clear spoken, not humble at all. The only book I read by her is Bel Canto, I don't really like it.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

2016.9.18. Mushroom Outing near Zigzag

9/18, Sunday, rain at times. 3 of us met at 9am at Gateway. Our first trial is Barlow Wayside, just SE of Sandy, off on Barlow Trail Rd. We initially stopped just for the outhouse. Upon looking over the trail map posted at the trailhead, we decided to check out these short trails. It's quite pretty here, like a small temporal rainforest very close to some houses. The short loop in the front is about 0.3 miles. I managed to find 2 chanterelles at the same spot on the 1 mile Falls Loop trail, at the far side. However, failed to see the "falls". After I showed my companion the mushroom, we went along the loop again, and we couldn't find good mushroom. Picked some young puff balls, since Mary said they are edible. This time, saw the tiny falls. It's insignificant. Very nicely made trail, with wood benches. Encountered a family of 4 and two separate people with their dogs.

We continued the same road to the Barlow Ridge trail. Seems like a mountain bike heaven. Bike routes are directional, clearly marked on the map. Big parking lot. We didn't stay here long. No mushroom.

Wildwood Recreation Site (BLM) further SE on Hwy-26 is also very nice. Rain became heavier. Didn't really seek out for mushroom here. Walk on the over-engineered boardwalks, interpretive booklets. Nice wood benches with carved backseat. The Underwater stream watch is a must see when salmon is returning. A little too early now. You walk under the river surface. Saw some little fish and little larvae with sucking cup on fixed on the foggy window. Picked some oyster.

We headed back at 3pm, due to the incessant rain. It was almost sunny when we are back in Portland. I cooked the puff ball separately. Taste like tofu.

Walked about 4 miles today. Fall colors are coming.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

2016.9.17. Last Day of PDX Maker Week at PSU

9/18, Sunday. The rain kept me from the outdoors, so I have time to attend these workshops at Portland State University as part of the Maker Week. I didn't know about the Maker Week until 2 days ago.

3D Printing and Manufacturing (9:00-12:00) taught by 3D Systems' Principal Engineer Trevor Snyder. He is also teaching a class about 3D printing at PSU with about 20 students (very popular class - see photo for toys made by the students of past summer). Today, we had about 6 adults (+ 1 kid stayed for an hour), in the 3D lab. Excellent. Saw many models of 3D printers, and in operation. The complexity, post processing, technology, pros and cons of different models. Students are interested in this discontinued Cube3, which can be found on eBay for only $175! The instructor is enthusiastic.

In the afternoon, at PCB Design Manufacturing workshop, an engineer from Mentor Graphics illustrated how powerful their design tools are. PartQuest - downloads part info (DigiKey database) to your Mentor tools, downloadable reference designs, Hyperlynx Virtual Labs - test and validate your design (using Mentor tools) on the web. Lecture and Q&A only. He didn't have time to prepare for this, so cut the class short by half. Again, 6 participants, including one PSU student.

I then went to Intermediate Arduino class. Very well prepared. Everyone had a SparkFun Tinker Kit, a laptop with loaded software and examples, and other supporting tools. Glad that I didn't go to Introduction to Arduino in the morning. This afternoon workshop is also very basic for people who are electronics and computer language illiterate. He actually asked me if I knew what a resistor was. Still fun to play with a motor and a servo. A group of ladies in the class kept on leading the class stray by talking about their own project. About 8 students, 2 instructors. Room for at least 10 more.

From 10:00-14:00, the Interconnected Devices lab was open for visitors. The lobby was full of robots, and some family. All these are in the same building. It's sad to see that not more participation showed up. I shall keep a lookout for this event next year. Hope they have some other workshops or more advanced ones.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

2016.9.11. Easy Pass

9/11, Sunday, partly sunny. Day hike Easy Pass on Hwy-20 in North Cascade NP. 3 hours drive from Seattle. Hwy-20 is very pretty along Skagit River, and spectacular at Diablo Lake.

The hike starts right by Hwy-20. 3.6 miles to Easy Pass (according to NPS). The trail is easy and soft in the first half. Well maintained. Some elevation gain. Then you reach a basin, above most trees. Autumn colors were starting, so were huckleberries. More and more small rocks on the trail, and less dirt. You can see the pass already, but it still takes awhile to get there. View is quite good. Once you reach the pass (~6500'), you can see Fisher Creek valley and Fisher Peak to your left, and Mt Logan to your right. But don't stop here. There're some side trail around the pass. The main trail goes down to Fisher Creek. Camping is not allowed at the pass.
After a late lunch, we climbed up (no trail going up) the slope to the right (SW). The 3 photos shown here were taken close to the top (about 7200'). From the top, the view is absolutely stunning. 360° all the way to Cascade Pass area, and a glacier pond below to the north.

Filled a can of huckleberries at the basin before hiking out. Picked one hedgehog on the trail. Total about 9 miles.

On the drive back, stopped at Diablo Lake Lookout for sunset. Restrooms available.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

2016.9.10. Talapus Lake

9/10, Saturday afternoon. Short hike to Talapus Lake (2 miles one way?), hoping to find some mushroom for dinner. Only found one teeny tiny hedgehog. Quite a lot of ugly mushrooms, like this one in the photo. Not sure what they are. Lots of people. Some family brought their young kids to camp here. Pretty lake, little (finger-length) black fish. Not too boggy as WTA said: my shoes stayed dry.

Monday, September 05, 2016

2016.9.2-5 Stewart and Port Rupert, BC

9/2, Friday . Arrived at Terrace shortly before 3pm. Pleasantly surprised to be picked up by Driving Force, a local car rental company. I chatted with the girl who picked us up, inquiring what to see around the town.
Drove 4 hours to Ripley Creek Inn, our base for the next two days at Stewart. Hwy 37 is long, boring and flat. It rained, and my parents dozed. Hwy 16 and Hwy 37A are more scenic, especially Hwy 37A, aptly named Glacier Highway. We stopped for photos by Nass River bridge, Meziadin Lake, Surprise Creek, and Bear Glacier. Almost hit a black bear when she and her two cubs crossed the highway, as I screeching down from 100km/hr. Didn't do any walking here. Probably should explore next time, if I have more time, and weather is better.

After dumping our luggage in the room (in Cow's Landing - an ugly building from outside, quite nice and roomy inside), we headed to US to the bear viewing platform at Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site. No US border station on this side of the road, and you just drive through without stopping to the sign of "Welcome to Hyder, Alaska, the friendliest ghost town". We saw a black-ish bear on the far side of this pond, around 8pm. A bit too far and dark to see him clearly. About a dozen spectators and a couple of forest service employee. One guy showed me bear photos he took earlier at a different spot. Here, my US Federal Recreational Land Pass doesn't work. You pay $5/pp per entry, or $10/pp for a 3 day pass. We got the latter.

Coming back to Canada requires a stop at the border. One officer will come out to meet you and ask many questions. One stayed inside to check on computers.

9/3, Saturday, partly sunny. Up early, arrived at Fish Creek site as the gate opened at 6:30am. Hung around and taking photos of the fish. Lots of them. At about 7:00, a group of gulls came, making a lot of noise. And 30 minutes later, all of them took off.

We now continued north on the same road to Salmon Glacier . At the hotel room, there's a nice brochure indicating the sites along the road all the way to Granduc Mine. The forest service station will lend you a copy if you ask, but don't have enough to distribute. A super scenic drive, along Portland Canal first, then Salmon River. Unclear when we drove back into BC, Canada. You'll drive by Premier Mine (gold). Not sure if it's still operating. Better views are further up on the road, opposite of the Salmon River Valley.

The highlight is this enormous glacier. It's absolutely stunning. The sun was shining. We lingered there for over an hour. More people arrived, and left. At the most would be about a dozen people. It seems possible to scramble down to the glacier. But none did. Some security guy showed up later, and telling people that the road (gravel ahead) was closed to tourists, because they were laying some cables. So we didn't get to visit Granduc Mine.

I returned the brochure to the Fish Creek station, was informed that no one had seen a bear today. We walked a bit on Titan Trail (leading eventually to Titan Mine), just to check it out, because the guy yesterday who showed his bear photos saw his bear here. Took more photos, as the light is good in mid day. A pretty place. Lots and lots of fish, dead and alive. Smell of rotting fish, not too strong.

Back to hotel for lunch. Before taking a nap, my stepmother and I walked to the estuary on the boardwalk starting from the Visitor Center next door. The old lady there told me that this year the bears started showing up in the town in April. Their bellies are full already, and it's too late for us to see them close any more. This year, not many grizzlies. The walk is delightful.

At 7pm, we were on our 3rd trip to Fish Creek. This time, we went to Titan Trail first. As I was walking (ahead of my parents), I could hear branch breaking noise to my right. When I approach the bridge, suddenly I saw a big black thing under the pier. I screamed and ran back, and he turned and walked away. A minute later, I walked back up with dad. We got on the bridge. Now safe, we could observe him crossing the creek, and soon disappeared into the woods.

9/4, Sunday, cloudy. Rose early again. Headed to Fish Creek at 6:30am. Saw a truck at the trailhead parking lot for Titan Trail. A guy brought in a canvas chair, patiently sitting on the bridge, holding his big lens camera. No bear. No bear at the park service station either.

Stopped by the boat launch area in Hyder before crossing border one last time (4th). Saw at least 3 seals, 2 bold eagles.

Had a late breakfast. Then drove out towards Terrace. Stopped by Clements Lake Recreational Site for a photo (picnic tables and camping available, no other facilities, and no people), again at Bear Glacier. Then it's a long and boring drive until Hwy-16. Rained on the way. Went for a 1 km (one way) walk in the Kleanza Creek provincial park. A small gorge with rushing water. Again, picnic tables and campsites, quite a lot of families. A nice break for me during the 280 mile drive.

Hwy-16 from Terrace to Prince Rupert is very scenic, along Skeena River. Made multiple photos stops: Exchamsiks River (boat launch, people are camping here, despite of the no-camping rule on the website), Telegraph Point and other rest areas along the road (pit toilet in stone structure). A pity to see trash/litter problems in such beautiful surroundings. Maybe people are mostly careless and destructive. Places closer to cities, we have public service to clean them up.

Prince Rupert is a small coastal town, just big enough to have a Walmart and Safeway (almost next to each other). The buildings in the town are rectangular, devoid of characters. The sunken garden behind the Court House is very small, but quite nice. From there, it's a short walk down to the harbor, named Cow Bay, which has all the touristy shops (mostly closed at this hour: not even 6pm), as well as cruise boats (none operating). September is the end of tourist season? The locals stroll here. I inquired about whales. You can see small fish in the water right at the harbor. When I walked back to hotel to pick up the car, my parents struck conversation with some local Chinese who got these halibut in the photo, one of whom has lived here for 40 years. All their kids are living in Vancouver. They said that the climate is as mild as Vancouver, but it has even more gray days.

Prince Rupert is on Kaien Island. Its airport is on Digby Island. You have to take a ferry to catch the plane! The ferry terminal is not within walking distance from downtown. It also has many fishing boats. We got stuck in the loading zone by a slow moving train. Clouds were too thick for good sunset.

9/5, Monday, overcast. Before driving to Terrace Airport for the 3pm flight, we drove to Port Edward to check out the century old North Pacific Cannery, a museum that was closed today (opens daily in July & August). A pretty setting.

Detailed route map on Google. Total driven: about 700 miles. I'll come back to Stewart sometime, in early August, and maybe do some hiking. I shall visit Prince Rupert again in spring, to see whales.

Thursday, September 01, 2016

2016.8.27-9/1. Road Trip in Atlantic Canada

8/26 Friday. My parent flew to Halifax during the day. I took a red eye flight. 96°F in Portland.


Nova Scotia

8/27, Saturday. Met my parents around 1pm (4 hours ahead of west coast) at Hilton Garden Inn outside of airport (there's one hotel right at the airport), riding its shuttle bus with 3 other couples on a Caravan tour.

Our Airbnb host at Halifax had someone pick us up with a reasonable fee. A student from Saudi who studies business (his wife studies nutrition) here. Our studio for the night is at Elite Suites, next to the Citadel. Our host invited us up to his 17th floor penthouse, which he also rents out (per room) on Airbnb. It has two large balconies on two sides, one overlooking the Public Garden west and the Citadel north; the other side overlooking the harbor.

Our first stop is natually the Citadel, since it's on the way. Quite nice. The ground is free for all, great green space for locals who don't mind the sun. Inside the wall, quite a few very young park employees dressed in uniforms, talk about various aspects of the past bunker life. I like the WWI trench mockup. Saw a wedding party here, who rented one (only one?) building for the occasion.

Afterwards, we walked downhill towards the harbor. We arrived at Government House (10-4), just as it was closing. So didn't get to go in. Halifax downtown isn't pretty. A few nice buildings, but most are rectangular blocks, devoid of style and character. We had a late lunch at Two Doors Down (rated #1 on Yelp). Excellent presentation. Tasty. A bit pricy. Portion isn't generous.

The harbor sees the most tourists. We took the Alderney Ferry to Dartmouth. You can buy the ticket right at entrance. No change. $2.5/1.75 (senior). Get change from 2 change machines in the waiting area. Ask for a transfer, valid for 90 minutes. The journey is 10-12 minutes. About every 30 minutes. There's a international peace pavilion on waterfront. Many countries contributed a rock each. The return trip is about sunset. Quite nice, but wrong direction for taking photos of Halifax skyline.

8/28 Sunday. I went for a short jog before my parents got up, at Public Garden. Very organized, orderly flower arrangements, name tags, a small dahlia exposition, a couple of ponds, wooden benches every where. Not big, but very pleasant, especially at this hour: crispy air, almost no one else.

After breakfast, I walked to downtown Avis office on Grafton St. to pick up a car at 9:30. They were fully booked: turned away a group of Indian in front of me. Reservation is crucial.

Driving to the SW coast, mostly woods with skinny trees. Peggy's Cove lighthouse is the most photographed spot in Atlantic Canada. It sure is pretty. Lots of tourists. I like big slabs of rock here, and you can walk all over. Didn't see whales. Saw a seal bobbling up in the water.

Later, we stopped at Chester's ferry dock to Big Tancook Island. A picturesque seaside town. Mahone Bay (3 churches, none open. It was a Sunday), in comparison, is quite touristy, lots of flower decked shops and people window shopping.

Last, we had a late lunch in UNESCO listed Lunenburg. Colorful buildings. However, not many. Just a couple of blocks. The Savvy Sailor Cafe is ok, another Yelp find. Good view of the harbor from its deck.

Now cutting across the province to its northern shore. Checked out Kejimkujik National Park. Did a short hike to Peter's Point. We were the only people on the trail. Minor mosquitoes. These red chairs are featured in many Canadian parks we visited on this trip. These two were nailed together, so it's difficult to move.

Checked into Grand Oak B&B across Annapolis Royal, on the oldest road of Canada (leading to Port Royal (the oldest white community in Canada. The site is closed Sun/Mon).

8/29, Monday. A sumptuous breakfast, with many homemade treats: jam and muffin. The owners were minister and wife from London Ontario. Moved here Oct last year. Empty nested (5 kids all grown). 3 guest rooms all taken. Ours is a 2-room suite.

Fort Anne is the oldest military post, taken over by the British in early 1700s, who kicked out those French at Port Royal. Only 1 original French building (an ammunition stone hut, dated in 1600s) left here. There are many similar sites and sad deportation stories in this area.

Annapolis Tidal station (10-5) is the only operating tidal power harvesting site in North America. Bay of Fundy is famous for its tide. The current generator runs twice a day on low tide, in a similar fashion as a regular hydraulic dam, after storing water at high tide. They are testing a new turbine that would operate in water without a dam. In the last test, the previous model survived only 2 days. There's a free, very short and noisy (due to cooling fans) tour of the site. Only available when the generator is not running. It's definitely worth the time if you are interested in mechanics.

Blomidon Provincial Park has two parking area. We went to the top of the bluff. Because it's only about an hour after high tide, Minas Basin is just like any other bay. Pit toilet, camp sites, windy at picnic tables (small roofs). From the lower parking lot, you can walk to the reddish mud beach.

Grand Pre NHS, on the southern shore of Minas Basin, is another French-British confrontation site, or rather a collection of sites about the 1755 Acadian deportation, in this marshy area cultivated by building dykes and channels. This one obtained UNESCO registration in 2012. At Evangeline Beach, tide was receding. By the time we arrived at Horton Landing, the mud flat was getting substantial. The garden behind the main interpretive center has a memorial church, and statues of Longfellow and his heroine Evangeline, flowers parterre and old willows.

Fort Edward NHS, on the mouth of Avon River, 20+KM SE, has just one building, a small wooden house - the oldest military blockhouse in North America. Here's where the British troops stationed, who chased out those Acadian at Grand Pre.

Drove 3+ hours to Cape Breton for the night. Pouring rain on the way. Arrived at Dundee after 9pm, on the bank of Bra d'Or, another UNESCO registered area.


Cape Breton Island, NS

8/30, Tuesday. Just one day at Cape Breton:(
Stopped at Baddeck, for Alexander Bell NHS (9-5). A nice place with a good view of the lake, many original artifacts of Bell's life, many telephones, a reconstructed plane with some original frames. The site, however, has nothing to do with Bell. I was told that his house is on the opposite side of this enormous lake, still privately owned by Bell's descendants. I consulted the PEI ferry schedule in the info dossier at the front desk. Because it's totally different from what I saw on the company website, I asked one park employee, who doesn't seem to know anything, not even the fact that one of the only two ferry boats is in repair for the past 2 months.

My main goal of coming to Nova Scotia is to hike in Cape Breton NP and to drive Cabot Trail. With only a few hours to spare (instead of 2.5 days - my original plan), we hiked the easiest, and probably most popular trail here: Skyline Trail. Cars overflowed on to the road. It's definitely worth the small effort. Beautiful views of the winding road and ocean from the long boardwalk, over-engineered with seating areas. Ripen huckleberry in the open area where the boardwalk is. I saw 2 bull moose on both sides of the loop. Keep left at junction for a shorter and easy in and out on road like flat trail. I walked back completing the northern part of the loop: not much view, more like a trail, a lot less people. We turned back at French Lake, nothing interesting. Maybe drove only 20% of Cabot Trail. It's quite pretty. Should be more impressive in fall.

I was aiming for the 7pm ferry to enjoy the sunset, but was running late. Now with over an hour to spare, we stopped at Arisaig PP for sunset. Couldn't find a quick viewpoint at the park itself, we watched the sunset at the lighthouse (now an ice cream shop) at the end of Arisaig Point Rd. Not bad. It's probably worthwhile to spend some more time in the park, cause this area is known for fossils. 20 minutes later, we caught some fabulous after glow of sunset right on hwy 245 (Shore Rd), opposite of Big Island.

Took the last (10pm) ferry from Caribou to Wood Island. The drive to Pictou across the bridge of Pictou Harbor is quite pretty (too late for us to appreciate). Caribou itself has no service. Only vending machine at the ferry terminal. Nothing else was open at this hour. Very weak Wifi. The ferry crossing is 75 minutes. Smooth sailing. Only half full. We arrived at hotel just past midnight.


Prince Edward Island

8/31 Wednesday. Rodd Resort by Brudenell River is quite nice. Immaculate grounds. Very green. We didn't take advantage of any of this.
Our first stop is Prince Edward Island national park Greenwich area. Over-engineered boardwalk, shower rooms, and a picnic shelter with wood burning furnace, sink, and picnic tables. The sea water is not chilled to the bone. Its western tip has sand dunes, and southern stretch is along St Peter's Bay (mussel bed).

Charlottetown is the birthplace of Canada, or rather a building: Province House. In September 1864, Charlottetown Conference was held here, which voted to form the confederation of Canada. However, only in 1871, British North America Act 1867, with Queen's approval, on July 1st, Canada is formally established. In the basilica a block away, delegates to the conference are etched in a stainless window.

We had lunch downtown in another Yelp find. I didn't like it, so not recorded here. Luck has it, that it started pouring when we went to the restaurant, and stopped before we finished. On our way out of the town, stopped by the ground of Government House.

Green Gable was closed when we arrived. Walked a bit in the ground. I watched Anne of Green Gables when I was young and was fond of it. Even though it's a fiction, and I don't remember much of it, I still decided to pay a visit to the recreation, the tomb of its author L.M. Montgomery in Cavendish Cemetery, as well as a house she lived before (just a couple of blocks east), which is now a bookstore.

Cavendish Beach, in the vicinity, is quite pretty. Low red bluff, very colorful in early evening. It also has beach access with shower rooms. It's part of Cavendish Grove section of Prince Edward Island national park.

Confederation Bridge (CA$46) is the longest bridge in the world at 12.9 Km. There's a bridge park next to the bridge entrance, where an information center was closed when we arrived (7pm), and many shops. You actually don't see the bridge here. For a better view, drive further to Marine Rail Park, where the former Port Borden Pier Lighthouse was moved from its original ferry location. Time for sunset. We stayed in Moncton for the night.


New Brunswick —> Nova Scotia

9/1 Thursday. Moncton Magnetic Hill ($6) is a quick stop, without getting out of the car. It has a short stretch of road, which you put your car in neutral and the car will roll back on the seemly rising slope. It's probably optical illusion.

Fundy national park is rather big, dad's wish. There wasn't much to see, for it was foggy and the tide was high. We did a short hike to Wolfe Point.

Hopewell Rocks park is privately owned ($10/pp). The Flower Pots area is very very small. You have to walk about 15 minutes on a trail to the viewing platform. Walk down the metal stairs to the beach to walk around these iconic rocks who have been slowing eroded by the tides. Lots of people, gigantic parking lot. On the way back, we took the little cart ($2/pp) back to the entrance.

I wanted to visit Joggings Fossil Centre, Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy, but didn't have time.

On the way to Halifax airport, we detoured to Pugwash to visit Thinker's Lodge, the origin of the Pugwash Conference. It is a non-political gathering aimed for world peace, born in the heat of cold war (1957). We arrived in pouring rain, just after 5pm, when it closes. The lady who was locking the door, saw us coming, and asked if we could stop by the next morning. After knowing that we came from west coast and were flying out tonight, she kindly let us in, and gave us a personal tour of the house. We saw Joseph Rotblat's 1995 Nobel Peace Prize medal, and Cyrus Eaton's Lenin Medal.

Our flight out of Halifax on Air Canada was delayed, reducing our connection time to about 15 minutes. My parent's first leg on Air Canada was delayed by over half an hour, reducing the connection time to mere 20 minutes, causing unnecessary anxiety. Air Canada, being almost a monopoly in Canadian air transportation, is the worse airline I've taken. I was told British Airway is worse (longer and more frequent delays without compensation), but luck so far has kept me away from British Airway. This trip we had 3 delays (50%). Not a single verbal apology ever uttered. No estimated wait announced. My last flight with Air Canada 2 years ago, caused me miss my connection (actually, I ran to the gate in time, but my checked-in bag didn't, and they wouldn't let me on the plane without my luggage, thus forcing me to wait 4 hours for the next plane). Same, no apology, no compensation.

Arrived at YVR (no rental car booth opens after 1am) at 1am. Total driven ~1400 miles in 5 days.