2004-06-04-Calgary

It all started over dinner at Yaohan Centre the previous weekend. Someone made a joke about how funny it would be if we drove to Calgary to see them win the cup. There was a momentary pause before Richard and I looked at each other, having done the same calculations in our heads and arrived at the same conclusion: we could leave Vancouver Friday after work, drive through the night, spend Saturday resting and partying, then drive back on Sunday. Sensible people would have had a good laugh at the idea then forgotten all about it. Not us though. Of course, the whole trip would be contingent on the Flames being up 3-2 in the series after five games; I think they were up 2-1 at that point. Nonetheless, Zaven was disappointed because he had some sort of a birthday paintball that day so would not be able to go regardless.

At our ultimate game a couple of days later, Richard broke the bad news: he had to attend a baby shower on the weekend in town (isn't that for girls to do?!?). But Zaven also revealed that his prior engagement was cancelled, so it was once again a possibility for him. Over the week, we joked lots about how the trip would go, but we didn't get serious until Thursday night when Calgary won game five in overtime to go up 3-2 in the series.

Our departure was scheduled late Friday night after the birthday BBQ for Brenda, Jimmy, and Michael. Zaven had managed to convince Dusit to drive earlier, but he decided at the party that he was too sick, and going would only make it worse. So it was down to Zaven and I, with Deb trying to decide between foolishness and rest (but she came to the party packed so we could leave straight from Brenda's). We then had a conversation with Ashik along these lines:

"We're going to Calgary tonight. Want to come?"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I'm in!"

Deb opted for sleep deprivation, and somehow or other, Michael was persuaded to come too. By the time they decided, it was already a couple of hours past our intended departure time. We backtracked to Michael's so he could pack, then went to pick Ashik up from his house. We had also picked up an extra passenger; we promised Andrew a ride home to Burnaby hours ago, and he was now our hostage because by this point, buses had stopped running.

Just as we were finally ready to depart, I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. We had sprung a coolant leak. We could see our spirits evaporate with the coolant. But our enthusiasm stepped in and considered the possibilities. Ashik's car had bad brakes and only four seats; riding in the back of an Integra isn't exactly my idea of fun either. Zaven also drives an Integra, but his mom has a minivan. So at 1:30am he called home to see if he can take the van for the weekend. He figured that the degree of heck he would get from his mom was less than the degree of pleasure he would get out of the trip.

I filled the coolant reservoir with water and carefully took the car home with Deb and Andrew. Ashik drove Zaven home to get the van, then back to Ashik's to drop his car off, and they picked us up. It was 3:30am by the time we dropped Andrew off near Metrotown and got on the highway.

2004-06-05

Zaven drove to Abbotsford where we stopped for gas and snacks. I took over there and made it to Merritt before my fatigue told me not to drive any more. I napped while Zaven took us to Chase, and by then the sun had fully risen, so I took the wheel the rest of the way into into Calgary. It was a slow journey with lots of potty and rest stops, but we had enough time to make the one hour detour to Chinatown to pick up some tasty Vietnamese subs on our way to Chi's. We arrived about fifteen minutes before the start of the game at 5pm.

We quickly ate, then headed outside. Fortunately Chi lived on 17th Avenue, and we were but a block away from the nearest sports bars. We watched the first period on the big screen on the patio of Moxie's, but it was crowded enough that we couldn't actually get in; we were just on the sidewalk watching.

The gang on 17th Ave.	Preparing to close 17th Ave.	Bar patio	Moxie's patio
Projection screen	Liquor store discounts for wearing jerseys

The sidewalk wasn't the most comfortable place to watch the game, and the sightlines weren't that great anyway. So after the first period, we picked up some beverages and went back to Chi's to see the remainder of the game. Every significant event in the game was immediately followed by cheers or jeers outside, as well as a round of intensified car honking.

Big screen on balcony	Hot tub on balcony	Santa fallen off the balcony	Santa placed on corner by passerbys
Santa being retrieved

Sadly, the Flames lost the game in overtime. But I gained much respect for Calgary whose citizens flooded the streets anyway to celebrate unviolently (unlike some cities *cough* Vancouver *cough*) and where the local police force does not get all edgy and overreact when faced with a large crowd (unlike some cities *cough* Vancouver *cough*). We headed out to join them, except for Ashik who seems to have found himself in the company of some girls new friends. We made our way down 17th Ave. for some distance, passing through increasing crowded blocks. At one point, we were pretty much just particles in a large sea of Brownian motion, with no say in the direction and speed of our travel; somehow we all managed to find each other in the end (but had fate failed us, we could have just met back at Chi's).

Fans	Chi's head	Skipping rope	More skipping
			Zaven

We managed to get into the Boston Pizza there for dinner. Then it was time to go back and get some rest. For most of us anyway; Chi and I (and Zaven for a little while) stayed up playing Magic. Ashik was not to be seen by the time we turned in.

2004-06-06

Sometime in the four hours that I slept, we did gain an Ashik. We packed up, went out for some breakfast at Phil's, and were in the van by noon. There was an unexpected delay as we had to circumvent the alarm system of the Nissan Quest; we had a few minor glitches when resuming from our stops on the way up, but this time it fooled us for some time. We did eventually sort it out, and were on our way. Deb drove and I navigated because we were most familiar with the city.

Zaven and Chi

Highway stop

View

Zaven, Deb, Michael, van

There was interest in stopping somewhere scenic on the way back, and we chose Lake Louise as the destination; neither Zaven nor Ashik had been there before, and Michael was very young when he was last there.

Friendly

Deb

Michael, the bird tamer

Trying to get a photo

Deb, Zaven, Michael, Ashik, Lake Louise

Fearful Zaven

Canoe

Michael's memories were of a trail up to a teahouse by a waterfall. It sounded quite nice, and a trail which we suspected was the one was not difficult to find so we followed it.

Looking down at the lake	Don't trample the flowers!	Mirror lake	Bump and ice floes
Deb and lake	Waterfall in sight	Deb	Valley
Snowy	Zaven, Michael, Deb, waterfall	Gushing out under the snow	Another cold lake
Footbridge	Deb upstaged by Michael and Zaven

We enjoyed some cookies, biscuits, and tea whilst joking about turning back to Calgary and staying for game seven. Thankfully, Ashik was a voice of reason and averted additional foolishness. Zaven took us to Kamloops where we stopped for dinner at Wendy's. Unfortunately, the dining room was closed, so we just ate outside. The only other people doing the same travelled in a van that had done exactly what we did.

Eating dandelions in Glacier National Park

Wendy's drive through

Hacking while waiting for food

Go Flames Go!!

Michael took us out of Kamloops, and his poor navigators put him on highway 5A instead of highway 5. It was a windy two lane highway, but we didn't confirm that it was not what we wanted until we had gone a fair distance; Michael stuck it out and got us to Merritt. As soon as we rejoined the Coquihalla though, he switched off, and as the untired person in the car, I drove the rest of the way. We dropped Michael and Ashik off, and convinced Zaven to stay at our place instead of losing another hour and a half of sleep getting to Richmond and back again for work the next day. It was past 4:30am by the time we got back; I got about four hours of sleep before getting up for a productive day at work (really!). I believe that Ashik went straight to work as soon as he got home.