Posted by David Porter on June 28, 2011 · 8 Comments
One of the very first emotional connections we made, on our two-week baby boomer tour through western Canada, was the stunning drive up the Sea to Sky Highway (Highway 99) from Vancouver to Whistler in Canada’s British Columbia.
To start our short story off, I thought it might be fun to share this painting I found of contemporary Canadian artist Glen Payan’s whimsical and colorful view of this majestic drive.
According to Wikipedia, “The “Sea to Sky Highway” section of Highway 99 has a checkered history. Built on a steep cliff overlooking Howe Sound, it was a two-lane undivided highway with no outside barrier. Many motorists have lost their lives on it due to inclement weather, poor visibility, speeding, passing slower vehicles, or drunk driving. In fact, local media have dubbed it the “Killer Highway”, the “Highway of Death”, and the “Ski-And-Die Highway”.”
However, as part of Canada’s successful bid to win the 2010 Winter Olympics, the highway has been completely overhauled and has now become a treasured resource to admire the area’s scenic beauty.
As you cross Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet, across the Lion’s Gate Bridge (pictured left), you are quickly transported from busy metropolis to a panoramic winding highway making its way north toward Squamish and Whistler.
The first 42 miles of the Sea to Sky Highway weaves its way along the cliff-side, offering stunning vistas of the adjoining Howe Sound with its collection of picturesque islands.
Our journey up the Sea to Sky Highway was checkered with clouds, gray skies, and raindrops. So rather than share a color photograph with gray skies, I thought I would see if I could come up with a photograph that more celebrated the grayish hues. How did I do?
The photograph above was taken just as we were approaching the town of Sqaumish. After Squamish, we left the Howe Sound and the landscape quickly turned to towering pines with white-capped mountain peaks in the background.
As we continued our way to Whistler, another exciting part of the adventure would be a fair number of black bear sightings. The shaky video here shows one of our black bear sightings as I quickly worked to maneuver the car from 90 kph down to zero to catch this black bear feeding along the side of the road.
As it turned out, we had the opportunity to make quite a few black bear sightings before we got to our hotel room in Whistler.
All in all, the roughly two-hour drive from Vancouver to Whistler, along the Sea to Sky Highway, is certain to be a memorable experience for baby boomer travelers. Whether you make the journey as a day trip, or plan to spend the night in Whistler, we highly recommend it.
In parting, here is a final photograph that we captured from our Sea to Sky Highway journey.
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Posted by David Porter on June 27, 2011 · 9 Comments
When is the last time you bought a postcard?
There is a story flying around the newswires today announcing the death of the postcard.
“The age of the postcard is well and truly over for 18-24 year olds, whose favourite form of keeping in touch with those at home is by texting and using Facebook. 35-54 year olds overwhelmingly keep in touch by texting and calling home, but a quarter of those over 55 years of age are still fans of the good old postcard.
Women are top of the texters, with 40% choosing to text and send photos of their holidays through their phones. Even though the majority of men also prefer texting over other forms of communicating, generally more men than women favour emailing and posting updates on Facebook to keep in touch.”
When I am traveling, I use Facebook to share with family and friends. I haven’t bought a postcard in years.
How about you? Share your comments below.
Posted by David Porter on June 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment
CHEVY CHASE, Md., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Travel the globe, check in to locations and landmarks in 25 countries, and you will find far more information than you were expecting from a luxury hotel operator as The Ritz-Carlton introduces the World Concierge on Foursquare. This is the first time a luxury hotel brand has extended their exclusive services to a mobile public audience. Tips will be populated regularly by concierges from all 75 Ritz-Carlton hotels around the world contributing, with the knowledge-base growing and evolving every week.
There is not a mention to be found about the soup of the day at a particular hotel; instead, the ladies and gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton have taken their phenomenal knowledge and expertise beyond the four walls of the hotels in which they reside, providing insight into cities such as Toronto, Miami, Berlin and Dubai to name a few. The result: hundreds of tips and insights about local destinations and landmarks all over the world.
“Guests of The Ritz-Carlton have always enjoyed the expertise of concierges who are the best in the business. Their local knowledge, VIP access and incomparable contacts make them an invaluable resource for travelers,” said Chris Gabaldon, chief sales and marketing officer, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Foursquare enables The Ritz-Carlton Concierge to travel with you. “It’s possible to access their destination knowledge instantly as you check in to multiple global landmarks,” added Gabaldon. “Starting today, Foursquare users across the globe are invited to access knowledge and valuable tips just by following The Ritz-Carlton on Foursquare. For the first time ever, the collected local knowledge of The Ritz-Carlton is available in your pocket.”
Foursquare users are able to find local information by visiting the profile of The Ritz-Carlton or by checking in to numerous locations of interest around the world. To receive tips as they go live you can follow The Ritz-Carlton on Foursquare. To start exploring, visit www.foursquare.com/ritzcarlton.
Posted by David Porter on June 24, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Occasionally, a baby boomer travel photographer might encounter inclement weather when they reach a destination held in great anticipation of blue skies, snow-capped mountain peaks, sprinkled with white fluffy clouds.
When this happens, a certain amount of disappointment can certainly set in.
I have learned that I have absolutely no control of the weather. When I encounter this great letdown of my dreamed of National Geographic worthy photograph, I tend to suck my thumb a bit and then look for alternative creative solutions.
Such was the case when we were driving from Vancouver to Whistler upon the fabled Sea to Sky Highway in British Columbia, Canada.
This dramatic drive features fiord-like settings where the mountains reach down to touch the sea with dramatic long-range views of snow-capped mountains. A photographers dream!
Yet, we found ourselves with intermittent rain and cloudy skies.
Solution? Embrace the gray setting with a black and white photograph sprinkled with a certain amount of drama.
Here is one of my favorite photographs from our drive. The road gives movement to the photograph, while the village of Squamish tucked between mountain peaks adds further interest to the photograph.
Moral of the story?
There is generally always a wonderful photograph looming in front of us. Sometimes we just have to look closer to find it.
Posted by David Porter on June 23, 2011 · Leave a Comment
The last full day of our tour of western Canada, and the Canadian Rockies, found us with a sunny day and two eager baby boomers ready to climb aboard the Banff Gondola for what is perhaps the best viewing in all of Banff National Park Alberta Canada.
My photograph shows one of the viewing platforms atop Sulphur Mountain where you have a stunning view of six mountain ranges. To help you get the best view possible, there is a 1km sky-walk atop the mountain to stroll, gawk, and be completely gobsmacked by the landscape.
This is the last of our daily trip journals as we will be flying home from Calgary.
However, we fully intend to circle back around and share with you more in-depth stories, complete with lots of photographs and video.
Stay tuned. We have much to share.
The Roaming Boomers
