04-05 June - Bow Valley Campground / Calgary

We drove for four hours from Revelstoke to Bow Valley. The "event" of the trip was that Google Maps took us down a wild goose chase down a gravel road for 30 minutes only to end up at a spot in the road -- not even an intersection. There were several other vehicles there and we talked with one drive who said she was also looking for Bow Valley Campground. We had no wifi so decided to turn around and talk to the grader driver a kilometer back. We had taken the wrong turn off the Trans Canada though were confused why Google would have suggested this was the way to go! Oh for paper maps....not!

This meant that we arrived to meet Gerry and Marg an hour after we had expected. Interestingly they had arrived on time but had some drama with their equipment so had to set up, take down and set up in a different location. We were all delighted to finally connect.

How does one begin to "report" on this kind of conversation. I grew up with Gerry and his family in what was then, Zaire. He was my brother's age so a "big boy" in the hostel. He later married Marg and they also returned to Congo six months before we departed Congo in 1985. We overlapped so have good memories have being together on the same team -- Mennonite Brethren Mission/Services -- even though they were in Kikwit and we were in Kajiji.

So much water has passed under the bridge since then but we were able to touch on many of the critical topics during the four hours we were together. 

We had agreed we would share supper together. Independently we both decided on the same menu together so we complimented our togetherness with Mexican food -- tacos and all the fixings! 

We left each other, feeling totally blessed to reconnect with friends from our shared past, and drove over to our campsite in this beautiful park.

In the morning we took a walk along the Bow River before leaving for Calgary.

Initially we were thinking that Mary Lou would work while I went off to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary to photograph a few birds, but when we arrived at the Calgary Central Library, I changed my mind. 

Planning for this 22,000-square-metre, 4-storey building began in 2001 and they opened the doors in 2018. The building itself is in an oval shape with the entrance framed by wood-clad arches inspired by the shape of arched clouds made by Chinook winds in Alberta. The budget for this incredible building was $245 million. We were told that it is a welcoming place for everyone.

We met Ana Loewen for lunch at Annie's Cafe in Fish Creek Provincial Park. Ana was a SALTer who was part of our MCC team in Uganda 2000-2001. She was creative, hard working and had a real positive experience engaging with the community in Hoima, Uganda. She even returned to Uganda to visit her friend a year after her term ended.

I'd reconnected recently after finding out about Ana's music ( https://youtube.com/@starbearwoman?si=Pb41zzbrjv4K68CR ). She is a talented composer and musician. So it was great to catch up, learn about her children and what keeps her occupied now. We were blessed by her stories of hope and resilience.