Laura's Travel Bucket List

I come by my "love of traveling" honestly - my dad is the traveler in my family. When I was 27, I finally realized that being single should not hold you back from traveling seeing new countries and cultures (plus I had the means $$$ to make some of those travels happen too). I was truthful when I told my mom and others too - I took FULL advantage of living at home in Thunder Bay as I was able to go to the UK and Europe a few times. When I told people my email address - they mentioned how fitting - "laura2travel". Someone said it should have been "lauraloves2travel". I had mentioned earlier this week, that I should do a travel bucket list - so tonight while waiting for my dinner - I jotted down some places that I would like to see. Here it is:

Yukon
NWT
Newfoundland (fan of the music group Great Big Sea)
New Brunswick
Drive the Confederation Bridge - New Brunswick to Summerside, PEI
Old Faithful Geyser (Yellowstone National Park)
Mount Rushmore
Badlands (Dakotas)
Greenland
Iceland
Denmark (Copenhagen - I read the book "I Am David" when I was a teenager)
Moscow, Russia (I have wanted to go since I was 4 years old when my dad brought me back 2 russian dolls which I still have today)
St. Petersburgh, Russia
Ireland
New Zealand
Australia
Tanzania
Papua New Guniea
Indonesia (Irian Jaya specifically to visit my friends who live on that island that is shared with Papua New Guniea)
Easter Egg in Vegreville, AB (Plus other "big landmarks" in Alberta - great day trips for me)
Walk on the ocean floor at the Bay of Fundy (New Brunswick)
Hike to Lake Louise Tea House
Kyzyl, Tuva, Siberia, Russia
Wales
Go on the London Eye in London, England
Go to Madame Tussaud Museum in London, England
Boston
Ride the cable car in San Francisco
Greece
Maui
Portugal
Smoky Mountains in Tennesse
Ride the Rocky Mountaineer from Alberta to Vancouver
Ocean City, New Jersey (to finally see what the James family speak so warmly of)
Scandivania (Norway, Sweden, Finland)
Yosemite Falls (California)
Mediterranean cruise
Alaskan cruise
Estonia (my friend's family is from there - her photos showed a place rich in history)
North/South Carolinas & Viriginia - loved the North and South miniseries & read the books too
African Safari (**)

(**) - the reason I put the asterisk to this one, honestly I have never had the desire to go traveling in Africa. I must admit though - after seeing my friend Peter's photos of the African Safari he went on last summer - it would be an awesome experience - scary but awesome nonetheless.

You will have to stay posted to see what I get to cross my bucket list.

7 more sleeps Ethan!!

Last week, I received 2 emails from Ethan and Sierra - they asked their Uncle Jon to send me an email to let me know they loved me (okay heart melts and wish you can click your red shoes together to bring you to Three Hills to see them). Seeing the photos of Casendra's 1st birthday (celebrated Casendra's dad's birthday too), with chocolate on her cute little face - was great - but sad I couldn't be there.

Unfortunately the friends I would have wanted to visit all have colds (I just got rid of mine) so had to be happy with just talking with them. Today - took it totally easy. My mom who just got back from vacation with friends called and we talked for like 1.5 hours!!! Lots of catching up to do. I took a small walk this afternoon to the small shopping centre near by - bought my present for Casendra and a CD for myself. Had supper at the hotel's bar & grill - actually begun writing that "Travel Bucket List" I mentioned in my last entry. Haven't decided what I am doing tomorrow - take advantage of relaxing probably. On this study - after your Mon-Fri you then hop onto a plane and do that all over again -so this is a nice change not having to jump onto a plane.

I am so looking forward to Friday night when I fly to Calgary for the weekend. I get to see the great job that my friends Jon & John have done at my place. Jon has been my house sitter but also has been my painter and John has been my carpetner. The main floor - the kitchen, livingroom and front foyer have all been transformed with new paint (a rich red colour with a beige accent). John added tiles surrounding the fireplace and added a hearth too. The bottom kitchen cupboards have those great drawers making it more user-friendly as well as using the space to its full potential. Now in the basement where I live - John has completed the closet between the bathroom and bedroom yesterday - It will be so awesome to have a place in the basement for my towels and bed linens. I am not going to recognize my place - lol!!!

When you are around children I have notice you need to try to put things in terms they understand. One of those things is how long to an event/occasion. So Ethan - I can give you a big hug in 7 more sleeps!!!! Can't wait!! Plus there are a whole lot of other people I can't wait to give big hugs to as well. Those hugs have to last me another 5 weeks as I leave Sunday to go back to Ottawa.

Lunch walks

This week I have been working at the UBC campus centre. The gals here have been very welcoming to me. I was invited to join 3 of them for their lunch walks. These walks have been 45-60 mins long - they have been all over UBC campus. We have had beautiful sunny days for these walks too. Yesterday, there were a huge row of trailers - trailers were of course for a film being filmed here. They tell me Smallville (that show is on my PVR list) was filmed here once too. Didn't see any actors/actresses during our walk though. It has been great getting to know the ladies too.

One of those shared about her "Bucket List" - she had always wanted to shoot a gun for whatever reason. So this past weekend she had gone to a gun range and was able to cross that off her list. Must be a new craze as I have seen them on Facebook. She said that everyone should have a list of goals or things they want to do. Maybe I should do a bucket list for places I wish to travel to?

For me, this is one of the positive reasons for applying to participate in such things as the reabstracting studies. I have met some interesting people. There are times when they hear you are a "reabstractor" fellow coders think "auditors" so you might receive the best reception at times - I can say - I am lucky and have not had to face those type of scenarios. Everyone has treated me well and made me comfortable. From what one of my reabstractors this year said my site treated them well too - I knew they would.

My Sunday walk

Well, another Sunday - another beautiful day to go for a walk. Of course the difference with Halifax - I haven't really been to Vancouver before (last time 15 years ago for one afternoon down by the harbour - a day trip when I lived in Victoria all those years ago). So I thought I would go for a small walk - well 3 hours later!! I simply walked along the trail along the coast. I walked from UBC Campus and walked towards Vancouver. The above photos as I got closer to the downtown Vancouver. Didn't quite make it - I will be honest - my feet were getting sore - so I eventually found a bus stop and took the tolley bus back up to UBC. I did have a "wound" as I took off my shoes - my big toe on my left foot must have gotten a blood blister as my sock had a nice red stain on it. Thank goodness I have bandaids so I won't ruin any more socks.

Tomorrow is my first day at the UBC hospital - I am on my own for 2 weeks - I wonder what type of charts I will be facing this time around.

City across the ocean - one of the suburbs of Vancouver - built within the mountain

Beautiful day for wind surfing (I think that's the term). It's the little spot in the middle of those 2 big ships.

I had started beyond the corner on the left of the photo.

A cruise boat heading to a destination that is warm - Caribbean or Mexico

Good to know but lucky for me - as I don't eat fish or seafood

Dinner anyone? At my pit stop on my walk they had made tables and benches out of the whole tree trunks. Great way to recycle.

Okay - when I crossed the street - this was my view - beautiful seeing the ocean and mountains every day. I guess that is what you are paying the big bucks for

That little black spot heading toward the trees on the left of the photo was a hawk. It was neat seeing it fly with its wings fully spanned in the clear blue sky. There must have been a nest nearby.

Let me check my bank account...

Just a block from where I am staying they are building some new homes - I saw this sign - I was stunned - had to take a photo of it. I couldn't get over the minimum price for a place - $650,000 for a tower home or $2 Million for a Terrace Home. Ya - I will get back to you after talking with my financial advisor. Wow - starting at 2 Million?? I thought the TV was telling us we are in a recession!!

Dorm life - upscale living

I arrived Saturday evening from Regina to the UBC Campus in Vancouver - what a change in temperatures for starters. It was -30c when I left Regina and 3 hours later it was +7c!! I love it. I must say - this is a great idea to have right on university campuses - especially for visiting lecturers or like me visitors to the hospital - they have their own space and within walking distance on campus. My walk to the hospital is about 5 minutes!! During the summer they rent out dorms as hostels. One of the major bus terminals is right in front of my building. Depending on my work schedule - I hope to jump on a bus and maybe use it for some sightseeing. Next weekend - I am going to try to see if I can take the ferry over to Sooke to visit a girlfriend from my hometown and a skytrain ride to Surrey to meet up with my cousin who lives in Langley actually. Below are photos of my "dorm" - sure don't remember this as a dorm room - it works perfect for me though.



Bedroom leading into the living room (that is a painted chess board on the coffee table/storage table)

Kitchen area - okay my excuse was I wasn't the last person to use the toaster - found out that my smoke alarm works just fine and is very sensitive - burnt my bagel this morning - thank goodness it was around 10:30am!!! A decent hour for that to happen. That was an embarrassing moment for sure. What a way to begin the day!!

Sliding doors to close off the entrance into the livingroom area

View from my baloncy - top floor (3rd floor) - not bad eh?

Being on the road...what you can learn

Last April I participated in my first reabstracting study. It was a great experience - learning areas of how to improve my understand my knowledge of coding. Meeting others in my field - being a Health Information Management (HIM) Professional - is it a small field. We face similar things like shortage of staff to meet our national and provincial deadlines; trying to stay on top of all the changes we see in coding each year; and finding time to do our education credits.

This time - I still feel the same - it has been a great experience meeting other coders and different parts of Canada too (Nova Scotia; Sask, BC, Ontario, Manitoba). Halifax was great as I reconnected with a former coworker I knew from Calgary. She now works for the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) - same company that I am working with for the reabstracting study. Learning how there are "different roads" I can go with my field - it just doesn't have to be in "coding". For example - CIHI has a position called - Classification Specialist - you could work out of your home; travel to perform workshops; assist in answering other coders coding questions; as well as participating with working our national coding standards. Sounds interesting - but I have one major thing to overcome - public speaking - definitely not my strong point for sure. Who knows maybe in the future - I like to keep my options open.

I must say though this time around - maybe because I have more time on my hands - I am finding being on the road this time around more lonely - like being disconnected if that makes sense. Earlier in the week, when I was speaking with Sara, her son Ethan asked her where I was. Last night reading my email from Ethan's Uncle Jon - he typed "I love you from Ethan" "I love you from Sierra". Okay - my heart melted. So I called last night and Ethan and I spoke for a few minutes. He was so cute when he repeated in shock "14 more sleeps?" when he asked when I would be coming to Three Hills.

You realize now - the connections you make with people (adult or children) - precious thing we have in friendships we have with all ages. By stepping away from it - you realize in a short period of time - your friendship has gone to another level - a deeper connection. I am thankful for the email, the phone and even Facebook to stay connected with my family and friends.

Can't wait to see my Calgary family in 14 more sleeps!!!

Regina - off to Vancouver

Well, another week is done. I will be heading to Vancouver this morning. Very happy as this morning I woke up to it being -30c - okay BRRR!!!

When I arrived into Regina last Saturday, coming down the escalator were 3 Mounties who were there to greet their families. I had to smile - as 4 years ago on Valentine's Day, my girlfriend graduated from the RCMP and the RCMP graduation day is always on Monday. So when I was leaving the airport, I saw one Mountie on his own - asked if he was graduating Monday. He seemed surprised when he replied, yes he was. I told him Congrats.

For me, there wasn't really anything to do in the evening from where my hotel was - unless you want to go to the local casino (not my idea of fun). So, I was shocked to learn earlier this week, when we tried to get me out of Regina on Friday - every flight heading westward with both airlines were sold out until Sunday morning!! It would have been the long way around - but if I could have taken the greyhound bus to Saskatoon and either fly out of there or take the VIA Rail - that would have been great. No-go though. Okay try to make sense of this - for a 2-3 hour drive to go from Regina to Saskatoon - it takes Greyhound 11 hours!!! Who can say - milk-run? It would have been cool to ride the VIA Rail through the mountains especially with all the fresh snow - it would have been beautiful to see. Another time.

I am hoping to connect with some friends who live near Vancouver and next weekend I hope to head to Vancouver Island to visit my girlfriend and see how much her son has grown since I last saw him. That is if time allows with my work schedule - I have 240 charts to be done in 2 weeks.

Room Service anyone??

My bed was turned down, with a foot mat and robe waiting for me.

On the nightstand - in the ice bucket - their best chilled bottled water, with a glass if I want to sip it slowly with my 2 mint chocolates. They were delicious.

They even put a special touch in the bathroom - putting a yellow carniation flower in the towels!!

One day I had to work 12 hours to ensure that all the charts were going to be coded and abstracted. I got back to my hotel around 7:30pm and this is what I arrived "home" to - the radio was on - a soft French speaking radio station. The lights on so I didn't have to enter into a dark hotel room. Of course - having the bottled water chilling with the mint chocolate. I had to smile when I saw they even put a flower within the towels. I must say I enjoyed my time in Halifax.

View of the Harbour

One of the mornings - the sky had this beautiful yellow/orange/red glow to it (unfortunately the photos don't do it justice). Having an unobstructed view - it was quite a great way to start the morning.

A better view from my hotel room - I got to see the habour every morning - I was definitely spoiled this week in Halifax.

Views of Halifax

I guess at one time this was a theatre - black and white portraits of famous actors/actresses

View from city square of the Halifax Habour

That was quite a walk uphill - I have never been to San Francisco - but I have seen their roads. This is the view at the top of the road where you will see the Old Towne Hall

When I was here in the summer of 2002 - this Public Gardens was colourful with many different variety of flowers. It was closed for the winter time.

Another piece of Canadian History

December 6, 1917 - the date of the world's largest man-made accidental explosion (91 years later - this record stands). This was the date of the Halifax explosion where two ships in the habour collided. One of the ships was carrying wartime explosions. It was 25 minutes after the collision that a huge mushroom appeared - this church - St Paul's Anglican church survived the blast - even today as pieces of the explosion in the wall of the church. As I was walking by, you can see that the church is still being used for services today. The blast could be felt in Charlottetown PEI as well as northern area of the Cape Breton.

I know I only saw the basics - but you can see how Halifax and the surronding area is rich in history.

Pier 21

This statue of a Samuel Cunard, a shipping magnate of famous oceanliners. Interestingly enough - his competitor was the same ocean liner that owned the Titanic. Even today - you can go to the local Maritime Musuem to see artifacts from the doomed ocean liner. The very first time I had come to Halifax it was Easter of 1998, I had just flown in from England where I had visited friends from Southhampton. If you know the story - it was from Southhampton that the Titanic left to make its trans-Atlantic voyage. So it was a bit surreal seeing deck chairs and childrens belongings among other artifacts within in days of each other.

Is this where the ocean liners docked?

One of Canada's famous landmarks is Pier 21 in Halifax. (did some googling info on it). Between the years 1928 to 1971, it was the port of Halifax that many of the new immigrants to Canada would see. It was also famous of where the "War Brides" arrived and then near to the port was the VIA Rail station - where they continued to travel to their soliders home. Unfortunately, in Nova Scotia you will find many stores and attractions that are closed on Sundays - Pier 21 was such a case. So the last photo is all I got to see of Pier 21 museum - a poster through the glass doors. Another time.