The Gettysburg battle is the bloodiest battle of the American Civil war with a casualty of 51,000. It also ended the civil war. Most soldiers did not have serious wounds but they still died due to lack of medical attention. There was no proper hospital in Gettysburg at the time to take care of so many wounded people.

One of the prominent buildings there is the Hall of the Presidents. It is a wax gallery of the American Presidents and their wives. We did not really went inside since we were only interested in the tour.

Another is the house of David Wills, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous address which today is considered one of the best speeches of his presidency.

The last stop of the tour is the famous valley of death where we got to feel the difficulties of being in the valley with your enemies high above you at the devil’s den. The place gives you the creeps of the actual battle. From the devil’s den, we could also see Camp David from very far away.

The park was really made to look like the site of the original battle. There was a photographer who had pictures of the old Gettysburg and so they restored the place back to the way it looked then. They build barns and farm houses where they were before. They also put big trees and plants where they were supposed to be. There were also old houses that are still standing there. The look of the old town is still there.

We finally visited my aunt’s family in Maryland last April 7 this year. My aunt and her husband picked us up at Baltimore airport and we drove for about forty five minutes to their house. The house is situated in a two-acre lot somewhere in Mechanicsville. Their place is full plants and trees. Wild animal frequently visit there too. They have deers, racoons, cats and a lot of bird species. My husband had a great time taking photographs of the plants and animals in their estate. He even took shots of the moon and Saturn there since we also brought with us a telescope that can be connected to our Olympus SLR digital camera. The photos were so nice that my aunt’s husband was planning on buying the same camera as soon as their budget would allow it.

I brought with us my magic sing. We did videoke on the night we had barbecue. We had a lot of fun although we were not really good singers. We mostly had fun laughing at how everybody sang badly. In the end, my aunt thinks she should buy a magic sing too. It’s good entertainment when you have visitors in the house.

They took us to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland. It is where the US Naval Academy is located. Annapolis an old place with many of its old buildings and houses still remaining. We went to their wharf where there are lots of seafood restaurants and cafe. We had dinner there and the food was great.

We stayed in Maryland for three days and four nights. My aunt’s husband took a leave from work and he was with us throughout our stay there. He was our driver and guide when we went to Washington D.C. and Pennsylvannia. He also sent us off and picked us up at Amtrak Train station in D.C. when we left for New York.

Maryland is a nice place. When you think of Maryland, you can already imagine trees everywhere. It’s just a thirty minute drive from their place to Washington D.C. If you live there, you can just get a job at the nation’s capital and drive home every day. I can only say positive things about the place because we were well received there. We will definitely keep coming there because we felt we have a home there.

We then contacted our friends from there and asked if we could meet with them. We also wanted to get some advice from them on accommodation, dining and what places to visit. We just booked our hotel and rent-a-car online.

We flew in from Regina and picked our rented car at the airport. We then checked in our hotel and went shopping for some items. Later in the day, we met with a friend at the Sears, just a few blocks away from our hotel. We exchanged stories while I bought some clinique cosmetics.

We left for the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was already dark when we got there. The park was open during evenings. The place was full of lights and buzzing with energy. From Capilano we had dinner at Moxie’s Grill and parted from there.

The next morning, we went to Vancouver Aquarium. The place is not so big but you can see a lot of unique animals there, including the beluga whales, spotted seals, dolphins, sloth, marmosa, turtles, stingrays, birds and many species of sea plants. They also feature a wide array of frogs and toads.

Then the day of my interview came. My husband accompanied me to the embassy and waited at the nearest Starbucks while I went on with my interview. The waiting in line took a while but the interview only took three minutes. The consul then told me to wait for my passport and visa in the mail within the next five days. Then we went to the Philippine Embassy to renew his passport.

We had lunch after the interview and before dark, we went to Harbour Center and took the elevator to the Harbour Lookout at the 50th floor. The lookout has a 360° panoramic view of the city. We took a lot of pictures with the city lights. We also went to Canada Place for the nightly light show. From there, we had dinner of sumptuous seafood at the famous Carderos restaurant.

Planning on a trip today is very convenient because of the internet . Using it as a resource is always to our advantage.

    Lake Louise is my favourite part of the Canadian Rockies. When I saw Lake Louise, I felt like I wanted to stay there. We almost spent the whole day there.  The view is the combination of the majestic mountains, the clear and still lake water with the reflection of the mountains, the clouds  and the plants, simply enticing. Even if you are visiting the Canadian Rockies for Lake Louise alone, it would still be well-worth it. This is also where the best hotel is located, the Fairmont Chateau.

    Lake Moraine was our next stop after Lake Louise. It is a much smaller lake but it’s also very beautiful.  There is also a nice biking and hiking trail there.

    The next day we went back to Lake Louise for a horse-back riding to Mount Agnes. There is a trail for those who want to go there on foot but I just had to try horse-back riding.  The ride was scheduled for four hours. It was really fun.  We took beautiful photos along the way. There was Mirror Lake, the Beehive and best of all, Lake Agnes on top of the mountain with a teahouse in front of it.

    Then off we took the Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain. From there, we saw a good panoramic view of Banff.  We still had to climb the steps to the top but it was nice, the air was cool and there were amazing views along the way.

There are many good accommodations in Banff, depending on how much you are willing to spend. As for us, we stayed at Rundlestone  Lodge then at Juniper Hotel. We did not really have enough time to plan for the trip so our choices were limited but still, everything went smoothly.

After my first trip to Banff and Lake Louise, I still feel like I have only tasted the icing of the cake. I still have to go back so I could taste the cake itself. Until then, Banff and Lake Louise.

We stayed in Becker’s Chalets for two days. The good thing about it, is that you can cook your own food because the chalet has a well-equipped kitchen and dining room. The chalet could accommodate a family with three children so it was quite comfortable for just the two of us. We brought two Coleman coolers with us, one for the drinks and the other for the food. I mostly cooked our meals so we really felt very much at home there.

During our first day, we went to Medicine Lake. The lake was almost completely dried up during that time because it was almost winter. Next stop was Maligne River. We took a cruise by the river going to Spirit Island. Along the way, we saw two bald eagles. The view of the spirit island is one of the best you can have in Jasper. Then off we went to Malign Canyon then Athabasca falls and Athabasca river. There was a part of the river that’s so noisy then a few steps ahead, the river starts to calm down. 

On our second day, we took the Jasper Tramway and got to the top of Whistler Mountain which is 7,452 feet above sea level. There we had a stunning panoramic view of Jasper. From there, we proceeded to Columbia Ice fields. Sadly, the Ice Explorer bus was not available to take us to ice fields so we just managed to walk up to the mountain until we could see some glaciers.

When we went back to our chalet, we were exhausted yet more than contented. We could not get enough of what we just experienced during the past two days. We decided we were going to plan another trip to Jasper in the near future.