Not-Quite Spring in Glenbow Ranch

 Last weekend I REALLY wanted to get out of the city. My friend Heather was coming down for the weekend, and my grand plan was to go out to Grotto Canyon. Sadly, when I got up on Saturday morning and checked the weather, there was a SNOWFALL WARNING. Driving out to the mountains was probably a bad idea, so for Plan B we went to Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park instead, which is only about half an hour from home. It did fulfill my need to get out of the city - despite the almost-full parking lot, we didn't see anyone else.

We took Tiger Lilly Loop, starting right at the edge of the parking lot and going down into a nice little forest in a valley. It was actually quite pleasant down in there - the wind wasn't bad, and it hadn't started snowing yet.

Rural decay!

 

Queen Anne's Lace - it was literally taller than me. There were half a dozen stalks of it, like some alien plant on another world.

 

"Frozen Pond & Dead Tree"

Then we came out of the shelter of the trees and into an absolute wind tunnel. We had a picnic we were going to stop and eat, but it was SO COLD. So we booked it up this really steep hill (my shins were sore for two days - next time I do Tiger Lilly Loop I'm going to do it down that steep hill FIRST...) and back to the car in record time. We did see a huge flock of robins, which does give me hope that spring really is on the way...

 

Well, whether or not spring weather arrives, spring is here, because today was my last day of classes! I have exams on the 19th, 22nd, 26th, and 30th, and then I have almost two full weeks off before the spring semester starts. Hooray!

 

And Comic Expo is in a week and half! Ahhh! So much still to do if I want to go steampunk, but I can't even think about it until after my German final on the 22nd. And I'm missing the Princess Bride panel with Wesley and Humperdink on the 26th because it's at the exact same time as my English final, which is inconceivable. :(