There's No Place Like Home

It has now been six-weeks since the flood, and we are finally, FINALLY, home!

 

Home sweet home, it is!

 

Things are not entirely back to normal. The gas line to our BBQ is still turned off, and the parkades remain inaccessible. The streets in the community are packed with several hundred extra cars that would normal be tucked away in the parkade.

 

But we have hot water and electricity, and most importantly, are sleeping in our own bed! Never take for granted the comfort of your own bed.

 

I will not miss the excessive heat in our rental condo, the non-draining sink, the cupboard knobs that seemed to pop off their screws on a daily basis, the giant hole in the closet door, or the never ending clouds of cat hair that rose from every nook and cranny in the place-- no matter how many times we vacuumed!

 

HOWEVER, I will miss the proximity to Ashley and Andrew, the quick walk to the train station to get to work, and the truly spectacular sunsets.

 

Home sweet sweet home.

Conflicting Reports

After hearing we could be out of our condo for another eight weeks, Tom and I decided to look into alternate accommodations. I spammed some property owners on Rentfaster.ca, and found a couple who was willing to rent their condo to us on a short-term basis. We moved in on Wednesday.

So... Imagine our surprise when we received an e-mail from our condo property manager on Friday night, saying, the "City has relaxed the occupancy regulations to allow you to return while the repairs are taking place.  This occupancy is conditional, once all of the repairs are complete and inspected unconditional occupancy will be given."

The e-mail goes on to say that at this time, tap water is not potable, and drinking bottled water is recommended. There is no hot water or gas, and only partial electricity. No timeline was given for when those services would be restored.

My first instinct is to wonder-- why would anyone want to live in their condo when they can't shower, cook or drink water? The parkades continue to be completely off-limits to residents, which means the ~500 units of residents will have to find street parking if they want to live in their condo. Street parking was already a problem for our building, and that was with 500 stalls in the parkade. I can barely imagine what a nightmare it will be!

Last night we received a second e-mail staying that hot water will be restored by Sunday, and electricity can be requested unit-by-unit to be turned back on.

We will be attending a townhall for the condo buildings on Monday evening, which will hopefully clear up the many questions remaining.

In the meantime, I am not sure if I should be happy or not. Had we known turnaround would be this quick, we certainly wouldn't have tracked down a rental condo. Now we find ourselves wondering how soon we can get home, what life will be like in a condo under active construction, and how our new landlords will feel about us leaving so quickly. 

Wish me luck!

The Next Eight Weeks

The last two and a half weeks since the flood have been trying, to say the least. But Tom and I have been lucky in that we have an awesome support network of friends and family who have been willing to open their homes to us.

On Thursday night, our condo board updated their website, stating that, "Although a definitive timeline can not be given at this time, it is safe to assume at least two months of remediation and repairs before residents can return home."

Apparently all mechanical systems that were housed below grade were destroyed in the flood. I don't know what specific mechanical systems those include, but it doesn't sound good.

If you had asked me 17 days ago, on the night we were evacuated, if I thought we were going to be out of our home for upwards of 10 weeks, I would have told you you were crazy!

On the positive side, we're in much better shape than many other Albertans. All of our possessions are still intact, and we are now on the hunt for somewhere to rent for a few months. Things could definitely be a lot worse.

Waterton and Goat Lake Hike

On the June 14-16th weekend, Tom, my friends and I headed south for our annual Waterton trip.

Waterton National Park.

Initially, our reason for the trip was to attempt to hike Crypt Lake, a scenic 17km trail that takes you past waterfalls, lakes, meadows and through a mountain. Unfortunately, the snow pack was too high on the trail, and we did not want to face avalanche warning and use ice axes! Instead, we opted to hike to Goat Lake.

Although we didn't see much wildlife (or any goats) on our trek, the weather was absolutely perfect for hiking. It was about 15 degrees and overcast-- cool enough for exerting yourself, with no pounding sun to overheat you!

Wildflowers were in full bloom, with a colourful array along the trail.

Wildflowers in bloom.

Indian paintbrush.

The first 5km of the trail were easy-- a slight incline along a wide ATV trail. We covered the distance quickly in about an hour. We saw a big brown rabbit with white feet, and some sort of bird-- possibly a grouse. When we reached the Goat Lake junction, the trail quickly changed to about 2.5km of intense incline. There were some pretty interesting rock formations exposed along the way, which, as you can imagine, impeded the progress of two geologists and two geophysicists.

Tom, myself, Jill and Jeff studying rocks.

Tom and I taking a break from our upward trek.

As we reached our highest elevation, we passed a scenic waterfall. Although about 90% of the trail was clear, there were large patches of snow as we approached Goat Lake.

Waterfall.

Goat Lake.

Goat Lake was teeming with fish which we could clearly see in the clear water. They were are all pretty little, but actively jumping and swimming around. Goat Lake has a backcountry campsite on it's shores, so we stopped in one of the sites to have our lunch. Of course, this also gave me an opportunity to re-adjust the various bandages and moleskin plastered all over my feet to keep blisters at bay.

Me re-bandaging my feet!

As we headed back, we took in the panoramic view.

Group shot.

And even saw a butterfly or two on our way back down.

Butterfly (or moth?)

Then we headed back to the cabin to rejoin Ashley, Steve and Gill for a Mexican dinner in Twin Butte.

Ashley and Steve enjoying the sun.

As always, good times had by all.

I think we'll try to hike Crypt Lake again later in the summer!