Trudel's Knapsack

Whistler

2012-01-30T15:45:00.000-08:00

January 28-29

On Friday night we drove up to Whistler again with the camper and parked in our usual spot. Saturday we awoke to great weather, -2 and snowing, beautiful soft snow everywhere, and it snowed hard for most of the day. We went x-country skiing right from where we were parked and were out for a good three hours. We ended up on the Lost Lake trails via the Green Lake side, and after a loop of the lake headed back and stopped in at the camper for lunch. Right when we had all the food out and were just starting to eat, we noticed the furnace blowing cold air. Then I noticed the check light on the fridge, and the oven, with our toast in it, was off (so actually, no toast, just bread). After shivering our way through lunch we drove to the Husky in Creekside to get a tank of propane. Andre had been checking the gauge on the tank, but as it turns out it's either "full" of "empty". So now we know we get about 4 - 5 days in the cold winter. At least it didn't run out in the middle of the night...

We couldn't get "our" spot back that afternoon (popular parking area), so we parked in another lot nearby, and were just trying to warm ourselves up when Ian and Rich came skiing by. They'd been out on x-country skiing as well and Ian happened to recognize the camper. They came in for a brief visit, and we made plans to stop by Rich's place around dinner. After getting nice and toasty we headed out to the golf course for another 1.5 hrs of skiing, then headed to Rich's where Gord and Gavin were also visiting, and Ian had helped out with tiling a new backsplash in Rich's renovated suite.

Sunday the weather was just plain gross. Heavy rain and slush everywhere. Andre and I picked up Ian about 9am, then I dropped them off for snowboarding and I spent a quiet morning / early afternoon reading and checking out the village (and doing some obligatory shopping, of course). Left Whistler at 4, heavy traffic, so only home by 6.

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Mt.Seymour Snowshoe

2012-01-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we headed up Mt. Seymour in a heavy snowstorm to get in a few hours snowshoeing before running errands in the afternoon. The wind and snow was blowing so hard we opted for the sheltered Dog Mountain route as opposed to heading up toward First Peak. The Dog Mountain trail is pretty, going through old growth forest, and on a clear day you'd get some great views of the Seymour Valley from the lookout at the end.

On the way back we headed off the trail and went x-country in the deep snow intending to meet up with the main trail heading up to Brockton Point, but after about 25 minutes we had a bit of a disagreement as to which direction we were "really" headed in, so we headed back and merged with the trail we'd left.

Whistler

2012-01-16T15:28:00.000-08:00

January 14 - 15

Friday evening we headed up to Whistler, hoping to actually get ourselves out in the snow this time. We'd been up for four days in our camper after Christmas just two weeks ago, but having both been sick we barely stepped outside at all. We were really itching to get back in to the winter wonderland that Whistler is right now, and this weekend did not disappoint!

From Squamish onward we found ourselves driving through a heavy snowstorm, at times only crawling along in a long line of traffic going only 10 - 12 kmph. It was 9pm by the time we rolled in to Whistler, then made our way to our "secret" parking spot and bedded down for the night in our cozy warm camper. But not before stepping out for an evening stroll along some paths and quiet neighbourhood roads.

Saturday morning we moved ourselves to one of the day lots in the village and geared up for snowshoeing and some boarding. We had a pretty late start, 11:30, so by the time we got up the mountain we only had time for a few runs. Back at the camper in the late afternoon we got changed and put all the gear away, then walked through the village a bit and stopped in at Sushi Village for some seaweed salad and spicy agadashi tofu.

Sunday morning we were greeted by blue skies and sunshine, what a treat! We drove to the Whistler Olympic Park where I got set up with an hour and a half cross country ski lesson. Andre skied during this time, then we met up at 12:30 and skied until 3:45, with only a short cookie break. The old growth mountain valley scenery was just stunning under the clear skies, and had my shoulders held out I would have gladly stayed out 'till dark.

Transitioning from snowshoes to snowboard

Evening in Whistler Village - still all decked out in lights

Back at "our" spot - feels like home!

Madley Creek

View from Whistler Olympic Park Day Lodge

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A Rosy Start

2012-01-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

A beautiful start to the New Year, though you do know what they say about "Red sky in the morning"....

(and it's true, it's been raining ever since...)

Took the photo early a.m. January 2.

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2011 - That's a Wrap

2011-12-31T19:34:00.000-08:00

What can I say to finalize our personal 2011 - to put a lid on it, seal it, and move on, make way for 2012? I guess all I can do is sum up the parts for the whole, pretty much like anyone else does: highlights, lowlights, firsts, lasts, and a few also-worth-mentionings.

Highlight number 1 at the top of the list for both Andre and myself, and also the first on our list of firsts for the year would be our trip to Hawaii in January / February. Why it's a highlight really goes without saying (though swimming with wild dolphins should receive an honourable mention here), and what makes it a first, on actually two accounts, is that it was the first vacation Andre and I ever took to a tropical destination, and it was also the first vacation we ever took using an airplane, if you can believe that.

Other highlights include pretty much all our vacations and get-aways, from four days in a beach side cabin in Ucluelet, to a wonderfully relaxing four day trip on the Sunshine Coast, to backpacking and canoeing around Jasper and my first-ever porcupine encounter, to another successful Widgeon Lake expedition, and to various trips to Kelowna and Whistler. Another highlight would definitely be the rather out-of-the-ordinary purchase of the "new" car, transported to Bellingham from Boston, all in the name of an extraordinarily good deal definitely worth the paperwork headaches and legal importation hoops.

We also finally tackled, and completed, the last major project that needed attention on our house / property. The office addition and back deck had been in dire need of repair and attention since the day we moved here seven years ago, but were low on the priority list compared to everything else that needed doing. The project unfortunately consumed almost every weekend from February through June, but the end result was well worth the time and effort.

Another highly notable event for me personally this year was that I was summoned for jury duty, and selected to be a juror on a two week murder trial. This was quite a profound experience for me, and I was fortunate to be part of a very good group of jurors, ones who were completely willing to be there, both physically and mentally, and give themselves over to the legal system for this brief window in their lives. The trial also coincided with the Stanley Cup playoffs and the riots in downtown Vancouver, so the two events will forever be linked in my mind.

One very notable influence in our lives this year has been the ever-present "**** *****" project, and I believe I will forever remember 2011 as the " Year of the ***** *****" (Sorry, I can only fill in the asterisks once the product has launched!) The project completely ruled Andre's life, thus affecting me as well. It has been a year of exceptionally high stress, politics, and massive complexity and hurdles to overcome, but as the year comes to a close and the project nears completion I am absolutely confidant that it will not only be an enormous turning point for 2012, but will in fact set the stage of things to come.

So, a toast to 2011 and Welcome 2012!

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Whistler

2011-12-31T10:29:00.000-08:00

December 27 - 30

Finally, the four-day Whistler get-away we'd been looking forward to for weeks! We loaded up the camper with gear for various snow sports, lots of warm clothing, food and were on the road by noon Tuesday morning.

Unfortunately, by the time we pulled in to Whistler Andre was very, very sick with a terrible stomach bug. We drove to the day lots, parked, and he immediately crashed on the bed and slept for an hour. Just after dark he felt strong enough to venture out, so we bundled up and walked through the village, which was all festively lit up for Christmas. A beautiful scene, but neither of us was feeling particularly motivated. As it turns out, I was coming down with something myself as well.

After our stroll we drove to our "secret spot" to park overnight - if you look carefully there are some spots,even quite close to the village, where there are lax parking restrictions and you can get away with parking a rig such as ours overnight. (Or for several days as we ended up doing)

"Our" spot was ideal - completely level, quiet, a little out of the way yet still central, and best of all: right next to various branches of the valley trail.

The first night was actually quite terrible, however. Andre was in such stomach pain he was twitching and writhing all night, and got up a good half dozen times to take pills, go to the bathroom, drink water, etc. So really neither of us got any sleep.

Wednesday morning we were intending to hike up the mountain and go snowboarding, but neither of us felt up to it. Andre's stomach bug was worse, and I felt a bit weak, unmotivated and had a suspicious feeling in the back of my throat.

We decided to set out for a long walk, and in hindsight it was probably a bit much for both of us, but we managed somehow. We had a thermos and a bit of food with us, though Andre had no appetite and I very little.

On one of the golf course paths

After I snapped the pond photo above, I turned around and Andre was down from exhaustion - only 20 minutes after leaving!

Alpha Lake

We returned to the camper at around 2:30 at which point Andre lay down and slept pretty much straight through until the night. I took a nap late in the afternoon, but otherwise just kept myself entertained with some good reading material. Fortunately the camper is well insulated and is dry and cozy, and also has a decent sound system so my ipod ended up getting quite the workout.

Andre spent a good 2/3 of the first couple days like this

Thursday morning Andre felt much better, though not nearly to normal strength yet and still no appetite, but now I had come down with a full-blown cold. I'd had another night of very little sleep as a sore throat kept me up until at least 2am.

After breakfast we stepped out for a short walk to Rainbow Park - me sneezing every few minutes and breathing into my mitts to keep my airways a bit warmer.

Bridge over the River of Golden Dreams

Check out the fancy ice grippers on my boots - the paths were solid ice in many sections and Andre loaned me these as I was pretty useless on the slippery stuff

Photos don't always tell the truth: I look happy and well, here, don't I? I was actually fingering the camera a moment before - Andre takes way too many photos of me and it drives me crazy. I like this shot though, too bad its blurry.

We had arranged to meet Ian and Rich at Rich's new condo at Creekside in the late afternoon, so after our walk we had a small lunch then settle in to relax for a few hours until it was time to go. However, around 3:30 we noticed the furnace struggling, and then simply blowing cold air. Considering the furnace was our lifeline this was not a good thing. Andre checked the propane tanks and surprisingly they were both completely empty. We'd left with one full one, but its an older one that may have a leak in it. So we had to tough it out in the cold for a bit before leaving, then dropped by the Husky to buy a new tank. We stopped in at Rich's place to find the toilet sitting in the entrance way and both him and Ian at work with some finishing touches on the renovation to the suite. We only stayed about an hour as I was feeling pretty miserable at this point, then we headed back "home" to our spot and settled in for another night.

Another long night of keeping cozy in the camper

Friday morning found us surrounded in fresh snow! My cold was still quite bad, but Andre seemed pretty much over his stomach bug. I was determined to get outside and enjoy the snow as much as I could, so we walked the valley trail to Meadow Creek - a particularly pretty section that runs through open forest and marshland next to the River of Golden Dreams. I went through vast amounts of Kleenex and toilet paper with my non-stop sneezing and snotting, and at times had searing tonsil pains, but at least I didn't feel wobbly like I had the day before.

After the walk we had a big lunch, but squeezing head pains had me reaching for Advil and my pillow after the meal. Andre went for a 45 minute walk, and right after he left a heavy snowstorm hit and only let up a few minutes before he came back. The Advil and pillow had done their trick and I felt refreshed, ready to head out again myself. We walked the path up to the village which was bustling with people descending off the mountain for the evening. We took in the local scene a bit, got some hot chocolate, looked around some shops then slowly made our way back in the dark. Back at the camper we put all our loose items away, and with some sadness departed from our lovely spot to begin the short journey home, with a quick stop in Squamish for dinner at the brew pub.

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Christmas Eve

2011-12-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve celebration at my parents home with my brother and his family, my parents, Andre and myself!

Dad gets in on the Lego action

A "Steiff" bear from Omi!

Evan checks out the audio system; note the photo of his dad and myself 20 years earlier...

Getting close to bed time

"My favourite son-in-law!"

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Snowshoe

2011-11-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

Our first snowshoe of the season was up Mt. Seymour yesterday afternoon, a quick 12 minutes from our house to the parking lot. The mountains got a bit of a dump on Saturday so there was just enough to snowshoe out in the open. We didn't go far, only to the Elsay Lake trail junction, but that was enough to get us a flavour of snow. The day before, on Saturday, we'd hiked up Dreamweaver to Mosquito Creek and the heavy rain turned to snow right around the Executioner junction. Wish I'd had the camera with me, the view of the canyon with the fresh coating of snow looked magical.

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Halloween

2011-10-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

On Saturday evening we once again hosted our annual Halloween party. It was a little bit more "low key" than previous years, but still lots of fun and lots of great costumes!

Jet Pack Man vs Blue Ninja - who will win this one?

Rat Man (am still trying to get his story straight...)

Gonzo the not-so-great

There's a Smurf in our basement!

Little Red Boozing Hood

I gonna sell you cheap mortgage, or maybe you need a' some credit cards, I got money too, but colour ink ran out so only got black & white...

Another rioter caught on camera - how'd he get in my house anyways??

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Apologies to all the costumed folk who didn't get in front of my camera....

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The Squamish Chief

2011-10-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

October 16

With beautiful fall sunshine beckoning us out for a hike we opted for an afternoon on the Squamish Chief as Andre had a bit of a cold and this is a relatively low-output hike for us. We got a late start from the Shannon Falls parking lot at 12:30. But I think it's actually good we didn't start any earlier as the air was still so cold and I had to wear a hat and gloves until we crossed the bridge and joined with the main trail.

Our first destination was Third Peak, or some call it North Peak, and on the way we had a nice chat with a ranger who was adding markers to some of the trails. We were on the peak just before 2:00 and enjoyed a nice lunch in the sun.

We dropped down from Third Peak and took a small, unmarked trail to the back side of Second Peak from where you have amazing views down a steep ravine and across to the sheer cliffs of Third Peak. We walked the length of Second Peak to the main area where all the people come up from the Second Peak trail, took in the views, then headed back down. We didn't go up the first peak as we've done that so many times and we had substantially better views from the two higher peaks.

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Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-10-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

October 8 - 11

On Friday night (the 7th), Andre and I drove out to Sonja's for a visit and stayed overnight in our camper. Saturday morning, after a bit more visiting, we drove to Manning Park and stopped off across from the lodge at the base of the Blackwall Rd. for some fresh air.

We were fortunate to have a beautiful fall day, so we deployed the one scooter we had along and doubled all the way up the 16 km hill. The scooter was not so happy about being tasked with this undertaking, it would have preferred to be nice and warm, but it's little 49cc engine warmed up quick and it gradually became more willing! We of course stopped off at the viewpoint with gorgeous views of the surrounding peaks and the fall colours in the valley, then continued to the first parking lot where we left the scooter and went on a short, 1 hr, hike. The air was so crisp and dry and the views to the Three Brothers so beckoning, that I had a really hard time not just hiking on and on and on. It would have been the perfect weekend for an overnight hike up there, but we had plans to spend the next day in the Ashnola Valley.

Two yahoos on a Honda Ruckus at the viewpoint on the Blackwall road in Manning Park.

Alpine views toward the Three Brothers Mountains

The Hozameen Peaks (U.S.A.)

After our hike and speedy scooter descent (though I don't think the car trailing us thought we were so speedy! We eventually let him pass...), we drove in to Princeton, walked around a bit, fueled up, and headed straight for one of the spots we like to stay at on the Ashnola River. There are several forestry sites there, but we always tend to stay at the first one, "Red Bridge". After we parked our rig for the night we realized we were in exactly the same spot as the last time we'd been there, in August 2009.

Riverside camping on the Ashnola River

Sunday was going to see a lot of scooter action, beginning with another big hill, so we warmed the scooter up real good this time by "yahooing" around the campsite a bit. What can I say - we have a touch of redneck in us. There were some other people camped there as well, and they had big ATV's and dirt bikes, so if anything we felt a little dorky!

Once sufficiently warm, the scooter (quite willingly this time!) climbed us up over 1,550 meters up the Crater Lake road. Andre and I had taken our VW Syncro van up that road in '04, and we were quite shocked this time how far that vehicle actually made it. (the fact that it even made it to the Ashnola all is shocking enough). In '04, also on the Thanksgiving weekend, we'd spent the day hiking the rolling ridges, enjoying the views to Cathedral and stopping at the small Crater Lake for lunch. This time, however, we turned back before reaching the top and didn't go for a hike. I'd hurt my leg pretty badly that morning, and I was in a fair amount of discomfort. Walking was a challenge at this point and I didn't want to be in a situation where I wouldn't be able to walk back to the scooter. So instead we drove back down, had a little break at the campsite enjoying some moments sitting on the boulders in the river, then headed off again on the scooter driving up the smooth gravel Ashnola road. We checked out a few trail heads, and had to make a sudden stop for a heard of big horn sheep crossing the road, but other than that we just enjoyed the fresh air and the scenery.

Ramparts looming above the Crater Lake road

The Ewart Creek trail head

This boulder had a perfectly shaped bucket seat on the other side - perfect for relaxing in the sun!

We would have loved to spend more time in the valley, but we had to get to Kelowna where Ashley, Sarah and Mira were expecting us. We arrived at 6pm, much to the shrieking delight of 22 month-old Mira. Someone was sure glad to see us!

Monday morning we awoke to wet weather, so made the best of it preparing our Thanksgiving meal. Andre and I had brought all the fixings for our famous vegetarian lasagna, and Sarah prepped a rather large, rather green, turkey (see photo). The five of us then headed to the park for some fresh air, then returned home to meed some other friends for lunch. Andre and I stepped out in the afternoon for another walk (my leg, though very painful, was allowing me to walk), and of course within 15 minutes heavy rain started pelting down. But being the rain-hardened Vancouverites that we are, we simply layered on some Goretex (don't leave home without it) and popped open a tiny umbrella I'd happed to have stuck in my pack. That evening we enjoyed a nice quiet Thanksgiving, and after spending the sunny Tuesday morning in the back yard playing with Mira and collecting hazelnuts from their huge hazelnut tree, it was time for Andre and myself to make the journey back home.

Sarah and the green turkey

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Las Vegas

2011-09-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

I'm going to come right out in the open and say it, and I truly don't care what anyone thinks of me for it. In fact, if you think I'm a total boring loser for saying so and couldn't disagree more yourself, that's fine, I'm sure most of America agrees with you.

So here goes (deep breath):

I HATE Las Vegas. And I'm talking true hate - as in loathe, abhor, despise.

Then you ask - why on earth would you go there? And not once or twice, but for a third time?! Let me explain...

The first two times I was helping Andre and his company at a trade show - International Pizza Expo. This time around I decided a few months ago that I might like to accompany Andre while he attends a packaging trade show. I though, 'Hey, it'll probably be my last chance to get some nice hot sunshine before the winter sets in'. The flights were cheap as we flew from Bellingham, and accommodations were paid for by the company anyways. Well. Now I know better.

What on earth does a person like me do for seven hours a day while my husband is at the show? Gamble? I don't think so. Shows? Not really interested. Shop? I"m too cheap. Eat at fancy restaurants? Not into that. Drink? Yeah, right. Go on a tour of the Grand Canyon? Tempting, but not without Andre. So that pretty much left me with walking the strip in the blistering heat, and spending time at the pool, reading, lying around sweating, and swimming. I'm not good at being idle, and I'm really sensitive to chlorine, so the poolside experience was only so thrilling, topped off by the fact that pretty much everyone else there lies around smoking. I even saw a guy smoking in the pool. The pools at The Encore where we stayed are absolutely beautiful. But, I have pretty much zero tolerance for cigarette smoke, so I have no idea what I was thinking, getting myself in to this. I guess I just didn't think it through far enough ahead of time, which is quite odd for me. I think I was lured by the concept of sunshine and heat, something that has been all but completely lacking this year in Vancouver.

I did get the sunshine I was after, granted. I have the tan to prove it. And I got the heat - 37 degrees, and not a heck of a lot cooler in the evenings either. In fact, the early mornings were as hot as a hot summer day in Vancouver. But all in all the experience left me frustrated, anxious to get home, and sick with a cold.

I haven't even mentioned the sheer craziness of the place. The non-stop blaring of music and slot machines, flashing lights all around you day and night, girls running around dressed like hookers (I'm sure a good percentage of them are), people in your face trying to sell you something - tickets, clothing, tours, and non-stop bustle bustle bustle wherever you go. The only breather you get is in your hotel room, if you're lucky. The moment you step in the elevator the Vegas soundtrack begins. Frankly, the entire Las Vegas strip belongs in the loony bin if you ask me.

We were fortunate enough to stay in five-star hotel, The Encore, which is a world apart from the other hotels and casinos. The service is professional and friendly, and the suites are exquisite and spotless. I was extremely appreciative to be able to stay in such a place. My jaw dropped when we opened the door to a wide marble hallway which runs a good 15 feet to the bedroom area, in front of which is an expansive lounge with breathtaking views over the strip and to the mountains (including Red Rocks, where we hiked for a day a few years ago). The bathroom is almost as big as my kitchen, and all marble with a separate glass shower. I'll let the photos do the talking. But I'm not at all used to air conditioning, and I agree it's totally necessary down there, but after a couple days I couldn't even tolerate the air in the suite anymore.

Now that my rant is finished I'll share the photos I took.

Our suite was in the Encore, on the 50th floor facing the strip

Our suite:

Night-time view from our suite

Daytime view from our suite

The "European" Pool (topless allowed, min. age of 21, no cameras)

Inside the Wynn and Encore:

Wynn and Encore Theater entrances. Notice the butterflies on the ceiling, and the inlaid ones on the floor.

There are inlaid butterflies in the floor throughout the Wynn and Encore

"Parasol Up"; these parasols slowly lift up and down, creating a magical effect

View from the Venetian over the lagoon and the strip (Harrah's, Ceasar's, Mirage visible)

Waterfall inside the Palazzo

The strip outside Treasure Island

Treasure Island; every night there are four shows featuring beautiful girls, pirates, and pyrotechnics

The Forum shopping center

Ceasar's

The Bellagio

My favorite 3 minutes in Las Vegas: Click to Play Video:
(if an ad pops up, close it by clicking the 'x' at top right of ad)

Stunning sunset on our last night; Trump tower at center

Dinner at Zoozacrackers (with Paul, Sharon, and Parimal)

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Indian Arm

2011-09-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

September 10 - 11

September has been making a final push for summer weather - the past week we've seen warmer temperatures than all of July and August. The temperatures for this weekend were forecast in the upper 20's, so we decided to make use of the nice weather and have one final summer camp-out.

Saturday morning we loaded up our canoe with camping gear and food, strapped on the wheels and walked it down to Deep Cove. We pushed off from the beach in front of the Canoe and Kayak rental place at 10:30, and though the air was just the perfect blend of warm and cool, we could feel the sun's heat anxiously displacing what was left of the night's cool air.

Just after noon we pulled ashore at Thwaytes, a nice beach area with a small creek. We rock hopped up the creek to a small waterfall and cooled off in the pool below the falls. After a quick lunch on the hot beach we continued on up the arm, arriving at the spit we like to camp at around 3:30. We set up camp, then took a short dip in the ocean, which has lost any of the warmth it may have had this summer. There were also a vast number of jellyfish in the deeper area, and we weren't too keen on bumping in to those guys. Especially since where there are vast numbers of the harmless white jellies, there can be found the odd gigantic basketball sized and coloured jelly that feeds on them and will give humans a nasty acid sting.

We settled in for a relaxing afternoon and evening, watching various pleasure boats cruise by and in the evening a 43-foot blue sailboat anchored just off our spit. We made a small campfire, cooked dinner, watched the full moon rise over the mountains, and enjoyed the stars for a couple hours before heading to bed.

Sunday morning we got up around 8:30, ate a breakfast of blueberries, cherries, nectarines, and a couple handfuls of granola, then walked to Bishop Creek to fill up our water bottles. Just after 9:30 we pushed off, having a short chat with the couple from the sailboat, and ogling at the sheer number of jellyfish that appeared to have quadrupled overnight.

We paddled to Thwaytes again and took another dip in the pool and had a quick bite, then pushed off under the blazing hot sun for the Cove. The ocean had become quite bouncy and bubbly by this time, though not choppy, and unfortunately I quickly became extremely sea sick. I lost all strength, as though all my muscles had been pulled from my body, and felt overcome with fatigue and a desperate feeling of almost panic for needing to get out of the boat. We landed at one beach where I rested for a few minutes, but it didn't really help, so we just kept heading for the Cove where Andre then let me out of the canoe at the marina and I walked back to the beach. There was no way I was going to be able to help push that fully loaded canoe up the hill, so we took all the gear out and Andre took it home empty while I waited in the park. I was expecting him to come back with the car, but he arrived via scooter. I had serious doubts about getting all our gear on there, but with the handy platform he'd installed on his scooter, and the fact that you can load a large bag on the floor and under the seat, it was manageable. Barely.

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Widgeon Lake 2011

2011-09-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

September 3 - 5

Another Widgeon adventure! I've lost the exact count, but from my estimation this would have been about my 10th and Andre's 12 trip up to the lake. Needless to say we know every root, tree and corner of the trail!

This weekend our crew consisted of Andre, Ian, Jeff + Zulu, and myself. We left home just after 8am, and were ready to depart the dock at Pitt Lake about 9:30 - after a small incident where Zulu, who is terrified of water, fell off the dock head first. Getting him settled in the canoe was not an easy task, the poor guy panted and shook for the entire duration of the hour long paddle.

Photo to Come from Ian's Camera: Andre, Trudel & Zulu in the canoe in the slough

At the Widgeon Creek campsite we locked up the boats, but by the time final pack adjustments were made by Ian with his too-small pack it was just before noon before we were ready to start the hike. A couple hours later (maybe less - I've lost track), we stopped for lunch at the Rico bridge over Widgeon Lake, the beginning of the climb. As we were packing up Andre snuck a 20 pound boulder into Jeff's pack and the poor guy didn't even notice until we were on the other side of the bridge and something was jabbing him in the back!

L-R: Ian, Trudel, Zulu, Andre, Jeff

The climb was as arduous as ever, the trail is hardly a trail on the steepest climb, its really more of a route. The lake is well fortified, that's for sure. We arrived at 4:45 and set up on our usual spot - a long, flat rock that slopes gently into the water. I'd spotted a small canoe stashed near the trail, and a decision was made that Jeff should use it to transport himself, his pack and Zulu as it would be a little safer with the dog than a vinyl dinghy. The rest of us began inflating all the dinghies, some would hold people and others would be towed with the packs.

The "trail"

Sweet reward for the hard work!

Crossing from the campsite trail to the flat rock we use for inflating boats and organizing gear

Preparing the flotilla

Almost ready to go. Yes, the "Challenger" is looking a little soft. Our cat, Oscar, used to lie on it in the basement and left a few claw holes in it.

Jeff and Zulu set off for our camping rock on the other side of the lake, while Andre and Ian recovered the canoe they'd hauled up on foot in 2007. We had checked on it on a day hike in October 2008 and it had some damage, so we made some adjustments to how it was stored. We had no idea if it would be salvageable, but the guys had hauled up fiberglass cloth, resin, catalyst, buckets for mixing, sandpaper, shears, brushes and gloves to make repairs. Our efforts at securing the canoe in '08 paid off - there was no new damage in the three winters since, and one of those winters was the heaviest snowfall on record in 50 years! Best case scenario! It was even safe enough for one person to paddle, so Andre towed Ian, myself, and the pack boats. He had to stop to bail the canoe a couple times, but it was all in all still a lot faster than paddling the dinghies all that distance. By the time we arrived at the rock it was after 8pm, and armies of bugs descended upon us the moment we closed in on shore. We secured the flotilla of boats for the night (6 in all!), set up our tents, made a fire and settled in for the evening.

The canoe lives!! The cracks are just high enough for 1 person to paddle - and bail twice during the crossing

One interesting thing to note is that the large, sofa-sized, flat rock we named the "table rock" and had used as a table, which sat near the edge of the camping rock, was gone. Gone! How does a huge rock like that, that's obviously been sitting there for hundreds of years - just vanish?! The camping rock does sit at the base of a massive granite slab that no doubt sees large avalanches every year, but the sheer volume and weight necessary to send the table rock over the edge would have been colossal. The table rock lay below, and a large rock next to it bore a large gash mark, but surprisingly neither had shattered.

Table rock

No table rock!

Sunday morning we took our first plunge in to the lake, finding it about as icy cold as we ever have. But, if you could stay in long enough you'd just become completely numb, at which point it all became quite enjoyable! Except that despite the hot sun I was freezing cold for the next couple hours...

Yes, we carried up those lawn chairs a few years ago as well

Just before noon Andre and Ian set to work making the repairs on the canoe. They spent a good hour or more sanding the boat with very coarse sandpaper over all the areas that would need to be fiberglassed. They prepared all the cloth, marking the boat and pre-cutting pieces to have ready to go. Resin was poured in to an ice cream pail, catalyst added with a syringe (the amounts have to be pretty exact down to the ml. to allow enough working time in the sun), and then the messy work of applying the glass over the cloth began. The middle seat needed to be repaired and secured to the hull as well, which involved some fancy cloth strips and tying. After all the cracks and the seat had been taken care of, they reinforced the canoe by adding 3 long pieces of cloth to make additional "ribs" and used up the remaining resin to give as much added support and strength to the hull. Around 5pm they were done; sadly most of their day had been spent working, but it was all for a good cause. And you couldn't ask for a more scenic spot to work!

Tents on top of the camping rock, and at far left the guys are starting work on the canoe (click photo to enlarge)

Sanding, sanding and more sanding (Those bottles hold resin - not water. Some nice added weight in the packs on the climb up...)

Zulu's not impressed with the relentless flies and heat

Lunch break

Messy, stinky, sticky work. Andre applies the resin while Ian is the cloth man

Cloth fibers stick to the gloves and just won't come off

Zulu finally settle in to a shady spot

We cleaned up all our gear from the day and the guys headed up to the warm shower that pours off one of the ledges above the rock, while I took my tiny dinghy out again. Upon their return it was deemed that the canoe repair had hardened and should be tested, so Andre, Ian and I paddled to the far bay and filled water from the large waterfall, and made a stop at the float plane beach to check for salmon berries. We'd scored a huge load there a few years ago, but they were still not ripe this time around, and I guess won't ripen at all this year.

The Widgeon Resort comes complete with view camping and a boat of your choice (bottom left)!

Labour Day morning we slowly packed up, including the four dinghies. We had the repaired canoe to take Andre, Ian, myself and our packs, and Jeff, his pack and dog were in the "loaner" canoe once again. Back at the trail side of the lake the guys replaced the "loaner" canoe exactly as we'd found it, replaced our canoe, went for a final swim and were ready for departure at a not-so-early 2:20. We stopped again for a late lunch at the Rico bridge, and were finally back at the Widgeon Creek campsite to retrieve our canoe and kayaks at 6:30pm. Zulu was quite casual heading back in the canoe this time - perhaps he was getting used to being shuttled around on the water, or he was simply too exhausted to care!

click photo to enlarge

Andre is standing where the "table rock" (top of this blog post) used to stand

The underside of the camping rock

Three people and three packs fit easily in our canoe (the front and rear posts were installed for carrying the canoe in on the trail)

Bringing the "loaner" canoe around for Jeff

Jeff's best friend

A Note on the Canoe: Please do not ask me the location of our canoe. As for the other canoe we found - all I can say is look hard and you'll find it. If you find it and use it, please put it back exactly as you found it. And beware - it's not exactly steady, you'll want to sit on the floor.

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Family

2011-09-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

The Knapp Family

Photos by Karen Tregillas Photography

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Jasper - Maligne Lake - Mt. Robson

2011-08-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

July 28 - August 9

Even though our vacation time was a bit shorter than usual this summer, we still managed to fill the days with lots of new sights and adventures. Below is a short movie of the highlight photos. If you want more detailed info, read the post below and have a look at the photos that follow with more descriptions.

We left home late afternoon on the 28th, making it to Roche Lake Provincial Park just outside of Kamloops. The following day entailed a stop in Kamloops for a new water pump in our camper, then just driving, driving, driving all the way to Jasper with the odd stop for a swim, some food and to stretch our legs.

Once in Jasper we made arrangements to secure overnight permits for a canoe trip on Maligne Lake and a two nights at Berg Lake, at the foot of Mt. Robson. The two days leading up to our backcountry adventures we spent getting to know Jasper and the surrounding area on foot and on bike: Pyramid Lake & trails, Maligne Canyon (parked at 6th Bridge and hiked up), and the Edith / Annette Lakes area.

The Jasper Visitor and Information Center

Pyramid Lake, Island and Mountain

Maligne Canyon

Cycling along the Athabasca River

Jasper

Maligne Lake

Early on the morning of the 1st we drove to Maligne Lake and had our canoe packed and launched by 8:30. The water was calm, the sun shining, but the air cold and the mountaintops were covered in fresh snow from the nasty weather the previous day. We set up camp 14 km down the lake at "Fisherman's Camp", enjoyed some lunch on the beach, then paddled the ultra-turquoise water almost to the end of the lake, taking in famous and widely photographed Spirit Island.

Only canoes, kayaks, boats with electric motors and the park operated tour boats (which only go as far as Spirit Island) are allowed on the lake, so the scenery is not polluted by noisy, smelly motor boats.

We had truly picture perfect weather our first day!

The following day we were paddling by 7am to beat any winds that might whip up the water once the sun started warming the air. We were back at the truck well before noon, so decided to fit in a quick hike up to the Bald Hills. These bare, rounded mountain tops afford stunning views of Maligne Lake and the surrounding mountains. We left the truck parked where it was and used our bikes to climb the gravel road that was built to access a firelookout. About four km's up we hid them in the trees and hiked the rest of the way via a trail that cuts out a long switchback in the road. A trail meanders through the alpine, then disappears and you can easily travel cross-country to any one of the peaks, or all if you have time. The day had become overcast, and the wind on the ridge left our fingers numb and knees knocking. But the views were worth it!

Mt. Samson looms over Maligne Lake. We'd paddled from the narrows this morning, just in sight before the lake is obscured by a ridge.

Berg Lake - Mt. Robson

That evening we drove to Mt. Robson and picked up our backcountry pass from the visitor center, where they also make you watch a short film on what to expect along the trail, and basic backcountry etiquette. The next morning we awoke to low hanging clouds and a heavy mist that quickly turned in to rain as we heaved our packs on to our backs and cycled the first 7 km's of the 22 km journey. At the far end of Kinney Lake we traded bikes for boots and hiked the remaining 15 km without barely a break, including the steep 4 km climb up the spectacular Valley of a Thousand Falls. We arrived at Berg Lake at 2pm, more than ready to ease our shoulders and have some lunch. Mid-afternoon the clouds started breaking up, giving us a clear night with just whisps of cloud shrouding Mt. Robson's peak.

Mt. Robson from the Visitor Center (not the Jasper center, but the Mt. Robson one. Jasper is in Alberta, and Mt. Robson is in BC, but less than an hour away). This photos was actually taken on our return drive home; the evening we picked up our passes the peak was shrouded in cloud and all the area that is blue in this photo was dark grey. Not too promising for our hike the next day!

Bikes and packs: you're allowed to cycle the first 7 km to Kinney Lake. And yes, those are rain covers on our packs...

This spot reminded us both so much of the Stein River

Trading bikes for boots

Hiking the floodplain beyond Kinney Lake

The suspension bridge at Whitehorn camp

Falls of the Pool

Emperor Falls (the tiny people in the colourful raincoats at the base of the falls put the size in perspective)

Almost there...

Relaxing on the beach, cooking dinner, and watching "Robson TV"!

Mumm Basin, The Cave, Toboggan Falls

Our day hike from Berg Lake took us past the ranger's station at Robson camp and above the treeline to Mumm Basin. We hiked up to the basin area itself, then re-joined with the trail and hiked to "The Cave", explored the inside of it, and headed back down via Toboggan Falls. The views on this hike are astounding, easily among the most spectacular views we've ever had on a hike, if not the most spectacular. The pictures speak for themselves....

Tent with view

Crystal clear morning

Rangers cabin flying the BC flag near Robson camp. Mumm basin route traverses the hill above, just above the tree line.

Mt. Robson, Berg Lake, Berg Glacier, and the Robson Glacier at far left

Mumm Basin

We came across this flat rock, propped up exactly like this, so Andre used a small rock to leave a message:

Togoggan Falls are named so because the water cascades over gently sloping rock the size and width of a huge toboggan run

Hargreaves Shelter at Berg Lake

We procrastinated our hike - bike out, taking in the scenery at a leisurely pace, savouring the moments and making the day last. A terrific thunder and lightening storm struck as we were biking back from Kinney Lake, drenching us head to toe and making a big cleanup necessary once we returned to the camper.

Another trail-side message board:

drenched head to toe (shoes took 3 days to dry out)

Geraldine Lakes

For our remaining two full days in the Jasper area we decided to hike to Geraldine Lakes, but got a bit of a late start (as in 3pm) and ended up in another cold, wet storm. We decided to take shelter for the night in a dense forest, only to be kept up until 4:30am by a curious and very determined porcupine. (Determined to get at anything and everything under our tent vestibules, even after we'd pulled it all inside the tent)

Hmmm - this tent pad looks a tad on the small side... (1st Geraldine Lake)

Bouder field after boulder field has to be crossed on this hike. If you have questionable balance, this is not the hike for you!

2nd Geraldine Lake - we actually turned back at the shore as a heavy storm hit and found shelter at a small lake between the 2nd and 1st lakes

Our soggy camp. Doesn't look it, but it was raining hard and was ccccold

Valley of the Five Lakes

We finished off our last afternoon in the Rockies with a long walk around all of the lakes in the Valley of the Five Lakes, and the evening with a moonlit paddle on Pyramid Lake.

This still frame was captured from a video I took of this little guy devouring a pine cone on the trail to the lakes

Fountain Lake

Our last night's camp was on tranquil Fountain Lake, just outside Lillooet. A group of nine horses came by for a visit and some scratching, bringing with them an entire ecosystem of flies. The final morning we paddled the lake, took a quick cycle around it, then stopped for a swim in Lillooet before heading to Whistler for a quick bike ride on the Valley Trail.

If you've made it this far, here are a few of the videos that were taken on the trip...

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Back Deck Renovation: Before & After Photos

2011-07-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 10

2011-07-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

So I'm a bit behind the times - this should have been posted in the past week, but lack of motivation, endless cleanup and odd little bits that still needed doing kept getting in my way.

The weekend before last, July 9 & 10, we completed putting the siding on the outside of the office and put up all the window trim. I painted the siding and trim during the week - the outside is at long last complete!! Yay!!

Last weekend, July 16 & 17, we set to work trimming out the office windows on the inside. This was a huge undertaking, not the least of which was that it poured rain, hard, all of Saturday so Andre did all the cutting in the rain. The office was turned upside down in the process: furnishings moved to the center of the room or out all together, sawdust tracked in, the ladder hauled in, and more (wet) sawdust tracked in. I have to say, Andre worked quite a magic trick in the office, installing not just clean trim but nice wide window sills, instantly giving the office a more updated and clean feel. Caulking all the seams took a few hours alone.

This was not the end of it, however. Andre had his heart set on installing a large, horizontal roof support beam (a beam that had held an enormous piece of Daiya machinery shipped from Germany - thus the slightly odd size of the beam, roughly, but not quite, a 5 x 5). This would give added support to the office room when under snow load, or when he needs to walk around on the roof pressure washing it once a year. He came up with a clever method of cutting in to the wall above where he'd trimmed the windows, supported it, and presto - roof support! (The photos illustrate it better than I can describe)

Monday afternoon I set to painting the whole works, a good solid three hour job. Of course the sun came out and baked the office. The weather never ceases to be highly uncooperative for this project. After painting, I took to cleaning up the back deck and giving it a good scrubbing, then set to work putting the office back together, cleaning while I went. I managed to purge several dinosaurs (an old monitor, the old printer / fax machine) and countless cables attached to power but nothing else. I wanted a clean, stripped down, easy to keep clean office. By 10pm, I finally had what I wanted!

Now the project was officially complete - after just over five months!

Top part of the window sills are in (he then partially boxed them in to give a greater appearance of depth), and inside casings are in various stages of completion

Trim job complete (notice how the sills are "boxed" in), now sealing the joints with caulking

Taking a closer look at the hole for the support beam

A few supports are fitted in

Beam is installed

Done!! (Note that the metal roof supports are white - these used to be brown. I painted them a couple months ago. The before & after photos which I'll post soon will show off the big difference that alone made)

(still on our to-do list: pressure wash the roof, replace dingy baseboard heater, install wide, faux-wood blinds)

Jump to Before & After Photos!

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Sunshine Coast Long Weekend

2011-07-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

July 1 - 4

Andre and I took our camper, canoe, and bikes to the Sunshine Coast for the July long weekend, Friday, July 1 through Monday, July 4. We enjoyed a couple long beach walks in the Gibsons and Robert's Creek areas, biking in Searget Bay Park, canoeing on Sakinaw Lake and in Pender Harbour, a hike up Mt. Daniel, and swimming in Hotel and Garden Bay Lakes. We also met up with our friends San and Dan along with their two girls at their oceanfront place near Halfmoon Bay. A superb long weekend, but just not long enough!

We caught the 8:40pm ferry (which was half an hour late, of course) on Thursday night from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale. Once on the Coast we drove Gower Point Road and found a gravel pullout next to the beach just before Harry Rd. We slept late Friday morning, then took a long beach walk along Chaster Beach to just north of Camp Byng. In the early afternoon we drove in to Gibsons where we took in some Canada Day festivities and enjoyed the sunshine.

Eagles on Chaster Beach

Beach hut just south of Camp Byng

Found a sealed coconut and drank the water - yum!

Taking in the scenery at the point near Camp Byng

Gorgeous restored home overlooking the ocean on Ocean Beach Esplanade

Around 4:00 we drove up to Robert's Creek and stopped in at the Gumboot Cafe for some goodies, then walked out to the pier and south along the beach. We found a great spot to park for the night at Robert's Creek Provinical Park at the foot of Flume Rd: quiet, no signs indicating no overnight parking, and an ocean view to boot! At sundown we headed down to the beach and made a small beach fire, just one more of the many that dotted the evening shoreline.

Gibsons; the yellow building is the back of Molly's Reach, the restaurant made famous in the '70's TV series "The Beachcombers"

A wall of roses over a small creek at Robert's Creek beach

Robert's Creek Provincial Pk at the foot of Flume Rd, our overnight parking spot

Saturday morning we awoke to crystal clear blue sky and enjoyed another beach walk, heading north along the beach from where we were camped. Despite it being a long weekend, very few people were out and it felt very remote and relaxed.

Beach just north of Robert's Creek

Just after noon we departed, and as we drove through Sechelt I noticed a large Farmer's Market underway. It looked of a size that there would be some interesting vendors, so we stopped and took a look around. Sure enough, at the very last little tent I came across some amazing Aboriginal carvings, and my eye immediately fell upon a stunning bear mask. Now, I have a real love and admiration of our Aboriginal heritage and have always been fascinated with the Native Art of our original West Coast People. Since I was young I have been fascinated with carved masks in particular, and especially ones that have "hair" added on. For several years now I have been keeping my eyes open for just the right one, knowing that I would know it the moment I saw it. Well, that moment had arrived. Instantly I felt completely overwhelmed by this piece, and it's still hard for me to put into words. Fortunately for me, Andre felt equally awed. I picked it up, looked it over very carefully, set it down, then walked away with Andre, my heart strings tugging. After a short discussion I went back to the carver and managed to negotiate a price that was fair for both of us. The carver is a Master Carver with the Sechelt Nation, descended from a line of carvers and apprenticed with a renowned Native master carver and jeweler on Vancouver Island. His partner told me about the bear mask, that it is a grizzly bear in particular, and explained that in their culture the grizzly is the protector, which is why on totems he is carved at the bottom.

Grizzly bear mask; see paragraph above

The Farmer's market now wrapping to a close, we drove to Sargeant Bay. The day had become hot and humid, so we found a cool shady spot to park in the gravel lot just above the bay and made some wraps for lunch. We then hopped on our bikes, took in a quick view of the bay before riding off on the trails up to Triangle Lake. Well, we didn't quite make it to the lake with the bikes. We got a bit twisted around on the trails, ended up on a hiking trail and ditched the bikes and hoofed it the remainder of the way. We came across some adorable Bernese Mountain dogs out on an adventure of their own, but they were too timid to allow us to come close. They did, however, follow us up the hill, panting heavily, and just after I got a photo of them they made a break for it and bolted around us, continuing on on their quest. At that point we headed in another direction, kept going and going, but no lake to be seen. Finally some joggers came our way and told us to just keep going, and sure enough, about 10 minutes later we came across the lake. The fact that I have no photo of it speaks volumes of the scenery of this lake. Basically, I'm surprised they call it a lake. It's actually looks more like a bog. A nice bog, but when its hot out and you've been biking and hiking uphill, the idea of swimming in something is quite alluring. Not gonna happen here.

Sargeant Bay

Our panting entourage - some serious cuteness here!!

We were back at the camper by 5:30, then drove about five minutes to meet up with our friends San and Dan, along with their two girls, at their property on Redroofs Road on Halfmoon Bay. They were camped out in the Fifth Wheel they keep on the property, and we parked our camper on the only level spot close by - right behind a huge muddy puddle from a burst water main. Dan has a 6-wheel Gator that he uses for various tasks (joyriding I believe tops the list at the moment), and was seen zooming past, hair flying. Sure enough, after dinner he loaded a tarp, some blankets and pillows in to the back, and Andre, San, the girls and myself had our own half hour of joyriding on the property, while Dan washed his truck and sprayed us down whenever we zipped past. After a few bruises we called it quits and had some music and dancing in the 5th wheel to round out the evening.

On Sunday we had all planned to paddle Sakinaw Lake together, but Andre and I got a head start just before noon to find a good launch spot near the westernmost part of the lake, as he and I had paddled the eastern part a few years ago. Sakinaw Lake is a very narrow, long lake just a few meters above sea level and is separated from the ocean by a short channel only a few hundred yards long. After a bit of hunting around on various roads with our beast of a truck & camper, we were tipped off by some friendly locals about a small public launch at the foot of Lee Bay Rd. There's not much parking around there, so we left our rig up the hill a bit, out of the way of the locals. We put out a call to the San-Dan crew, then paddled the short bit to the end of the lake, hiked the 5 minute or less trail down to Sakinaw Bay and climbed up another short trail to a bluff with spectacular views over the ocean and nearby islands.

Cooper's Green Park off Redroofs Rd in Halfmoon Bay

Bluff over Sakinaw Bay (at left), looking west to Texada Island

View from bluff west over Agamemnon Channel to Nelson Island

Just as we were getting our canoe back on the lake we noticed the other yellow canoe on the water - perfect timing! We paddled up the lake and stopped at a tiny islet for an irresistible swim. We paddled a bit more after our break and were back at the launch just after 6pm.

The whole Dan family!

As Andre and I were walking our canoe to the truck we spotted a large turtle crawling up a gravel driveway. We approached slowly and the poor thing started trying to make a run for it, an impossible feat for a turtle, never mind on gravel! We backed off, put the canoe away and on our way back down to the launch spotted another one in almost the same spot looking like it was digging a hole. We'd noticed signs all over the area with a big drawing of a turtle and some info, so I had a closer read and discovered they want you to phone in turtle sightings as these are signs of nesting activity and they want to monitor where nests are. ("They" is some local conservation group) So I called in and gave details of the unfortunate driveway location of these turtles' choosing.

Having said our good-byes to the San-Dan crew, we drove the short jaunt over to Garden Bay and slipped our truck and camper in to a quiet spot we'd parked overnight at in the past. As short walk from the water, this spot is surrounded in trees and is the ultimate for a deep night's sleep.

This spot = sweet dreams!

A bit more rested at the end of our trip we awoke a bit earlier on Monday and rode our bikes up to the Mt. Daniel trailhead. The hike itself is steep, but short, and ascends through a forest of tall ferns under a high canopy of rustling leafy trees. Once at the top you're rewarded with some of the best views the Sunshine Coast has to offer. In April 2008 Andre and I hiked up here and watched in awe as about a half dozen ravens did the most amazing aerial acrobatics I've ever seen. Spiraling, tumbling, plunging - singularly and in groups, these birds but Cirque du Soleil to shame. Sadly I had forgotten the camera, the one time the video option would have come in really, really handy. No wild raven show awaited us this day, but there were two ravens circling about and calling high above us. Must be really good thermals up there.

Pender Harbour and Texada Island from Mt. Daniel

Lots of tall ferns on the Mt. Daniel trail

On our way back we stopped at Garden Bay Lake for a swim. The Pender Harbour area has four amazing swimming lakes all within walking distance of each other. And because they're pretty much at sea level they can be bathtub warm. Despite all the miserable weather we'd had through June, the water was a perfect swimming temperature.

After a swim in Garden Bay Lake (slope of Mt. Daniel at right)

After a quick lunch we walked our canoe down to the ocean and paddled around Pender Harbour, then stopped in at Hotel Lake for a final swim before driving back to the ferry.

Restaurant and marina in Garden Bay

Mt. Daniel stands watch over Pender Harbour

Sharp focus, sharp talons

A wonderful weekend it was, packed full of sunshine, relaxation, adventure and good friends!

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 9

2011-06-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Siding

We've now slid out of the "Back Deck Renovation" category, but I'm still using that as the heading as it's all one big project back there anyways.

Yesterday we got started on laying the siding on the office. First we had to cover the walls with tar paper, a moisture barrier that prevents condensation. Then we started laying the siding. We used Hardie Plank, a concrete composite that will never, ever rot. And the bonus is that the stuff is really easy to paint, so I'll be painting it the same dark red as the house.

We only got the two outer walls done, and the small portion under the roof above the office door, as we had some commitments early in the evening. Would have gotten it done otherwise - oh well. (And we couldn't work on it on Saturday as it poured rain all day - we're not exactly fortunate with the weather this year)

Next we'll finish the portion under the office window that's in front of Andre in the photo above, then we'll be adding white trim around all the windows & door to match the nice trim he did on the house windows years ago.

Jump to Part 10

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20,000 Fans

2011-06-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

At 6:00pm today the facebook fan page for Daiya Foods reached the milestone of its 20,000th fan!

Congratulations Team Daiya!

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 8

2011-06-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

Windows and Tiles

On June 14 the window installers arrived with the new windows and doors for the office and kitchen. Andre spent the day working on the outside of the office as well, removing gutters, replacing some of the plywood siding on the office, and laying new tar paper on the exterior walls of the office. It was a pretty big job, and when I came home at 4:30 (from jury duty downtown) I arrived to find enormous gaping holes in the office, and the windows just starting to go in.

We are really, really happy with the new windows and sliding doors. They of course look amazing and the open / close action is just such a vast improvement over what we had. And they all came with proper screens, so now the office won't fill up with insects when all the windows are open in the summer heat.

The windows still need to be trimmed, and we'll replace that ugly baseboard heater too.

Got a matching kitchen window as well

Andre had wanted to install new gutters today, but it was raining pretty good out so we decided to get the interlocking tiles down instead. The bulk of the tiles went down really quickly, within 1.5 hours, but the edge along the house and office walls required all the tiles to be cut down, so this added a few hours work. It's impressive how these tiles spruce up the look of the place! I'm hoping to stain the support beams black this week, they look a little "raw" right now. It's all starting to come together now...

The tiles are finally all down!

Jump to Part 9

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Hockey Night in Vancouver

2011-06-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Vancouver skyline from the North Shore; Wednesday, June 15

Of all the images I've seen of the riot after Wednesday night's hockey game, this is the one that disturbs me the most. This whole "event", if you can call it that, has filled me with so many emotions. Fury and rage at the instigators and rioters. Sadness for the harm done to this beautiful, clean city. Pride for the wonderful citizens who risked their lives and stood up to the hooligans. More pride for all the people who volunteered their time to go downtown and assist in cleanup. Disgust that this could happen again. Gratefulness that Andre and I had cancelled on the Fasken dinner cruise departing from downtown that we'd been invited on - we would have found ourselves trying to get home in the midst of anarchy. Thankful that the judge of the trial I was serving on a jury for had the foresight to postpone our deliberations until the next day - we would have been sequestered in the downtown courthouse and stuck in our tiny jury room until late at night otherwise. Shame that our city, known the world over for its friendliness and beauty, is being trashed in international media. And sadness again, for all the innocent people who were hurt, and for those whose businesses were destroyed and looted.

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 7

2011-06-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

June 4,5,6

The weekend of June 4 & 5 was at long last the sunny weekend we were waiting for. After months of trying to keep the plywood on the deck dry with various tarps we were able to get the fiberglass on. Fiberglassing is always super messy, stinky work, and if its sunny you have to work extra quick. By the time we were done the prep work the sun was beginning to hit the deck, so we had some issues with bubbling. It hardened up nicely, though, and the next morning Andre sanded off the 21 bubbled spots and we patched them. Monday evening he spread on the gel coat, and somehow we ended up with two different tints! Oh well, it'll soon be covered in tiles anyways...

The cloth is laid out and cut (itchy stuff it is)

Rolling out the resin, 3 liters at a time

Almost done

Done!

Rolling on the gel coat

Yes, those are two different colours! Somehow we ended up with two different tints, but the deck will be covered in tiles anyways, so it really doesn't matter. At least the colours match each other...

June 11

This morning Andre rebuild the temporary roof support structure with beams resting on the deck (note in the photo above there are no beams on the deck), and brought it all up to level in preparation of putting in the permanent beams.

We picked up more supplies early this afternoon as well. Four sheets of plywood and thirty six 12 foot lengths of Hardie Board siding for the office and. Andre will be taking off the crappy, thin plywood that's currently sheeting the outside of the office (some of it is rotten anyways) and will be replacing it with the thicker plywood, and then we'll be finishing it off with the Hardie Board siding. Hardie Board is a man made composite product made of cement, so it will never, ever rot in all the Deep Cove rain we get.

Installing extra temporary supports

Note the temporary support structure on the left and the trussed supports that hold up the permanent roof beam

Andre build 3 pads like this for the vertical beams. There are 4 layers of cloth covered in fiberglass and resin to build up the height so the posts won't stand in puddles, and then he epoxy'd on a knob that will fit into a hole in the bottom of the vertical beams to prevent them from walking. Pretty ingenious I'd say.

June 12

Andre beefed up the header over the office window and attached an extra roof support

All the permanent beams are finally in place: vertical, horizontal and the angled supports as well. Once these are stained black and have gutters on them below the roof it'll look real nice! (never mind once it's all cleaned up!)

Jump to Part 8
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Whistler Weekend

2011-05-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

May 28-29

We decided to take a break from our deck project and weather frustrations with the lack of fiberglassing-friendly weather and headed to Whistler for the weekend with our camper. We left at 6pm on Friday (the 27th), after a mostly rainy day finally turned warm and sunny. We stopped off at the Tantalus Range viewpoint just north of Squamish to make some dinner and take in the spectacular peaks and glaciers. Once we were done we drove right through Whistler and parked the camper for the night at a trail head where we'd hiked and parked overnight once before a few years ago. Trail heads make great places to camp if you just need a (free) spot to park overnight. (Boat launches are usually really great as well.)

Dinner stop at the Tantalus Range viewpoint just north of Squamish

Trail heads make great places to park the camper overnight

It would have been so nice to sleep in Saturday morning, but Andre's Blackberry switched itself from weekend mode to just "on" and promptly woke us up at 6:30am. That thing is an instrument of the devil, I can assure you that. It has a mind of it's own and far too often it just switches modes itself no matter what Andre has set it on. (And turning it off completely doesn't work - it 'knows' to turn itself on and chime the alarm). Fortunately Andre was able to doze off again, but I was not so lucky.

When we eventually did get up I felt like I was really fighting off a cold, if not on the verge of coming down with one. The night before I'd had a bad chill, and now I had severe head grogginess, an on / off scratchy throat and a bit of general weakness. I still wanted to go cycling, so we parked at one of the day lots and just took it easy riding around Lost Lake, then taking the Valley trail from Green Lake to Alpha Lake and back to Whistler. We stopped at Rainbow Park on Alta Lake and sunned ourselves, then rode down to Whistler Creek, and stopped at Wayside Park on the way back. The light activity made me feel quite a bit better, and by the time we were back at the camper preparing lunch I felt almost back to normal.

The dandelion lined Valley Trail next to the Whistler Golf Course

Next up was a little paddle trip down the River of Golden Dreams. It's a little channel that connects Alta Lake to Green Lake. We'd paddled it a few years ago in our kevlar canoe, but this time we'd only packed along our miniature inflateable canoe as an afterthought right as we were leaving. Turns out it's actually the ideal boat for this river (and I use the term river loosely, it's more a canal with some fast flowing sections and the odd drop off thanks to all the beaver activity). The river is quite narrow, with lots of overhanging branches and tight twisty turns. There are also a good number of small drops, 1 - 2 feet in height, one of which swamped us a bit and soaked our behinds pretty thoroughly.

We're gonna paddle this baby down the River of Golden Dreams!

When we arrived at Green Lake we took out at the Whistler Air dock, and Andre rode his bike back to fetch the camper while I deflated the boat and packed it up. When he got back we sat on a bench and took in the sunset, when suddenly a large bear appeared on the trail next to us and very causally sauntered past. Andre had to take a detour around the same bear on his ride back to the camper, and now he was virtually next to us interested only in the vast fields of dandelions that line the path. I really wanted to get a photo, but he was right on the other side of the packed up boat and our packs, and my camera was in the pack. He seemed so uninterested in us, though, that I felt safe to slowly walk up to my pack, take out the camera and grab a few shots. Sure enough, he thought nothing of me (or the other people watching nearby), and just continued on his way.

Below is a video I took with my camera. It's a bit shaky, sorry, I need to improve my steady-cam skills. I love how casually he saunters away at the very end, and the soft looking leathery pads under his back feet.

Sunday morning we awoke to blue sky, sunshine and warmth - something we've hardly experienced this spring. I felt 100% again, so we spent a couple hours riding the narrow trails around the Lost Lake area. We then drove to Alpha Lake Park, make some lunch, then enjoyed a relaxing paddle on the scenic little lake - what a beautiful spot. After the paddle we packed up, drove to and parked on the Chekamus Lake road and rode up a trail along the river for a couple km's, then hiked the few steps (350 meters) to Loggers Lake. A couple guys were tossing themselves in to the lake with a rope swing from an extremely high platform in the forest. They literally came swooping out of the forest between the trees a good 20 feet above the lake, then would drop into the icy water.

On the Lost Lake trails

Green Lake viewpoint from one of the Lost Lake trails

Chekamus River

Some late afternoon sun at Logger's Lake

On the return drive home we stopped at Porteau Cove to cook some dinner and enjoy the meal on the scenic point with the evening sun on us.

Enjoying a sunny dinner at Porteau Cove on Howe Sound

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 6

2011-05-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

May 21 - 23

The weather has just not been on our side as we wait and wait for a warm, dry day to coincide with a weekend so that we can finally get the back deck fiberglassed. We bought all the materials a couple weeks ago, but every time the weekend arrives the clouds and rain move in. The past week had been the best yet, four days of hot sunshine. The deck was able to dry out properly (we'd had problems with moisture getting under the various layers of plastic sheeting we'd put out), and the forecast for Saturday called for a warm, but cloudy day with showers only beginning in the late afternoon. That's all the time we needed, just a morning and early afternoon, but we woke up early Saturday to rain hammering down. Not only could we not fiberglass all this long weekend, now the deck would have to dry out again as we'd left it uncovered Friday night. Ugh.

However, there are still plenty of other tasks on this whole project waiting to be done, so we came up with a plan of what we could tackle before fiberglassing and before the new windows arrive in a few weeks. We spent a good part of Saturday at the local Rona, loading up lumber and supplies, and ordering the floating tiles that will go on top of the fiberglass layer. As luck would have it the store was having a scratch & save event, so we got 10% off the tiles, lumber & supplies, and with signing up for their store card we got an additional 10% back in gift cards. Not bad, considering those tiles put us back a $1,200 before savings. (They are so worth every penny, though, have a look at this photo for what they look like on our front deck)

Late Saturday afternoon Andre got started tearing off the rotten horizontal roof supports. This proved to be an arduous task. He first had to build temporary supports so the roof didn't buckle and fall down, then he had to remove the gutters (trash anyways) and use a reciprocating saw (good ol' saw'z'all) to cut through the nails that anchored the beams to the acrylic roof panels. Needless to say this made one hell of a racket and even shook the entire house. These tasks alone took hours and hours, he was just barely finished by dark.

The temporary roof support he built will serve us well when we eventually are able to fiberglass, as he bumped out a bracket from the office wall on an angle and from the other side supported the overhead beam from a vertical beam placed next to the deck. This way there are so supports standing on the deck, leaving the entire surface free for fiberglassing. The permanent beams will go on once the deck is glassed (but before the tiles, they will be cut around the beams).

On Sunday we set to work tearing off the siding from the office. My fingers have been itching to do this for years, every time I'm out in the back yard, so this was incredibly satisfying. Like finally getting to scratch that itch in the middle of your back that you just can't reach. I sorted through the siding, trashing the stuff with too many knots, and removing the nails from the pieces that we'll cut down for kindling.

Andre boxed in the entire 3-sided perimeter area underneath the office and deck to prevent raccoons and skunks from getting underneath. On the south side he used bricks and treated plywood, on the back yard side he used a combination of rocks, rock facing from the cabin, and treated plywood and rails. On the north side we kept our gardening tools on the concrete pad under the office, and so that we wouldn't loose that precious storage space Andre built two hatches from the treated plywood and rails. They close securely, but flip up allowing us to get at the tools and also storing extra lumber on the dirt section which we covered with old sheets of plywood. Very handy!

Monday morning we headed out for a 2 1/2 hr walk, followed by lunch and then clean up. We loaded all the rotten wood, an old gate and the trashed gutters in to the back of the truck and made a run to green waste and the dump, returned an unused sheet of plywood to Rona, then came home and cleaned off the deck, put away all the tools and strung up a huge tarp from the overhead beam so that this time the deck will stay dry!

Note the temporary roof beam that doesn't rest on the deck. Office siding removed, gap under deck & office closed off against animals. New windows & doors on order for office & kitchen.

Deck is properly covered with a huge tarp so it stays dry - and is also able to continue drying - until fiberglassing

This is the kitchen view until we're able to fiberglass. C'mon weather - I can't look at this for much longer!!

This afternoon I found some leftover black outdoor paint and painted up the boxed in panels under the office, to give them a more finished look. Once the new siding is on they'll look a lot better than just unpainted treated plywood.

Jump to Part 7

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Zombie Fingers

2011-05-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

I don't blog about food much because, well, food isn't really over-the-top interesting to me (I know, I know, odd considering Andre's job), but these mozzarella sticks (aka 'Zombie Fingers' - keep reading!) made with Daiya vegan cheese are truly out of this world.

I came across the recipe on Daiya Foods' You Tube channel - its one of the entries to their 'Get Cooking' contest where the prize is a much coveted iPad. The video is made by 'The Vegan Zombie', a highly entertaining vegan cook that makes insane food and really great videos. In my humble opinion, he is by far the front runner in the competition thus far; the recipe consists of pretty much entirely Daiya cheese, its both super easy & fun to make, is insanely, stupidly, disgustingly good, and the video itself is really well made and fun to watch.

Enough is enough! This evening I made these mozzarella sticks and Andre and I had to really exercise some serious control not to eat the whole shebang. Wow, are these beauties ever tasty.

I don't need to print out the recipe, all you have to do is watch the video a couple times and you'll have it committed to memory. Like I said earlier, very easy to make.

Watch the video, link over to You Tube if you want to give it a thumbs up or comment, and make yourself some Zombie Fingers!!

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Easter Weekend in Ucluelet

2011-04-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

April 21 - 25

We spent Easter weekend in Ucluelet (u-clue-let), a small waterfront community which lies on the tip of a peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island, about 30 km south of Tofino and just north of Barkley Sound and the Broken Group Islands.

I'd spent quite a bit of time this past winter searching the internet for a beach front cabin to rent over Easter that didn't cost an arm and a leg. I began searching in the Tofino area, but discovered that you get way more bang for your buck in Ucluelet. Since I find Tofino a bit crowded with the city folk I'm trying to avoid over the long weekends, Ukee suited me just fine. And I actually prefer the ruggedness of the coastline there, the smaller-town atmosphere, and you're equally close to the spectacular beaches as from Tofino.

I found that The Cabins at Terrace Beach had everything I was looking for: a beach front cabin, just big enough for 2 people but not crowded, nicely furnished, and a great overall atmosphere. Interestingly, this resort shares buildings and property with Terrace Beach Resort. But I found the website for The Cabins to be much more informative, with far more detailed cabin descriptions and photos. I settled on Cabin #3, "Ocean Pearl", the Honeymoon Cabin which apparently is "...guaranteed to work its magic".

Upon arrival just before sunset on Thursday evening we were not disappointed. In fact, we were completely blown away. (Mind you, arriving at any oceanfront cabin on a cloudless day with the setting sun pouring through the windows is bound to be magical.) Everything was just so perfect, the beautiful craftsmanship and woodwork throughout the building, the tasteful and inviting decor, the views over the beach and ocean that just pull you closer and closer. If you love the west coast then this is a slice of heaven.

Before we disturbed the perfection of the cabin with our detritus, and with the sun casting its glow, I quickly took a number of photos. The main floor is laid out with a 4-piece bathroom near the entrance, followed by a small but very functional kitchen, then a dining area in the central area with the living room at the front (beach side), and finally a covered porch. A cozy electric fireplace adds to the ambiance. A set of painted red stairs next to the kitchen leads up to the lofted bedroom where there is a small 2-piece bathroom, walk in closet (we called it The Get Changed Room), extremely comfortable queen size bed, and best of all - a cat walk that leads to an extra deep, 2 person jacuzzi tub underneath a window overlooking the beach and ocean.

view from the jacuzzi tub -not too shabby!

View of Terrace Beach from the porch

Our first full day, Friday, turned out to be blue sky and sunshine - a real treat on this ultra wet coast. We walked in to town, about a 15 minute saunter, took in some local sights then booked ourselves on a 3:00 whale watching trip. We walked back to the cabin, en route spotting a playful river otter grooming himself on a dock (video below), had a quick lunch and added on a few layers of clothes, then walked back to catch our tour. They suited us up in full body floater suits, nice and cozy warm! Andre and I took the very front seat as this promised a bit more "action" in bumpy water. The water was quite smooth all in all, though, but I love the rush of being in the front of a boat flying across the ocean. We headed in to Barkley Sound and kept to the north side of the Broken Group Islands, which were a real treat to see again after our 8 day paddle trip there last August. Up in Toquart Bay we did spot a few humpback whales, but only one flashed its tail at us a couple times, and I was never quick enough to catch it on camera, all I got was the smooth back and fin.

We caught this playful river otter grooming himself on the dock

Suited up in floater suits

Humpback whale in Toquart Bay

Pipestem Inlet

We returned to our cabin just after 6pm, quickly fixed some dinner and ate on the beach in the setting sun. Bliss. After a soak in the tub we relaxed with a movie, then called it a night.

Dinner on the beach

"Our" cabin is just left of center

Saturday brought us more sunshine again, wow, a bonus day! We packed up food and clothing and drove to the parking lot for the southernmost part of Wickaninnish Beach. Setting foot on one of those immensely long beaches is always breathtaking. I felt like I'd been transported to California, though without the heat. We took off our shoes and socks and just walked, and walked and walked. A few hours later we stopped for lunch, then walked some more. We walked Combers Beach, past Green Point, Long Beach and finally in to Schooner Cove - some 10 km's from where we'd started! Then, we walked all the way back. Seven hours after we'd started we were back at the car. No tub tonight, just a shower followed by couch time.

Sunday brought us the obligatory rainy weather, but no problem, we just slipped on our goretex pants and jackets and walked the Wild Pacific trail which you can catch directly from the Cabins' property. By the time we were back the rain had stopped and it looked like the sun might come out. We drove the 30 odd km's north to the small town of Tofino, but by then dark clouds hung overhead promising more rain. We headed to The Common Loaf Bakeshop for a quick lunch, and on our way out the door ran in to some friends we hadn't seen in a while - he's from William's Lake and she's from Norway, though she'd spent the past 6 months on Cortes Island. Wow, were we all surprised to run in to each other there! After we'd looked around town a bit, Andre and I headed to Chesterman Beach for a walk in the icy cold wind and rain. This trip was definitely followed by a long soak in the tub!!

View of Terrace Beach, the cabins are tucked in the trees just out of view

Red boots, red car - heading to Tofino...

Monday morning, our last morning at the cabin. It's always extra tough to pack up and leave a place like this. We checked out a 11am, took a final stroll on Terrace Beach, then popped in to the Ucluelet Aquarium, most certainly the coolest aquarium I've ever been to. Currently housed in a tiny shack, a year from now it will be moving in to a beautiful new building directly next to where it currently stands. Inside there are tanks and tanks and more tanks, all full of the most wild and amazing creatures found right in Ucluelet Harbour. And the best thing is, all the creatures, every single snail and crab, are caught and then released 6 months later after a certified vet gives them all a clean bill of health (wouldn't want to introduce any funky diseases into the wild, now, would we?). After a good hour or more at the aquarium, we grabbed a bite of lunch at a local shop, then headed to the Wickaninnish Interpretive Center where we walked the loooong, 2.5 km board walk to Florencia Beach. We came across a young bear on the boardwalk, and stuck between us and some other people behind him his only route of escape was to leap on to a nearby tree. He clung on to it, looked at his surroundings, then quickly hopped in to the dense underbrush (video below). After countless bear encounters, this is the only time I've both a) not been scared and b) had the presence of mind, to grab my camera and get a photo.

The Ucluelet Aquarium (this photo was taken on Friday - a much more photogenic day!)

The Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre & Restaurant

Beginning of the crazy rainforest boardwalk

We treed a bear!

Spectacular west cost boardwalk!

Florencia Beach

After our quick walk, sadly no time to walk beautiful Florencia beach, we drove to Nanaimo and caught the 6:00 ferry home. I had reservations for the 7pm ferry, but we arrived at 5:30 and as the 6pm ferry was late they managed to squeeze us on to that boat. It ended up arriving in Horseshoe Bay just about the same time as the 7pm ferry had been scheduled for, so I was happy we'd made the earlier sailing.

A wonderful weekend - we hope to go back soon!

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Earth Day

2011-04-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

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Party at the Hogan's

2011-04-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last night Andre and I headed to a 60th birthday celebration for Patrick at his and Genie's home. We were the usual clan: Reimar & Chris, San-Dan plus kids, Quan-Kevin plus kids, Andre & myself and obviously the Hogans. After a great potluck dinner the party got really underway with some music and dancing, followed by the all important birthday cake!

Emily, Patrick, Genie, Matthew

San with Alicia

Quan & Kevin with (l-r) niece Alicia, daughter Katy, niece Addie

Some music and dancing after dinner

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Feline Visitor

2011-04-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago an orange and white cat started coming by late in the evenings looking for a visit with Oscar. The pet door was always blocked off for the night by then, but I'd bring Oscar to the back deck door and would slide it open a crack so the two could sniff each others' noses. Very occasionally the cat would come and visit during the day and he and Oscar would just hang out on the back deck. But his visits were always very rare, usually many weeks apart. I have no idea which house he belongs to, or why his visits are so sporadic. Maybe he's more confined to his home or yard and once in a blue moon he escapes and looks for playmates. He has a very loud and distinct sounding mew, often I'd be up in the bedroom and I'd hear him pining for Oscar at the back door.

When he showed up a couple weeks after Oscar died I was heartbroken for him. I think it was late afternoon, and I let him in to the house so he could look around and realize that Oscar wasn't there. But what did he do? He went straight to the pet carpet and started playing with Oscar's toys! And I mean playing - wow, this cat was really into those toys! He came back about a month later, and again when we were in Hawaii and my friend Yasmin was staying here with Grover. But I haven't seen him since and a couple days ago was starting to wonder where he was at.

Today I had the back deck door open a bit for some fresh air and was just in the process of watering some plants outside the front door when Grover scooched out and headed down the front steps. I went in to the kitchen for something and saw an orange tail disappear behind the counter - huh? I thought it was Grover but he was out front. I called out the back door and the orange kitty came running, right into the house, and made himself at home with the various toys. After he tired with the toys he carefully checked out the main floor and seemed to be pretty interested in me. He spent a good hour in the house, playing, rolling around and scoping out the scene. Grover showed up, but the two are definitely not interested in each other. I think Grover senses that this is a tomcat - un-neutered, so not one to be messed with!

Visiting kitty makes himself at home

Grover's not so sure what to make of this interloper

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Kelowna

2011-04-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

April 8 - 10

On Friday afternoon Andre and I drove to Kelowna to visit Ashley, Sarah and Mirabel for the weekend. We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving weekend in early October, and little Mira has grown so much! She's now quite a confidant walker, and I was especially impressed with her sense of balance. She has a blue rocking toy that her parents call the "Blue Gnu" and she'll stand up on the seat and balance hands free while the toy rocks around underneath her. I couldn't get a photo of her doing this, but came close.

Mirabel loves riding her Blue Gnu!

Mira gets in to the loot bag that Aunty Trudel and Uncle Andre brought (a stuffed knit frog & elephant)

On Saturday morning we were joined by Volker and Mo, Andre and Ashley's aunt and uncle from Fort St. John. We visited with them for a bit in the morning, then went to the Kelowna Farmer's market together. Volker and Mo left us from there, but came back for dinner. In the afternoon Ashley and Mira had a nap while Andre, Sarah and I hiked up Knox Mtn. for some fresh air and sunshine.

Andre & Ashley's Aunt Mo and Uncle Volker join us for dinner

Late Sunday morning we drove to the Mission Creek Greenway and walked along the river up to a park where we played with Mira, then headed back. Andre and I dropped by our friends, R&D, who recently bought a house in Kelowna and are in the process of various renovations on it. We hadn't been able to connect with them the other times we'd been in Kelowna last year, so it was nice to see them again after visiting with them in Hawaii, and to finally see their new home.

Mirabel and mom Sarah

Daddy Ashley, Mirabel, and mommy Sarah

(Mirabel was really focused on working over the sand on the top of this stump)

The following is a cute video of Mira getting a wild ride on her little car from Aunty Trudel. She had so much fun and every time I'd stop she'd ask for more, more, more (who wouldn't?). I love her ear to ear grin, and at 0:26 you can hear her say, "Hi Hi". She says "Hi" all the time, to everyone, it's just so sweet!

Uncle Andre takes a turn as "motor"

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Camper Pad

2011-03-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

We had a few sunny, warm days this week so we made the most of them by excavating the foundation for the camper pad. On Tuesday night Andre roughed out the size and removed the first 10 buckets of soil. We set two large garbage buckets in our landscaping wagon, roped them together with a long strap, then pulled the wagon into a nearby ravine. The only problem was the extremely steep path that leads into the ravine! I had to wrap the webbing around my hips and act like a human brake. Needless to say this was not easy, and sketchy at best. It seemed like this process would take forever, but on Wednesday Andre came home a few hours early and we managed to haul away 26 buckets - that's 13 wagon loads! I helped with shoveling this time around as Andre loosened the soil / clay / rocks really well with a pick. On Thursday Andre cut in a final little step, so there would be a natural backstop for the rear truck wheels (wouldn't want to back into the neighbour's fence now, would we?). So, that generated another 8 buckets, but then thankfully we were done.

The fully excavated foundation

Yesterday's project was to get a truck load of gravel, 40 Allen blocks & caps and to finish the pad. The Allen blocks will support the sides and back of the grass and driveway and will contain the gravel. We dropped the camper off on the side of the road in front of our place to free up the bed of the truck and Andre drove off to get the load. He wasn't able to bring it home all in one load, however, as the full load was overweight even for our truck, about half the Allen blocks had to be left behind at the yard. So we lifted down the blocks we had, made some minor adjustments to the grade so they'd lie flat, and scooped in most of the gravel. We had to leave some in the truck as we still needed the remaining blocks to contain that gravel. Ah - always a bit of a conundrum.

The lower level set, second load on the truck ready to be placed

As a note of interest, those Allen blocks weigh 80 pounds each. Even the caps are extremely heavy, but this makes for a pretty solid structure in the end.

Andre makes some adjustments to the back level with the pick; the lower level is complete and capped.

Done!

Happy camper! The second level acts as a wheel stop, preventing the truck from going further back and plowing the camper into the neighbour's fence. Also note how the jacks line up nicely with the concrete caps, making a solid foundation to leave the camper on if we need the pickup.

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Stump Removal

2011-03-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

Not exactly the most exciting thing to blog about, but this is just a quick post and picture to show the steps involved in creating the front pad we're building to store the camper on when the truck is in use. After taking down the first four hedging trees on the north side we were left with the stumps that needed to be removed roots and all so that we can dig down to pour gravel, cement, etc. Andre dug a couple deep trenches on either side of the line of sumps, then hacked away at the roots with pick and axe. We then wrapped a cable around the stumps, hooked it up to the truck, and pulled them out one by one. The truck didn't even feel pulling them out, and watching it just looked like pulling sticks of butter out of the ground. Well, that tells you the power of the truck - those root balls were crazy, crazy heavy! Andre had to chop them all up just to be able to manage them.

Sorry, no photos of the work in progress, just the finished result at the end of the day. Next step is to dig down a few feet, remove the soil, and get the gravel, cinder blocks and cement in there. (Never mind there's still the deck project waiting to be completed. But, we'll need the truck for that so if we get this pad built quick we can drop the camper down and use the pick up to haul lumber, tiles, etc.)

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Partial Hedge Removal

2011-03-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

There are two tall hedges that run most of the length of our property all the way down to the road. They've always given us the feel of being hemmed in, and the south hedge blocks an enormous amount of light and sun to our tiny patch of front garden. Over the years as the hedge has grown it has also encroached on our next door neighbour's side garden.

Andre has been keen to take down the first 4 or 5 trees from the hedge on the north side for quite some time. It would open up a larger space to the district easement behind the trees and if he re-works the ground a bit and lays a thin strip of concrete we'll have a place to temporarily drop our camper when we need to use the truck for hauling lumber (or hedging trees!) once in a while.

The next door neighbours (in the green house) were keen for the trees on their side to go, so this morning we got as early a start as we could considering the chainsaw noise factor (9:30). It was quite a project, getting them all down, cutting off the heavy trunks (didn't want to have to pay for those at the green waste station, we'll just burn them), making a huge pile in the center of the cul-de-sac and then getting it all in the truck. The truck, however, had the camper on it so we had to drop the camper on the road in front of the terrace, then load the truck, then take the load to the green waste station, and finally get the camper back on the truck. Never mind getting the driveway and road all cleaned up! But, we were finished and inside for lunch by 3:30 - not bad!

You can see here how the south hedge blocks light and is a bit of a fortress

The north hedge is a nice buffer to the excessively large homes behind us, but taking back the first 4 or so trees will allow us to have some space to drop our camper when we need to use the truck.

We cut all the trees in half and limbed the lower sections keeping the heavy logs to burn. No sense paying to dispose of them.

The south hedge comes down. We'll be removing this hedge entirely over the next month or so to bring in more light and tie in with the rest of the front gardens on our road.

This is not actually the entire pile, it ended up being about 1/3 bigger when it was all done

Barely managed to get the whole load on the truck - a pretty major feat in itself!

All done for now and cleaned up

The stumps will be pulled out with the truck and Andre will level an area to drop the camper if we need the truck for a day or two (otherwise the camper is permanently on the truck now).

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Snow Times

2011-02-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

We woke up to about 6 inches of snow this morning - a bit of a surprise! Time for some fun....

Andre put out the call to various friends; Paul (aka The Shaw), Ian, and Ashley happed to be in town briefly and Kenny was over there as well, so the word was put out that there would be some buttboarding going on in our neck of the woods. (For the uninitiated, buttboarding is simply tobogganing on ancient snowboards with the bindings removed and foam glued to the deck of the board. We've been doing this for about 15 years and even hardcore alpine skiers from the Alps find this to be an absolute riot, as the boards are inherently fast and easily controlled.)

Andre and I grabbed our boards, leaving a few extras outside the garage for Ashley and Kenny, and headed off onto the paved paths that run through the forest between neighbourhoods here. There is one long, steep path that is an absolute dream to run on the boards. As Andre and I were walking up after our first run, before anyone else had met up with us, all of a sudden a guy on a bicycle goes cruising past us - uphill! Never mind that a bike would have a hard time going anywhere in this snow even on the flat, but this guy was moving! Well, of course it turned out to be The Shaw on the fully electric, 2WD system he's spent the past few months rigging up to his Santa Cruz Blur (for those no in the know: very high end bike. Interestingly enough, my sister-in-law's brother is the chief engineer of Santa Cruz bikes.) Not only does the rear wheel have an electric motor, but the front wheel as well, making the bike an off-road cruising monster.

The following video clip shows Paul riding up the snowy hill, then I get on my board and slide down, so you can see there's a pretty decent grade. BTW, that corner at 0:52 is pretty tricky, lots of times we can't make it and get threateningly close to planting our teeth on the log you'll see at the right.

Ian eventually met up with us and we had several great runs, each one faster than the one before as the track got packed in. After about 7 or 8 runs I went home to shovel the driveway and dry off. Just after I was done shoveling, Ashley and Kenny showed up, followed by Andre and they headed down to The Shaw's for lunch. We were planning on doing more runs on the slopes of Northlands Golf Course, but during lunch the snow turned to rain and it just got too, well, disgusting out so I opted out but the boys did a few more runs. They don't mind the cold sog-factor so much.

Ian, Trudel, The Shaw (Ian wants you to know that he is only wearing sunglasses because of his recent laser eye surgery)

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 5

2011-02-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

More Rot Removal & Rebuild, and Finally: Plywood Sheeting + Drip Caps!

This morning Andre headed out bright and early to get a start on sheeting the deck with the plywood before the forecast snow was supposed to start falling. As he was hammering around back there doing a final check he discovered yet another, though fortunately relatively small, area of rot. This was directly along the frame between the deck and office and was caused by one of the numerous hot tub leaks. Fortunately it had only barely started to work away at the frame to the office, so with some effort he was able to rip everything up, expose it and clean it up so that the office wouldn't be affected. This meant he would need more lumber, though, so he walked down to the lumber yard (his scooter ran out of gas coming down the final hill back home on his lumber run last weekend) to pick up a few pieces, only to discover that the lumber yard / hardware store is closing for good! Our friend Mike, who runs the place, was there and Andre talked with him for a good 40 minutes, before heading home and taking my car to the Rona for the few 8' pieces he needed.

Once home with the lumber he set to work rebuilding the rotten section, then sheeting the deck with 7 sheets of plywood. He made a drip cap for the exposed portion of the deck where we will feather down the fiberglass for a clean edge, and he made a wedge edge against the house wall to prevent moisture (when washing the deck) from getting between the house and deck. He also trimmed off the jagged edge of the new lumber on the side next to the hedge.

More rot exposed (from leaking hot tub) - right on the dividing frame between deck and office

All cleaned up and ready for replacement lumber

4 of the 7 sheets laid (yes, that is snow in the yard - it's not exactly warm out!) He had to add in some lumber to fill the gap as the second sheet lined up too close to a finished edge. Always some fiddly work with every step...

Trimming the jagged edge of the new lumber that he'd installed

Drip cap added

Note how the new plywood has been framed in by drip caps on all sides, including against the house. Now we wait for a bit of warmer weather so we can fiberglass over top.

Jump to Part 6

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 4

2011-02-20T19:42:00.000-08:00

More Rot Removal and Framing

This morning Andre began by putting in all the blocking to stiffen up the spans between the supports of the 2x8's. The deck needs to be as strong as concrete because of the floating ceramic tiles we'll be putting on top (we have this on our front deck and they look and function extremely well). Then he discovered a whole bunch more rot in a section he hadn't ripped up yet; the rot was caused by a leak in the old hot tub. So he had to demolish all that, cut out the rot and pull everything up until he was back to solid wood. Several of the supports needed bracing and because of this he was short 72 feet of 2x6.

He laid down all the 2x6 strapping to bring the new portion of the deck up to the original height of the remaining decking that was not removed. Plywood will be going over top of this, followed by fiberglass, a gel coat and then finally the floating, interlocking ceramic tiles. A trip down the hill to our local hardware store was necessary to pick up the remaining timber he was short. However, I was out with the car at the Rona buying him framing nails for the pneumatic stick nailer, and we put the camper on the truck yesterday, so the only vehicle left to haul the six 12 foot 2x6's was his scooter. Needless to say this is a very heavy load - see photos below! Then all the boards had to be cut down to length and nailed on to the stringers.

Blocking nailed in to stiffen the spans

The 2x6 strapping partially laid before pinning to the new joists

The oh-so-versatile Honda Ruckus

Who needs a truck anyways??

All nailed down and ready for trimming and plywood

Good and strong!

Jump to Part 5

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 3

2011-02-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

Demolition Day #2, Cleanup & Disposal, New Lumber & Framing

Yup, that's quite a lineup for one weekend! Yesterday morning Andre finished pulling back the rest of the rotten wood and exposed the original concrete pad and footers. Of course it was 4 degrees and pouring sheets of rain, but at least most of the deck area is covered. The garbage pile in the back yard grew some more, taking up pretty much all the walk-able room we have back there.

About an hour into his work he was using the skil saw to trim down some wood (the transfer station has length restrictions on wood) when one of the carbide teeth broke off and despite there being a safety hood it somehow flung out at colossal speeds and like a bullet shot into our kitchen sliding glass door. It's double paned and only the outside pane was affected, but it shattered into millions of tiny bits and continued to crackle for the next several hours. It actually looks quite pretty, if you ignore the bullet-hole style pattern in the very bottom corner! I came running from the living room to find Andre standing on the outside, staring at the door in shock. Once I took it what had happened and seeing everything was safe I was actually pretty tickled by what had happened. You see, I've hated that door for years and years and have hurt my fingers on the handle so many times. I'd been thinking that when we replace the office windows that I should somehow talk Andre into replacing that door as well, and the small kitchen window above the sink (it hasn't opened in years). Well, problem solved! Sure, I have to live with cracked glass for probably another few months, but it'll be worth it!!

In the early afternoon the demolition was complete and it was time to load everything into the truck. Every single piece of wood had a good number of nails sticking out, so for transportation safety and to better stack it all in the truck I had the lovely task of hammering flat every single nail in every single piece of wood (in the pouring rain) while Andre carried the piles down the narrow path next to our house and loaded them into the truck. It's pretty unbelievable that every single thing that comes into or leaves our back yard has to pass through a corridor about 50 feel long and no more than 2.5 feet wide! The hot tub sections also had to be cut down some more as we got stuck halfway down the corridor with the first section and came close to knocking down our neighbour's fence (yup - that's rotten too)

Andre's parents came by in the mid afternoon to pick up the three hot tub windows - they'll be using them on the greenhouse they're building at their place. They also helped us manage to massage every last bit of garbage in to the truck, not an easy task! We'd separated as much re-useable wood as we could, but unfortunately there wasn't too much. We're also keeping whatever dry cedar siding there is to chop up for kindling (another one of my jobs).

The load of trash weighed in at 3/4 of a ton - that's a lot of rot!

All cleaned up!

This morning (Sunday), we took the load to the transfer station - it came in at a whopping 3/4 of a ton!! Cost us $71 - the most we've ever had to pay for one load.

We drove to the local Rona and picked up a truck full of lumber and of course Andre set right to work framing in the new deck.

support beam notched out with chainsaw

note how the big support beam (shown above) is notched to accommodate the 2x6 joists

Jump to Part 4

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 2

2011-02-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

Demolition Day #1!

A bit of a late start, had to sleep in after a late party last night and run some errands (buy a hammer!), so it was 1:30 by the time Andre started ripping it all apart back there. I was in the office and felt like making a run for it several times the walls and floor were shaking so bad! Despite the late start he made some really great progress. I'm impressed. And the view out our kitchen window is already much improved. I'd much rather look into a yard full of crap than a crappy old hot tub with a dirty enclosure that you can never get properly clean (thanks to all the 4-legged creatures, including our own).

Windows and outer structure removed

You can see how gross the decking is in this photo - Andre did actually end up breaking through about an hour after this photo was taken. Better him than me or our house sitter!

Steps in front of hot tub removed, as well as support post (temporary one put in place)

Ooops

Direct quote from Andre: "Hey Trudel - this is some of the most high quality landfill we've ever had!"

Removing the rotten deck and even more rotten support beams. Fortunately there are concrete footers we can re-use, though they may have settled and need to be shimmed up.

Jump directly to Part 3

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Back Deck Renovation; Part 1

2011-02-05T18:06:00.000-08:00

Andre and I have decided that that ugly time has come to finally deal with our disgusting, rotting back deck, the hot tub and its enclosure, and the siding around the office. We may also replace the office windows with more energy efficient (not to mention attractive) ones while we have the siding off.

The back deck has been in pretty rough shape since we bought the place in late '04, but it's a relatively big job compared to the other ones we've undertaken that we've held off until it just can't be put off any longer. Well, that point actually came about two years ago, but the company kind of came in the way of any time for larger projects. The back deck and office were an addition put on by one of the previous owners, and unfortunately wasn't built to the highest of standards. We have a feeling the hot tub was a bargain to begin with, and we've kind of just been limping it along until this year it actually started to gross us out.

There is a clear, acrylic roof over the office, hot tub and half the deck. The half of the deck that is exposed is completely rotten, with nails poking through and gets slicker than snot as soon as there's any rain. The small door that accesses the hot tub motor is also exposed, and completely rotten. The siding on the corners of the hot tub enclosure and office is also completely rotten right through, and has been since we moved in.

We've decided to get rid of the hot tub completely and not replace it, remove the walls that enclosed it and rebuild the deck so that we'll have a much bigger, more usable covered deck area. We're hoping to build it like the front deck - solid plywood covered in fiberglass, then topped off with all-weather interlocking tiles. It's been great on the front deck for several years now through pretty harsh winters, and the back deck will be mostly covered.

A small portion of the back yard needs to be re-landscaped in order to do this, just in front of where the hot tub enclosure is, and all the siding from around the office will have to come off, as well as new gutters installed. This is when we may install the new windows - depends on costs. There are five huge windows and one sliding glass door, which cause an enormous amount of heat loss in the winter (we keep the door that separates the office from the house closed all fall into spring), and the current windows are not really opening very well any more in the summer (only 2 of the 5 still work).

The final touch will be to re-insulate the floor under the office (this was done when we moved in but raccoons ripped it all out and nest on it), and completely seal off the foot and a half of space under the deck / office area so that the raccoons and skunks won't keep setting up shop under there. We would have sealed it off years ago, but Oscar also used the area as a safety zone and we didn't ever want him to get in trouble with a dog or coyote and then find his quick escape blocked off. Grover doesn't go under the deck, so we're free to block it off now.

Andre seems intent on beginning on this project now, a day or so every weekend. He doesn't mind doing this work in the crummy weather, and I think he's hoping we'll be mostly done by spring, and then we'll be free to do other things on the weekends instead of working on the deck on nice weekends.

What timing - I took this photo the morning after writing the post, they were crawling all over the deck and hot tub area. Well, enjoy - it's your last chance!

Hot tub enclosure (office in behind); door to hot tub motor hasn't closed in years, grown over with moss & algae.

I don't know why the people who had this built didn't extend the roof over the rest of the deck - it just rotted away with all the rain and lack of sun in the back yard (you can see the line of wet/dry - everything beyond the wet line is completely rotten)

It is truly, truly hideous.

Another angle of the hideousness. The office (windows w/ blinds) will remain, but will get new windows and all the siding will be replaced with something more attractive. Everything beyond the office will be removed, except for the roof. The area under the office & deck will be completely closed off so animals can no longer house under there. It's not cool hearing raccoon fights under your feet when working in the office!

Jump directly to Part 2

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Kona, Hawaii: Day 11

2011-02-02T09:10:00.001-08:00

We had time for one last brief activity before meeting up one final time with R&D, so we chose to go for a snorkel at Kahalu'u Beach (aka Snorkel Beach to the locals). Morning is a great time for a snorkel at that beach, very few people and on a sunny day the morning light filters through the water lighting up the coral and fish. Andre swam out closer to the surf break, but I stayed closer, having left returned my loaned flippers to the homeowner where we'd stayed. I swam closer to the reef on the south side hoping to spot a turtle snacking on the rocks, but no luck. So I kept swimming around and about a minute later I looked to my side to see a turtle swimming right next to me, keeping pace!

After our snorkel we headed up to R&D's for a goodbye and to leave them with a few bags of leftover fruit. We brought along the jackfruit we'd picked with them a week ago and D quickly set about butchering the thing on the front lawn.

Our flight departed Kona at 2:00, and shortly after leaving the island we found ourselves looking right down into the crater of Mt. Haleakela on Maui - very cool. We arrived in Seattle at 9:30, transferred planes, arrived at YVR just before midnight where Ian picked us up, giving us down jackets and hoodies so we wouldn't freeze our Hawaiian blood in the cold Vancouver rain on the drive back home. What a guy!

It's always a bit sad when a great trip comes to an end, but at the same time its nice to be back home and look forward to more adventures to come!

opening the jackfruit is an outside job (they ooze a ton of latex)

the only part you eat is the soft flesh that houses the seeds, it tastes just like juicy fruit gum!

last Hawaii photo-op

I love the open air airport terminal!

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Kona, Hawaii: Day 10

2011-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

For our last full day here we decided to go to a beach that we'd missed but had been highly recommended by several people. The nice thing about Hawaii is that none of the shoreline is allowed to be privately owned, and resorts must provide shoreline access for the public. Not many tourists know this, however, so you end up with some absolutely spectacular beaches that have hardly any people on them. And as a bonus, the majority of these shoreline access have full bathrooms / changerooms / and even showers.

Today's beach was accessed via the resort at Hualalai. When you get to the booth you tell the attendant you're going to the shore and he gives you a pass and tells you how to get there. The beach is an absolute gem, long and sandy and in a bit of a bay. There are quite a few sea turtles here, I almost tripped over a couple before I got used to looking out for them, and we had fun watching them tumble in the small surf near the beach.

We walked to the very end point, which turned out to be Kikaua Point Park, and there is another road access for this as well, just one road south of the resort driveway. We parked ourselves underneath some trees there and went for a short snorkel in a beautiful shallow lagoon behind the point. Saw several fish near the rocks, even some that were lying on the bottom completely asleep.

Andre spent some time swimming off the main beach, and a few people were out there catching waves on boogie boards, surf boards, paddle boards and even a group in an outrigger canoe.

Just after 1pm we put our stuff back in the car and headed for a walk along a paved shoreline path, like a seawall, that runs in front of the various phases of the Four Season's Resort, the golf course and over to Kona Village Resort. We saw a good number of whales breaching in the ocean not too far off, and walked part way to Kona Village on the beach. Went for a swim from the black sand beach at Kona Village, then walked the 1.5 miles back to the car and drove up to Hapuna where Andre played in the surf for about half an hour. Hit a heavy rainstorm on the way back, and it's currently still raining and thundering outside.

Andre snaps off a quick shot as I run out of the basement suite in the house we're staying in (entrance is next to the lattice behind me)

snoozing sea turtle at the beach accessed from Hualalai Resort

in the lagoon by Kikaua Point Park

our base on Kikaua Point under some trees, a small portion of the beach from Hualalai Resort is visible at left

the lagoon behind Kikaua Point

the "seawall" that runs for about 1.5 miles along the shore in front of the resorts - fair game for the public but most don't know it, so you can have it all to yourself! (check out the nice beach frontage in the background)

beach in front of the Four Seasons Resort

the beach at the southern end of Kona Village Resort

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Kona, Hawaii: Days 8 & 9

2011-01-31T23:47:00.000-08:00

Road Trip to Hilo / Puna

Day 8:

Left by 9am, drove upper road to Waimea, then to Waipio Valley overlook. Hiked down, around 11am. Spent 2 - 3 hours on the black sand beach. Very few people. Stunning cliffs. Hiked back up the 35 degree angle road - extremely steep, but paved. Took us only 17 minutes. Drove to Akaka Falls, hiked the short loop circuit. Crazy jungle foliage, tall, thin waterfall, Tarzan vines, "orangutan trees". Got in to Hilo by 5pm, took an ocean facing room at the Hilo Hawaiian, to treat ourselves to a decent bed and a good, quiet night's rest (our basement suite is a furnace, no privacy, horrible bed, noise issues). Went for a walk out to Coconut Island, a bridge crosses to the small island directly from the hotel. Went for dinner, early to bed. Heavy rain all night. Nocturnal birds chirping all night.

Waipio Valley

Akaka Falls

I have no idea what kind of flower / plant this is, but it sure is stunning!

Day 9:

Andre had a conference call at 6:30am, I got up a half hour later. After the call we walked to the island, then packed up, bought some sandwiches at a natural food store and drove to Pohoiki Bay. Hot pools, ran in to Mark, (life guard at Punalu'u) with his son, went to hot springs, went to tide pools and snorkeled in them. Drove to Mark's home near Opihiako (sp?), spent a couple hours with him, son & wife. Drove to Kapala, hiked the lava beds toward the lava but turned back - out of time. Drove back to Kailua, arrived back 9:15

View of the Hilo Hawaiian from Coconut Island in the morning after a heavy rainstorm

Coconut Island and Hilo from our balcony at the Hilo Hawaiian

I am dwarfed by the jungle foliage at Lava Tree Park (where molds were made of trees by lava)

This leaf is about 3 feet long, and it wasn't an exception

Pohoiki Bay

Coconut I found in the bushes; not much of a drinker but some good eating

Kapoho tide pools, great snorkeling!

a different coconut from the one above; this one was given to us and was an amazing drinker - there was a good liter in this one!

we were given two seedling coconuts to plant where locals have been replanting trees to re-create the palm grove that used to be here before the lava flow

crossing the lava at Kalapana to head out to the flowing lava, note the very young black sand beach

extremely ropy lava covered this vast area for miles

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Kona, Hawaii: Day 7

2011-01-29T23:56:00.000-08:00

We decided to keep today nice and simple, with not too much driving (the roads around here make me really sleepy!). We started the morning off by driving to Keleakekua Bay, stopping at a local bake shop on the way down for some goodies, then heading to Two Step for a snorkel in the bay. We got cold pretty fast this time around, I guess we're starting to acclimatize, so we weren't in the water more than half an hour.

After Two Step, we rock-hopped about a hundred feet along the shore and walked into Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park (City of Refuge). This place has a pretty amazing history: if you'd committed a crime (say you were a woman and at a banana) and were able to get to City of Refuge and climb the wall (only 10 feet tall but 16 feet thick) you were completely safe, and if there was a priest there he would cleanse you and within a few hours you'd be free to head back out and be safe amongst your people (ie, they wouldn't kill you).

It's quite hot here right now, so before heading off in the car to our next stop we had to take a swim in the shallow turquoise bay between Two Step and City of Refuge. After we were sufficiently cooled off we drove south to Ho'okena, a beautiful black sand beach situated beneath tall cliffs. There were quite a few families here and as we settled ourselves into a spot for lunch I overheard a lady nearby talking about an experience she just had swimming with dolphins. We looked closer out at the water and sure enough, there was a collection of fins going back and forth. We quickly got our snorkel gear on and made a beeline out into the bay. Within less than 10 minutes we were right in the midst of the dolphins. The mothers take the babies to the various bays in this area to sleep, and they were very peacefully just swimming back and forth, and we were pretty much right in their midst, thought not interfering or going up close to them. I have to say, this was an absolutely amazing experience. The moment I saw them, below me and around me, I honestly felt like crying. There was such an absolute sense of peace and safety. To be within a couple arms reaches of wild dolphins is indescribable, and I was really wondering how I'd react being close to such large mammals in the water (I get sketchy around big fish). We only spent about 5 - 10 minutes with them, but it was more than enough!

Early afternoon we headed back in to town, got some food in Captain Cook and headed to the farmer's market in Kailua. After dropping off the groceries back home and a quick shower, we drove to a shoreline access near the Shearaton, walked the shoreline onto their grounds and enjoyed some nice ocean views, sat in their gazebo near the church, and finally took in some music and hula dancing in the Manta Ray Bar.

The rocky bay at Two Step is a garden of coral and colourful fish

Pu'uhonua o Honaunau (City of Refuge)

a portion of the wall that criminals would have to scale to gain the sanctuary of City of Refuge

Ho'okena Beach, this is where we swam with wild dolphins (just out behind the orange umbrella)

taking in the views on the rocky shore outside the Sheraton Hotel

taking in some music and hula dancing at the Sheraton Hotel's Manta Ray Bar

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Kona, Hawaii: Day 6

2011-01-28T23:34:00.000-08:00

The southernmost point of the big island is also the southernmost point in the United States. But, this was not our reason for heading down there this morning. South Point is the location of the only green sand beaches in the world, and we headed to the main one, the one that is written about in all the guide books (some books state this is the only green sand beach, while others claim there are a few more nearby). Off Hwy 11 we took the South Point Road, which takes you down to the far tip via a 12 mile road passing through fields of grass and clover, and a small wind farm, part of which seems to be in disrepair. At the end of the main road a jeep road begins, but we left our rental car here and walked the 2.5 miles in to the beach. It was incredibly windy and the ocean was a mass of whitecaps and large swells, but the wind was refreshing for the exposed walk across the barren fields.

When we arrived at the beach we weren't surprised to discover that it's not quite as green as its made out to be. It's more just a dark colour with a hint of olive. The beach was formed from an old cinder cone that fell apart and the crashing surf created the fine sand. We got into the water right away, but I only lasted about 20 minutes before being completely tumbled by the surf. Andre body surfed for about an hour before we headed back, stopping at a rocky black beach for lunch.

Our next stop was Punalu'u, Black Sand Beach, about 20 minutes away. Dark clouds hung overhead and small swells swept the beach, so we weren't too much in the mood for getting in the water. The black sand was very cool, though, the wet sections near the water crunch under foot. We talked with the lifeguard, a local, for quite a long time, and he gave us some fruit and coconuts he had with him and offered for us to stop by his house in Puna if we happen by there before we leave. Before heading back on the long drive Andre did pop into the water to make sure he'd be cool for the drive back - he tends to overheat on long drives.

Once back Andre made an amazing quinoa tofu salad while I showered, then we popped over to the Keaheau shopping center and caught the end of a free hula show, then dropped in at the Sheraton to see the free Manta Ray show - they shine bright lights onto the water which attracts plankton which in turn attracts Manta Rays. But, we didn't see any, so we took a seat in some stuffed wicker chairs in the open air bar and enjoyed a drink before heading home for the night.

South Point - the southernmost point on the big island and in the United States

the jeep road to Green Sand beach is visible at left, we at lunch at the black beach in the bay

deep ruts in the jeep road

is this the prairies or Hawaii??

Green Sand Beach, the center of an old cinder cone

Punalu'u - Black Sand Beach

Punalu'u is a favorite spot for sea turtles

these guys really know how to crash!

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Kona, Hawaii: Day 5

2011-01-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

We managed to sleep in 'till 7:30 this morning, despite the birds and the lady from above leaving the house and starting up the car right behind our heads at 6:20am. So, we didn't get the earliest start, but we were out the door just after 9:00. We were waylaid by a pitstop at the Walmart for some short fins and webbed gloves for Andre, but then we were off to Hapuna Beach.

The surf at Hapuna is just perfect for body boarding, and we both got our fill. Though, it took half as long for me to get my fill as Andre, as I'm not a huge wave-lover, but I was in for a good 45 min at first, then an hour of beach walking and relaxation, and back in for another half hour. Andre tried out an assortment of body boarding, and ody surfing with / without fins/mask/snorkel/webbed gloves.

At 1pm we headed off and drove north to the small town of Hawi, where we checked out the shops and sat down for a small lunch. We then drove to the end of the road, which ends at a jaw dropping, spectacular lookout over the Pololu Valley (see pictures below). We hiked down a trail to the black sand beach, and discovered quite a few people (and touring cyclists) camped in the open forest behind the beach. What perfect camping, I'm jealous.

For the return drive home we took the Kohala Mtn. Road to Waimea, stopped in at a Natural Foods store for a few groceries, then took Hwy 190 back into Kailua.

Hapuna Beach

Andre catches a wave on his body board

under a Banyan tree in Hawi

lookout over the Pololu Valley and its black sand beach

walking the black sand beach

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