Centennial Ridge

 

 

Last week a woman I had met in a hiking group asked if I wanted to accompany her on a hike that, according to Alltrails, is way longer AND steeper than anything I had ever done before. But I have been wanting to push myself so I said yes.  On Friday night a wildfire started on the other side of the mountain we were to hike.  But others were heading up when we met at the trailhead so we decided to go for it.

The smoke at least obscured the sun, making what we supposed to be a "heat warning" day into something way more comfortable temperature-wise.  But, we were breathing in smoke and all vistas were obscured.  The trail is almost unrelentingly steep - we made 1000m elevation gain in about 6 km.  We hoisted ourselves up boulders and slipped on scree on some of the steepest parts.  I gave thanks for my water bladder because it meant I didn't have to stop and pull out a water bottle every time I needed a drink.  Also, it's so thin and light that I can carry a lot more than a water bottle will fit. I drank a LOT of water.

It has been quite a while since I have hiked a mountain where you get to what looks like it will be the top only to find it continues up. Four times we said "almost there" ... four times we were wrong.  We passed the weather sensors, which was super cool because these are on the ridge above the slope where we skied last winter, and every time we check the area's weather and I type "Kananakskis" in the search bar, "Nakiska Ridge Top" comes up and that is exactly where I was.  We continued along the ridge a while, but between the smoke starting to cause headaches and the understanding that we would have to recreate the hike to get some actual stunning views and some photos of something that doesn't look apocalyptic, we cut the hike a bit short (it's supposedly just shy of 16km total and we got to 11.2km).

On the way back we met this little guy.  We took a photo from way back on the trail, then walked a bit closer for a better photo, then realized it didn't seem to notice us at all so we got closer ... we probably could have touched it before it scampered off onto the ledge right beyond where we could see it.  I couldn't decide if it's very comfortable with humans, or has had so few interactions it didn't consider us threats.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Not awesome :-(

What's not awesome? Returning home from vacation to find the freezer door wasn't properly shut and everything is (thankfully) cold ... but entirely defrosted. All the ice cream is a loss, and now we are dictating what the kids can eat for lunch each day to get the food eaten.  I made an emergency cobbler to use up some of the defrosted frozen berries, similarly we'll get a round of fruit leathers going tomorrow.  And a massive cook --> freeze session planned for tomorrow. Many  high quality meats will be grilled this week.  I am very grateful that we haven't lost a ton, and obviously that this is not the only food we have.

But, still, not awesome.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Vancouver finale

Our last day in Vancouver, the kids had their afternoon hour-playing-in-the-pool-because-they-can't-hide-in-the-room-all-day-like-mushrooms and even tried to skim a bit off that.  When Terry came back from work, he and I had our plans set.  We borrowed a pair of bikes from the hotel and set off to circumnavigate Stanley Park. The hotel was right around the corner and the Park is a Vancouver highlight.  The hotel estimates that it takes about an hour to bike around (including the stops) and they were spot on.  First stop: the series of totem poles - I had no idea they are unique to the coastal Pacific Northwest, ranging from Washington up through British Columbia and a bit into Alaska. We watched a seaplane gain altitude.  We caught the statues of the "girl in  wetsuit" and Harry Jerome (Canada's fastest sprinter) and the replica ship's figurehead of a dragon.  The sun glinted off the sea, the mountains were hazy in the distance.  We appreciated the tenacity of a tree growing ontop a large boulder.  We passed Third Beach, then Second Beach (where I had dragged the kids all of three days previously).  We traveled leisurely, stopping often to enjoy the views.

Thus refreshed, we dined our last night on Terry's "must do" food event, hand pulled noodles.  (Mine had been the sushi)  The server was definitely skeptical of our choices and tried to steer us towards the house specialties.  We ignored her.  Zoltan took our advice and was not the Barry.  We ordered too much and ate too much and thoroughly appreciated the meal.  We stopped by a 24 hour bakery to choose baked goods for the morning's breakfast, as we weren't sure about the time we needed to get ready, finish packing etc and get to the airport.

We should not have worried. In typical fashion, we were ready to go early.  With a sad "adieu" we promised to return, having only barely scratched the surface of Vancouver's excellence.

Vancouver Part II

On Wednesday the day started the same. Because I knew in advance the kids weren't doing much in the afternoon, I didn't mind when a call went over my stated end-of-workday.  And the call of course led to more work.  Another call was scheduled for a time that happened to coincide with pool time, so I took the call outside.  All in all it was an almost-full-day at work.

After work we met Terry at a highly-touted Vancouver adventure: Fly Over Canada.  The advertising for it is very alarmist about motion sickness. Given that I only learned a couple of years ago that the sick feeling I get on roller coasters is actually motion sickness, it made me nervous. Oh goodness, it's a lot of over-hype!  The experience is a lot of fun - you swoop along beautiful vistas all over the Canadian landscape as though you are riding a drone.  You're strapped into seats like a gentle roller coaster, because it does move a bit with the direction of swooping. There's water sprays when you pass snow and a few scent sprays.  All in all, totally worthwhile and a fun way to spend half an hour.

We finished the night at a Vietnamese restaurant.  We recommended to the kids the lemongrass chicken/pork/beef with rice.  Zoltan opted for a dish that turned out to be beef in a broth with carrots and radish. Needless to say, he did not enjoy the dish and it was delicious and Terry and I ended up eating most of it.  There's a TV show we're watching as a family and in a relatively recent episode a kid in the TV family goes against parental wisdom and orders a meal that is ridiculous for the venue, is expectedly not-delicious, and earns him derision from the family.  So now Zoltan has been warned to "Not be a Barry" in future ordering decisions.

We couldn't get a reservation for dinner at the highly recommended sushi restaurant we wanted to try so we settled on lunch.  That was Thursday.  We discovered when we arrived that, as I had been playing around with different days and times, and with tables for two or four, that I had made a reservation for two.  They had no tables for four available.  Um .......  Well, the kids had maps in their phones, didn't want fish anyway, and still had a fridge of meats and cheeses at the hotel.  We sent them back and stayed ourselves to enjoy the meal.  And everyone was happy.  On my way back to the hotel I checked out a pastry place and brought back treats for everyone - so even more happiness.

In the evening we headed toward Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.  This time we took the SeaBus (not at all the same thing as the AquaBus) and were able to catch some lovely views of Vancouver from the viewing platform.  Terry and I ate fish and chips that rivaled the ridiculously delicious chips place in Haydon Bridge while the kids ate burgers from the vendor next door.  We took a walk to spur our appetites, then got Earnest Ice Cream.  It had been recommended and I had no idea they had such a variety of vegan flavors. Even better, the vegan flavors were DELICIOUS (this is absolutely not always the case).  We ate the ice cream on a bench outside, where we could see a produce vendor that looked like it was starting to pack up. As we were out of fruit, we ran over and thusly brought home a second stash of goods.  Sadly they were not quite as good as the first - Four Season Farms at Granville Market for the win.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Vancouver Part I

[Disclaimer: Anything you think of to do in Vancouver, we probably didn't do it.  Terry was working, I was working, we didn't have a car, and many things were still closed. All reasons for a return trip!]

The border between B.C and Alberta opened just days before Terry's TDY (temporary work trip) to Vancouver. Having never been before, the kids and I tagged along.

We flew out on July 5, which was not a holiday in Canada so we were able to do some sightseeing. Being who we are, after dropping off our bags at the hotel we hopped an AquaBus to Granville Island where we ate our own weight and brought some home. In Alberta we're always pining over British Columbia fruit, so a visit to the produce vendor was in order. We followed the crowds walking around with bright yellow Lee's Donuts boxes and decided to splurge on a dozen.Oh. My. I had no idea donuts could be like that. We sincerely regretted buying so few and discussed going back.  We also got recommendations of other vendors to visit and decided that in addition to berries, we would stuff our mini-hotel-fridge with sliced meats and cheeses. They also make lovely lunches for the three of us spending our mornings in the hotel room* - Lynne working, kids frying their brains on TV shows and video games. 

* Note: Because of Marriott status, our regular room was upgraded in a larger room with an actual desk - critical feature for the one working half days from the hotel room.

The heat was nearly unbearable even with the help of gelato (around 75F ... we are so ruined for living anywhere else in the world), so after our shopping we were wilting and ready to hang at the hotel for a bit.  With the relaxation of COVID restrictions, the need to book certain times for the outdoor pool ended the day we checked in so kids and I headed off to the pool to cool off.

After a bit of Googling, we settled for dinner on a yakitori place not too far from the hotel.  It's been more than 20 years since Terry lived in Japan, so with our assuredly altered palates we deemed it not only delicious (it was) but authentic (it definitely seemed so). 

The next morning breakfast at the hotel consisted of eggs Benedict, bacon for Terry and smoked salmon for me.  And the eggs had the darkest most orange yolks I have ever seen, and we've been buying our eggs straight from a farm.  Thus fortified, Terry headed out to the Consulate and I to my desk.

Not gonna lie, working off a small laptop with sticky keys and no mouse is not as productive as working off my home setup.

I had grand plans for the afternoons but the kids defeated me.  I did make them accompany me across Stanley Island to Second Beach - one of Vancouver's many inner city beaches and recommended as one of the nicer.  They boycotted the water, opting instead to read under a tree just beyond the sandy area. I gave up and we headed back, although we did take the long way and linger a while by Lost Lagoon ("look, we found it!"). All future afternoons were spent by the kids inside reading or outside by the pool.  

We finished the day with a delicious dinner at Joe Fortes and began my streak of eating fish daily while in Vancouver. Mmmmmmmm.

The birdfeeder

Amazing Terry made a bird feeder from old pallet wood scraps and the plastic siding of Costco cashews.  It hangs from a tree in the front yard and my view of it sits perfectly between the two monitors on my desk.  This morning, a poor squirrel - beautifully acrobatic but sadly unknowing that the feeder is empty - has been trying to get to it.  The first attempt I only caught out of the corner of my eye as the creature went flinging back to the earth. For the she second attempt I watched it ready itself from the steps, spring into action, and cling for a few pregnant seconds onto the wooden roof/top before falling back.

I desperately wish I had caught that on video.  It seems to  have moved on now.

I take that back.  Squirrel just tried again. And apparently managed to knock a few grains off, as it has been nibbling in the ground under the feeder these last few minutes. Wandered off again. Will it return?

Wordless Wednesday