Arctic cold fronts, musical breaks, alluring skates, all thanks to the start of 2014.

Hello and welcome to the first post of 2014.

What in 2014 is worth a mention today? Perhaps the third week in this year of -20 degree Celsius weather. The dreadful cold that we have so nicely been rewarded with which makes you not want to leave your house in the morning (.. maybe that's another issue altogether...pft), regardless, it's the coldest I've ever experienced for January. This week the winds have decided to pick up, so now there is an added windchill which makes it feel like it's -35 degrees (booyah). Do I consider the cold "extreme weather" not necessarily, if there was a lot of blowing snow along with it each day, perhaps. The snow hasn't been too bad, it's really just the bitter cold. I hope January takes the cake for this "Arctic cold front," and the temperatures come up a lot for February.

That is probably the only negative thing I can say about Canada for the month of January. The other items to be mentioned have been pretty incredible.

I was able to get out for an early skate with my older brother an a friend in Barrie. It was nice to get back on the skates, I know I roller bladed in the summer, but ice skating beats that any day. There is something about every time you go for an outdoor skate you always pair it with hot cocoa on the way home or make a yummy one once you are home. Phenomenal mix, I swear.

Mid January we went to a show at the Sound Academy, Jake Bugg and Albert Hammond Jr. were playing. To be honest I had never heard of them before December, but when you're with someone who has amazing musical taste and contributes to your collection you start exploring after a while. This exploring has for sure enabled me to take in some great shows. Jake Bugg even did a cover of the great Neil Young, coincidentally enough so did Frank Turner when we went to see him in December. Both performed the songs well, I captured both on my phone because I was so happy to hear that. Jake and Frank are both English folk/indie artists, I was in love on both occasions. I really enjoyed Albert Hammond Jr. too - he sounds great even with a flu. Since the pictures do the artists no justice and my vids take so long to upload, there is neither offered here :P but here is a link to the Jake Bugg performance of Neil Youngs - My My, Hey Hey.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=843561285984&l=1694717382773353893

The weekend following we got away to Ottawa for the weekend, skated 16kms up and down the Rideau Canal, had a fantastic dinner (service wasn't the greatest), stayed at the Lord Elgin (stonethrow from the canal through the park) and woke up for another skate and brunch. It was an amazing time. I have, included some of the pictures my guy took from the day which I've edited here and there. I would do this again many times, there were so many people on the canal, it's very scenic, and for sure makes you feel Canadian. To the right is a map of the Rideau Canal Skateway.


Lord Elgin - Across the street is the Confederation Park which you walk through to get to the canal

Where we entered the canal this is right across from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa

The Laurier overpass on the Rideau Canal



The Queensway overpass on the Rideau Canal

A little hub in the Patterson Creek area - at the 2.2km mark.

One of the best shots - The Fairmont is the castle looking figure in the back :)

Along the canal - huts with Beavertails and hot chocolate - we stopped here.

Me!

 

A very handsome couple :) our photographer was having a nervous time, but he did well.

Aside from the trip to Ottawa and a few social outings here and there :) I was able to join a friend who came in town to visit for a week at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The evening consisted of violins, woodwinds (oboe and bassoons - which are my fav) and piano. The gentleman playing Mozart on the piano was incredible, what a night. I'm looking forward to more musical outings in 2014, Toronto really has so much to offer.

 

 

 

Rewinding and Unwinding - Taking it back to the 15th of August

August has been grand. I have had such a great summer. The weekend prior to the 15th we threw somewhat of a housewarming/backyard party for my brother and my Aunt who were celebrating their birthdays, it was a success, quite a large turnout too. I really enjoyed myself, I believe most everyone did. One thing I forgot to do was snap photo's of everyone, I was running around quite a bit so it was kinda hard. There is always next time.

On the 15th I set off on my trip to the west, I had to be at the airport for 6am (boarding was 6:15), you can only guess what kind of a morning approached. I didn't get to sleep until late (which isn't a huge suprise). I had a leave a key for my friend to get in and feed Storm over the course of the 10 days I was away and I forgot where I placed the key I had made the day before. I purposly left it on a wrist coil and put it out of sight while packing so I didn't accidentally pack it in my suitcase or carry-on. I rechecked all my bags three times, checked the car, checked under the plant pot... no where was this key to be found. So here I was driving to grab a coffee to wake up and head to the airport (time was running short and I had to park 'N fly), so what do I do when I'm in the drivethru to get my coffee? Look up at my rearview and see the damn key hanging from it on the coil. I bolted out of the parking lot, all the way back to my place (2 blocks away) and placed it where I told JK she could find it. Once that was settled I finally made it to park n' fly it was already 6am, I asked the rest of the people waiting for the shuttle how long it would take and they said their flight was at 7am (mine was 6:50) so if I wasn't going to make my flight neither were they, but they were confident we'd have plenty of time. I wouldn't say I had plenty of time, but I did make it and I was some glad.
Also worth noting - when/if you park 'n fly look for deals online, the cost without it is double, I woudl have paid $160 for 10 days where I actually only paid $87.

The flight was 4 hours and some, there is a 3 hour time change flying to Edmonton, so in one sense you feel like you gain some of your day back, but it totally catches up to you at night and when you return home. I couldn't believe how long the flight was, getting out of Ontario was the longest part, and boy is it flat across the praries. Quite a few pretty skylines I captured, but I fell asleep as it was so early. I also had to block out the grumpy couple beside me, it was one of those days where the man can say nothing right and the woman makes him very aware (LOL).

 

So I landed, Jacq picked me up, it was so great to see her! She gave me a tour of Edmonton, we took Will (her hubby) some coffee, picked up groceries for camping, made the salads, packed everything, drank some wine and relaxed. We set out early Friday morning (6:30am 'ish), made it to Banff around 11:30/12 we stopped a few times, couldn't get a campsite at Two Jack Lakeside but got one at the main campground, it was nice, lots of privacy. The weather held nice for the first day, it rained at night. There was a grizzly feeding on a black bear carcass in the sunshine meadows area so we didn't really want to be too close to the water or hike in lots anyway. We fit in the upper and lower canyon of Johnson falls - what a great steep hike for day 1 and beautiful set of water falls. We saw bighorn sheep the first day, some eagles, Lake Minnewanka and Two Jake Lake, also part of Bow Valley river/summit which was beautiful.

setting out

Setting up camp was fun, building a fire was a bit of a challange as the wood was a bit damp, making food was the challange. The campstove Jacq's ex-coworker gave us didn't work properly, so we had to make our ravioli over the campfire, this was after multiple attempts of getting the campstove to work and the fire going out. So after restarting the fire, getting the food hot, you could only imagine how greatful we were to have a warm meal, the fire roaring, and to be able to relax. I'm attaching some of our shots from the day I arrived and from the first day in the mountains, enjoy, the best part was Johnston Falls - super pretty.



Our Campsite



Big Horn Sheep

Bow Valley River

 

Bow Valley River



Large Raven @ Johnston Canyon



Castle Mountain



Upper Falls - Johnston Canyon

Second shot of Upper Johnston Falls

 



Lower Falls - Johnston Canyon

 

Two Jack Lake




Johnston Canyon

Johnston Canyon



Lower Falls - Johnston Canyon




Lake Minnewanka



Cheers to: Birthdays, Family, Vacations, Cottages, Camping, Kayaking, Paddle boarding...Hooorah!

Good afternoon my friends!

Has been quite a while, mostly due to the past few weeks being packed with people and activities (as I write I have to get  my act in gear for making it to Barrie for a famjam and continue to plan some trails for the Rockies :)). I am ecstatic to be so lucky to go west and experience some of what the Rockies have to offer, it's been a dream of mine since I was a child, it's amazing what doors open when you close others and allow the new ones to open. Interestingly enough, last night, I went to dinner with my folks, we went to Mandarin. I'm not a huge fan of buffets, but we had just came back from a week of cottaging, I didn't feel like cooking and cleaning it up, so I said let's go out where we can grab what we like, relax and enjoy ourselves, after we'll go for a nice walk. Well, my fortune cookie said, and I quote, "Doors will be opening for you in many areas of your life." Now I understand that this is quite broad of a fortune, however, it is applicable, there are a lot of things happening and I hope more to come, especially with work, family and friends.


I wanted to update on a few of the gems which have highlighted my past two weeks.
My parents arrived on the 25th of July, which was Warren's birthday, my mother found out she had a pinched nerve in her back upon her arrival as I made a quite appointment for her to see the physiotherapist, so that put a bit of a dent in her visit, however she survived and was able to do some of the things she wanted to. We caught up on True Blood together on Thursday night, then Friday headed to Warrens, they caught-up while I panted the latter ball posts (which I'm excited to play tonight). I should snap a picture. Maybe tonight while I'm there. Friday night we headed to Second City in Toronto, what an amazing show put on there, the last segment was improv, which was my favourite. If you are ever in town, need a laugh, make sure you indulge in this splendid treasure. Prior to the evening beginning there we had a big laugh at Mom, which was mean, but memorable at that. She wanted to know where the washrooms where so when the young man came to our table to take our drink order she had her back to him and she turned her head to the side and said "where are the washrooms?", while asking she turned her head so that it was facing down, which made her look either extremely shy and/or mentally impaired. The young man looked at me (as I was facing him and sitting across from Mom) had an odd look on his face as if to say "Who said that?" and replied. Warren and I almost fell out of our chairs laughing. It reminded me of growing up, all the times that we caught on to things faster than most and were able to laugh. I chuckle to myself thinking about it now (it may be a "you had to be there" moment), but you catch my drift. Around are some of the pics from Toronto. I enjoy bikes, so I snapped a shot of a bike I really liked, the rest were either right outside the theatre or inside before the show. Some are just random Toronto snaps, like the CN Tower, which has a crane used for the condo construction in front of it.
After getting back to Warrens we hit they hay, then woke up, packed up and headed to Lake Cecebe. It took about 1.75 hours from Barrie to get to Magnetawan, we were joined by my Aunt Debbie/Uncle Ed (Mom's sister & Husband), great friends of theirs Lisa & Mark + 3kids and additional cousins. My motto always goes, "the more the merrier" I was happy to see all at the cottage, it is owned by Lisa's family. We pitched tents, ate dinner, then I went kayaking, it rained, however it was refreshing to be out of work, on the lake, without a care in the world. I rejoined them all for a nice corn boil, and campfire by the lake (AHHHHmazing). The next morning started with sunrise, quick breaky, swimming, paddleboarding, catch-ups and gratitude to Lisa for allowing us to be there the week. Her, Mark and the kids were leaving that day, as well as Aunt Debbie and Ed. Aunt Debbie and Ed were coming back Thursday evening along with two of my great aunts, however, we had the cottage for the majority of the week. We were able to take advantage of many of the places the area had to offer such as Burks Falls, Knoepfli falls, Peter Camani's Screaming Statues, lots of paddles, boat tours etc. I'm attaching pictures I really wanted to share, a lot of the screaming statues, a few sawmill cranes, a blue heron and a dear I saw. These are just some from my camera. I have a lot more on my phone as well, but I will do a post on the lovely sunsets and other items later. Enjoy!