March Musings

I don't lead a very exciting life which translates into not having much to write about. Maybe others feel I live an exciting life but the truth is, I live a very hum drum existence.

I looked over March 2010's posts and I could simply copy and paste for 2011. I did the same things last March that I did this March. Hockey tournament in Princeton, 5k run. At least I am consistent.

I beat my time last year for the 5k run, not by much, but all I wanted to do was be faster this year and I was. This year was 34:47 (last year was 35:23).

In case you don't recognize me, I'm the one in the light blue. This was at near the beginning of the race.

This is just before the finish line - looking a little worse for wear. Tim came down for the end of the race and brought his camera. I had no idea he was coming and it was just by chance I was looking in his direction. If I had known he was taking my picture, I would have tried to not have such a pained expression on my face. Boy, do I look old. However, there is nothing I can do about that!

Last night was my last Saturday night hockey in Summerland. We played against the guys (Tim included.) It was girls vs guys, normally we mix the teams up a bit but I think our coach wanted the girls to get more experience playing as a team. I started as a forward (my usual position) but got moved to defense where I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. But you know what, I really enjoyed it. My defense partner was great support and helped me a lot with respect to where I should be on the ice. I hesitated about playing defense in the past because I don't know what I'm doing and wasn't confident in my skating ability to be able to go from forward to backward quickly and be able to skate backwards fast enough. It was a lot of fun last night, even with that big goon pushing me all over the ice. That big goon also got a couple of penalties. I don't think they were real penalties, I just think the coach wanted one less guy on the ice to even things up a bit. There is still hockey in West Kelowna for the next 3 Sundays and I'm in a tournament at the end of the month, but then that's it until fall. I'll have to start working on my off-ice conditioning!

With the time change today I am running a bit behind. I have a lot I want to get done today and an hour less to do it in. However, it isn't like I am going to get everything on my list accomplished anyhow. I have a bunch of books to donate to the library and some clothes and household stuff for big brothers and sisters. I've had the stuff sitting around the house in boxes for a couple of months and I guess Tim is getting a little tired of seeing it.

Oh, and there is a big clearance sale at WalMart in West Kelowna so I am planning on going early to hockey and checking out the bargains. If only I played hockey as well as I shopped!

Second Place

This past weekend my hockey team participated in a hockey tournament in Princeton. We hoped to repeat last year's performance where we won the tournament, but this year it was not to be. We won 3 of our games but lost in the finals.



This picture was just before the final game, which explains why we aren't all sweaty and our hair still looks good. It was a fun weekend - a great group of women, 4 games of hockey and lots of laughs.


The only unfortunate incident was that one of our players ended up being taken to the hospital by ambulance. A couple of the teams we played were made up of younger women (girls really) who play a more physical game. I don't mind being pushed around on the ice, but I do mind if someone sticks their stick between my legs and hauls me down to the ice, or grabs my stick and doesn't let go. I'm probably 15-20 years older than most of the players on the other teams and have a quarter of the skill they have so that kind of play really isn't necessary. I end up on the ice a lot on my own, I don't need help getting there. It was near the end of our final game and my team mate was hit, ended up whacking her head on the ice and was out cold. I was on the ice at the time but didn't see the hit, only her laying there after. It was pretty scary. She definitely has a concussion and I'm sure will have one doozy of a headache and backache for a while.


After 2 games of hockey Saturday and 2 games on Sunday I was tired, but still felt pretty good. I decided I felt good enough to still go to women's drop in hockey in West Kelowna Sunday night. What was I thinking?? There were only 6 women there so playing 3 on 3 was brutal. Well, it was more like 3 on 2 because I was useless! But, it was still fun.

Christmas and Ontario Highlights

(When I first sat down to update the blog, I thought I would have nothing to say. Obviously I had more than I thought and you might want to grab a cup of tea or coffee before you sit down!)

We've been home from our Ontario trip for over a week now and I figured it was time to update the blog. This Christmas was the very first where Lisa did not live close enough to be able to spend the day with us at home so Tim and I decided we would go to her. We took the bus down to Vancouver on Christmas Eve and spent most of Christmas day with her and her boyfriend Frank and then flew out to Ontario Christmas night.

Our bus out of Penticton was late leaving and when we arrived in West Kelowna to change buses, imagine my despair to find out our bus was full and had all ready left. The bus driver dropped us off and said that another bus should be coming by, but to me he didn't sound all that confident. Of course, I spent the next 15 minutes or so until a bus did come by fretting and getting all worked up. An empty bus did come by to pick us up (there was only 7 of us) and we headed off. The weather was extremely foggy and then rain, rain, and more rain all the way into Vancouver. I was very glad we decided to take a bus rather than drive ourselves. We arrived later in the evening and Lisa and Frank picked us up in his big truck. I don't know anything about trucks (except that I had to haul myself up into this one) but Tim seemed quite impressed.

Christmas day was wonderful. It started off with cinnamon buns - good for Lisa for continuing the Christmas cinnamon bun tradition - and I have to say, her cinnamon buns were amazing and beat mine hands down. She even had cream cheese icing! Of course the coffee was excellent. Being a Starbucks employee, my daughter can certainly make a good cup of coffee (and I got a coffee press and a pound of coffee for Christmas!) I also got a pair of absolutely beautiful silver earrings that she had bought at Ten Thousand Villages (a fair trade store).

Lisa and Frank

Frank drives a dump truck and another highlight of my Christmas morning was sitting in his dump truck. He turned it on and boy is that thing loud! Tim not only got to sit in it, he got to dump the load of water that had accumulated in the back from all the rain.

We then all headed downtown to go skating at the outside rink at Robson Square. Lisa has been taking skating lessons and she is becoming quite the good skater. Now we just have to get her some hockey equipment and she will be all set. She lives close to an arena that offers lots of opportunities for beginning women hockey players.

Of course, being the safety conscious individual I am, I have my helmet on.

We then went out for lunch and I was amazed at the number of restaurants that were open. I had the best $2.50 hot dog!

Lisa forgot to take the hamburger out of the fridge for the Christmas dinner meatloaf so we drove around and found this Chinese grocery store that was open. We all went in and I swear, it was just like being back in China - the smells, the crowd of people and all this live fish, crabs, shrimp and other unknown sea creatures (and then there was this box of fish heads...) Tim just thought it was the best thing.

Dinner was excellent and after dinner Lisa and Frank took us to this park where we were able to go for a little bit of a walk before they dropped us off at the airport. It was so nice to spend the day with her and Frank and get to know Frank a bit better.

The red eye flight was uneventful and I was even able to sleep for a bit. It was a little difficult because the arm of the gentleman beside me kept falling onto my leg. We got into Toronto at 7 a.m and Tim's brother Mark and our nieces Jazmine and Jade were there to greet us. They dropped us off at Tim's parent's house and we had most of the day to rest up for the big Boxing Day dinner for the entire family. Again, it was a great dinner. (I'll just say now that all the food was amazing and I definitely ate way too much but boy, was it good.) and "steal the present" was the highlight of the night. I still feel bad about taking the remote control helicopter away from Jade, especially since I didn't end up with it (thanks to a steal by Caine.) I did end up with a set of mixing bowls and a Durham Mental Health Services umbrella and cloth bag. The umbrella must have been the gift of 2010 because by the end of our vacation, I think everyone had one!

We spent until Jan. 2 in Port Perry and it was fun watching the jr. hockey games with the family. What was even better was playing our own hockey. Tim's parents live on Lake Scugog, which was frozen, and a neighbour had cleared away some snow and we were able to get out there with our skates, stick and a ball. We were also able to play some outdoor hockey on a small pond in Whitby close to Mark, Tammy, Jazmine and Jade's house. I would like to thank Jazmine and Jade for getting out there and playing with us - it certainly was a lot of fun and one of the highlights of my vacation.

From left to right: Jazmine, me, Mark and Jade. Just prior to this picture being taken, Mark and I had won the game against Tim, Jade and Jazmine.

New Year's Eve was spent at Mark and Tammy's watching the hockey game and again, having more delicious food. I'm still dreaming about that squash stuffed with risotto and cheese! Jade quite likes Christmas crackers and we all had to pull our crackers and everyone had to wear their crowns. I felt very honoured when Jade gave me a very special crown to wear - much nicer than others.

Notice the squash!

Mark was able to arrange using his LCD projector at work so Tim was able to show everyone our pictures from the Bugaboos, Moab and his trip to Mt. Robson. We then played Taboo and I was very impressed with Tim and Mark's Taboo skills. By the time we finished the game and had a hot tub, it was quite late getting to bed and with our 5 km Resolution Run on January 1, more sleep probably would have been beneficial.

The Resolution Run was a family affair with Mark, Tammy, Jazmine, Jade, Tim and I participating. It was raining and the race took us through a developing subdivision so it was quite muddy in spots. We all did great and the best thing - we all now have matching jackets!

Left to right: Tammy, me, Jazmine, Mark, Tim and Jade.

We spent Jan 2nd until the 5th in Tillsonburg visiting my side of the family. My mom was able to arrange for me to have lunch with her and my Aunt Lyn and Aunt Betty and it was so nice to spend time with them. I have always enjoyed the company of my mom and her two sisters and one of my fondest memories while growing up was taking the train to Toronto with them and shopping for my graduation dress. The food at my mom's was excellent - especially the burritos and the cheesecake and pineapple upside down cake... yummy. We had a good visit with Aunt Betty and Uncle Fred (and thanks for the egg salad sandwiches - especially since I found out my Aunt Betty doesn't even like egg salad and remember - the Christmas decorations are under the bed!) and with my Aunt Lyn and Uncle Al. It was also fun watching the Canada vs US jr. hockey game at my mom's because she spent most of the game with her eyes covered asking us what was happening! (She really didn't want the US to win.) We are hoping to go back to Ontario again in August and I think on that trip I will try and spend a few days at my mom's by myself. It would be nice for just the two of us to spend some time together.

The last couple days were spent watching the gold medal hockey game at Mark and Tammy's (and again eating delicious food) and Tammy had arranged for us to play a lacrosse game with her team. I had played lacrosse once before with Tammy the last time we were in Ontario but this was a coed team so Tim could play as well. Tim and I practiced in the afternoon and to be honest, I was a little concerned about my lack of skill and I didn't think Tim was all that skilled either. He must have just been holding back so I didn't feel so bad because once we were playing the game, he was running all over the place making and receiving passes,and shooting on net. To me, he looked like he had been playing for years. I was pretty proud of myself in that I did scoop the ball off the ground once and successfully pass it to someone on my team. It was fun and I would play again with Tammy if I have the opportunity but I don't think I'll ever become a lacrosse player. Skating is so much easier than running!

Our last night was spent with Tim's parents and his brothers and their wives. It was a fun evening, full of laughs and an excellent way to end the trip. It was quite snowy on the morning we left and the drive to the airport was a little scary. I don't like the 401 at the best of times and when there is poor visibility and snow covered lanes, I like it even less. We made it safely to the airport but our flight was delayed for 90 minutes due to the weather. I was a little worked up that we would miss our connecting flight in Vancouver but it ended up that flight was late as well so everything worked out okay. I seem to get worked up about a lot of things needlessly.

It was good to get home. I think the dog was very happy to see us and the chickens probably didn't even notice we had left! Now life is back to same old, same old - work, hockey, work, more hockey (you get the picture!)

Moab Boot Camp - Final Chapter

Shop Hard

We decided that we would arrange our trip so that we could spend the last half day or so in Missoula, Montana shopping. That did not mean that I didn't do any shopping prior to that. Besides having a favourite restaurant in Moab, I also have a favourite store - Gearheads.

Gearheads is an outdoor store that sells everything you might need (and want) for camping, canoeing and hiking and it was conveniently located right beside our hotel (and it opened at 8 a.m. so I could drop in there on my way to pick up coffee and baked goods, scope out what I want and then go back and purchase it later.) We ended up dropping some serious dollars here. Tim discovered his thermarest had a leak so we needed to get a new one. We ended up getting a thermarest NeoAir Sleeping pad and although it was Tim's thermarest that had the leak, I ended up being the lucky one to use the NeoAir. I think it was the most comfortable I have ever been camping. On the old thermarest, I would have to turn over every hour or so because my hips were sore but on the NeoAir, I woke up in the same position I was in when I went to bed. Besides the thermarest, I purchased some hiking socks, a 2L camelbak resevior, a camelbak drying kit, a head lamp and Tim also picked up a couple of things for the canoe trip.



We got to Missoula in the early afternoon, found a hotel, got some dinner and headed out to do some shopping. We first went to Ross Dress for Less and I was very disappointed in that I couldn't really find anything. I found a pair of jeans and camisole and when I went to try them on, who was coming out of the change room with an armload of clothes. You guessed it, Mr. I Hate Shopping. He spent more at that store than I did (but then again, I only spent $15 and got the jeans and camisole).
Right next to Ross Dress for Less was this REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) store which was like a very small version of Mountain Equipment Coop. Their stuff wasn't cheap but they had some nice things. Let's just say my American Express got a workout here. Across the street was a Target and I was a little disappointed there too. However, I still managed to find a few shirts and socks. We also hit WalMart where I found some PowerAde Zero (and I bought a few cases) and a beautiful sparkly bracelet.














I must say, Tim was extremely patient and didn't make me feel like I had to rush at all (even though I kept him out until 10 p.m.) I think he was a little tired of shopping at the end but I didn't hear one complaint from him. I have to admit, even I was a little tired of shopping but if we had more time, I'm sure I would have gotten my second wind!

Well, that's it. The final chapter of Moab Boot Camp. However, I am hoping it is not the final chapter as I would love to go back there again.

Moab Boot Camp - Chapter 3

Canoe Hard

I wasn't sure about this whole canoeing thing but in my wanting to be a good wife, I agreed to this whim of Tim's to canoe down the Meander Canyon in the Colorado River. I like to be close to civilization and bathrooms (even if they are pit toilets) and I figured this part of the trip would be the most work. But, I will admit that I was wrong. It was very relaxing and a lot more fun than I imagined. However, saying all that, I'm glad it was only for 3 nights.

Our trip started at Potash and ended just north of the confluence and Spanish Bottom, a total distance of around 75 km.

We showed up at Tex's Riverways bright and early on the Friday morning to find we were the only people being shuttled that day, which meant we had the full attention of Kenny, our very informative and humorous driver. We got to the launch site only to find that we were surrounded by huge groups of rafters. Each group must have had at least 4 rafts, radios, tons of gear and I counted 19 cases of beer (and that was just the one group!). Kenny said that it would probably take them all day to get their act together and get on the water so to look for a small beach campsite the first night, one that could not accommodate more than 2 people or else there was a chance we might be sharing.

Kenny went over the maps with Tim and showed us where some good hikes were, where the good campsites were and where we could find some ruins. We also had to rent a washable, reusable toilet system that uses dry chemicals and enzymes to render solid human waste into non hazardous products acceptable for disposal in permitted landfills. Kenny had quite a few toilet jokes as he showed us how to use it. Tex's does not take very kindly to those who harm the ecosystem in the park and if the toilet weighs the same when they pick you up as when they dropped you off, there is a good chance you will be met at the launch site by a park ranger with a ticket book in hand. Notice it is for solid waste only. Liquid waste must be put in the river as there is not enough precipitation to break down any liquid waste in the ground. In simpler terms, we had to pee in the river.Yep, I'll tell you, there are not too many bushes to hide behind on the river. Oh, and guess where the this toilet fit perfectly in the canoe - under my seat. Good job it had a good seal.

We packed up the canoe and away we paddled. The weather was absolutely perfect - not too hot and not a cloud in the sky. Our first side trip was a short hike to a petrified forest where we saw tons of petrified logs that just sparkled in the sun.

Our second stop was to the Concert Hall. It was incredible. It was like walking into a mini Hollywood Bowl made of red rock. It literally took my breath away. I'm not going to post any of the pictures because they do not do it justice. They have a music festival in Moab and they haul a grand piano down the river into the Concert Hall and have actual concerts there. Now that would be something to see.

It was starting to get into the late afternoon so we figured we should find ourselves a campsite. We found a nice little beach (big enough for us but not big enough for any of those rafters!) which had a little rock ledge for cooking.

We set up camp, headed out for a short hike and feasted upon an Indian dinner on our return. The sky was clear and we slept under the stars (first time I have ever done that). It was pretty incredible waking up in the middle of the night and seeing the stars. It cooled off quite a bit during the night and I was cold and in the morning I told Tim I wasn't getting out of the sleeping bag until the sun was shining on me.

Sunrise

Our second day on the river consisted of more paddling and a couple of hikes to see some ruins.





Coffee Pot Rock

A granary

Another granary with a view of the river and canyon.

We found another sandy beach for the night and enjoyed an appetizer of hummus, salsa and crackers and another delicious Indian dinner.






On our last day of paddling, we headed into the Loop. At the beginning of the Loop there is a trail you can access that leads up into one of the saddles. It took us a while to find the trail and it was quite the climb. At the top, we could look down and see the river on both sides of the Loop.

The saddle.

On the trail to the saddle

Views from the top of the saddle

That was the only hike that day and we continued paddling until we got just north of the confluence (where the Green River and Colorado River meet). We found a beautiful sandy beach to spend our last night. It had started to cloud over and the weather forecast has predicted rain so we put up the campfire tent. It was a good job we did because it did rain pretty good during the night.

The next day we packed up all our gear and waited for Tex's jet boat to pick us up.

The ride back to the launch site took about 2 hours and it was cold. From there it was back to Tex's to pick up the truck, unload our stuff from the jet boat and reload it into the truck. We headed back to our hotel to clean up and then out to dinner at my favourite restaurant in Moab, Miguel's Baja Grill, home of the MOAB burrito.

Next (and last!) chapter - Shop Hard.

Moab Boot Camp - Chapter 2

Hike Hard - Part II

It is hard to believe that we have been back from vacation for 2 weeks. I figured I'd better get my Moab posts finished before I forget everything that we did!

The Amasa Back Trail (also known as the Cliffhanger!)

The day after we got back from our canoe trip down the Colorado River, we did the Amasa Back Trail. It is actually a mountain biking trail but in talking with someone who has done it, I figured I would be carrying my bike most of the way and not too much fun in that. Hiking it was challenging enough. We hiked 25 km with an elevation gain of 766 m and I was one very tired girl at the end of the day.

From the guide book - "The Amasa Back Trail is a jeep trail that climbs just over a thousand feet to a mesa top overlooking the Colorado River and the Kane Creek Anticline. The trail surface is mostly Kayenta Sandstone and has many small ledges (less than 1’) and a few bigger ones. Challenging and fun for experienced mountain bikers only a short bike ride from town."

We took a couple of trails that branch off from the Amasa Back (Pothole Arch, Rockstacker and Jackson Loop and made a loop.

Some of the views on the way up the Amasa Back.

There is no way I could ride my bike up that (and that was a very tame section of the trail.)





Jackson Hole

Pothole Arch

I was a little too short to actually climb up Pothole Arch and take a look inside but Tim had no problems getting up. He said it was like sitting in the bottom of a bowl.

From Pothole Arch, we started our trip back down via the Rockstacker and then eventually Jackson Loop.

From a guide book - "Jackson’s is etched into the chalky red-rock cliffs high above the Colorado River. From the top of the Amasa plateau, Jackson’s sweeps off to the right and rolls along the mesa. After a few delicious high-speed downhill corners, the trail bends around a corner and everything closes in as it plummets toward the river bottom. Cliff walls loom to the right, a 100-foot drop hovers to the left and steep, dusty trail lies ahead. At some points the trail is no wider than a handlebar.

After emerging from the tightly wound cliffside stretch of trail, riders are rewarded with a fast, serpentine romp across rolling hills that slide into a broad floodplain. Here the trail is tacky and fast and ideal for opening the throttle and loosening the grip. Blood can finally return to the knuckles."

And it was just as scary hiking it.!

At the very end of the hike you have to cross a small tributary of the Colorado and at certain times of the year, it can be quite dangerous. Before we started, I walked the trail backwards for a ways until I reached the river and could verify that yes, we would have no problems crossing it. Imagine my surprise when we get to that point on our way down and it is not the same spot I had already checked out. This river before us would have been very difficult to cross. There was a pipe crossing it and Tim took a few steps onto it and I knew I would not be able to do it. I figured there had to be another way, there was no way other people had crossed here (I don't know how you would carry your bike across.) I look to my right and I could see a worn path on the rock around this hollow. So we climbed up it, stepped carefully across, hopped up to this little trail and there it was, the path that I had seen that morning. I was a little tense though, there was no way I was going to be able to turn around and hike the whole thing back.

It was a tough day. I didn't have enough water and it was sunny and warm but the thought of the yummy Mexican restaurant kept me going. We had gone there the night before and had Moabs (Mother of all burritos) and they were delicious!

And yes, Tim did get a new hairdo in Moab from Norm the barber.

Arches National Park

We saved Arches for our last day because we had heard from so many people how spectacular it was and they were absolutely right.

There were quite a few hikes in the park so we tried to figure out which ones we would have time for and which ones had the most to see.

We started at the Devils Garden Trailhead and just as we arrived there, so did 3 buses full of high school students from Korea. It felt like being in China all over again with all the crowds!

The first arch we came across was the Landscape Arch. It is considered the longest natural arch in the world. Since 1991, three slabs of sandstone have fallen from the thinnest part of the arch. You can see the pile of rocks on the ground on the right side of the arch.

From Landscape Arch, we continued north up some large steep rocks until we reached a little trail that branched off to Navajo and Partition Arch.

The next arch on the trail was the Double O Arch. I found this part of the trail a little hairy as it was along the top of fins which to me, seemed very narrow. But again, they don't look that narrow in the pictures!

As you can see by my face, I am not enjoying this particular part of the hike. I think once Tim took the picture, I fell to my knees because my legs were shaking so much!

I look a little less scared in this picture. Maybe because there was only a drop off on one side!

Double O Arch

From Double O Arch, it was a short hike to the Dark Angel.

We decided to take the Primitive Trail back Private Arch and the sign says it all. Of course, I didn't realize the sign said it all until we had gone about half way. At the beginning it wasn't too bad so I figured I must be an experienced hiker if they think this is difficult hiking. Boy, did I soon learn how not an experienced hiker I am.

This doesn't look all that bad.

Oh, wait a minute. What's this??? I actually made Tim come and walk beside me on the right so I could put my feet beside his so he could stop me if I slipped.

We had another difficult part. There was a bowl in the rock and the path went through the bottom of the bowl but it was full of water. The options were to go through it or to scale the edges of the bowl around it. We ran into one woman who went through it and she said it was up to her mid-thighs. I wasn't sure about that so I decided I would try to scale the edges. I probably should have gone through it. Tim went across first because he wanted to take a video of me. crossing it The sides were extremely steep and sandy, which made them very slippery. I managed to make it part way and then there was a part where you had to climb over this hump and I lost my footing. I thought for sure I was going down. The cameraman had to abandon his camera and come to my rescue. He grabbed one hand and then a stranger came and grabbed the other and they pulled me up to safety. Of course by now there was a crowd around to view my fall from grace. It wasn't that far of a drop but I would have been very wet if it wasn't for Tim and the kindness of this stranger. Too bad I don't know how to post the video.

From that point on it was fairly easy, some uphill and some sandy sections but not anything that made me feel like my life was in danger!

The next spectacular arch was Delicate Arch. It was a 5 km hike, 2.5 km up and then 2.5 km down. Most of it was on slick rock, some of which was very steep. Going up was no problem, it's the going down that bothers me. At the end of the trail, just before you get to the arch, the trail goes along a rock ledge for about 200 yards. My legs were a little shaky walking that part.

I was all ready tired from the earlier hike so I found this one to be quite the grunt. However, even in my tired (and Tim would probably add miserable) state, we still managed to pass quite a few people on the way up. I felt pretty good about that.




The last few arches we wanted to see were just short hikes, a couple of kilometers or less so we plugged away until we had seen everything we had wanted to see. There was still so much that we didn't have time for so I can foresee a future trip back to Moab.




North and South Window

Double Arch

Balancing Rock

This was our last day in Moab. At the end of the day we left and drove a couple of hours to Price, Utah. We figured just cutting a couple hours off the next day's drive would help. We had to make it to Missoula, Montana in good time the next day because that was the shopping day and I had been looking forward to that the entire trip. Price is just a small town in the middle of nowhere and we figured we would have no problems finding a hotel for the night. Boy were we surprised when that was not the case. There was a lot of highway construction in the area and the hotels were full of construction workers. We eventually got a room but it was a little dicey for a while. We thought we might have to drive a couple more hours to get to Provo and both of us were a little too tired for that.

I also have to mention the burger and fries I had for dinner at Ray's Tavern in Green River. It had to be the best burger I have had in a long time.

Two more chapters left of the Moab saga - Canoe Hard and Shop Hard.

Stay tuned!