The Roadtrip - July 17th - Leg III - Part C

Fast forward through the actual driving part... we saw some beautiful sights and found out why Montana is called "Big Sky Country" I think what makes it look so big, is that you can still see the mountains *and* what seems like the entire sky at the same time!

...and some more cool rocks ;)

This was when we realized, we might never get there...

As beautiful as this is, we were a little distracted... trying to find somewhere to eat. Luckily for you though, Faith wasn't too distracted to take pictures.

The Roadtrip - July 17th - Leg III - Part B

...and three miles beyond the last Random Stop a tiny little cafe in the tiny little town of St. Regis began advertising it's world famous Huckleberry Milkshakes. Soooo we followed the signs all the way to this tiny little cafe...

Us: What would you recommend on the menu?

Waitress girl: Well we have this one guy that came all the way from Texas cause he likes our buffalo burger so much...

Us: Yeah? That sounds good, could we try one of those?

Waitress  girl: Oh, no wait... we're all out.

Us: Ahhhhg! You got us all excited about this legendary buffalo burger and you don't have any? Well, I guess we'll just have a huckleberry milkshake then... :p

Waitress girl: Yeah I don't know why people come from all over for our Huckleberry milkshake...

Us: Dude! Are you kiddin' me?!? You guys have been advertising for like 30 miles, that's all we could think about by the time we finally got here!

One Huckleberry Milkshake...

Then we found this really cool antique store: Cold Creek Antiques and St. Regis Antique Gallery, and spent entirely too much time goofing around in there ;) It was just so awesome, everything was well laid out and relatively organized and there was just so many things to look at, I just couldn't leave!!!

Ball and chain

I thought this table looked super cool, it sure would have been a pain in the butt to make it though... it looks similar to the last steps of building a cedar strip canoe, when you have to fit the pieces into a space.

A table made out of an old wagon wheel.

Faith: He's not that big, I could take 'im!

me: *ahem* Uh Faith, that's just a little black one... Grizzly bears poop bigger than you!  *Heh* So, do you know the difference between black bear droppings and grizzly bear droppings?

Faith: No.

me: Grizzly bear droppings have little bells in them, and smell like pepper spray ;)

Alright... put 'em up!

 Hey! I've used one of these before!! Okay, it might not have been this old, but it looked a *lot* like this ;)

Surveying the merchandise

 *giggles* and these kinda speak for themselves...

Barbie's cool Auntie modelling the original "Camel Toe"

Not sure I want to read this... Yes, I'm judging a book by its title

Regrets: The things you didn't do and wish you had. Like finding somewhere to buy the honeymead wine we saw in the information center's booth display (where we stopped to GMP). But instead we bought Moose Drool beer... I wasn't a fan, we decided that Moose Drool was a good name for it... *blech*

The Roadtrip - July 17th - Leg III - Montana

w00t w00t! Hello Montana!!

 Yes, in case you were wondering I *did* get honked at while I was up there... a couple times ;)

From the Commodore - Day 10

Slept til 6 when my bladder woke me then back to bed to doze a little more.  Dad was up at 8 and finished off his porridge.  I got up at 8:30 and got beaten to the one shower so ate breakfast.  Tricky as the toaster was broken but found a working one.  A lot of the hostels have defective appliances, tonight it was the stove which a German lady warned us about so we didn’t spend hours waiting for it to heat up as she did.  After breakfast a shower and making lunches we headed off at 10.

We were leaving and Dad found a craft mall so went in and bought myself a pair of fleece slippers, merino wool t shirt which feels lovely and looks good, a shell necklace made of abalone and a cream which was supposed to stop the bug bites itching.  Didn’t work too well but helped a bit.  Also, got a DVD postcard for a dollar and hope it has some of the places we’ve been as neither my camera or dad’s is doing the best job of taking photos.  Sam, we need your camera here.

After the craft shop we headed to the conservation centre to find out about the penguins.  Wrong time of year.  Dad lucked out when he saw them 8 years ago.  Then we drove around a while searching for gas.  At $2.25 a litre it’s climbing.  Gassed up and headed North and stopped to take pictures of the Haast River bridge at the estuary end of the river.  Headed up to ? for a walk along the river to see the old giant trees called Dinosaur trees because they were here 100 million years ago.  Then did the dune walk to the lake and saw another piece of disappearing flora.  The whole area (2.6 million hectares) is a Unesco World Heritage Site.  Didn’t see anyone  but heard lots of bird song and a huge buzz of insect noise sounding a bit like crickets.

Sunny and hot.

Drove out to Knight’s Point viewpoint and searched the ocean for sea life but couldn’t spot anyone at 1 pm.  Ate lunch in our car as all the picnic tables full.  Very crowded and busy on this highway.  Drove to a salmon ‘hobby’ farm and had a chocolate milk while dad had cake and a coffee to keep awake.

 We’ve run out of cash.  I tried to flag it when we were near a bank a couple of days ago but dad was sure we had lots.  Now if they won’t take a credit card we’re hooped.  We spent the last of our cash on gas as their machine was down.  He thought I had money but he’d needed it earlier and spent it so we have to see if we can find a bank tomorrow. 

Drove to Fox Glacier and I fell asleep in the car.  Not sleeping well.  Arrived at 4, checked in and I had a nap til 7.  Slept poorly as we’re right above the kitchen and it was noisy.  Still is even though it’s 10 pm.  Good thing I have ear plugs.  Dad made his special hash for dinner, diced chicken, tomato paste, canned corn and rice.  It was okay.  I find the tomato paste a bit too acidy but he insists on putting it in every dish.  Funny as he hates meat sauce which is just beef with tomato sauce. 

Hope to go on a glacier tour tomorrow so I’d best go to sleep

From the Commodore - Day 9

Up early and ate breakfast.  Dad couldn’t eat as we had no way to cook his porridge.  Headed out of town by 8:30 and stopped for coffee and a mince tart for dad’s breakfast.  He convinced me to live a little and try the gluten free almond/orange cake.  It was okay but heavy. 

Left town by 9 to drive to Haast.  Drove to Queenstown and stopped off at Lower Shotover Bridge just outside of town.  Had our picnic lunch there.  Sunny, hot but lovely.  Headed into Queenstown which is on a lovely lake.  Since it’s Sunday here, everybody was at the lake playing football or swimming.  Stopped in the 10 minute parking zone to use the washrooms before heading out.  Stopped in the town centre to get groceries. 

Cruised through a local art gallery.  The paintings are all very sharp with bright colours rather than the washed out pastels of BC.  There were some nice things but outrageously priced so I didn’t get anything.  We drove north but the signage was confusing so we came back to town and the info centre to get directions.  We should have kept going and would have found the signage we needed eventually. 

Passed a puzzle place but didn’t stop as I didn’t want to get in too late.  The NZ’s have created maze farms with optical illusions.  Looked a bit like Science World from the outside.  Drove up into the mountains (Southern Alps) and saw a plane flying into Queenstown which looked so low it felt like we could touch it! 

Stopped at the highest point in the road and found a memorial to two families killed there a few years ago.  Someone planted a tree in memorial and I watered it.  Hope it makes it. 

On the way to Haast we stopped at the Blue Pools, a lovely walk and a bouncy bridge to the clear blue pools in the river.  Quite lovely.  Passed some other nice walks but it was getting late so skipped them.  Stopped to take photos of the Haast River which has huge boulders washed down it.  The rivers here are so different from home.  Because of the soil types they wander all over the place so the bridges are super long because the river keeps changing it’s course over the winter when the rains come. 

Drove to Haast and got in late (around 7) and cooked up last night’s dinner which was a couple of small minute steaks, very tender.  About $40/kg!  Had nuked potatoes and carrots which take a very long time to cook in boiling water.  I keep forgetting that the kitchens in the hostels have a boiling water tap so you can make yourself an instant cup of tea or coffee but I should use the water to kickstart the veg. 

Ate dinner about 8 and later found the washer and dryer but was told they shut down at 8 (the sign said 9:30).  Chatted with a German fellow who works for a car manufacturer making engines and got the name of a bug repellent all natural made here in NZ.  I’m covered with sandfly bites (the Dracula of flies worse than mosquitoes probably on par with blackflies) 

Drove down towards Jackson Point to see if we could see any crested penguins coming ashore (dad saw them here 8 years ago) but no luck.  Did see a herd of red deer which looked like tiny elk.  In the dark it was hard to tell and their shape and markings are the same.  Back to the hostel and played a few hands of rummy with dad and were in bed by 10. 

Slept like a log with weird dreams again.  Must be sleeping in all the different beds.

From the Commodore - Day 8

Awake early and just lay in bed and enjoyed being warm.

Dad in his usual rush (Let’s go, let’s go!) although he swore he wasn’t rushing me until I finally asked him what he’d just said and he replayed the tape in his head and went “Oh, I guess I am rushing you.”

Decided against going to Stewart Island off the south coast even though it sounds good but the ferry alone is $71 each  for a walk on ride similar to crossing Georgia Strait and then there are other fees on top of that (like entry fees and parking fees for the car).  I don’t need to see a kiwi in the wild that badly especially since there’s no guarantees of seeing one.

Drove out to Nugget Point to see the Royal spoonbill colony.  Unfortunately dad left both pairs of binoculars on the boat so couldn’t really see much from the cliff top.  Quite disappointing although the view was spectacular.  Stopped at a river estuary for lunch.  Drove through Owaka and picked up a few groceries.

Went to Purakaunui Falls and made the 10 minute walk up to see them.  Lots of lovely bird calls on the walk and interesting trees, some with metal plaques that were difficult to read.  Headed south along the windy highway and stopped again at Florence Point lookout, this time to see the blowhole cave on a little island just offshore of the point.  Finally left the area around 2 and drove to Invercargill at the centre of the south island.

Construction on the main highway through meant we missed the info centre and didn’t make a hotel reservation.  Stopped at a large grocery and got some gluten free bread and milk.  Headed back on the main street and had trouble finding our way north as there wasn’t any signage and we had no real map of the city even though it’s quite large.  Drove through a couple of small towns which either had no motels or one motel which was full.

Arrived in Lumsden around 6 and your dad was completely stressed out.  Got him to check into the Lumsden hotel for $40 for the night and we put our meat in their fridge.  We’ve got a double room with a shared bath but I’m fine with that as the room is clean.  Ate dinner in their café which was quite tasty and filling.  I had chicken fried rice and your dad had teriyaki chicken.  The hotel is run by a Sri Lankan and an East Indian.  It’s on the main road but since the highway is not well travelled it should be quiet enough.  It’s almost a full moon tonight.

Heading to Haast on the west coast tomorrow and we have a reservation so should be less stressful than today.  It’s almost bedtime so I’ll send this off.  Hope you are all well.

From the Commodore - Day 7

I got breakfast in the room as I didn’t need cooking facilities; bread, orange juice and cereal.  Dad had some bread and peanut butter but it wasn’t enough.  Left by 10 am after dad made a reservation at the Surat Bay Lodge for tonight.

Drove out of Gore and wandered the back roads til we got back to the coast at Fortrose.  Found a small café there and dad had coffee and carrot cake while I had a super delicious gluten free dark chocolate cake with whipped cream.

Soooooooooooo good!

Saw a possum pelt there.  Possums in NZ are extremely furry.  Like a small raccoon without the stripes.

Drove up to Waipapa Point where there was a famous shipwreck, all lives lost, and so they built a lighthouse there.  Down to the beach to look at the fur seals snoozing and fighting.  Pretty wild flowers in the grasses along the beach walk.

Next stop, Slope Point, the furthest point south in NZ where we hiked out to look at the point, some neat kelp flowing in a little inlet beneath the point.  From there drove to Curio Bay and saw a petrified forest on the beach and got a closer look at a yellow eyed penguin hanging out on the beach.  From there we headed up to our lodging at Surat Bay. Stopped at the Florence Cove lookout which has a spectacular view of the south.

The Coast road is extremely windy and slow going.  Got into the hostel about 5:30 only to find three loud young men trying to make dinner.  No room to get in and cook our supper.  We’d picked up a couple of lamb steaks at a tiny convenience store on the way.  Not much in the way of stores in the smaller centers.
Once the youngsters took off to the beach I fried up the lamb steaks which were very delicious.  Nothing like what we get in BC.

After dinner David and I walked up the beach from the hotel.  Got badly chewed up by little flies on the beach which left serious welts the next morning.  Saw sign posts pointing to other shipwrecks along the coast.  Lots of reefs that are unmarked even today so still a dangerous coastline.  Sunny, warm evening although it got quite chilly at night.  The hostel room had an extra comforter and a blanket on the spare bed which dad piled on me so I was toasty warm except when I had to get up at night.

Slept very well but had more weird dreams.  Dreamt I was dancing with Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), no idea what that was about.  Fun, though. 

From the Commodore - Day 6

See above except add in that Dad lost the oatmeal and his room key and we had to pack everything up and load up the car before 9 a.m.

We made it with about 10 minutes to spare.

Took another Canadian with us as the bus fare to the albatross reserve where we went was about $75!  Zipped up to end of peninsula only to find that Centre didn’t open until 10 a.m.  Wandered around, had tea and went to buy tickets only to find we couldn’t get into a tour until noon.

Wandered around some more, I ate lunch and took the noon tour up to the blind to see the Royal Northern Albatrosses sitting on their nests.  Saw one get up and turn around so we got to see the chick underneath and saw another launch into the wind (winds were gusting 55 knots or 85 km. per hour)  These birds have the largest wing spans in the world.

Quite amazing.

After the tour we zipped back to town, dropped the lady off in Dunedin, went to the information bureau to book a room for tonight, found a place to get Dad’s glasses fixed (his new glasses had their nose pad fall off, fortunately I found it in the car and his sunglasses had a screw working it’s way out of the temple.), got me a watch, Dad some cash, got a watch battery that cost more than the watch!, found a candy store called Granny Annie’s and bought some good fudge, found a grocery and got some fruit, snacks, veggies and meat, etc. then drove south to find our hotel room.

Drove through miles and miles of rolling green hills covered with rock lice (local term for sheep) and stopped for gas and directions in Milton. Dad’s credit card rejected again.  It’s happened twice since he got here and the stupid call centre in Toronto is only open during the night here (ie: 2 am to 9 am)

Long drive from Dunedin.  The girl at information said it was 1 ½ hours but it was closer to 2 ½ hours!  Arrived at our motel room wiped out.  Dad disappointed that our room has no microwave or wifi.  I ate the other half of my last night’s dinner then sat at the computer for an hour to compose this narrative of our day.   Fortunately I got dad bread and a ham steak for dinner so it didn’t need cooking.  Have to find another backpacker place to stay as they are cheaper than motels and include a kitchen with stove, microwave and dishes.

That’s about all.

Love and hugs,

Mom

From the Commodore - Day 5

Up early as city parking becomes pay parking at 9 am.  Showered, breakfasted, made lunches, packed cameras and headed out to the Botanic Gardens.  Safely arrived at the top of the hill, parked and wandered through the Native flora down to the Rhododendron grove and arrived at the aviary just as the sun hit the cages and woke the birds up.  Lots of fun.  

Walked down through the Eucalyptus trees through the South African flora (lots of boring bushes) to the Meditaranean garden and out onto a plaza overlooking the city of Dunedin which is very green.  Hoofed back up to the car and drove to the railway station where there’s all day parking for $5.  Parked and visited the Settler’s museum.  Went to car at 1:30 to eat lunch, then to railway station for 2:30 train tour up Taiere Gorge.  Wandered through the art shop upstairs then boarded our train at 2:30 for a 4 hour round trip up to the gold mines of Barwood and back.  Treated ourselves to dinner at The Terrace which has a gluten free menu.

Daniel you would like New Zealand as everyone knows what gluten free means and most stores carry gluten free foods.  Also many restaurants have that option for buns and stuff.  Dad had the blue cod special and I had the grilled chicken stuffed with Brie and wrapped in bacon with roast potatoes and vegetables.  Back to the hostel (yes we stayed in a hostel with loads of wild young people who wondered what’s happened that their hostel has been invaded by moldy old people!) and met a lady from Victoria and had a nice visit. 

To the left to the left... No! Your other left!!!

Drove to Oamaru yesterday on the left side of the road.  What an insane trip that was.  David's brain kept trying to put him on the right side of the road where it figured he should be.

Exhausting for both of us.

We made it safely, about a 4 hour trip from Christchurch, checked into our hotel and then zipped out to the end of Bushy Beach road to see the yellow eyed penguins come ashore to feed their young.  How amazing!

We were just leaving when David caught a movement from the corner of his eye so we stopped to watch a penguin swim to shore and climb up on the beach, waddle toward the hill we were standing on and we heard their youngster hollering for supper.

Very neat.  Just at sunset.

Then on the way back to our hotel we stopped at the local boat basin so dad could look at boats and we found some very artistically sculpted wood planks on the dock.  Dad took lots of photos.  Got to go, we need to check out in 10 minutes.

On to Dunedin on the South Island.  Talk more soon.  Love you lots!

Love and hugs,

Mom

From the Commodore - Day 4

Left hotel in Oamaru by 10 a.m. and drove down coast to Moeraki to see the boulders.  They are huge perfectly round rocks created by layers of material covering a central nucleus similar to the way a pearl is formed.  Walked in the ocean on the sand and found a few neat shells and rocks to bring home as souvenirs.  Their clam shells are weird in that they have a straight edge instead of a rounded one.  Think of a triangle with the top lopped off where the hinge is and the bottom of the triangle rounded where the clam opens up.  Stopped further down the highway at a rest stop for lunch and got a little wet when the waves came up to the log I was sitting on.

Got to Dunedin about 3 and dad went off for information on finding a computer store as he left the computer charger on the boat.  Since my camera and Kobo only charge from the computer I needed the charger more than he did.  Wandered around the centre of town  and looked at woolen clothing made from merino wool and possum fur.  Quite lovely but I didn’t have any money with me so just looked.  Found the information centre on things to see in Dunedin and found an all night convenience store.  After I tracked your dad down in the bar (parking in Dunedin is a complete nightmare!) we went for groceries and then I cooked rice, pork chops and carrots for dinner.  Ate a late supper and visited with a couple of ladies from Victoria of all places, Sue and Trisha.  Bed late even though we were both very tired.  My right hip was bugging me after the beach walks but once I settled I slept like a log and didn’t have to get up once during the night.  Very nice to sleep through the night!

First musings from the Commodore

Well, we're off to Christchurch in an hour or so.  I'm finding it difficult not having a working watch.  Hopefully I'll find one somewhere soon.

I sent dad for toast as he didn't get breakfast before we left the hotel ($17 seemed a bit much for scrambled eggs and toast).  We'll rent a car and tour around from there.

Not as warm as I thought it would be but it's good.  I have enough clothes for any type of weather.  Had a nice long walk around the neighbourhood last night. 

Love and hugs,

Mom

And the Commodore... Is back!

I collected Mom at the airport and put her to bed finally.  All is fine, weather nice.  She's still talking at me so I guess all is OK,  seems happy.  Only casulty of her trip is a broken watch.

Sharing the load

Sometimes you don't realize how hard you've been pushing against that wall until you turn sideways and just walk around it.  Which in hindsight seems ridiculously easier with the muscles you developed while pushing against it.

You don't realize how deep the footprints you're leaving behind you are as you trudge forward, one step at a time, until like dropping that pack at then end of a long trail you feel like you could fly... like the only thing holding you to this Earth is a tenuous strand of gravity, and that at any moment and you could be carried away up into the heavens like a helium balloon.

*deep breath* it's that feeling of not realizing how dangerous something was until you're through it, until you look back go "Holy crap" feel like you're going to barf... and think to yourself "Phew it worked out, mayyyyybe let's not do that again..."

Sooo what do we do when we're stressed? We talk, we share the load... as if in talking about it that load becomes familiar, and with understanding it become less scary and the previously impossible can be broken down into chunks that become manageable.

Then what do we do after we've conquered the impossible? That thing we weren't sure we could do in the first place? We talk about it, with those who helped us understand it. Thanking them for their support, and words of encouragement by pulling them up with us to our height by making it our shared success.

One person alone can be strong, but together we can accomplish so much more!  Share your loads, and successes in the end we all benefit, be it through a learned mistake or by making it okay to shine.

From the Captain down under... and in NZ again!

It goes.  

 

The major snags is the stuff lost by the yard - my electrical spares box and the white battery box that had bolts etc. for the engine re-assembly.  It's peak season here and getting the attention of the mechanics has been an issue.  

 

A key ring adapter for the transmission was 'lost'.  Turned up at the machinist's shop, been sitting there for 15 months - mechs forgot and didn't pass on what was to happen.  Got it back, refitted, found the problem (sloppy fit), back to the mech, the machinist and now a fix is in the pipeline - fix being make up a new part that fits. Takes time, everyone is busy.  

 

So, the boat goes on out to the mooring without the engine but they say they'll have it running when I get back from Mom.  Meanwhile, I've got the fuel and water systems back together - major exercise.  The insides are going back in, still have to make up new compartment dividers but that isn't a huge job.  

 

Into the lazarette to deal with the mass of ropes - going to make a couple of bins at the forward end for an anchor line each feeding through a hawse pipe into the cockpit, then a decent sized chain and rope locker in the forepeak (once I can get in there when the center storage area is rebuilt) - so another week at least of work.

Adventure cups ho!

What do you get when you mix four women, Adventure Cups and a bladder infuction?

Who's ready for an adventure?

 Well lets just say My Kim had to pee about fifteen minutes out of Sicamous - the half way to Revelstoke point... I knew it was bad when five minutes later she'd stopped talking, and then as we passed Mara lake she said "Nope, really, you're gonna have to pull over... I gotta go!"

I slowed down as we neared the pull off, it was dark and I was having trouble seeing where the exit for the rest stop was. Technically you aren't supposed to enter from this direction, but I wasn't about to argue with a bladder infuction.

Annnnd there was no exit, apparently it hadn't been plowed... still, if they haven't plowed out the rest stop, they might have plowed a pull out? I'm pretty sure by this point My Kim couldn't actually see anything because her eyeballs were floating...

So we get to where the entrance should be, and there's a snowbank... "Oh perfect" I think to myself, they must have plowed a pull-out! I make the turn, ahead of oncoming traffic (two cars - which are still a safe distance off) and about half way across the road I realize that we are driving directly into a foot of unplowed snow... I gun the gas, just to make sure we actually make it *off* the road... and *kkkghghghghghg* we come to a full and complete stop perfectly perpendicular to the highway.

Well that was interesting! I look over to My Kim, into an empty seat and an open door... as she bounded like a gazelled through the headlights and three foot drifts to pee. I dive out and check that "safety first" our back end is clear of the highway (which it is *buffs nails*) ... Meanwhile all I can hear is her giggling interspersed with oooh's! of exclamation...

In the time it takes her to freeze her coochie, I've grabbed the shovel out of the trunk and shoveled up one side of the Fit, dug out the front and around the tires, and back down the other side...

Just as we're about to get organized a really nice sledder pulls over to offer his assistance to four damsels in distress. He was quite crestfallen to find that not only did we have a shovel, but that we had already used it... and the only thing that cheered him up, was when we thanked him for pulling over and told him he could tell everyone he saved the day anyways ;)

Then, just as we're returning to the car, another truck is pulling over... and it had a policeman in it! I didn't even know cops worked out here near the lake!?! I mean seriously, in all our time driving back and forth to Revelstoke My Kim and I have *never* seen a cop in this stretch of road... What are the chances? *shakes head*

He rolls down his window...

Officer Hotty McHotterson: "Do you ladies need some help?"

... You know what they say about a man in uniform, it's totally true ;) I think he was a little surprised though, when we assured him that we had it all under control and didn't need any help but...

My Kim: "Could you turn your lights on so people slow down?"

Officer Hotty McHotterson:  "Oh, uh, sure" *flick*

**PARTY LIGHTS**

 Officer Hotty McHotterson: *regaining composure* "So how did you get over here?"

me: "We drove"

Moment of Personal Reflection: Thiiiiis might have something to do with why they don't let me talk to customers... it occurred to me after, that he probably thought we'd spun out or something... Meh! *shrugs*

We all jumped back into the Fit to see if we needed a push... a quick tire spin, and My Kim and Chelsea dove out and lined up on the front hood like seasoned pros.

In the time it took Officer Hotty McHotterson to get out of his truck while trying to decide if he needed to take his jacket off, we'd unstuck the Fit, and managed not to swing the front end around and run him over :p *phew* that would have been a little awkward to explain...

And with that the girls piled back in, and with a wave and a chorus of thank-yous we carried on our merry way and declared it the BEST START TO KIM'S BIRTHDAY EVAAAAAR!!!

So pretty

My solar panels need recharging, where are my shorts?!?

I just caught myself driving with the window rolled down because it's the first sunny day we've had in months... okay slight exaggeration, but that's certainly what it *feels* like.

I only noticed because my hands were getting a little chilly... It's 2°Cout, but it feels so amazingly wonderful! (46°F)

And the winner of the cutest Granny evarrrrrrr!!

See! Look how cute she is *beaming*

My  Granny is amazing. She is 98 and a half and broke her hip just a couple of weeks ago, tripping over a pillow while making her bed. Hey Mom I found a good reason not to make my bed! She's up and walking on it already, seemingly faster than she was before she broke it, which is a great sign!

"All they do is come in and stick me with needles" she said. but she passed it off with a *tough cowboy sniff* "It doesn't bother me any though."

Less than a week into rehab she's done with the place and ready to go home. Patience is not one of her virtues, and I'm pretty sure that's why it isn't one of mine either. She basically summed up the rehab exercises with... "They're so simple, all you have to do is move your leg back and forth. I can do all that." and I'm not exactly sure who Granny was referring to, but it made me laugh out loud when she muttered "There are so many dumb people"


During our she told us so many stories some we had heard, and some we were just hearing for the first time. It is absolutely incredible the things that she has experienced in her time here...

Stories of the first radio, Granny highland dancing to a program and her brother coming home and turning it off. Their first company phone in their home... their phone number was 771-J, and her best friend Muriel was 771-W. It was so cute when I asked how they put the letters in, she looked really confused for a second, until I remembered that things used to go through a central switchboard operator and her puzzled look just melted away into a solid confident yep, that's how we used to do it.

Granny has always told me to make good memories in my life, and to save them up for when I get old. But nothing drove that sentiment home as when she said "I see a lot of faces here that don't look like they have good memories.... I have a lifetime of good memories" It always makes me smile to hear her say that ;)

The thing that touched me the most though, talking about all the things she remembered, was when she said "Your Mom and Dad getting married..." and gazing internally into her memories, as her voice trailed off she whispered "I remember all of that"

Baked apple win

Ahhhh the not so magic step is that you gotta bake the apples while *covered* with tinfoil!

Love...

Love is a hand made cup of coffee ;)

Thanks Dan for you creative coffee making skills, in the absence of a coffee maker.

<3 you!

What are you going to do with all of your picks?

Make them into rearrangeable useable art!

Just Pick something and Punch it!

Such a cool idea and a great way to stop using your credit card after Christmas too!

It has totally changed the way Ilook at all my cards now too.... for their potential guitar pick designs :p

Thanks Shazam!!! I love it :)

I'll rise, but I refuse to shine...

Nothing like starting your morning running around the building to do a minor network configuration change... it's kinda like a poke in the eye with a stick to get'cha going ;)

Give options a and b I'll take option c, the frozen boot please.

The Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!

Such a cool re-use for old burnt out light bulbs! I absolutely love how these turned out :)

How did you get so good at that?!?

Some people are just 'born-naturals'... they make something look relatively easy and graceful the first time they do it...

The rest of us were just too stubborn to quit.

We kept picking (haha pun intended ;) away at it slowly but surely... here and there learning little things that worked for us.

I fall into the second category for attempting to learn how to play guitar. I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to practicing, nor do I know exactly what it is I need to practice. But it feels like every few months or so I have an "Ah-HA!" moment where something clicks, and my playing becomes a little bit smoother, or a little clearer... or ACTUALLY STARTS TO SOUND LIKE THE SONG I'M TRYING TO LEARN!!!

*grins* that's all for now ;)

If only he had legs...

He could run away from those darn crackers!

Mmmmm cheeseball, this is a creative festive take on an old secret family recipe (not my family, but one that adopted me) :)

I spy with my leeetle eye...

The silhouette of... I think it's an owl!

I was out walking with a friend of mine near dusk, when I spotted this little guy camped out and presumably waiting for dinner to run by.

It was soooo cool!!! We just stood there checking him out and he didn't go anywhere. I think he was probably so cute, because he was just a little bit bigger than the length of my hand... you know, that whole eyeball to head ratio.

Anyways we looked him up in the bird book, and I think he's a Boreal Owl :) Anybody have any other ideas?

What inside a snow globe might be like

I just about needed a jackhammer to get into my car this morning. It actually took some serious effort to get my windows scraped off, only to find that I had frost on the inside as well...

Oh goody...

Note to self: Turn off the air when scraping on the inside, or it will snow all over you.

The laws of light have been bent a little...

I was flipping through some pictures I took and haven't sorted through yet (yes including the roadtrip ones) and I found this one that I took at the beginning of October... I have no idea what caused the sky to look like this, but I thought it was pretty awesome!

Pass on the torch

I want to tell you about the coolest thing that just happened. For the second time in recent memory I talked to someone who said they had been inspired by my spontaneity.  How cool is that?!?

"You were actually my inspiration for this trip - we got a tip about a smokin' deal from a friend who invited us to come and  we just went for it. I thought about you and your St Louis trip, and thought Carpe Diem!"

I *thumbs chest* inspired two different individuals to let go... and do something just because they *wanted* to. When was the last time you did something totally crazy? Not because it needed to be done, or because you should do it... but just did it because it makes you happy?

*smiles*

It reminded me of a quote that I read the other day, by Marianne Williamson, although often misquoted as Nelson Mandella

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I am still in awe, that the effect of choices and decisions in my life have rippled so far and impacted others.

I want to burn so hot and so bright that I light everyone around me on fire, and they find their consuming passion and burn burn burn all the way through their lives.

The Roadtrip - July 17th - Leg III - Part A

 Random Stop

The Fit... posing with Faith

Apparently this (point of interest?) was dedicated to some train that went off the tracks, and dropped a passenger car 80' into a huge snowbank... don't worry though, nobody died. I guess it was *the* incident that prompted them to find a better way through the pass though.

So we followed the little trail that went between the signs thinking it maybe went to somewhere you could see the tracks or the steep grade of the tracks... but instead just kind of ended, and that's where Faith got her first bug bite.

... and then we got distracted...

Ooooh look at this big rock!

...and found this trail that went to this cool little creek that ended up being perfect for dipping our hot little piggy toes in!

It could've been worse...

Recently Awhile ago, a friend said to me after we returned from the lake without any fishies... "You guys must be the worst fishermen in Canada"... Well this is the tale about how we caught something... and still came home empty handed! ;)

My buddy had been bragging about all the fishies they'd caught on Swan the day before, and that they were just *nailing* them with the purple docks... a half an hour later I was skeptical, and had no sooner finished voicing my skepticism when *BAM* he gets a fish!

I kid you not, it happens like this all the time with us.

He reels it in, and it's probably a 2 lb'er... not huge by any standard, but still a fish.  He looked at it, then offered it to me for dinner, finally he gets it off the hook and leaving it in the net I put it back in the water to rinse off all the slimy bits.  The poor fish lies in the water upside down, noooot lookin' so good.

So I get him back in the boat, and I'm trying to find something to bean him with... when Eddie picks him up and says "Man I hate doing this..." and goes to smack him on the side of the boat...

Time slowed down, and I watched... powerless to change the course of my dinner as it slides out of his hands, taps the side of the boat... and *sploosh* the fish that 10 seconds before looked dead, does a quick *flip* *flip* with his entire body and tail... and is gone.


We looked at each other for a shocked second of silence and then *roared* laughing! I mean really, what else are you gonna do?!?

Just think though, somewhere tonight there's a fishy swimming around with a headache and no recollection of what happened, wondering what kind of bender he was on ;)

But really, I can't complain too much... you know what they say about a bad day fishing? Well, even if you don't... just look at this sunset...

The eincy weincy spider... that interupted my motivation

So I was cleaning out my closet the other day, because I had been thinking for awhile that there were things I hadn't used in it in probably over a year... and truth be told, I haven't seen my portable bike tire pump in awhile *sheepish look*

Stuff was coming out of that little closet at an amazing rate... and promptly expanding to fill my living room.  I was doing great! I got all the way to the very bottom of the closet, pulled out the last thing on the floor, when out struts Mr. Shinybutt looking like he's out for a Sunday stroll, dressed in his weekend best...

I jumped up, and ran and grabbed my blue plastic spider catching cup... and *plop* just like that, limited his strolling area.

Then I began to wonder what kind of spider he was... was he a black widow? I mean he was pretty shiny with a super big butt...  I dashed into the kitchen and took down the oldest of creepy-crawly catcher and observation chambers...

The Mason jar.

I lifted up the cup, to find that Mr. Shinybutt had gone from Sunday stroll to angry monster-truck rally smash-to-pass... and he was coming for me!!! EEEeeep!!! I *clunked* the Mason jar down, and took a breath while he did a great Nascar impression around the inside rim of the jar...

Then I carefully slid a piece of thick paper underneath and flipped both it and the jar over... Now *usually* when you do this particular maneuver, the spider falls to the bottom of the jar... but nooooo not Mr. Shinybutt *he* continued to do his breakneck speed loser laps upside-down!!!

Now I knew that he couldn't bite through the paper, but just thinking about that gave me the heebie-jeebies... I mean, all that was between my finger and his fangs was a single. piece. of. paper.

I fixed that little problem though...

I then spent the rest of the evening lying on the floor with a flashlight, tapping the paper and the jar trying to see the underside of Mr. Shinybutt to no avail...

Needless to say, that was the end of me accomplishing anything productive for the rest of the evening :p

Slowly. Going. Crazy. Am. I.

I recently had an unfortunate encounter with a website, actually it was with the phone system... but it started with the website. As far as I'm concerned, this should be valid grounds for taking the person responsible out back and beating them to death with a wet noodle, or possibly a dry sock... the sock would take longer.

1) First I read through most of the website
2) Enough of it to get thoroughly confused and admit that I was lost
3) I then admitted defeat, and located the contact phone number... being careful to select the "General Information" line rather than the "Emergency" I also wrote down the office hours.
4) I then woke up early to call during said office hours... Painstakingly listening carefully and following the prompts that best suited my particular situation... only to end up with an automated message that said "for more information, please go to http://..."

I understand where the rage of a thousand suns is born

My first question, is why bother listing a phone number... and secondly why the #$%^! did you bother posting office hours if the entire @$&*% thing is automated?!?!?!

Seriously.

A good day to ride

It was hard to believe it was the first day of December, and that I was up and ready to go relatively early... the weather was perfect, it felt like an early spring day.  Cool, but no frost... with the sun shining through gently warming everything.

I could feel the stiffness of unused muscles shaking the dust off, the wind on my face... and that feeling of being completely and absolutely free. I put on a burst of speed with reckless abandon, tearing down the street like a kid seeing how fast they can go down the hill without even considering how tired they're going to be after... or how they're going to stop.

It felt amazing.

With my wisdom of the ages I avoided the loose gravel, and started to slow down long before I hit stop signs and sharp corners... but I *did* hit every puddle I found *grins*

Absolutely nothing of note, or story-worthy happened... it was just a good day to ride :)

The moment when you realize... it might be too secure

Who's awesome?!?! Oh that's right...

I am!!!

Guess who found an *old* copy of the full Oracle 10g client install files, which are no longer available on the Oracle site... for love nor money?

Yep, that's right *buffs fingernails* I did!

Man I love the internets... and Google, and I thank whatever Gods may be for long-forgotten ftp folders with the files I need sitting in them, just waiting for someone to find them *grins*

If you're nerdy, then on the Internet you're not 404

We are doing a huge server upgrade this weekend which will affect access to our Secure Customer Portal. We dutifully informed our Customer Service team it would be offline, and in order to inform their customers they issued a memo to all of the Reps. By some strange coincidence it was Rep Memo #404.

Everyone in IT got the joke, but the humor of it all was lost on them completely...

Playing within the laws of physics

Isn't it interesting that the self-brewing cup of coffee that I couldn't get a single drop more out of this morning due to air lock, managed to leak all over the inside of my purse this afternoon?

I thought so too...

I'm a very lucky girl :)

No hurricane warning, no earthquakes, no tsunamis and last I checked chance of tornado... is slim to none.

*deep breath*

Kind of makes everything else in my life pale in comparison...

Boys and girls...

So it occurred to me recently, that one of the differences between lunch out with "the guys" and lunch out with my girlfriends... is that when something like *this* won-ton malfunction happens:

Girlfriends will hand you their own napkin provided it's still relatively clean, and/or any other napkin within reach... while another one waves down the waitress and has her bring a cloth...

Guys? Well if you're lucky, they wont point and laugh... and you might get a helpful between-mouthful "there's a stack of napkins over there" *nod-point*

I guess that's one way to tell you fit in ;)

Should've used the chop sticks...

There's a reason you shouldn't try to cut won-tons in half with a spoon, and now I know what it is...

But my cover story, *pauses listening* is that I have an inner ear infection and its messing with my balance and my aim ;)

Wait what?!?

Another spin around the sun...

I had the best birthday evaaaar!!! yesterday. So many people sent me birthday wishes, I feel so loved :)

and I walked in the door to no Internet, except there was internet on the bypass machine... so that meant the Internet coming into the building was okay :p

But for reals, I love problem solving even when it's a system I don't fully know... because it means you have to trust your instincts. You have to extrapolate the basics that you *do* know.

... you have to think.

I would just like to say, that I have the most wonderful friends in the entire world. I can't even begin to tell you how happy it made me to receive flowers at work on my birthday *grins* ... and yes some of it is that it had the rumor mill working overtime ;)

The best part though, is that I'm still grinning from ear to ear this morning... and I am so not a morning person ;)

Falling into winter

Love the reds and other brilliant colours of fall, because it's like the spectacular grand finale before settling in for a long quiet hibernation slumber...

Sabotaged!

So much for eating healthier, someone just dropped these off because "they're too salty" but sooooooo good :p

Looks pretty good...

As long as you don't ask how close we're shooting from ;)

Okay so the big holes are the Marlin 30-30 and the little holes are the .22

So much for having a University degree

Maybe it's because I've never worked in a grocery store... or any kind of retail for that matter... or maybe it's because I ignore as much as I can when I'm shopping in big box stores...

I find the amount of advertising overwhelms my senses making me numb to everything, and that the most painless way to get through it all has been to narrow the amount of sensory input I process down to colours, aisle signs and my shopping list.

To the outside world I probably look like a zombie, it helps me blend in ;)

But today in self checkout I must have looked like an intelligent zombie because the guy overseeing checkouts taught me that I can just enter the number on the sticker rather than look up vegetable (even though it's technically a fruit) ... not organic, sure maybe mixed vegetables... um I think it looks most like *this* tomato!

So *that's* what that sticker's for! Huh who knew? This definitely falls into the category of stuff they just don't teach anywhere ;)

Jarvis, engage autopilot

Aaaaand this is why you shouldn't text while flying, there was a zig to this zag behind us but I couldn't fit it all in the picture :p

I'll never make it as an old person...

I usually sleep through the night, or I sleepwalk to the washroom... I'm not really sure which, but in any case last night I woke up at least three times. Waking up in the middle of the night, soooo doesn't work for me getting a good [night's|nights]? sleep...

*plonk*

My brain struggles reconcile the sound of something falling into the middle of a pond, with the fact that it knows I'm waking up in my two bedroom basement suite.

The final tug into the waking world comes from the semi-coherent thought that only thing that could possibly make any sense at all, is that I may knocked over my water bottle...

Groggily I roll over and realize it was my phone that I knocked off the bed... *squints* That means my alarm went off at least once (because I don't actually sleep with my phone)...

I scoop it up and poke it into wakefulness, peering at it with one eye still squeezed shut, making no attempt to hide the protest against the glow bathing my face.

Simultaneously an alarm goes off in my head as a medical dosage of adrenalin is shot into my bloodstream while the numbers 7:26 burn themselves into my grey matter.

At the very latest I should have left for work one minute ago...

*curses*

I'm not particularly proud to say that I did the fireman this morning... except that not only did I get up, dressed and out the door in five minutes, I also remembered to put on deodorant.

You're welcome.

SssssssUPER SAM!!!

Shhhh it's supposed to be a secret, but I think I just did something amazing and I'm pretty sure it's because I'm wearing a lucky shirt ;)

Winter is coming...

Nothing wakes you up from the lazy slumber of summer quite like a frosty poke in the eye.

Apparently the first of October was the proverbial changing of the guards, and it's winter now.