Langley to Prince George - Another Wonderful Winter Drive!

A step back on Memory Lane ... trip before last to Prince George in the Big White Truck. Here we leave the Lower Mainland on a nice dry bright afternoon.

There is a definite aroma of pre-spring farming in the air, but the mountains still whisper Winter.

The outskirts of Yale. I have come to the conclusion that the Zombie Apocalypse is going to start here. You know, when you don't have any proof, just a gut feeling? Barry's sells every one's needs - liquor, lotto, and junk food - but they also sell everything else you would ever need, from paintings and these pictures that sort of change view as you pass by, to gold pans and playing cards.

They do have pretty mountains, though. On all sides. You would never see a Facebook update on my location here - it's yet another place I have no Fido service. In fact, my phone is basically a camera only all the way through the Fraser Canyon, as well as most of the way to Prince George.

I guess we left Spring behind as we travel into Winter once again.

See that guy on the right doing an Elvis impersonation? It actually is a figure of Elvis doing an Elvis impersonation. This is Elvis Rocks The Canyon Cafe, and some day I'll drop in. Maybe they sell his favourite sandwich, which was Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon.

At least there was no snow in the tunnels.

It was pretty much dark when we stopped at Williams Lake for a break.

After dropping the trailer at the trailer drop-off spot, Neil picked up and empty one, and we headed to several Save-on-Food store to pick up their dunnage. (In case you don't know what dunnage is, it's empty packing materials - stuff they are 'dun with.' Hence dunnage. I would think.) Then we headed to the Husky for a few hours sleep.

The next morning was bright and sunny as we headed to the restaurant for breakfast. Snow was scrunchy underneath our boots and we were a bit shivery.

But we did have a nice day for driving!

 

This area is known for very short fences, at least in the winter.

A lot of people lead solitary lives, I believe. I'm not sure how I'd feel about living in such an isolated place. It would be strange to go out on the back deck and not smell the spices of East Indian cooking from our neighbours, that's for sure. (I wonder do they ever sniff at the smell of the Jigg's Dinner and wonder what the heck we're cooking?)

See the little pieces of houses on the other side of the river?

Even through a scummy window, the scenery is awesome. No matter where you look.

Stopping at a rest stop near Lytton, last stop before dusk -

Neil says every time he travels he drives through different vistas - scenes change not only from season to season, but from day to day. I am so grateful I get to share this with him every now and then!

Another Trip - Full Moon, Fog, Solomon Grundy and Misleading Highway Signs ...

January is half over, and so far I've kept my New Year's Resolution to have Fun. Now I haven't had Fun every day - in fact, some days were the absolute opposite of Fun - but .... That's Life ... right?

I'm still proud and bragging regarding my dip in the ocean on New Year's Day - even though everybody else in the world chopped a hole through 13 feet of ice in order to swim with the real polar bears, in blizzard conditions with temperatures of below 100 degrees Celsius. That's okay. Next year come where 'I'm at' and do a Pamela Anderson slo-mo prance into the mild waters of the Pacific Ocean with me. 
 
I am now recuperating from a second trip to Prince George with Neil, where we left Thursday afternoon and got back home about 2:30 am this (Saturday) morning. 

We left Chilliwack with a Full Moon watching over us - and that brought up the children's nursery rhyme/prayer/song  I See The Moon . Even though Neil didn't remember it, after hearing it on You Tube it became an un-welcomed tune that stuck in his head. His remedy was to play music by Crash Test Dummies - not one of my top ten favourites, but much better than rap or CBC radio's offering of chamber music. I won't even pretend to like that stuff. 

So here comes Crash Test Dummies, singing about Superman, and a strange statement about saving the world from ... who? Solomon Grundy? At least that's what my ears heard. I never knew Solomon Grundy personally, but I've read his biography many times to my students, and I was stumped wondering how on earth he found the time to get involved in the kind of actions that would cause anyone, let alone Superman, to save the world from him.

Solomon Grundy,

Born on a Monday,

Christened on Tuesday,

Married on Wednesday,

Took ill on Thursday,

Grew worse on Friday,

Died on Saturday,

Buried on Sunday.

That was the end,

Of Solomon Grundy

See? 

However, a few minutes ago, while searching for this little poetic gem, I learned something new from Wikipedia -

Solomon Grundy is a reanimated corpse stemming from a cursed place near Gotham City called Slaughter Swamp. He has had many appearances in which he had different levels of strength and intelligence, once surpassing even Superman in power level.

Which proves that even people who think they know absolutely everything ... don't.  And this text shows that I know absolutely nothing about formatting either. I am humbled.

However, I am happy to say we ended up with Willie Nelson, George Jones, and Alan Jackson, to name a few of our companions on the way up the Fraser Canyon . This is where we ran into Fog. With a capital F. I can think of other F words that could be used to describe the heavy cloud cover that we drove through, but my grandchildren may read this blog someday, so I won't. But for you folk 'back home', who think you know fog ... you don't know fog. Neil drove the whole Canyon by way of his GPS. Because visibility was one tiny degree above zero. 

 

Unfortunately stress doesn't help weight loss.

 

I do have a problem with the BC highways, though. On the way home, we felt strong winds trying to push the truck off the road, and sure enough - there were signs warning us of Strong Crosswinds. The winds were so strong they were blowing the signs like windmills around their posts. And that's fine. But of all the trips I've been on, we've passed so many signs warning us of Elk - next 8km, or Moose - next 10km, or prancing Deer, or Mountain Sheep -  and even Badgers ... but have I ever seen any? (Well, yes, I have seen Deer.) But nothing else. As far as I'm concerned it's false advertising, and I'm thinking about suing the Highway Department for such. 

 

However, it was a good trip, despite such treacherous conditions and lack of wildlife. Maybe all these animals were just standing on the side of the road as we zipped along the canyon blindly - we would never have seen them in the fog anyway.

 

Well, back to work tomorrow, for another 3 days. Bah humbug.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the Fun Continues ....

So far this year I've done well with my resolution to HAVE FUN. On Day 1, we went to White Rock to the Polar Bear Swim - and I got right in there and got everything wet except my hat. Don't know how I managed that. I never got my bathing suit wet either, because I wasn't wearing one. After the swim, we snacked on the best fish and chips ever in the comfort of a warm ... hot ... car on the way home.

Day two started with me packing everything but the kitchen sink for a Prince George trip with Neil. It was a good way to help reduce the amount of Christmas chocolate, candy, cookies, and ham that was constantly calling my name. Well, not the ham so much. 

I spent quite a few minutes searching for my camera, calling both Steve and Howard to see if they had tucked it away somewhere, plus looking for double AAs (or do we call them double As?) for said camera. Finally found it - in the bottom of a grocery bag full of wet towels and wet clothes. Amazingly, it still worked.

Neil picked me up at noon, and we bob-tailed it to Langley to pick up a container, then got as far as Abbotsford, to the Ryder garage to get runner lights fixed. We had to wait for a train to pass before we could continue .... those trains are sooooo long. The actual wait was just a little bit more exciting than looking at the picture below.

The rain was pouring from the heavens, and the mechanic had trouble finding the trouble. If he had listened to the Driver, it would only have taken him a few minutes to replace a fuse. But since he was the Mechanic who spent years in school and apprenticeship, he had to try everything else first, plus get a co-worker out in the pouring rain as well, before one of them finally decided to .... replace a fuse. So then it was us on our way, finally.

This was about the time Nikkie texted me, U forgot the camera.  I replied, After all that fuss. Oh well, at least I remembered the batteries.

But that's not the reason I didn't take a lot of pictures. We were only on the road for a few hours in daylight, and these were filled with pouring rain, and then it got really really dark. As in pitch black. Not a good time for picture taking, but great for chatting. I mentioned to Neil that a guy from Richmond had an ad on Craigslis looking for a home for a pot-belly pig, thinking he might have been interested in a new pet. He was interested, all right.

'Can you eat pot-belly pigs?'

Change of subject.

We ran into a couple of snow storms on the way, but most of the road was good. We made it to Prince George, did the two drops offs, and were in our bunks shortly after 2 in the morning. Yawn.

At ten the next morning - Day 3 -we headed over to the Husky restaurant for breakfast. Well, Neil headed there directly - I was so busy watching where I put my boots on this icy slippery parking lot that I went straight instead of turning a 90 degree angle and ended up at a different building. Neil was just coming back to see where I had gotten to when I showed up.

As you can see, it was a beautiful, blue skied sunny morning, and we got on the road about noon, heading for home.

 And here are some photos - winter roads -

 - winter trees -

 - winter skies -

 - glistening winter trees -

 - and a beautiful winter sunset.

And now - it's Day 4, and it's almost over. I did laundry, walked to Surrey Central with Nikkie (finally got over 10000 steps on my Fitbit Flex) and baked a Cottage Pudding, which we devoured with stewed Plums and Cool Whip. Tomorrow is work - but we don't even want to think about that right now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - resolution number 1: have fun .... getting one's feet (and various other parts) wet at Semiahmoo Bay!

On December 31, 2013, I realized I had not yet learned my lesson as far as opening my big mouth was concerned - because I started bugging Nikkie about going on a Polar Bear Swim the following day.

Of course the next day I was called on it - Howard basically told me he knew I wasn't going to do it. He is such a supportive husband. He's lucky I don't own a gun, because no jury on earth would ever convict me.

However, since we had no way to White Rock, I felt safe - until Steve offered to drive us there. I really love Steve. He is so kind.

For those of you who may never have heard of it, the Polar Bear Swims of the world always take place on New Year's Day. We are quite lucky here in God's country, as we would never have to break a hole in the ice to go swimming at this time of year. If we lived in northern Manitoba, I would never consider such an adventure, but on a gray 6 degree day .... it felt do-able.

So off we go, walking down the beach path to the big White Rock. Unfortunately we were running a few minutes late (15 actually) so we had missed the group run into Semiahmoo Bay, which is actually the Pacific Ocean in case you're wondering. That meant there weren't as many people around to see us if we chickened out.

We were certainly dressed for the weather and the activity. Shorts, flip flops, woolly hat and winter jacket may indeed become a new fashion style.

 The day was grey, the skies were beautiful, and the waters were calm. I saw on last year's sites that there was a fair wind and pretty big waves roaring to the shore, so I'm glad I didn't have this brain wave twelve months ago.

 I had to hold Nikkie's hand as I was afraid she would chicken out and leave me to do this all by myself.

H

 So far, so good .....

I don't think the video is working .... but if it does, you will see us walk up to our hips, then Nikkie struggles free and hightails it back to shore. I keep on going until I'm at a swimming depth, and plunge in bravely, using swimming muscles that haven't been used in aeons, and do a wimpy breaststroke/doggie paddle combination towards the shore.

And that's when I realized I had lost one of my bling-bling sandals. Yes, there it was, a single lonely flop floating on the water ... way out. I had just accepted the fact that I was surrendering my favourite footwear to Neptune, when a friendly kayaker paddled by and rescued it for me.

 I don't know I managed to not get my hat wet ... but everything else was pretty damp. And my feet were absolutely frozen. Other than that, I didn't find it cold at all ..... at least not until we were halfway up the hill to the car.

It was good to get my flip flop back though. You can't tell from this picture, but if I had bent one of my toes here it would have just snapped off like an icicle on the eave of an igloo. 

Well, not only was New Years Day a swimmingly fun kind of day, it also heralded a brand new year for pretty flowers on White Rock's sidewalks. We think they are a type of begonia - a sturdy type, just like me!

We drove home in tropical temperatures, thanks to Steve's adjustment to the car heater. Now here is a place where  Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah and I could go adventuring .....

I'm Sick of Winter - and it's not even here yet ....

Yes, we're living in a deep freeze. We're not used to this, not any more. One reason we traded the cold winds of Trinity Bay in Newfoundland for the mild climes of southeast British Columbia was to get away from all these minus temperatures.

So here I am, with a long commute in the morning. I know what I'll be wearing - besides the aforesaid 'essentials' there will be tights, long underwear, wool socks, jeans, t-shirt, sweater, hoodie, and a cuddly fleecy jacket. Top that off with a knitted hat (25% wool), fingerless gloves (my big-boned fingers can't fit into other types now, thanks to Art Ritis, one of the horrible male visitors to the aged), scarf, and furry-inside boots. So even if it is -4 in the morning at the 22nd Street bus stop, I won't have icicles hanging from my nose - I hope.

However, I know what I'll see when the bus pulls up to the designated loading area. The driver will open the door, and welcome all his mummified passengers to his heated sauna, wearing shorts and T-shirt. He'll probably be smiling.

In summer, I get to grumble when we get the rare heat wave. In fall I get to moan when the temperatures drop to the single digits. But now, in December? I can whine about being too cold and too hot within the same hour.

And now the forecast calls for snow on Tuesday?
 
 Need  I say more?
 

December 1 - Pre- Parade Activities and Rogers Santa Claus Parade (tons of pics and a formatting nightmare)

Sunday, December 1, we hopped on the sky train and headed to Vancouver for some Christmas celebrations and the Rogers Santa Claus parade.
























 First it was a visit to the children's Christmas square, set up in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Frosty was waiting for us there. He had a pretty guilty look on his face - I wonder what he was up to the night before?

 

 Of course the kids were more attracted to the water than the snowmen ..

 I think we probably sneaked in the line-up to the cookie decorating tent, but no one yelled at us. According to the lines at the other activity tents we had no wait at this one. Which is why they got gingerbread men but no balloon animals or face paintings.

 The look on his face changed drastically when this cookie went upside down in the mucky ground. So back to the icing board for another go.

 Both kids thought the decorating was more fun than the eating.

 Two little Santas sitting in the sleigh. Going nowhere ... just like the 410 bus during rush hour.

 Then, after a farewell to the styrofoam reindeer, it was a search for a good viewing point for the parade.

Even though the forecast called for showers, we were lucky. Just a wee bit of turbulence from the two-legged creature on the left. Waiting is very hard though, especially when mom is way deep in a line-up at McDonald's across the road.
 























And there's always a solution to every problem ....

When Nikkie came back, I ran into the Starbucks behind us for a hot chocolate. After all, I had 15 minutes before the parade started. How long does it take to make a hot chocolate?

20 minutes. I missed the Vancouver Police Motorcycle Drill Team, which was definitely a highlight of the parade. Just got them waving a blurry bye-bye. Next year I'll bring a thermos.

It was great to hear the swirl of bagpipes as the band came into view. Unfortunately though thearea we were viewing from was obviously a No Bagpipes Allowed area.
 

Giddyap go!

 Of course these guys always show up, just clowning around.

 I love the horses - there were lots in the parade.

 I told the kids I hope to never see this vehicle in front of our house, although .....

 .... it would probably be preferable to this one ...

 Oh oh - the Grinch is back. At least the Police have him in handcuffs - our presents are safe once again.

This is sufficient snow for me, thank you.

The Vancouver Aquarium was highlighting Luminescence, showcasing some strange creatures from the deep.

Makes you want to go on a sleigh ride ... only probably not with them. With you.

 Oh oh ... seems like Nikkie caught some kind of disease from Rudolph ...

 Yes. Probably my favourite float. These purple Santa helpers passed out chocolate. Mmmmm. Chocolate.

The onlookers behind me, who were so trying to push me out of the way so they could get in my spot, kept complaining about the aroma of the poop pick-up vehicles following the horses throughout the parade.

Big Island Farms mascots ... see how tiny their feet look?

Shetland Ponies! Aren't they the cutest? According to the behind-me-people they were still very stinky, though.

Aha! a bit of the true meaning of Christmas. Sorta reminds me of another camel ...

Yes, Miss Howse's camel from the musical she did at Bishop White School many years ago. It was our sort-of staffroom mascot for a while.

A bit too slow to get the Irish music on video ... but they were singing The Black Velvet Band

New Westminster's float ...guns and cannons to celebrate the season.

And here comes The Man himself .... Merry Christmas, Everyone!