The Northern Lights

If you've never seen the Northern Lights in the lower mainland don't worry you didn't technically miss much this past May. Coming from Prince George I can say that I have seen the Northern Lights with my own eyes and they do exists though even in Prince George they were a relatively rare occurrence and the lights I saw felt more like a whisper than the images you see from people farther north. This year there was a lot of news hype about a spectacular event that was going to be visible as far south as Arizona and expectations were high that it would be spectacular. When the night arrived I took my bike to the closest dark area near our house which is the local elementary school.

There were already  several people wandering around and at first I thought we were all in for a big disappointment. There was the slightest hint of something happening but it was not very clear. That was until I took out my camera and took a picture. Ordinarily when you take pictures on older cameras they don't pick everything up. That is not the case now as they are much more sensitive to dark light photography. I quickly sent the picture to the family and they asked where I was. As they were walking over I think they felt they had missed it but I showed them the camera trick.  It was a great Instagram moment if not a great in person moment but that seems to be the case with most things now a days. 

Tulip Festival

Callie and I headed out to the Tulip Festival this year. Kerry didn't want to go and I think Carter was busy and Callie and I had seen quite a few photos on Instagram so we decided we would check it out. Without going too deep in to the whole history of Tulips in Canada, I'll just say that there are quite a few large tulip fields in the Fraser Valley with one of the ones closer to Vancouver having an annual Tulip Festival though I'm assuming most of the farmers try to take advantage of the amazing colors that show up when the tulips are in full bloom. This location added a number of 'Photo Spots' including tractors, swings and even a piano.

We had a bit of trouble checking in because we hadn't received the confirmation link but it was a known problem and our credit card receipt was good enough. There were quite a few tulip varieties that I would love to get bulbs for but unfortunately there was no bulb sales at all. Partly because it's not bulb season but also because they are a wholesaler and just don't sell to the public in that way. They were selling the flowers so we brought a few home. My favorite was the 'Barcelona'. This fall I'll have to check out the garden centers and see if I can find it for sale. 

 

Work Trip to Victoria

In April I had to be in Victoria for work. It was during the week with an afternoon session on one day and a morning session on the next. This gave me the opportunity to do a few Victoria tourist items that I hadn't done in a long time. The first was a trip to the BC Museum. This is the one that the government has deemed in desperate need of replacement and proposed a 1 billion project. Unfortunately the project was shelved as it was just not palatable to people to have to spend that much. The issue is that it's difficult to continue to retrofit the existing structure and do it incrementally. I hope they sort it out though because it's nice having a high quality museum in BC.

Next up was a quick visit to Beacon Hill Park. Apparently this park has two faces and I don't know if I've ever seen both versions at the same time. I started on the hill where I found the familiar peacocks and petting zoo. The peacocks are wild and not part of the zoo and I don't think I would want to get in a fight with one. I also don't know what reason I would have to get into a fight with one but I'm sure they could do something to piss me off. I walked around the petting zoo and through some open meadows and flower gardens and then noticed that it was possible to go up and over a hill towards the ocean.

It was at this time that I realized there was another part of the park that seemed familiar to me but I think when I've gone to each side we've  parked in different locations and not done both locations at the same time. The ocean portion of the park is quite wild considering it is just a short walk from the parliament buildings. The oceans cliffs have been left natural, there are some totem poles and walking trails to allow you to go right down to the beach. I imagine this would be a fun place to visit during a wind storm. It's nice to see we have so much land in the public domain rather than having houses trying to own their part of the beach. 

Fan Expo 2024

I think Fan Expo in Vancouver will be an annual event for Jeremy and I, especially as we try to advance the work on R2D2. We've only been twice and I'm not sure if they purposely try to have a theme each year but I did notice there was a lot of 80's nostalgia going on. There were booths for Star Wars, as I think is standard, but there was also a Ghost Busters booth and an entire booth dedicated to 80's movies and TV shoes like Ghost Busters, Back to the Future and I think the couch from Rosanne or maybe it was Married with Children. They had a DeLorean as well as the Ghostbusters car. I've done a bit of research on the ambulance used and apparently it's very rare.

Jeremy managed to get the majority of his Ghostbusters costume done in time for the expo. I think he probably has plans for a trap and like most cosplayers I'm sure his costume is never completely done. I was interested to learn that a number of the other Ghostbusters costumes were at least partly kits where Jeremy did the majority of his from scratch via a 3D printer. I'm sure the kits are cheaper but I personally like the idea of building from scratch. The only item I saw in other costumes that was a bit more detailed was that the backpack on some actually opened up and showed inner workings. I would still vote for Jeremy's. 

The other highlight of the show was that Adam Savage was a guest speaker. If you follow him online you'll know that he spends most of h is year travelling to different Fan Expos, Comicon's etc. I don't think he dressed up for this one but he was available for pictures and signings, which are not cheap for any of the celebrities. I briefly considered getting in line to ask him a question as I was a bit disappointed that the vast majority of questions were related to his time on Mythbusters where I was more interested in his knowledge as a maker. I chickened out though as I figured there was probably some process for getting in line that I didn't understand. 

Hallmark Christmas Town

On November 26th I sent an Instagram post about Martini village to Callie and walked into the family room to tell Kerry about it. Somehow this was forgotten and I get no credit for suggesting we go check out Martini village in Abbotsford. It's a fake movie town set up for filming Hallmark movies complete with store fronts and a gazebo. This year they decorated it with Christmas lights, had food trucks and hot chocolate and you paid an entry fee of $26. I spent most of the time knocking on things to see how real things were. There was a stone bridge on the way in that was just wood painted to look like concrete. I'll have to ask how they keep it water proof.

The streets were all paved with asphalt and concrete and the buildings all had window scenes despite only being a few feet wide. They supported everything with wood telephone poles from the back. There was also a few food trucks and a craft market. On our way out we saw Corey and the family. Corey insisted it wasn't his idea to be there. Carter had his first brisket on a bun and was very happy he ordered it. I went with the pork ribs. I don't think we'd want to go here every year but it's definitely an interesting experience. Lots of photo opportunities and even some fake snow flowing from the roof tops. 

 

Christmas

Christmas started in late-November. Callie, Carter and I were out and stopped off at Home Depot and Carter and I found a 12 foot snowman. At $8 a foot it was cheaper than our Christmas Tree. We bought it and snuck it into the back of the car without letting Callie know. In early December when the family was all out at the mall I set it up so they saw it as they got home. Kerry was not impressed which was exactly the reaction Carter and I were going for. It's a blow up  one so I set it on 'Always On' electric wise as it's just as much fun to look at during the day as it is to look at in the evening. I noticed a 20 foot one was available after Christmas. Might have to check it out.

The rest of Christmas was pretty typical for us. Barb and Reg came down just before Christmas and we had our Christmas fondue on the 23rd. Ronnie brought his latest girlfriend and her daughter so with all family members attending we had 16 people and four dogs in attendance. It was a lot of dishes to clean up but was still fun. The tree was fully decorated with about 5 generations of Christmas lights and dozens of decorations collected over the years. There were lots of presents under the tree that I got to see opened, not knowing what they were. Even the kids knew what they got before I did. The day of Christmas was a bit odd this year. School got out on the 22nd and with the fondue on the 23rd, all major events were done three days into the holiday. I go back to work on January 2nd but the rest of the family is off until the 8th. Not sure what they're going to do with all that time post Christmas. Best that I go into work all next week.

German Christmas Market

Carter was upset that we didn't do enough Christmas last year. We had two big trips planned so we softened the spend in 2022. This year he wanted to make sure we hit all the important points for his Christmas traditions including the German Christmas Market. It's located downtown so it's a bit of a trek for us but still worth it. They keep it to a rather confined space which I guess adds to the ambiance but I would prefer if there was more room. It worked out well for us because we got there right when it opened so there was lots of room to move around. It was during the day but the weather was nice and there were no lineups for food.

We bought a few treats for family members for Christmas including 'Those Pretzels' which were definitely the best pretzels I've ever had. They are the ones in a bag and they were a bit software and had a distinct flavour to them. We discovered they are made in Surrey and sold at some local stores so we will have a source even after Christmas. For lunch I had a smoky and some Black Forest cake. I was very impressed by their ketchup and mustard dispenser. Easy to see when it needs to be filled, always ready to squeeze and at the perfect height. A few drips on the floor that people walk through was the only issue. Otherwise every place should have these.