A Trip to the Lake

We can't go to Prince George without heading out to the lake. It's 2 1/2 acres on West Lake that's been in the family forever. If I lived closer I think I'd spend every weekend there during the summer. We only have two neighbours and they have very large plots of land so it's very secluded. The kids have a blast playing in the water and searching for agots. (Credit to Kerry for the photo of the year for this year's calendar.)

Every year I go I try to do a bit of clean up and improvements to the beach area. The drift wood feeds the fire and the bigger pieces get turned into erosion control. The one that Kerry is sitting on got added a few years ago and hasn't moved since I put it in. This year I added a few more on the right hand side. One day I'd like to do something a bit more permanent but I'm not sure what's legal. I'm thinking just a low rock wall far enough up the beach to help prevent erosion but not so close that it would get damaged with the ice each year.

Carter and I took a short hike up the beach to the Hornsby cabin. I'm not entirely sure of the history but at one point it was on land we owned. We used to own a lot more but the taxes got to be too high so much was sold off or donated to the boy scouts. This cabin is apparently from around 1917 and has been unoccupied for as long as I've been alive. (With the exception of the squirrels that make it their home each winter.) I'll make a note in my calendar to celebrate the 100th anniversary.

Canada Day in PG

We typically head to Cloverdale for Canada Day but this year we decided to spend the first week of July in Prince George since it fit better with our other trips we've got planned for the summer. Callie had a birthday party to go to on the Saturday so we spent the first half of Sunday travelling. We left around 5:30a and arrived in PG around 2:00p. We headed straight to the park since the weather in Prince George has been just as wet as in Surrey and it was looking like rain. I had hoped we'd finally get to ride on the train at Fort George park since they've been working to repair it for the past few years. Unfortunately there was some sort of steam ticket that they didn't get in time so all they could do was light the fire and sound the whistle once in a while. Maybe next year.

One of the things I like about Prince George on Canada Day is all the different food. From Bannock to Samosa's there were probably 30 different food vendors. In my view Canada day is about multiculturalism and we should have more options than burgers and mini-donuts. (Unfortunately we arrived in between meals and had no cash so no food this year.) The kids had a blast playing on the fire engine. It's been there since before I was born and used to be just the full fire engine buried in the sand. They recently refurbished it with the back half being brand new and the front half from the original engine. Fun to see the kids doing the same things I remember when I was young.

Father's Day

I almost forgot to blog about Father's day this year. We didn't really go anywhere but it was still a special day. It started with Carter presenting me with various gifts. He handed me a card that he had made at daycare along with some sort of paper weight. Note to daycare providers. A rubber glove filled with sand is not really a gift I'll be able to keep for very long. Kerry then told him to go get my other gift off the dining room table. He didn't see the wrapped up gift and instead brought me a bag of plastic bowls. He was convinced this was the gift he was meant to give me and even called them my 'Daddy Bowls'. Once I did get the real gift I opened it to find four boxes of women's golf balls. He was hell bent on giving me golf balls for Father's Day and since I don't golf very often, Kerry wrapped up some of hers rather than going out and buying new ones. Very thrifty.

Callie made me a very nice card filled with all the things she likes to do with me. She's usually quite anti-daddy and pro-mommy but apparently I do get one day of the year.  (I should also mention a story from a few days before Father's Day. Kerry was attempting to plan the day and mentioned making breakfast for me as well as my favourite meal. Callie replied by saying "But Mommy. You always do those things. I guess everyday is Father's Day.") We did go out on one field trip during the day. To Port Kells to get me an apple tree. I also got a mini disc golf set for playing in the back yard which we are all enjoying.

Bryan Adams

Last night a somewhat famous Canadian singer was in town for a concert. Kerry had bought four tickets as soon as they were available with two going to her friend Loraine from work. Although I enjoy his music I'm not a huge fan so the plan was for Kerry to find someone equally excited to go. (A difficult task considering she's got all his albums and has seen him in concert four times.) In the end all her options fell through so I ended up going. It was a great concert. What I liked about it was that it was simple. Just five guys on stage with the big screen behind. Bryan rocked it out for 2 1/2 hours with no breaks.

I recognized all the songs which is always more enjoyable though there was at least one that probably hasn't appeared on any albums. The drummer takes centre stage with nothing but five gallon pails and some pots and pans. When you've got talent there's no need for fancy instruments. The encore was a bit unusual. Rather than leaving the stage and coming back, Bryan thanked his crew and sent them back stage. He then did three acoustical versions of his songs which just him, his guitar and his harmonica. He even brought his mom on stage. His comment was "If you can't give your mom the best seat in the house than what good are you?"

Frost Road Country Fair 2012

The Monday before last was Frost Road's country fair. An annual fund raising event at Kerry and Callie's school. Last year the weather was absolutely perfect but this spring has been much more dreary with only 3 days above 20 degrees. It was originally scheduled for Friday but they had carnival rides coming and the weather forecast wasn't looking very good so the decision was made to postpone to Monday. That looked like a good decision at the time but by Monday the weather was looking to be very similar. In the end Mother Nature was kind and it stayed dry for the whole event.

The highlight for Carter these past two years has been the ponies. He's quick to want to stand in line and is very excited right up to the point where he needs to get on the horse. It takes a bit of coaxing but once he's on he has a blast. The family highlight each year is the cake walk. We always get at least three or four squares and considering there are only twelve squares total you'd think we'd have a good chance. No luck so far and we were especially upset when one of Callie's best friends ended up winning twice. (She got cupcakes and shared her second win which softened the blow.)

The icing on the cake so to speak for the past two years has been Kerry's participation in the Pie Eating Contest. The excitement starts early in the week with the whole school getting behind their favourite teachers and predicting a winner. Last year the Vice Principle won but this year Kerry had a 'special' technique that proved very successful. She's now the defending champion and is probably still trying to get whipped cream out of her hair.

MS Bike Ride Day Two

Day two of cycling started at 9:00a which is an hour earlier than day one.  I'm not sure why since getting up early on the second day is much harder. Our first leg was about 21k to the Fort Wine Company and was very flat the entire way making for an easy ride. This winery has what I call 'novelty wines' where they tend to take not too tasty wine and combine it with blueberries, cranberries etc. I don't like most of them but a few are quite good. I recommend lot's of tasting to make sure you get what you like. After that we went through a hilly section to get to Krauss Berry Farm. We always make an effort to go here at least a couple times a season as they have the most amazing pies.

This year they've done a ton of renovations on an already great store so it's nice to see a local farm doing well. With all the construction though they didn't have any pies for tasting. We'll have to go back in a month or so after their grand opening. They did however have cookies with lunch that looked 'healthy' but appeared to include strawberry jam. They were absolutely amazing. If anyone knows of any strawberry jam cookie recipes I'd be very interested. I finished the days 49k by 12:30 which was pretty good time considering the lengthy stop for lunch. I've been taking turns going to this event and going to watch the Oliver Half Ironman each year. For the Ironman we sit on my in-laws deck and drink wine. Interesting that I now officially have a weekend that traditionally includes wine each year.

...and this is crazy...

Today was day one of the Fraser Valley Grape Escape which is a two day bike tour of the Fraser Valley wineries in support of MS. This is the second year I've done the run and I'm a member of 'Team Doobs!". This year I raised $400.00 and as a team we close to $9000.00. A new record!

Day one has a long option and a short option. I figure I don't get forced to do such a long ride very often so I might as well go all out and do the long version which is 84 km. This year ended up being about 4km longer due to a detour around a semi that had gone into the ditch.

The wineries are spread out nicely along the route with no more than a 20k ride in between. You get to do the typical tasting and if  you purchase anything they send it forward to the finish line so that you don't have to drag it along with you. The wineries don't quite have the same feel as the Okanagan which seems to have a mental impact on tasting but I still picked up a nice Gewurtz for Kerry. We also picked up a Merlot from the winery that was impacted by the detour. We didn't really like the wine but we were the only ones there and we felt sorry for them. They probably took on extra staff for the day only to have 1/4 of the people show up.

Now for the various reasons of why I chose to name this post this way.
1) During the last km I got stung on the lip by a bee.
2) The detour had me going a rather crazy distance.
3) I seemed to have a problem with animal poo. I stepped in sheep and goose poo and at some point ran over dog poo.
4) I had to stop at one point for a goose crossing.
5) And finally, for virtually the entire trip I had 'Call Me Maybe' running through my head. Mainly because I kept meeting new people at each one of the checkpoints. I didn't give anyone my number.

Day two tomorrow. I believe it's only 56k and we stop for pie so it should be easier than day one.