Moto Adventures

2012-01-31T12:20:00.002-08:00

As the days drift by so does another month. Still cooler and windier weather has kept us off the water most days but the few days that were nice were very nice and Ken and I hit the water, I in my kayak and Ken in the zodiac.

Ken caugh a nice size yellowtail tuna, which he had a great time bringing into the boat, it puller the zodiac around without too much troubleand in the end it made a great feast of fish tacos for th beach.

The days I have been out in the kayak have been beyond decription. I love my kayak! With all the walking, paddling and sailing I have been doing I have to constantly remind myself to rehydrate...a little bout with heat/sunstroke/dehydration knocking me on my butt for a couple of days is a good reminder. What can I say "I should know better".

A definate highlight of January was our Thanksgiving in January. We all decided down here in Juncalito that we really do have a lot to be thankful for...great friends, family and the opportunity to hed south to warmer weather in the winter, so Bob and Mary deepfried 3 turkdys and yet another feast was held in Juncalito.

I can't believe 3 months are gone already and only that only 2 more remain until we have to head north. Time doesn't stand still but then again neither do we!

A Cardinal enjoys a bit of citrus on a branch near our camp.

Bob and Mary showoff one of their prize turkeys.

Ken's yellowtail, what a fight!

Chris and Carl, Edith and Peter, and Ken and I enjoy a happy hour at a nearby hotel/timeshare. It's good to get off the beach once in a while.

Seasons Greetings

2012-01-02T11:26:00.004-08:00

The holidays have been good to us here in Juncalito. Lots to eat and drink with lots of great friends. The wind blew in the holidays with cooler weather(temperatures to 4 degrees one night had Ken putting on long johns)but still very pleasant. Christmas Eve found us at Rattlesnake beach(just down the road from us)at a bonfire with appies and cocktails, Christmas Day we had a potluck baron on beef dinner on our beach with about 16 of us, and New Years Eve was spent again with friends on the beach enjoying a "soup kitchen" where everyone brought a pot of soup. There were about 15 types of soups to try, with everything from my garlic soup to shrimp gumbo, seafood chowder and chicken veggie or lentil, there was something every ones tastes and lots of leftovers for New Years Day. The evening was capped of with fireworks in the village and we were home and in bed not too long after Baja Midnight(8:30)and no hangover in the morning!

With the wind blowing we went out sailing with Carl on one of the last days of the year. As it turned out it was the only day when the wind didn't blow until 11:30 so we motored to a nearby island and went for a hike while we waited for the wind to start picking up, which it did, so we could sail for a few hours. It turned out to be a great day for hiking and sailing, what luck!

Now, as we are in the New Year, the wind has calmed somewhat and again we are settling into the quiet days and evenings on the beach. 2012 wow, another one down!

Ken makes a toast to the holidays at Christmas dinner.

Rowing SWEET PEA to shore on our day sailing with Carl. That's BLEW in the background, Carl's 28ft Lance sailboat.

The view of Honeymoon bay with BLEW and a private yacht moored.

It was quite the hike up a rocky ridge to a the top of the island...

but what a view we had!

On New Years Eve we had another bonfire on the beach and a treat of some entertainment of some didjrity-doos (spelling???) being played.

Look who's coming to dinner!

2011-12-05T11:14:00.005-08:00

The guest of honour, dressed to perfection!

What a spread! Chris's baked onion in front, Yummy! Al, carving the turkey in the back and everything in between.

Ken and I get dressed for Thanksgiving and enjoy the day with friends.

Yes, it does get chilly.

The Mexican Musial ride arrives at the San Javier Mission.

A cocktail vendor sells every type of drink you could want, not just the old tequilla standbys.

We have our routine. As the time here on the beach trickles by not much happens to change the daily routine, so when something does happen I jump at the chance to take pictures and write a line or two on the blog site. So, what has happened here on the beach that could have made me pick up my pen? American Thanksgiving and with that a change in the temperature.

If you have been following the blog you already know that Ken and I returned home for our Canadian Thanksgiving and consumed more than our fair share of food to be thankful for but that is no reason for us to refuse a great opportunity to partake in another festivity full of fantastic food, fun and friends (some of whom are actually Americans and have the just reason to be gobble, gobbling so late in the year). We all pitched in 30 pesos each (about $2.00 each)for the turkey and everyone brought a side dish, potluck style. Everything was there...turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes...the works. Delightful!

The day was hot and humid and we were lucky to have eaten early because come 5-6 p.m. a few clouds rolled in as and Ken and I lay contently groaning in our camper we listened to the rain drops on the roof. We have had a couple of rainfalls this season but nothing that amounted to much, however, after every rainy day the weather seems a little cooler and the wind a little crisper. Here we are today still in shorts but many of us donning sweatshirts and would believe...toques! Elaine and Donny (from Merritt) stopped by Juncilito on their way to Los Frailles and Elaine handed out early Xmas presents of toques she had made on the drive down (she also brought a bunch of little baby toques for us to give out to some of the Mexican ninos) Toques do you believe it? Just in time! Thanks Elaine.

Every year the pueblo of San Javier hosts 'San Javier Days'. Three days in which the little pueblo grows from a meager 200ish people to 4-5000! Ken and I decided that after 13 years of coming down here it was about time we took in the festival, and what a festival is was! First of all the Mexican Musical ride on horseback slowed the traffic to a halt and we ended us walking the last km or so faster than we could have rode it (we took the bike on the 32 km ride into the mountains, of which the first 21 km is now paved). Actually we started walking in to town when a old Jeep Wagoneer passed us and then proceed to die in the middle of the road, 5 0r 6 people jumped out of the Jeep and into the back the truck that was in front of them on the road. The driver of the Jeep got the vehicle going about the time we walked by so they told us to get in and off we went, coughing and choking all the why. We made it to town in style and it felt as if we were in a parade as our driver yelled salutations and shook hands with just about everyone we passed. When we got to San Javier I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it...all the people, tents and vendors! The town was in pleasant turmoil! What a hoot. Ken couldn't get out of there fast enough and I was wishing we would have brought our tent and stayed the night for the party. Well, maybe not, 3 hours was enough.

Today it is back to the routine, Ken is hiking the with a group from a caravan that has stopped in at the beach on their way up the Baja so he is having a great time and Linda and I walked over to the Internet so I could visit with you! Hope all is well with you as it is with us!

Happy Camper

2011-11-22T08:44:00.006-08:00

Ken is very proud of his Dorado. He has waited a long time to bring one of these in! They are a magnificent color in the water, bright blues and greens and yellows, not to mention they fight like there's no tomorrow(which I guess technically there isn't for them) flying out of the water, twisting trying to get loose.

The locals are happy he has brought in diner as well, they have been waiting patiently.

And one large Grouper kept Ken on the line as it drove into the rocks looking for a place to get away...no way!

It has been a good year for fishing so far. We have enough fishing stories to fill a book but I will not bore you. Suffice to say we are getting our fill of ceviche and fish cooked every way you can think(sometimes for days/meals at a time). Lots of community fish cookouts and potlucks on the beach. This Thursdays however we are doing a U.S. Thanksgiving dinner on the beach inclusive of turkey and the works...yum.

Weather has cooled off a little with highs of about 26-27 in the daytime and the water temperature has dropped at least 10 degrees since we arrived. But who is complaining? Not I!
Lovin' the Life!

Juncalito

2011-11-09T11:42:00.012-08:00

Ken loves the water and this year he has been able to enjoy the warm 85 plus degree water in more than one way. I, on the other hand sprained my ankle on the day before we crossed into Mexico so I have been doing little but reading and enjoying the sun.

Out in the kayak, Ken paddled with a 8 meter whale shark, at times he would hang on to the tail or dorsel fin and get pulled along. I, on the other hand was happy enough to paddle along with in awe of the size and beauty on this amazingly gentle creature.

Sometimes it is very hard just trying to keep cool with temperatures in the high 30's in the day and just way to warm to sleep at night.

Out into the waves...armed with the kayak, skirt and paddle. Oh what fun he'll have!

The waves break and the kayak flies!

The waves break and Ken flies!

A photographer from France, making a photo book thought Ken was an interesting character, don't we all!!!

It's great, together again. After meeting this summer at Liard Hot Springs Gaby, Hiske (from Holland), Swantja, Stefan (from Germany), and Ken and I met up again in Juncalito to enjoy a margarita or two and a story or two about our love of travel.

Well here we are again doing our thing down here in the Baja at Juncalito. We have set-up our camp and are getting down to a routine of daily life on the beach, morning sunrises over the bay, swimming in the 80 degree water, fishing and happy hours with our friends. The weather here was definately warmer than we are used to with nights cooling down to 30 degrees and not a puff of air movement in the camper. Days are down to 29 degrees instead of 39 now and we can handle that! Life goes fast on the beach but here a few highlights from our stay so far.

Thanksgiving

2011-10-14T08:12:00.003-07:00

My sister Karen and Aunt Rose enjoying the warm fall day during a walk to Powers Creek, where we hung out as kids.
Karen and I on the trail to the creek, I'm so glad we made the trek down to the creek(I don't feel so bad about all that over indulging).

A funny thing happened on the way to Mexico...Ken and I looked at each other and said "we should stay" for Thanksgiving that is! So after a full days drive into Washington, we found a storage place in Euphrata and parked the truck and trailer, rolled out the motorbike and headed back home to Westbank to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends, everyone was there and who knows when that will happen again. It is great to have the flexibility to go where and when the wind flies. So another week was spend in Canada eating and drinking way too much, but that's what life is all about isn't it... living it!

South of 49

2011-10-02T10:03:00.005-07:00

Ken and I look our to sea on our walk at Roger Curtis on Bowen Island.

Here's me and Ken with his sisters Joanne and Shari at the beach.

Shari and Ken feed the deer at Joannes place on Bowen Island, the deer have it good!

I'm ready to go sailing with Rose and Ron on his 26 ft MacGregor.

The silhouette of an awesome afternoon sail, oh yes the wind did pick up....a bit!

As our first year of official retirement comes to a close, and the weather and the leaves turn we are preparing to head south once again to the Southern States and Mexico. Our last two weeks here in the Okanagan have been spent trying to touch base with as many friends and family as we could, doing yard work around our house(which is now rented) and getting ready for our winter away. Our plan is to be away until the end of April but that plan was made today and we will see what happens tomorrow, until then have a great winter and remember we are only as far away as the Internet!

That's enough...

2011-09-15T10:57:00.001-07:00

At Carp Lake P.P. Ken and I help Ralph check out the on island campsites.

We stand ready to forge the McCloud River, Ralph in his canoe, Georg and Christine in their inflatable river boat and Ken and I in our canoes.

Ken and Ralph haul the boats over a log jam.

Carl gets ready for a little evening campfire in the back yard.

Chris and I start the campfire.

A great ride to the alpine meadows on Yanks Peak.

You don't know who you will run into out in the bush?!?!

Another cool but beautiful sunset over Tatla Lake.

Ken and Gabriel, a member of the Chilcoton Indian Band who gave us a tour for the Pithouse and new medicine bathhouse they are building at Chilco Lake.

Inside the Pithouse where the members hold meetings and ritual ceremonies.

Christine, Georg, Ken and Myself relax and have a snack on a afternoon hike.

As we slowly travel south to the Okanagan Valley we are visiting a few of our favourite spots. We popped back into Carp Lake P.P. to visit Ralph, where we rondez vous'd with Georg and Christine, our friends from Austria that here in Canada visiting for the 11th time, this stay only 6 weeks in duration. Ralph suggested that a canoe/kayak trip down the McCloud River might be a nice way spend an hour or two, 5 hours and about 20 log jams later we arrived back at the campground tired but smiling with a good story to tell.

After Carp Lake it was off to visit Chris and Carl in Likely again... likely story! Ken and I wanted to do a few motorbike rides in this area that we couldn't do in June when we were there because the weather was just too wet, the Likeyly to Barkerville road via Ghost Lake and the Likely to Barkerville trail over Yanks Peak. The road via Ghost Lake was closed due to washouts but managed to make it through the 6 ft ditches and blockades but ended up riding back on the highway through Quesnel because we ran out of time. Two days later we rode Yanks Peak which is really only a gnarly snowmobile trail system, it always amazes me where that KTM can go with Ken at the helm. All I can do during these rides is hang on for dear life! Once again grins and great stories. We hate leaving Chris and Carl's but we will see them soon in the Baja!

Tatla Lake is always on our list of must stops, always lots of good riding and until this stop we thought lots of good fishing. Unfortunately all Ken caught this time around was squaw fish and they were quickly returned to the water. We took a few ride around the area to Chilko Lake and Bluff Lake, took in the Tatla Lake fall fair along with a lot of nice locals selling fresh baking and veggies. Guess who showed up? George and Christine, we had been chasing each other around the Chilcoton and we finally caught up to each other at Tatla Lake. It seemed as good a place as any to enjoy a beer and a warm fire before they headed home to Innsbruck.

Our thought around the fire...isn't it funny how not much more than 100 years ago, chopping wood and living off the land was a daily occurrence-all in a days work, today we go out looking for time away from work so we can...chop wood and live off the land. Hmmm!

If you listen carefully you can probably hear the rain once again falling on the roof our camper. We have had about enough, it is time to head home and get cleaned up, dry out the camper and get the bikes ready for the trip to Mexico. See you there.

The big 5-0

2011-08-28T09:17:00.008-07:00

The Baja gang.

Chris, Kisbet, Carl, Linda, Ken, Heather and Chula.

Clavin, Linda's grandson, helps me blow out my candles!

The road down from camping at Twin Falls and the Hudson Bay Glacier, in Smithers.

Around Smithers.

Looking down into Crater Lake on the top of Hudson Bay Mountian.

We hiked the alpine on Hudson Bay Mountain.

Well, I made it half a century and having a blast. Ken and I spent my birthday in Smithers with friends from the Baja(Linda-at whose beautiful log house we were staying, and Chris and Carl-who you might remember from our stay in Likely) eating, drinking and being merry, oh life is good!

The area is beautiful, the starting of rolling farmland yet still in the mountains with glaciers and many lakes. We did a few hikes in the area, around Hudson Bay mountain and rode around Babine Mountain range on a forestry road, the sun even came out for a day or so to lift our spirits. When we were not exploring the area we spent time taking in the parade, it was Fall Fair time in Smithers, play cards and taking in the local museums and visiting with Linda's wonderful family. Linda family has lived in Smither for generations and there are pictures of her family and grandfather, who was a skiing legend in this town, in all the local museums. In Smithers there is a what we call Dahlieville which is similar to Fickeville in Westbank!

After just about a week it is time for us to move on from Smithers and Linda's great hospitality, before we wear it out, and move on. It has been a great time here and I'll always have fond memories of my 50th!

And the beat goes on...from the sound of raindrops that is!

2011-08-19T15:15:00.004-07:00

Views riding down into the Stikine Grand Canyon.

Cabin in the area have character!

The Bear glacier on the road into Stewart.

The Salmon glacier outside Hyder on the road to Granduc mine.

Lava heaved up on the valley floor in the Nis'ga Lava Bed Memorial Pov. Park.

The town dock in the Portland Inlet at the village of Kinkolith.

Ken partaking in one of his favorate pastimes, looking for wild mushrooms.

Leaving Watson Lake we were in search of nice weather and heat enough to warm us threw and threw. It has not happened yet but we are not deterred. South from Watson Lake we headed to Deases Lake and with the clouds parting just long enough we made a beeline for Telegraph Creek, 114 km west of Deases Lake. A beautiful ride along the Stikine River, at one time the road balanced on the top of a bluff, banks down to the river on each side, with the Stikine Grand Canyon off in the distance, then the road twisted down the hillside to the water and to the small community of Telegraph Creek. We returned back to the truck just in time for the rain to start again.

From Deases Lake it was down to Stewart and Hyder Alaska. The skies cleared once again long enough for us to cross the border in the U.S. and unload the bike in Hyder, then we road 37 km farther up to the Salmon Glacier and yet again farther up to the Granduc mine and the area where Ken worked in 1988. The Salmon Glacier is the largest glacier that is accessible by car so we parked directly above it and viewed in the immensity of what we could actually see. With the price of gold and copper raising, once again the mines are reopening, the area could use a bit of an economic boost as most of Hyder is now closed down. We did happen to find a great little restaurant called "The Bus"(which is what it actually was) that served up an fresh and hot plate of halibut fish and chips and a sweet and tasty dungeness crab...yum, yum! After the one day touring the area the rain on our roof chased us from the campsite in the middle of the night and we were on the road again. Our feet are getting pruned!

South of Stewart we took a 50 km gravel shortcut at Cranberry Junction which took us to the Nass Valley and the small native village of New Aiyansh. Did you know that B.C. has had a volcanic eruption about 250 years ago in this area? We didn't! A 26 km lava flow covered the valley and apparently about 2000 natives were killed. Ken and I figured we both must have missed that day in history class when they were teaching us about it! The valley is also on the top on the list for harvesting wild mushrooms(and you know how much we love to partake in that past time). We met a couple local retired teachers and amateur naturalists, Dawn and Dez, who took us out into the mountains in search of the wild mushrooms: boleteus edifus, hedge hog and pine mushrooms. After a soggy afternoon in the bush we returned to their place, an awesome house and studio(Dawn is also an artist)over looking the Tseax River, to cook up our treasures and enjoy a tasty dinner of salmon. Wow, what a great afternoon, what a treat! Thank goodness we met Dawn out on her bike on a rainy day. Farther down the Nass Valley we walked over the swinging bridge over the Nass River in Canyon City, checked out the local museum in Greenville and continued down to Kinkolith where we were able to purchase some crab and halibut for a very reasonable price. Ken filleted the halibut and I boiled the crab, oh! and another local sold us some canned salmon and smoked salmon, once again our freezer is full.

Once again we are on the road and it is raining! Out of the Nass Valley and on we go to Terrace, time to stock up on groceries, and then to Kitimat where in case you haven't heard Ken was conceived and his sister Joanne was born. That takes us to today. Lots and lots of fishermen here, and they don't mind standing fishing in the river in the rain, fishing is that good. About the only other thing here is the Alcan plant, which we were going to tour but, low and behold, no tours this year due to an update they are doing on site. Kitimat is a model city built by Alcan and the plan is flawless with a great rec. center, bike and atv trails and a very nice, warm, dry library which is where we are now!

From here it was to be on to Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlettes but....we may pass in loo of looking for drier territory. Maybe Smithers and a visit with friends from the Baja.

Something is amiss up here in the north and for some reason pictures will not download, I guess that will be another day!

No More Rain Please

2011-08-11T14:21:00.006-07:00

Ken checks out the eaglets that we visited a month earlier near Whitehorse, they are now standing, stretching their wings and getting ready to fly.

Ken and I stand at the top of Monarch Mt. overlooking Atlin, it is chilly at the top.

Ken hauls the canoe over one of the beaver dams on our trip on Snafu Lake.

Ken catches a northern pike. They put up a good fight, which is a lot to fun but boy he hates trying too fillet them, no matter how good they taste!

I have to put in at least one flower picture, this one is some sort of water lily.

One of the old timers on the South Canol road.

We actually had a week of good weather! We took advantage of the sun and headed for Atlin but not before checking on the eaglets at Marsh Lake. Both are doing well, stretching their wings but are not flying yet. They may have a little time before winter sets.

The week around Atlin was spent fishing, exploring the back roads on the KTM, and once again we hiked Monarch Mountain and once again we enjoyed the view immensely. While we were at the top enjoying our lunch we met a couple Martin and Ester, from Vancouver, who were on a hiking vacation for 3 weeks...84 and 83 respectively. They are an inspiration to both of us!

On the way up the Atlin road, on the way to the Alaska Highway junction, we stopped off at Snafu Lake, it is actually a bunch of little lakes joined together by streams or should I say separated by beaver dams. Here Ken did more fishing and caught a few Pike, the first that we kept and he filleted...OMG the fish have bones running every which way. There were some choice words to be had but when all was said and done the fish was delicious. We won't keep another one until we can find out the proper way to fillet them but we enjoyed them all the same. The Northern Pike is a feisty fish to catch. We caught one, no word of a lie, the big one 30 inches long...too big for our net! With Ken on the rod and myself on the net we fought for more than a few minutes with me throwing the fish over the canoe and finally having it get away, which left us cursing and laughing our heads off! While at Snafu we took a day to canoe through the chain of lake lifting our canoe over 6 beaver damn to take us to the biggest of the lakes with a trappers cabin on it. We saw 2 bear along the way, enjoyed a nice picnic lunch and then returned the same way we came fishing along the way. What a great day. What a great week.

Yesterday we rode the KTM up the South Canol road and returned to the camper just before the rain started, and it hasn't stopped since! The next 10 days forecast is for much of the same so we have decided to head south from Watson Lake on the Stewart Cassier in hopes of finding drier land...Keep our fingers crossed!

Once again here in Watson Lake, we seem to having some technical difficulties downloading pictures so once again we will have to wait for a later date. Until then hope for sun!

I survived the Dempster to see Dawson

2011-08-02T09:07:00.006-07:00

We made it to Inuvik under sunny skies!

It just wouldn't be a blog without a flower picture.

Getting off one of the two ferries along the Dempster.

A view of the Ogelvie Mountain range.

Peek-a boo the moose sees you!

Ken shows off one of the Grayling he caught, notice the long dorsal fin.

Look very close and hopefully you can see it! After painting this garbage can a bear came and jumping up on it leaving it's paw prints. You can tell it is a grizzly from the long claw marks!

Dawson City and the Yukon River below, taken from the Dome.

The ingredients of wild plants used in Yukon herb tea. From left to right, Fireweed, Yarrow, and Labrador tea.

Ken and I at the Dome.

Gertie busts it out to a packed house.

Momma and her two cubs, on the road to 40 Mile and Clinton Creek.

Now that is a cinnamon bun!

I am happy to be on the water, motoring up the Takhini River in our Zodiac.

One more thing off my bucket list, I rode the Dempster! Not to say unscarred, my ego and nerves came away somewhat frayed. To start the whole trip off we drove the truck to the Tombstone campsite, 70 k.m. up the Dempster(Ken's KTM wouldn't make it on one tank of fuel from the highway to Eagle Plains, our first fuel stop as his bike doesn't get the mileage my BMW 650 does, we were carrying extra gas but that was for the chance he couldn't even make it to Eagle Plains... oh, and we drove to Tombstone because we wanted to camp in the park on the way home). As we were about to start out on the trip I dropped my bike, crap, it only received a few scratches to the pannier but I couldn't lift the bike by myself and needed Ken's help to right it. Then again, as we arrived in Fort McPherson the second day I went over in some loose gravel in the middle of the road, with a dump truck(a very large dump truck) barreling down the road on me. I was not physically hurt but once again Ken came to my rescue. As for my nerves...I love my husband but he like to ride fast, which is o.k. when we are riding two up but when I am riding my bike on gravel I tend to be somewhat more cautious. Needless to say I picked up my pace to keep up and though I made it back alive I didn't see too much scenery, it is a good thing we had travelled the road to Eagle Plans, which is just over halfway, together on our last trip and I was able to look around then. This time my eyes where glued to the road! Of course for Ken this was just a casual ride in the park! We took two days, camping along the way, to get to Inuvik with plans to stay a day or two but on arrival when we checked the weather we found rain was coming and we decided to leave right away the next day in hopes of avoiding the slick roads caused my rain. No down time me and unfortunately we didn't get to see everything we wanted, but we did enjoy an old time fiddlers dance on the evening we were there. The ride back to the truck was uneventful, in fact we almost made to the 660 k.m. in one day and Ken even got better gas mileage than he thought he would at the adjusted speed. I think it is safe to say we both had a good time but we were happy to see the truck when we got back.

We spent a couple more days camping in the park with Ken fishing for grayling and doing a great hike to the Grizzly Lake view point before heading out to Dawson City. Dawson City is still alive, well and booming with the gold business, as the price of gold raises so do the number of companies up here with the FEVER. As we drove the Bonanza Creek Road on a ride one evening, there were mines as far as the eye could see down every valley, up every creek! I don't know if I should say anything but apparently they are on the verge of uncovering the next Mother Load. Maybe, let's keep that just between you and me.

Diamond Tooth Gertie is also alive, well and still living in Dawson and believe it or not she and her girls are still doing 3 shows a night, two of which Ken and I took in and enjoyed just as much as the last time we were there. Having seen that and done that too it was time to head south in the direction of Whitehorse to stock up on supplies and do laundry, again!!! If you remember, the last time we were in Whitehorse we tried to do a Yukon River canoe trip but the weather was not on our side. This time we were not going to let Mother Nature rain(literally)on our parade, we stopped at the mouth of the Tahkini River where it meets the Yukon and off loaded the Zodiac and motored up the Takhini 15 k.m. Returning I rowed for a while, motored the last way and then went up the Yukon River for a while. It turned out faster and easier than canoeing the whole way and I got a little exercise.

Back in Whitehorse, shopping, laundry, fuel, Pasta Tuesday at Boston Pizza(yeh, I don't have to cook) and Shaun we will try to get in the bread pudding, even if it is to go! Next down to Atlin and if the weather holds we can ride the Canol roads.

To the Top of the World

2011-07-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

Our camper in the sunset on Kluane Lake

Where the river meets lake waters in Kluane Lake

Where the heck is Chicken?

A derelict dredge

A park in the Hamlet of Eagle

Our 13th anniversary, where does the time go? So close to the clouds you could almost touch them

Since our last trip to the North 5 years ago Ken has been talking about our great campsite in Kluane Park and the yearning to try his hand fishing in the Kluane Lake, so it only made sense that we return and spend some time in this beautiful area. Kluane Lake is another of those turquoise glaciers lakes that grace the Yukon with their presence. Near the south end of the lake where the Kluane River runs into the lake there is a definite line where the clear water of the lake is joined by the cloudy, silty water of the glacier river. We took a hike up to the original Alaska Highway(now a dirt track above the existing highway)and even higher up a trail onto a mountainside where we had a birds eye view of the meeting of the waters and a great distance down the over 80 km lake. Storms where brewing and we barely made it back to our camp before the rain started, we have decided that on this trip we must be be prepared for all weather because it changes faster than you can bat and eye. The rainy weather was not enough to dampen Kens spirits; determined to catch something in the lake, Ken once again set a line to catch Burbot(and once again lost the gear) and after that with his line in the water only minutes landed a beautiful 22 inch lake trout(which his mean wife made him let go, it was too beautiful a fish and she was sure there would be plenty more where that one came from and maybe instead a tasty whitefish)but this was not to be...after 3 days, not another bite! Oops! At the end of Kluane Lake is the small community of Burwash where we stopped to view their Wildlife Museum, we were there at 9a.m. when the doors opened and it was was sell worth the $3.75 each to enter. Every different type of animal in the north was on display and a lot of information on the natives, all done up very nicely.

Off from Kluane Park and onto a short trip into Alaska and The Top of the World Highway...in the rain oh and fog. Yes, rain all day as we drove with just a quick stop in Tok to fill up with fuel and give the town a quick drive through then it was off to Chicken(they couldn't spell Ptarmigan). The rain cleared the next day so we took advantage of the dry(I use the world loosely) and hiked into an old abandoned dredge, drove a while longer and off loaded the KTM for a ride 100km ride into the town of Eagle. What a great little town sitting on the edge of the Yukon River, it has around 100 year around inhabitants which surprised us because the road is only open from early May to the end of September/beginning of October! So, in that 5 months that the road is open they all have to drive out for supplies several times to stock up for the winter again, and in the fall hunt for meat. You know what???they love it!!! What a beautiful setting, up until a few years ago a tour boat came down the Yukon river with tourists and a bus took them back to Dawson City, the town made a meager living off the arts and crafts they sold but this is no longer an option for them. Two years ago there was a flood at breakup that wiped out a lot of the town and last year the road washed out...no more tours, but Ken and I spent our $6.75 to do our part to help.

Unfortunately, we had such a nice time in Eagle that we missed the border crossing into Canada, at Boundary, by 25 minutes and ended up camping at the wayside stop just on the American side of the border. Our anniversary night...the skies cleared, we had a great spaghetti dinner sitting out on the view point and later hiked to the border where I actually put a little more than my big toe over the borderline(I'm such a rebel). P.S. don't tell the border patrol they may check their videos and find the tape!!!

Birds, botany, bikes, boats and beaches

2011-07-15T12:04:00.007-07:00

It has only been a week since the last blog but it seems like a lot longer because we've done so much!

After leaving Watson Lake we headed for Atlin Lake, however, we didn't make it there. We stopped at Little Atlin Lake where Ken did some fishing and caught 4 Whitefish and I took about a million pictures of the eagles and other birds in the area. The weather cleared up for the evening and we were able sit and talk until late into the night around our fire. Seeing as the weather was to clear and warm a little in the next couple of days, Ken and I decided we would head for Whitehorse where we wanted to leave the truck and camper while we took a ride on the bikes to Skagway, across on the ferry to Haines, to Haines Junction, and then back again to Whitehorse. Along the way we saw the most beautiful grizzly bear that stood up on it's hind legs and took a good look at us, unfortunately Ken decided to give his famous bear call and it took off faster than I could get my camera out. Grizzly Adams he's not!

We could not have picked two better days in which to do the ride! It was sunny, warm, and the scenery was out of this world. We made many stops along the way including a ride to the head of the Chilkoot trail( I wish I could have done the hike but that is for another time!). Skagway was very busy with 3 cruise ships in port so we wandered the streets with the rest of the tourists and window shopped. We have never saw so many gold and jewelery stores, I guess when you are on the gold trail there is only one thing to buy, and boy they are hard selling the stuff! Our only purchase was a lunch of fresh halibut.

The evening ferry was a little late but it took us to Haines in just over an hour. Our boat was going all the way to Bellingham and it was full. It was no trouble getting on with the two bikes but the truck and camper wouldn't have made the trip without a reservation and that would have been a lot more expensive that the $130 we paid for ourselves and the bikes.

Haines is a world away from the touristy town of Skagway. With it's quiet streets and sleepy stores it was more up our alley. We dined on fresh halibut again(this is the place to do it)and found a nice state park in which to pitch our tent. Sweet dreams of magnificent glacier capped mountains!

Early the next morning we were off again, camera in hand! Oh My God, could the ride get any better than yesterday? Another day of riding with many, many stops just trying to take it all in. From Haines to Haines Junctions we were on sensory overload. After Haines Junction the land flattened out a bit and road conditions got a little worse due to construction, but not too bad. That evening we were back in Whitehorse at Camp W and unfortunately the next morning rain.

There was one more thing we wanted to do here in Whitehorse and that was canoe down the Yukon River to Lake Lebarge. So, here we sit doing laundry etc. etc. waiting and hoping that the weather will clear and we can paddle. We have the time to wait a few days and we have patience. On second thought...no patience, we are leaving for Kluane Park and hopefully better weather.

Oh by the way, for our German speaking followers, check our friends Stephen and Emma's website. They are travelling by Land Rover from Germany, Canada, South America and Africa! Their link can be found in the right hand column.

Lily pads on a small stocked lake we stopped at to have dinner between Watson Lake and Atlin.

Reeds on Little Atlin Lake.

This eagle decided he had seen enough of me.

Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon and our base(at Camp W) for a few days.

The scenery changes on the road from Whitehorse to Skagway, from a drier low mountain area to snow capped mountains and something that looks like a moonscape around "The Log Cabin" near the top of the Chilkoot Pass. The White Pass/Yukon Railway passes by just below the road.

We stopped along the way for a bit of a walk and for Ken a bit of rock climbing.

Just as we slip into Alaska is a great time for a photo op with the bikes.

At Skagway, (which was quite but a little too touristy for us, with 3 cruise ships in port) we had lunch and wondered around before we caught the boat to Haines.

A cannery in Haines on the road out to our campsite.

A short hike along the ocean took us through dense forest...

and along open beaches lined with such deep grass we had a hard time finding and staying on the trail sometimes.

The road from Haines to Haines Junction was so beautiful the pictures just couldn't do it justice, maybe I need a wide angle lens for my camera. Just a thought!

Ken caught the Ptarmigan, along with its family, walking in the tundra. They ran circles around Ken until he didn't know which way they all went.

Tundra flowers. I need to find out the names of the flowers up here, many are different than ours but yet some are very similar to plants I have in my garden at home

At the end of Marsh Lake, an adult Bald Eagle and 2 chicks.

The trail was close to the nest and with the telephoto we could even see the birds tongue.

Watson Lake

2011-07-08T16:21:00.005-07:00

Ken shows off his catch of the day, two walleye caught in the Hay river. He is such a good provider and he is having so much fun doing it.

An evening sunset over Great Slave Lake, the water goes on and on.

Over 100 km of this or even worse(I was sitting on the edge of my seat for the worst of it)I hope the Inuvik road is much better. We talked to people who went through this road two days later and it was a dust bowl, I don't know which is worse!

We are doing some hiking, on trails like this one in Mucho Lake Park. What a view, the color of the water in the lake was incredibly beautiful bluey green.

Life is good!

Emma and Stephen demonstrate their rooftop tent-we want one!

Things get steamy in Liard Hot Springs.

At Watson Lake we checked everyone of the 15,000 signpost for the one we left 5 years ago but couldn't find it!

Well, hasn't it been a long time! Oh the kms we have travelled! After leaving Pete we headed north, and I mean straight north to the NWT and as we crossed the border I am sure the first gang on bulldogs(a huge horsefly) caught sight of us and hunted us down until we stopped and let them harass us for a while. Along the way just north of the border we stopped at a the Louise and the Alexanderia Waterfalls that were very nice and the hike into them was very much needed. The first 2 nights in the NWT was spent in Hay River and the Territorial Campground which is located right on the Great Slave Lake. That lake is big, second only to the Great Bear Lake in being the biggest body of water located completely in Canada. Sitting on the shore it looks like the ocean. We arrived a few days before the long weekend when the world jet boat races were to take place going up the Hay River (I wonder where the town got it's name) the falls we had seen earlier. There were some very impressive boat there from as far away as New Zealand and Mexico, the defending champ, however, was from Hay River. The weather has not been that great but we did take out the Zodiac for a little sightseeing on some of the channels in town and this is where we met Gary Carter. Gary has a fishing boat that he has renovated into a bit off a houseboat, and with his boat he goes out on trips up to 6 weeks in length to the East Arm of the lake fishing. There is a commercial fish market here and apparently at one time there were over 100 fish buyers and thousands of commercial fishermen fishing this huge lake, unfortunately they over fished the lake and the government took over the buying and restricted the number of fish that can be caught, bought or sold. Ken had some good luck here fishing, catch a couple of Walleye in the river which I have to admit are as tasty as Sea Bass.

With plans of taking the motorbikes up to Yellowknife we left Hay River and drove to Fort Providence (crossing the Mackenzie River on a ferry where they are building a fancy new big bridge)where we planned on leaving the truck while we rode the 300 km to Yellowknife. However there was a forest fire across the road and they were threatening to close the road and then it started to rain-not good for biking-so we decided against possibly getting stuck in Yellowknife in the rain camping with our bikes and instead continued on west driving the Mackenzie Highway and then south on the Laird Trail, but not before Ken had a change to catch a couple more Walleye. The Liard trail is a dirt road or should I say, when we went through, a MUD road, big mud! 210 kms of mud...1st gear, 4x4 mud! We were very happy to be finished and it took over $15 of loonies in a car wash at Fort Liard to wash most of the mud off. We spent Canada Day, or Aboriginal Day as they call it up here, camped in Fort Liard and stayed long enough to enjoy a free pancake breakfast at the hall chatting with the locals. After breakfast there was to be a parade with decorated bikes and atvs and later games including axe throwing, we opted to start out driving south again on the Laird Trail.

A couple more days camping along the way- Petitot River at a native gathering spot, stocking up on food at Overwaitea in Fort Nelson, and at km 589 on the Alaska Highway we found a quite camping spot along the Tesla River-took us to Muncho Lake. What a beautiful lake, aqua blue/green glacier water nestled in the mountains. Ken did more fishing but unfortunately got skunked, tube steaks for dinner! I got out the kayak and paddled around in awe of the scenery and colours of the water. We stayed 4 nights and had lots of time for hikes, mountain biking and boating. Its was at Muncho Lake we first met our new friends Stephen and Emma(an alias) from Germany, a great couple traveling North and South America-like we did on the bike a few years ago-only they are in a Range Rover outfitted with a really cool on-top-of-the-roof-tent. We continued to run into them a Liard Hot Springs and Watson Lake until they headed a different direction on the Robert Campbell Highway.

Uh yes, the Liard Hot Springs. This is the 3rd time I have been and the 4th time Ken has been, and there are some changes. The biggest one being this year there is nearly no mosquito's! Do you believe it. We setup our mosquito tent but really didn't need it, even as we sat outside with until midnight with Stephen and Emma and another couple Gaby and Heske from Holland, drinking tequila and talking travel. Gaby and Heske are also heading to Tierra Del Fuego travelling in a Rav 4. Ken and I are jealous of their trip but we were able to give both couples a few ideas. The second change at LHSprings is that the top Beta pool, the really hot one, is now closed. They have found a type of undocumented shellfish living in it so they have closed the pool to swimmers so the shellfish can hopefully multiply. I can't imagine them living in that hot water.

After a dip in the springs first thing in the morning we are on the road only to stop in Watson Lake to refuel, do the the Internet and take a look at the signposts. We tried to find the sign we put up last time we were here but we couldn't, there are just too many!

Now it is time to hit the road again..no Internet for a while.

Our pictures don't want to load at the moment so stay tuned and I will load them when I can.

2011-06-27T07:21:00.003-07:00

Another big day, 125 km north of Mclennan on the road to Hay River you will find a small town called Dixonville, population about 350. A cute town with many interesting local characters nestled in the middle of some of the most beautiful farmland in the north. This is where found Peter Klumpner, an old school friend of Ken's, and his friend Terry. We spent time with them checking out the area in Pete's jeep, fishing and sitting around a campfire catching up on old times. What a great way to spent our last couple of days before heading north out of B.C. into the N.W.T.

By the way if you happen to be in the area and maybe a little hungry, on Thurs. Fri. and Sat. they serve up a very tasty home cooked meal at dinner time at the Dixonville Mall!

Well this may be the last time you hear from us for a while, as we trek into "no Internet zone" for a while, only us and the great outdoors...and the wildlife. I have my camera ready!

Ferry across the Peace River at Shaftsberry.

The Dixonville Mall, everything and anything you could need on your way north to Hay River.

Peter has a good collection on pets including 5 horses, 2 llamas, 4 dogs and a cat!

Peters farm's a collection of a farm house and may interesting out buildings on 160 acres.

Ken and Peter hang out after a great day fishing.

First 3 weeks-Condensed

2011-06-22T19:07:00.017-07:00

The typical Caribou fence.

Scenes of the Fraser Valley near Gang Ranch.

Which way you going Billy?

Gang Ranch invites us in.

Cattails, I love my new camera.

More cattails and a Yellow headed blackbird.

A storm on the horizon sets the sky ablaze with color.

Just when you think you are alone somewhere...bear prints on the path going your way!

And this wasn't even the motherload.

This guy was just laying in the dandilions on the side of the road, he didn't give 2 hoots about us.

Carl gets the smoker ready for the big catch.

Chris and Carls place in Likely, a picture of their view just would not do it justice.

I love my new camera.

War Falls in Carp Lake P.P.

Momma and her two calves.

Carp Lake from our campsite.

Ralph, all dressed up and ready for work.

You may think that I am making excuses, being lazy or maybe even starting to enjoy this new found way of life too much but really this is one thing I have learned in the last 3 weeks...it is not always easy to get to an Internet when you are on the road camping! Especially if you are heading in the northerly direction.

After leaving Westbank we made a mere 3 hour drive to Sorento to visit with Kens brother Ron and family Rosanne and Mercedes. Ken and Ron did a little fishing at White Lake and didn't disappoint us when they arrived home with 2 nice trout, a good start to a summer of fish stories.

After a few days it was time to move on and travel north to Kamloops (another big day) to visit friends Len and Heather, and Chris and Kim-just in case you didn't know Ken lived in Kamloops years ago, b.h. and actually has a few friends still living there. Len and Heather showed us their hospitality and Chris showed us his cool E.M.T. truck (he is a fireman). Things are never dull in Kamloops, and I guess you could include the Canucks game in that too, but we don't want to talk about that!

From Kamloops it was off to Little Big Bar Lake where we had camped with Ken's mom and dad a few years ago when I caught the "big one"! This year however, we are sure that the fish had been frozen out because we didn't even see a small sign of a fish, not even a ripple. Not to be disheartened though we donned our riding gear and did a few great rides around the Caribou including the Gang Ranch. We found an area that had been hit by a wild fire last year and picked enough morels that we ate nothing but for 4 days, morel soup. steak with morel sauce, morel omeletes, and finished then off with morel with pork chops, add to that wild onions and we are living off the land as Ken would say. The scenery on the ride didn't disappoint us either and the weather hung on until we were ready to pull up camp and head on.

Our next destination in the Caribou was Likely. Friends who we had met in the Baja the last few years had invited us to visit them there, where they spend their summers. What a great spot! 80 acres near the booming metropolis of Likely with a view over a pond and forested mountains that just wouldn't quit. And speaking of not quitting neither would the mosquitoes, ah yes we have arrived in mosquito country, but those with Muskol will prosper! We were not to be put off by the mosquitoes and weather, which had turned rainy and wet. We enjoyed tours of the area including the Likey Pub, Quesnel Forks (which was pumping out gold before Barkerville but now is nothing more that a wee bit of an campground and tourist stop, but we enjoyed it all the same). I have to say that one of the highlights of our stop in Likely was an evening spent in Hydraulic (a suburb of Likely, population???small) listening to "Yukon Slim" Brandon Isaac at a livingroom concert, he sang the Blues that left us all with a tear in our eye. I think we will be hearing about him in the future. The only thing that would have topped off the evening would have been Ken reciting "The Shooting of Dan McGrew". Ken, Carl and Roger fished one day in Bootjack Lake and between the 3 of them slaughtered 24 trout! What a fish fry! The ones left were promptly smoked and we were promptly on our way.

Making our way north, past Quesnel on the way to Prince George, we took the gravel road on the west side of the river and stayed a few nights at Punchaw Lake, we thought the fish were a little muddy so we set our sights on picking more morel mushrooms and seeing a little more of the countryside on 2 wheels, the Caribou really is a great place to explore-duo sport!

Our friend Ralph, who you know if you have been follow our blog in the past, is working for the B.C. Parks and is stationed at Carp Lake which is about 3 hours north of Prince George, so you can never guess where we were off to next. We really do have some fabulous parks in B.C...Carp Lake P.P. is 32 km off the hyway and is quite big, maybe 15 km long, with little islands throughout. Our campsite sat 93 steps (I counted, several times) above the lake with a view down to your dock and the water beyond that we just couldn't get enough of. Fishing was good I guess but we were after the Burbot or the Ling Cod as we know it. Unfortunately, the wind and waves picked up and we didn't take a cod home with us and to top it all off we left a few pounds lighter with the weight, line and bait still sitting somewhere on the bottom of the lake :( But boy we loved the park, we hiked, we mountain biked and out on the boat one afternoon saw a cow moose with 2 little calves. Apparently, the moose swim to the island when they are expecting and have their calves there where they are safe from wolves. Very cool. Ralph was busy with work but he did find time to visit a little and stop in for dinner, all in all it was a great stay.

So here we are today, at Ralph's place in McLennan (just north of Grand Prairie) he is still working in the park but we are here parked in his yard catching up on the Internet, laundry (the first time in 3 week, yikes!) and taking a few bike rides around this area, which in REALLY flat and seeing the sights. Today we took both bikes and rode a 420 km loop which took us threw the fire that burnt Slave Lake earlier this spring, we stopped by an aviary and got totally soaked in a downpour, it was a great day.

That's the thing about this life on the road, you just never know what tomorrow or today is going to bring! But what we do know is that it is time to pick up our pace if we want to be in and out of Inuvik before the end of July.

North

2011-06-01T10:47:00.003-07:00

Ah yes, yet another adventure begins! After packing up everything we own, that we didn't need in the truck, camper and trailer, and putting it away in storage we have once again hit the road in search of new sights. With Eileen at the front door of our now rented home we felt a lightness on our shoulders and the wind at our back, not planning on returning home for a year except to buy tickets and head out in another direction.

Which direction are we headed now? North, to far reaches of B.C. and Alberta and then on to the Yukon and the N.W.T.'s. We have plans to ride to Inuvik, Ken on his KTM950 and me on my BMW650 this time hopefully we will not be turned back by the rain and snotty roads. With the long sunny summer days up north Ken hopes to do a lot of fishing, I have numerous books to read and we both will do a lot of riding, all of which will be done while trying not to be airlifted by mosquitoes, black flies and no-see-mms! Ahh! the great northern outdoors!

Stay tuned for the tales from our adventures over the next 4 months. Yeh, here we go again!

The Trip Home

2011-04-26T09:48:00.019-07:00

Leaving home on November 30th, we would never have thought that April 4th and the return trip up the Baja would have come so soon. After 4 months of warm weather and travelling Mexico it is time to return to Westbank, a home and family and all the responsibilities that go along with it. As much as we hate saying goodbye to Mexico we are excited about moving on to the next section of our continuing saga.

The first day after leaving the beach was a pretty short one, into Loreto to dump, clean up our act and prepare for the trip home(not to mention one last dinner out for authentic Mexican food we just never seem to get sick of fish tacos). First thing in the morning on the 5th we are on the road and off the San Ignacio where we got our first taste of rain in 4 months along with some wind that would blow your socks off.

Undaunted by the weather though the next morning we are on the road to Punta Abreojos where we have been on the bike but never to camp. I wanted to do a bit of last time kayaking. We found Rene's Camp which was situated right on the Estero El Coyote a great place to do just that for a couple days, somewhat sheltered for the Pacific winds it supplied us we with bird watching galore and many little arms of water to explore. It was here that Ken found a little hitchhiker in the trailer, a somewhat farrow cat had caught a lift with us since our stay in Loreto and was scared and hungry by the time we found it 3 days later. It was hard to catch and when we finally got it out of the trailer it was gone and we only hope that it found food and a place to stay at Rene's before the coyotes found it!

Having had enough of the Pacific winds we were off and again attempting to drive a new road for the truck and camper. On a previous return trip from Mexico mainland Ken and I had taken the Coco's Corner/Gonzaga Bay/San Felipe road which was gravel and very much continuous washboard, at that time it had done the only damage to our bike on that trip, a lost speedometer cable and we vowed never to put ourselves through that again, but after talking to several people this year who had travelled the road and reported that it was much better and in fact mostly paved from Gonzaga Bay to San Felipe we decided to give it a try. The road was slow going from the Mex 1 highway to Coco's Corner which was of coarse not paved and during the 21 km we averaged about 18 km/hr. A brief stop at Coco's where we found out that Coco himself was not there but in fact in Ensenada dealing with health problems. Let me add a little Baja history here, Coco's Corner is a Y in the road and here lives a guy who welcomes all traveller in for a cerveca and to sign his guest book, where he will later draw a picture of the travellers beside their comment. Ken and I had done this on our past trip but we were unable to find our old comment because the book that year was already put away for safe keeping, but we were able to find signatures from people we had met along the was this year. The section of road from Coco's to Gonzaga was not any better than the first and we were really looking forward to a rest in Gonzaga Bay for a day or two but the winds again were so bad we decided to trudge on and stay in San Felipe(thinking that the road from here on north was going to be a way, way better...Not! Yes there is new pavement north of Gonzaga Bay but not for a while and the road is most definitely the roughest we had seen and our average speed dropped considerably. So to those of you who are thinking about making the trip, we a total of 93 km of gravel, of which the last 33 north of Gonzaga Bay was the worst and on which we averaged about 14 km/hr. The new pavement however was amazing and the new road was literally pushed right through mountain and arroyo, beautiful! And by the way the scenery along the way was fantastic.

Reaching San Felipe we stayed the night at Pete's Camp for the night and were on the road with intentions of getting across the border at Mexicali before noon on Sunday the next day. Things didn't quite happen exactly as planned however, deciding to do a little last minute shopping, and having a little trouble finding the crossing itself(you'll have to ask Ken about his wallet incident in Soriannas)cost us a little time and we ended up waiting in line for over 2 hours and then spending over 45 minutes in secondary while the border guards checked out our rig:( It is too bad you can't drive from Mexico directly into Canada and bypass the States. Not really, we had friends to visit in California on the way home.

One night camping along the canal on the Indian reserve just outside Yuma then it was on to Parker on the Colorado River to enjoy a little kayaking(an unexpected surprise) and to do a little riding. Ken had lowered the V-strom and put a lower seat on the bike so that I could reach the ground and ride while we were in the States. It's not my BMW but fun to ride all the same.

From Parker we were on to Death Valley, again we had been there before but on the bike not with the truck and camper. We camped overnight at Furnace Creek and did a few hikes into the mountains and to the sand dunes, unfortunately we were not there in time for the desert flowers but you know the desert has a beauty all its own.

From Death Valley we crossed into California and in a days drive we were sitting on the doorstep of our friends Teresa and Avery at their place in Walker. Now as you know this is the home on the famous Walker Burger and if it is this craving you have while in the area you absolutely have to stop and say hi...I mean everyone knows about the famous Walker Burger! Next a few hours north in Grass Valley we stopped for the weekend to visit with other Baja buddies, Lew and Ramone and their new addition to their family, Laila a black standard poodle. Northern California is beautiful in the spring and we took advantage of the warm spring weather hiking and taking a tour of a local mine, not to mention partaking in a few cervesas, margaritas and fish taco made just like they where in the Baja.

Leaving Grass Valley we cut over to head up the Oregon coast for awhile and with the weather still holding out for us enjoyed a little walk on the beach and a oyster bake as we headed north into Washington. Crossing the border into Canada was short as most always, with a few questions and answers and how do you do's.

Thursday night April 21st found us home in time to sort out some problems with our house (another story)and join Ken's family for Easter, this being the first time parents, siblings and nieces have ever been all together! Easter brunch with my family, along with an Easter egg hunt for the youngn's, again the weather cooperated, fun was had by all, too much food was consumed and I really have to say it is good to be home.

Ken relaxes and enjoys one last look at the square in Loreto before we head north.

In San Ignacio Ken takes a canoe for a little paddle using one of our lawn chairs as his seat and a kayak paddle to row.

These little guys mean business!

Paddling in the Estero El Coyote is relaxing and interesting with lot of varieties on fish and birds.

Near the boca(mouth) of the estuary clam shells line the beach.

On drive from Lake Chapala on Mex 1 to Gonzaga Bay we passed only a handful of vehicles, being left alone to enjoy the vistas on our own.

Parked at Coco's Corner, 21 km of gravel to Lake Chapala and 40 more to Gonzaga Bay.

Miles of gravel washboard!

Ken gets out the compressor to add air to our tires after driving the last of the gravel from Ganzaga Bay. The trick on washboard is to let the air down to about 30 lbs in your tires so they absorb most of the bumps. Having a generator and compressor on board is handy when you are miles away from a gas station.

Salt flats in Death Valley. close to the lowest point in the USA coming in at 287 ft below sea level.

To walk where no man has walked before...or at least since the big wind storm night!

Looking way down into Death Valley, if you look close you can see our rig parked in the lot located in the middle of the picture. Miles and miles of nothing to be seen by the naked eye.

I take a moment to stop and enjoy the view.

Water and time make for an interesting combination when forming rock arroyos, arches and walls. Death Valley has many examples on this.

The famous Walker Burger!!! in Walker California.

Still, too much snow in the passes around Lake Tahoe.

Ken, Lew, Ramone and Laila out for a walk in the park.

Spring flowers, Lupins line the hillside around Grass Valley.

Although a little cooler, the Oregon coast was still breathtaking.

Excuses, excuses!

2011-04-05T16:11:00.011-07:00

What can I say there are no excuses...life is hecktic on the beach! With no internet on the beach and not wanting to go into town or to the port to work on the blog I have fallen somewhat behind in my reporting and have received numerous emails inquiring on our status...where are you? is everything O.K.? are you ever coming home? So in reply to your questions, we have been on Juncilito Beach for the last 6 weeks and today we moved to Loreto, into an RV park, to do washing, fillup with water, dump and get to business on the blog! The problem with doing the blog entry this time is we have been here many times before and if you have been following us on previous trips you have heard it all before. So in respect to my problem I have compiled a few of our pictures we have taken in the last 6 weeks and I will now let them do the talking!

We are always up for a friendly game of bacci with our friends on the beach.

Ken tries to putt in his ball during a hole of beach golf, white rocks on either end of the beach represent the holes. Sounds easy but it can actually be quite challenging.

With lots on fresh oranges, lemons and grapefruit, squeezing juice is an endless job.

When the winds pickup, sailing is a fantastic option. Carl and Al (our neighbours on the beach) both have boats at the port.

The whales were still in the Sea of Cortez when we first arrived so we got out a few times to sit and watch them. Big, big, big!

While out on the boat we pulled up onto Carmen Island for a little walk around, the island is part of the Parque National Bahia de Loreto which encompasses most of the islands around Loreto.

Ken, Al and Carl did a bit of hiking up the canyons behind El Juncalito where they found a few waterfalls and ponds even if the area hasn't seen rain in a very long time.

From the top on one canyon there were some very breathtaking views of the palms. water and islands below.

You know I have to enter at least one food picture! This is a ceasar salad, served up at Del Barracho, One whole head of grilled romaine lettuce topped with dressing and croutons,made on site, that were to die for( oh and you could have it with chicken breast added as well)! I tried but just couldn't finish it!

More fun and games, Ken, Linda and I fit in a game of Mexician train before happy hour.

Early one morning as Ken is on his way out fishing some dolphins came into the bay to do a little fishing themselves.

Ken loves fishing and buzzing around in his 10 ft. Zodiac.

We took several rides back into the penninsula, which is not all dry with nothing to see but cactus. Down below the road an oxbow winds through the valley, still green even though the arroyo is dry and it hasn't seen water in a long time.

We did a few rides that we had done in past years, but still managed to loose our way (are you really lost if you know where you were, where you are and where you want to go but you just can't find the right road, but you got there anyway?).

Some roads we had travelled in past years were a little worse for wear after the last hurricane, here I volunteered to walk for a few metres and it saved my butt. That KTM 950 is amazing where it goes without much effort (well, not with much effort on my part, sitting on the back. Ken may have worked up a bit of a sweat!).

This is face only a mother could love. Do you know what this fish is? Ken caught it and it tasted like cod but...?

When the wind was down I was out on the kayak, my favourite destination...the little island just out from our beach.

On the island the Seagulls are nesting, here if you look hard you can see the eggs in the nest, in the forground, and mommy standing guard behind.

Lots of molting crabs.

Fishing was great the last week and Ken caught...lets say lots of fish including this Rooster fish, a real fighter. We will have fish tacos for a while.

Looking down at the beach and the 3 rigs camping there, taken from the top of the hill behind. Ours is the rig on the far right. We are so lucky to be able to enjoy this!

Tomorrow we leave Loreto to start our journey north, stopping in at a few places on our way and probably crossing the U.S. border in 5-7 days, then slowly through the States and then home to Canada. See you there!

Back to Baja

2011-02-25T13:13:00.008-08:00

Boy how time flies, I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since my last entry. After leaving Puerto Vallarta we continued on our way north for about 2 hours to Rincon Gyobitos where we had stayed on or way down the Mainland liked it and decided to come back for a few days on our return trip. The weather however in getting cooler as we go north, with fog in the mornings and a cold dampness in the air that has left all our clothes damp in our room. We decided to only spend 3 days at Rincon instead of our original week we had planned. We didn't leave before we were invited to the the owner of the hotel, Raul, birthday party. Again a great time was had by all, consuming too much food and beverages. Raul and his family were very gracious hosts.

From Rincon we are off the Mazatlan, to visit friends who are spending the winter there and to catch the ferry back to the Baja. We met John and Janet on the Baja several years ago but now they are making the journey to Mazatlan instead and we can see why. The stay at a beautiful park right on the water with everything they need and what they don't have now they will have soon as they build their own palapa complete with an outside kitchen. We spent a little time with them and went for a great lunch of Birra(roasted goat) and consomme with all the trimmings then it was off to the ferry for our trip back to Baja.

The great big ferry we took to the Mainland in January is no longer in service so unfortunately we had to take a cargo ferry on the return voyage. However, lucky for us there are 7 cabins and we happened to get the last one! The rest of the passengers had to spent the night sleeping on the deck or on chairs in the cafeteria, some didn't even have blankets and did I mention that it is getting cool as we go north and especially at night. We felt bad for the rest but....

We met the captain and voiced our opinion on the sleeping arrangements but...

we also met the chief chef and he and his staff gave us a tour of the kitchen on board. Later we found it is good to know people in high places as we got extra portions at dinner. After a good night sleep on relatively calm waters, morning found us in La Paz rested and ready to return to our truck, camper and STUFF parked a Gene and Elaine's place in El Centenario.

Unfortunately Gene was not able to visit Baja this year due to health reasons but Elaine and Ralph were home and happy to see us on our return. Life in La Paz never changes too much, Mountain biking Mon, Wed, Fri., visiting, and off course eating too much. Mountain biking being our main attraction, we went out with our usual group of friends and even were able to attend a race they were in, with Katt coming in 3rd and Mike second-great job guys! Eating being another of our main interests along with the fact that Elaine is here and loves to bake...need I say more except banana creme pie, strawberry cheesecake, and strawberry shortcake! Dinner with friends topped the list this stay and one dinner party (for 17 of us) Ralph, myself and Lynn made over 100 perogies and about 60 cabbage rolls, lots of work but worth it. We can't take all this eating for too much longer.

One week in La Paz and it is time to move north to Juncilito beach, before our shorts and bathing suits no longer fit us.

The town of Rincon Gyobitos hosts a show every Friday night featuring some sort of national dance group, singers etc. We were privy to a fantastic folk dance group that impressed us beyond words!
You know how we love tequila, we tasted some tequila made at the ranch of the owner of our hotel in Rincon.

Every year on Feb. 14th Raul celebrates his birthday by throwing a party and inviting all the people who are staying at his hotel. This year we were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time and got an invite to the party and enjoyed a dinner of carne asada, beans, salads and cake that was out of this world(not to mention some of his families tequila).

Back in Mazatlan we met up with John and Janet Smith(friends from recent trips to the Baja), they showed us around their camp, which was absolutely beautiful, and then took us to lunch before we left on the boat heading back to the Baja.

It's a long and dusty, or should I say sandy, trail into the the Pacific Ocean off the highway just north of La Paz.

The perfect bike to take on those long sandy roads is the KTM 950, Ken didn't have a problem making good time out to the water and back again.

Nothing like a walk along the water to relax and clear the mind! And not a soul in sight!

Not a soul or another footprint in sight.

Back in La Paz Ralph and I got a little cooking lesson on perogies and cabbage rolls. Lynn taught us her little cooking secrets and we helped her eat the food when we finished.

2011-02-12T06:54:00.009-08:00

Having been at the beach for a week we decided it was time to head for the hills and visit Colima and see the Colima volcano. The day we rode by here on our last trip there was a earthquake and we didn't stop so this time we thought the trip was a must. Although we were not really impressed with the city of Colima the surrounding countryside was beautiful and roads fun to ride on the motorcycle. The volcano didn't disappoint us, letting off a little steam every 1 1/2 hours or so, just in time for a good look and a few pictures.

After the short stay in Colima city it was back and the back and heading north. Along the road Ken caught a glimpses of a tarantula walking down the road, this made him very happy because it was the first and only one we have seen this trip. The spider was big and hairy, a real beauty!

On to Puerto Vallarta to meet Kelly(from SOF) and his wife Julie(who I walked with in the Breast Cancer walk last year). Meeting up with them we did a few more tourist attractions, renting a car and driving back up to San Sebastion(Ken and I had been through on our way down and really liked it), and walking around downtown P.V. and having diner on the Malecon where a whale and her calf put on great show, as well traditional dancers did a pole dance and impressed us all with their talent to climb up the the poles and swing down on ropes tied to their feet.

It was great to spend a few days with Kelly and Julie, their place at the Holiday Inn on the 16th floor had a fantastic view of the bay and P.V. no wonder they come here for a couple months in a year.

We drove as close as we could to the volcano.
Colima volcano.

Ken's always glad to find a new friend!

Vacation pictures just wouldn't be complete without a few floral shots.

Kelly, Julie, Ken and I wandered around San Sebastion and checked out the square and shops.

Amazing sand sculptures on the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta.

Traditional Mexician pole dancers preform several times everyday on the Malecon.

Quite the performance...

from the top all the way to the bottom.

Let's hit the beach

2011-02-06T11:25:00.014-08:00

It only seems right that the road out of the interior and down to the beach should be yet again one of the twistiest and most scenic roads, average speed at the end of the day...48 km/hour and that is taking into account that the first couple of hours were spent zipping along at 120 km/hour. As we descended the speed decreased and the temperature increased, we came down out the mountains shedding clothes and looking for water.

Water we did find! Miles and miles of beach that was calling Ken to try out the body surfing waves. First stop...Zipolete, a beach we had visited on our last trip, we still found it lost in the 60's with lots of Europeans enjoying the surf and sun "au natural". Along with the tourists come their restaurants and seeing as most of them were Italian pizza and pasta where bountiful and amazing. As much as we love Mexican food a change was appreciated. The room prices were somewhere around the same as you would pay in the 60's as well, ours was the cheapest rate yet coming in at 150 pesos/night or about $12.50( and it was very livable, maybe no a/c or hot water but on the beach there is usually a nice breeze at night and the weather is so humid this far south that cool water is more than welcome). We enjoyed kicking back for a week reading and body surfing but then found ourselves looking for more white sand, clothes clad Mexican tourists and a taco. All these we found in a brief stop in Puerto Escondito and then in Acapulco. We didn't stop for any length of time until we arrived in Zihuatanejo found the cutest little boutique hotel for less than we thought possible in this area thanks to Ken's great negotiating skills. (Once again I thought of Brenda as we lounged around the pool.) Casa Celeste Hotel, a most stay in downtown Zihuatanejo and right across the street from a little bar owned by a guy that used to bar tend at The Duport Pub in Westbank! And if the world isn't small enough as we were walking around the Zocalo one night we came upon friends of Kens from Peachland Tom and Susan Nichols, Donna Sweet, and Bruce Britten. We spent a nice evening over a dinner of lobster salad and coconut shrimp and laughed a lot about old times and weren't they crazy!

Uh yes, yet again it was time to hit the saddle and head north to Melaque and Brian and Sandi waiting for us in their bungalow they had rented for the month of February. The ride from Zihuatanejo to Melaque was a butt buster, 505 km, but what magnificent coastline. Actually the whole coast north of Acapulco through to Manzanillo and Melaque was amazing, miles of coconut groves, mango groves, and continuous bays of white sand edged with rocky cliffs. We just don't get tired of it! So the last week has been spent here in Melaque taking in all the local sites, with Brian and Sandi as our guides, a little beach time but a lot of eating and drinking like the thousands if other tourists here from Canada (it seems every other person is from B.C. and half of those from the Okanagan). Ken and Brian took in the Super Bowl yesterday, today Ken's washing up the bike and tomorrow once again we head out for the mountains and the city of Colima and hopefully a ride to and as far up the volcano as we can go. Apparently, it is somewhat active right now and it had snow last week, so we will see how far we can get!

Here's our ride with a great view of the mountains in the back, the last time we will see them for a while. One month on the road in mainland Mexico and we have put on 5000 kms, not many for us.

When Ken thinks I'm not looking he reaches for my lunch, a wild mushroom and choriso tyuluda.

6:26 a.m. on Zipolite beach!
Bet you thought I wouldn't see that again!

The women's work in this area is removing the coconut meat from the shell. Hard work using elbow grease and a tool that looks similar to a crowbar.

Mangoes are not quite in season yet, they should be ready in about 6-8 weeks. They are actually pretty good eaten green with a little lime and chili sauce on them.

Miles and miles of beach and not a soul on it.

Soaking up a little sun and enjoying the life in Zihuatanejo.

Did I mention the miles and miles of beach?

Not much can beat a mango margarita on a hot afternoon. Brian and Sandi join us for a happy hour in Melaque, down at the beach.

Doing a little sightseeing in the little town of La Manzanilla you really have to be careful where you go. These fences are there to keep the crocs where they belong but they have been known to stray.

Some ruggedness adds to the beauty of the Mexican shoreline.

Now isn't he a beauty, not quite as good looking as the Thai boys we saw last year but still a head turner.

The Pretty Darn Big Tree

2011-01-28T16:11:00.003-08:00

You wanted a pic, well here it is. Is the jury still out? It has to be pretty darn close to the biggest!

Oaxaca

2011-01-23T06:21:00.018-08:00

Monte Alban stretches out behind us and behind that the city of Oaxaca.

There are hundreds on little stores and stands selling Mexcal in Oaxaca. When I heard the name Mexcal I had visions of a worm swimming in the bottom of a bottle of tequilla, this is actually true. Indians made the mexcal from the aquave plant, used the fibre for making fabric etc. and ate the worms that lived in the plant. Thus, the worm in the bottom of the bottle!

Ken checks out the legs in the market.

Santo Domingo Cathedral, every wall shone from gold or silver.

We spent 3 pleasant days touring from Taxco to Oaxaca, riding again through the mountains. In this area you can see where water is coming out of the ground and in one town we stopped in they had made hot pools you could visit, we didn't stop and in retrospect I wish we would have made the time. The difference in this short leg of our trip is that on our last day, wanting to make a little time, we took the toll highway for about 60km at a cost of about $51 pesos or $4.50. The highway was great, it cut off about 30 kms and NO TOPES!!!

Arriving in Oaxaco we found it a bit more expensive but it is a big city, about 350,000 people, and very touristic so I guess it was to be expected. However, we managed to find a very cute hotel for $300 pesos and we settled to in the big city life. The first thing on our agenda was to visit Monte Alban, the oldest of the Zapotec ruins, dating back from 300 BC to about 800AD. They were by far the largest ruins we have visited and for the first time we hired a guide, $300 pesos but money well spent. From him we learned a lot about the ruins and because he spoke English quite well we were also able to talk to him about things that are happening in Mexico today, just the thing Ken enjoys doing. On the same day we rode out of town and visited a tree which they claim to be the biggest in the world, over 14mt. wide and 38 mt in circumference and over 2000 years old. We both agreed it was pretty darn big!

The rest of our stay we parked the bike, again in the foyer of our hotel, and hit the streets of Oaxaca visiting many of the squares, churches, and overwhelming markets. We even enjoyed a class of wine and a beer sitting at one one the restaurants around the main Zokalo. We found the St. Domingo cathedral absolutely amazing...the money. And the Asbesto market was bigger than any of the others and the walk from our hotel was very interesting, walking through streets with some very friendly girls and some hotels way cheaper than any we had seen in the rest on town. Oaxaca is a very artsy city, housing many theatres for art and music, museums, and if you are looking for Mexican handicrafts this is the place to come. One of the hotels we checked out in the arts district was over $200.00 and I'm sure it is not near the top of the scale.

We have really enjoyed our time here but we not feel the need for warmth and the sand. Today we head for Puerto Angel, on the west coast. Time to take some clothes off and put some sunscreen on!

Taxco

2011-01-17T20:44:00.009-08:00

We have been busy little bees, after spending a couple days twisting through the mountains we ended up in the top of a mountain in the city of Tasco, the silver city of Mexico. There are over 1500 silver shops in the city and I managed to visit a few, being the big shopper that I am. Another thing there is a lot of here are Volkswagen bugs, they are used for taxis here, they are the perfect vehicle for the steep cobblestone streets. We decided not to even try driving to the main square like we usually do and got a hotel on the main drag, these streets are not good for riding on bike. As is turns out we are a steep 5 minute walk to the Zocolo and the exercise is always good. These streets are so narrow here on some of the corners even the bugs have to back up and inch their way around. We hired a taxi, $50 peso for 20 minutes, which actually turned into 30 minutes(Mexicans have no sense of time)what a ride. It was the next best thing to a roller coaster ride!

We decided to take in a little tourist activity while we are here(besides the silver shops)so we took a 35 km drive to The Cacahuamilpa National Park. Cacahuamilpa derived from the words, cacahuate(peanut), milli(seed), and pa(in). So the word literally means in the seed of a peanut, which is good way to describe the caverns, the only difference being these caverns are over 2 km in with a ceiling height on close to 350 mt. These are to largest in the Americas. In February there are tours in the subterranean rivers which we would have loved to have taken but...next time.

Today we are off and riding again, after a couple days rest we are again on the road and putting in some more miles to our destination of Oaxaco.

Tasco by day.

Yes, this is a two way street in the city, it might actually be a little wider than most.

This picture is a bit blurry but it can give you an idea as to how steep the streets are.

Tasco by night.

Caves at National Park Cacahuamilpa. That's Ken siluette off to right of the picture.

These caves are huge!

Mariposas

2011-01-16T08:13:00.010-08:00

Monarch butterflies make the journey from eastern Canada and northeastern USA to this area in the middle of Mexico.

These trees look like they are brownish and dead but if you look closer...

you can see that the branches are loaded, literally coated with butterflies.

After having a picnic lunch, I sit and watch the butterflies for a while.

The Monarchs congregate in any source of water they can find.

We took a walk up the paths in Angangueo, the pueblo we stayed in while visiting the Monarch Sanctuary, and enjoyed the views of the red the roofs and the local church.

Angangueo is old and was the home of a booming gold mine until 1995.

I love all the little homes with the many pots of flowers.

What a ride! For the last 3 days we have been riding between 1900 and 2400 mts and that makes for nice cool riding temperatures, in fact we have been wearing just about every piece of warm clothing we have, but has it been worth it. The El Rosario Monarch Sanctuary was unbelievable! We stayed in Angangueo, a pueblo about 15 min. from Ocampo( the entrance to the sanctuary)where we turned up the mountain and rode on a cobblestone road up to 2800 mts where we paid our 40 peso entrance fee and started our hike up to about 3400 mts where the butterflies migrate to. We got to the top relatively early so the butterflies where slow in moving but the longer we waited and the warmer it got the more active they got. It wasn't until then that we realized how many butterflies there were. There are over 3000 trees that are literally coated with butterflies. Today, people are only allowed to walk to the place where the butterflies start to congregate, in recent years they could walk through the trees. We were happy to get to the point we did and see this amazing act by Mother Nature.

Return to Mexico Mainland

2011-01-12T16:34:00.018-08:00

Baja Ferries, here is our ride from La Paz to Mazatlan.

In San Blas we helped celebrate The 3 Kings day. The sweet bread on the table went all the way around the Zocolo. The 3 Kings day is bigger for kids in Mexico than Xmas, it is on this day that they are brought presents. It just to happened than when we where in San Sebastian the truck with one of the Kings came to the Zocolo and gave gifts to all the small children in town.

A beautiful view of Rincon Guayabitos taken while we where on our hike with Karla.

Ileana and Efrain, loaded down in their Vstrom and side car on their way to La Fin del Mundo. Believe it or not, came all the way from South Carolina to Kamloops to get modifications done on their side car because the shop there was THE place to have the side car worked on.
If you are interested in finding out more about Ileana and Efrain and the work they are doing to educate street kids and eradicate poverty take a look at their link "Motonomadas" to the right sidebar.

Heather oversees the transfer of Raicilla into a Coke bottle after trying a couple of samples of the finca's private brew. Raicilla is similar to tequilla only it is made from green agave instead of blue agave. We tried a natural, a coco, and another flavour made from a local flower. The natural is for men(hombres), the coco is for women(mujers) and the flowery flavour is for grandmothers(abuelas).

Driving through the countryside.

Ken, yet again, gets his own private parking in Mazamitla.

Everyone who was anyone gets a new weath for the new year.

Miles and miles on country fences, stones gathered and stacked one wide and 4 feet high.

The Cathedral in Morelia with 230 ft twin towers and a 4600 flute organ.

One of the many squares in Morelia in the background is the aqueduct, 1.5 km long and contains 253 arches that gradually disappears into the ground(we just about walked the length of it the morning we left).

Have you ever not done something for a long time and then the next time you do that very thing you say to yourself "Man I love doing this! Why don't I do it more often?" We have been saying this for the last week, ever since we came back to Mainland Mexico.
The food, the people, and the countryside. I'm not sure if the feeling of ahhh lies in the fact that we are on the road again, travelling fancy free with the wind in our face and the bugs in our teeth or if it is due to the fact we are free anywhere(from work) or is it just that we love Mexico so much? Any which way, we are both wearing one big-ass smile on our face(Kens' also with a bit of a runny nose and a cough).

We spent a fairly rough trip over the Sea of Cortes, seeing as the winds were up and the boat was a rocking, but we arrived in Mazatlan early in the day on Wednesday, Jan. 3rd. $18(200 peso)rooms are still available if you know where to look, and we do because it was the same hotel we stayed at time we were here in 2007(?). We had seen a couple on a Vstrom1000 with a sidecar(same as ours except ours is a 650, minus the sidecar, although I think it looks comfy) around La Paz and on the boat we parked next to them, we met them on the Malicon in Mazatlan and traveled with them for a couple of days. Nice couple...interesting, her from Puerto Rico and him from Columbia and now they are on their way down to Fin del Mundo...ah the memories!

I liked Mazatlan more this stay, it seemed cleaner or something but it still only held our attention for the one and night and we were off to San Blas(too bad we missed you on the road Jack and Katie). Again we found a cute little town( with great surfing beaches and a bird sanctuary that included of all things... pink flamingos) awaiting us with yet another 200 peso room and a fish dinner fried in garlic that was out on this world for only just over $5 each. It was Day of the Kings the day we arrived and a sweet bread that circled the whole Zocolo was demolished by the locals then the kids were given dulces(candies)and gifts. In some South American countries this day is bigger than Christmas for the kids.

As much as we enjoyed San Blas the next day it was off again, travelling south on the little roads along the beach...which I have to tell you were the home to some amazing properties we may have to visit on the way back up. Rincon Guyobitis, here we are again, another spot we visited on our last trip on the Mainland and loved. We found the Hotel del Rio for $300 pesos a night(cheaper if you stay longer and it includes a kitchenette, which most hotel/suites do)and along with the friendly staff we found a great bunch of Canadians staying the winter. Ken and I hooked up with Karla and friends for walks or should I say hikes up the mountain 2 of the 3 mornings we were there and I have to tell you the exercise felt good because we haven't done a thing since we left the Baja and mountain biking. We also found Dan and Robbie at their place down here in La Pineta, wow what a great spot-Sunset Casa!

Three days in one spot and it was time to move on. We had decided it was time to head inland so it was off to San Sebastian, a little village in the mountains , cute little cobblestone streets and quaint shops selling local fare, however the tour bus full of sightseers swayed our decision a little and instead of staying there we headed off to Mascota for the night. There we found a beautiful little farming town, also with cobblestone streets(which Ken hates driving on by the way)and a quiet room and friendly locals.

The riding has been amazing. Small mountain roads, many ranchos, cowboys on horses and fantastic views keep our heads turning as we rode up and over mountains and through valleys. Man we love this countryside! Mazamilta, another small town this time tucked in the mountains and on the edge of a park with pine trees was the next nights stop. From here you can take a truck up into the mountains to do a little 4 by 4'ing. Fun but not on our agenda so we tasted a bit of the local goods, pecans in a creamy fudge and several flavours of local liquor...mmm good.

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Morelia, a beautiful colonial city-lots of culture, and the gateway to the mountains where you can view the Monarch Butterfly migration. We walked around the city last night and were in awe of the buildings, you could spend days here walking the streets and going to museums...but we are here for the butterflies. Today we head for the mountains and hopefully tomorrow we will be in the midst of millions of yellow and black butterfly wings.

La Paz here and gone

2011-01-03T12:06:00.004-08:00

As you may be able to see, La Paz continues to grow and grow and grow
Heather ripping up the mountainbike trail out back of
El Centenario...ha, ha, ha.
Spending time on the malecon in La Paz.

Christmas dinner with friends.

We have spent a great 2 weeks here in La Paz, visiting friends, mountain biking(my leg is sore but feeling a little stronger), going to movies, playing train with the ladies, shopping and just enjoying life. New years was great, we went for dinner then to the beach to enjoy a great fire with more food and drinks. We put on a great show of fireworks along with a lot of others on the beach, in El Centenario and La Paz. Ken loves blowing things up! Ken and I were one of the last to leave and we actually lasted until after midnight.
Tomorrow we are catching the ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan. $375 for the 2 of us, the bike and a cabin. The ferry leaves La Paz at 10 p.m. and arrives at 8 a.m. in Mazatlan then the next leg of our adventure begins. We had planned to make it as far south as we could in this trip but after much discussion we have decided to take it easy this trip and maybe hold up in a few areas for a week or so and enjoy a bit more of the local fare. Whatever!
We have stopped by the Internet today on our way back for lunch(carnitas)so unfortunately I have no pictures to post but stay tuned and I will add them the next chance I get.

Mexico

2010-12-12T13:19:00.004-08:00

We always have to stay a night a Coco's beach even if it is not the same without Lew and Ramone

Ken over sees the Juncalito pizzas: our first happy hour at Al and Linda's camp.

It is very hard to wake up to this every morning. Our view from our campsite situated under the lighthouse at Juncalito(for those of you who know the spot).

Ken loves to fish! As of today each fish has cost us $12($45 for the licence), but boy are we having fun fish most nights and ceviche for happy hour today!

Like every preceding trip an excursion to San Javier is in order. This year the road is just about paved to the top of the hill. After San Javier it was over to the Pacific side to visit Gordon and Doreen(from Little Smokey) in Lopez Mateos.

Just a quick How-do-you-do to let everyone know we are safe and sound on Juncalito Beach where the sun shines and breeze blows everyday! The drive down was quiet (the way we like it) and the road is good, they are building a lot of new bridges and making the lanes much wider in many spots. We are busy with everyday life down here, we are not sure where the days go...biking, walking, body surfing, kayaking and fishing...the usual. What can I say?

One Price

2010-11-28T15:07:00.004-08:00

Well, you are not going to believe this! After close to 34 years at Overwaitea/Save On Foods I have hung up my apron and retired (or at least that is what I am calling it). After what seems like a lifetime in itself I have left the security of a weekly paycheque, early mornings (and nights) and the companionship of co-workers that I have spent more time with that my family and friends. Am I happy? Is a frogs butt watertight? With the exception on the first Monday morning when I woke and literately freaked out, exclaiming to Ken "What the Hell have I done? What am I going to do with the rest on my life?", I have been fine. He soon calmed me down and I haven't stopped smiling since!

Our health is good and two days we leave for Mexico in the truck and camper with the trailer, bikes and stuff in tow. Life is good!

I read this piece this afternoon and it kind of says it all!

One Price

There is only one price

You pay for this experience with your life.

You can paint on a canvas

one inch square.

You can paint on a canvas

one mile square-

Or any size or shape in between.

The price is the same:

One life, due and payable;

One payment, in full, at the end.

And, you die knowing the scope of your choice;

Timid or expansive,

Cramped or capacious.

Listen to me!

One price.

One price buys all the rides,

or none.

The price is one life:

Spectator or player,

In or out of the arena.

One life.

Time is the only unknown,

And time matters not.

The price of admission-

for one minute or for one eternity-

Remains one life.

Hoarding adds not one second.

Giving subtracts not one breath.

Living itself is the defining action,

The shaping force;

Brave, fierce living,

In the body,

Heart open,

Arms open,

Eyes open.

The act of being shapes and sizes the canvas.

Carpe diem?

Not nearly enough.

Seize life!

Wring from it the payment's worth.
Spread out.

Unfold.

Stretch wide.

Paint in broad strokes

with bright colors.

Man or mouse,

A line or a six-lane freeway,

Gray or a rainbow,

A point or a universe.

Dance on a pinhead or across the stars.

The price remains the same:

One life.

Roberta R Deen.

Weekend to end all women's cancers

2010-08-16T12:03:00.018-07:00

Shoppers Drugmart Weekend to End all Women's Cancers

This is it, we made it to the end of our 60 plus km.

We're happy as we strut our stuff down the pink carpet.

But read on to see how we got to this point!

Here is the crew...our team...The CSI Wine Country Walkers,

together we raised close to $19,000.00.

What a team!!!

And we are off. Over 1100 of us, over 2200 walking feet and just about as many boobs! 2 day walkers pledged at least $2000 and one day walkers at least $1200.

Boobs on 4 wheels (I'm talking about the vehicle in the background),this one of the support vehicles that constantly drove with the walkers making sure they were all doing fine and didn't need help, first aid or a ride to the next checkpoint.

Boobs on 2 wheels(again, I'm talking about the bike)support staff was at every corner making sure we were save crossing intersections. Support staff even had to raise $500 just to help with the event.

At one of the many rest stops we eat, drink and rub our feet while we enjoy the amazing view of the city of Vancouver.

Our trek took us all the way down town and around False Creek from our starting point at U.B.C

After a scorching first day we all enjoyed at class of something cold and hung together in the shade, out of the sun.

After day one a shower is in order and then it is back to our tent city to catch some zzz's before we set out at 7 am the next morning. Although we were all originally assigned tent mates, more than a few people opted out of tenting (after the long day walk of 35 km) and headed for the nearest hotel, leaving Julie, Susan and myself to each enjoy a tent by ourselves.

There is always something good for a laugh, and laugh we did.

Susan gets a Sushisu (not sure of the spelling) massage to help ease those aching muscles. Susan, Julie and I all one, marvelous.

Heat rash...Yuk...it was really quite warm out!!!

Words of strength and encouragement!

Well, I'm back from one amazing experience! Walking 60 km through the streets on Vancouver in 2 days was harder than I thought it would have been but it was also more rewarding. Yes my feet are sore and yes the fatigue of the weekend may take a day or two to get over but all in all I faired well (even my bad knee). I made over my $2000 pledge and the event raised over 2.1 million dollars in aid of all women's cancers.

It was inspirational to spend time with so many people who were making this walk in the name of loved ones-mothers, daughters, wife's and friends who are survivors...or not. For me, I am proud to have been a part in something that I hope will find a day when there is a cure and we no longer have a need for this walk.

Thank you to all my sponsors, my hat goes off to you and your generosity, and finally my running shoes come off. Oh those poor feet with blisters and all!

BC Cancer Foundation

2010-06-18T15:38:00.003-07:00

Shoppers Drugmart Weekend to End Women's Cancers

Well here I go! I've embarked on another journey on the road of fundraising. Two days of fun with a great group of people raising money for a very important reason...let's end women's cancers through knowledge, support and research. I've bitten off a big piece of pie and need your help to make it all happen. I've committed myself to earn $2000.00 before August 14th, as you can tell I have a way to go. And speaking of a long way to go... I also have to train for 2 days of walking 30 (each day) through Vancouver, I have been walking a bit but my knee has delayed my training a little. If you have not heard Ken and I had a bit of a moto-accident in Thailand this year and I had surgery on my right knee. The knee is healing nicely but now it time to get down to some serious training. By the end of next week I should be well on my way to 14km and still have close to 2 months to go. No problem! Anyway enough about me and back to you... if you can help with a donation you know it would be much appreciated and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Donations can be made thru my site at:

http://www.endcancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Vancouver2010?px=3286810&pg=personal&fr_id=1422

Thanks, and maybe I'll see you on the road!

That's a wrap

2010-04-01T04:37:00.009-07:00

Back in Chiang Mai and we are trying keep busy while waiting for my knee to heal so what do we do? We take another road trip via scooter into the mountains, where it is a little cooler, to a little town called Pia. Pia is lost in time, around the 60's to 70's, a little hippy dippy ville in the hills. Lots of dreadlocks, peace signs and tie dyed t-shirts are what you will find here. On the way to Pia, 3 1/2 hours from Chiang Mai on a very twisty road, Ken has the most amazing experiences (apparently it made his whole trip) on the road we came across a Hooded Cobra which measured about 6-7 feet. I am not afraid of snakes but they are not on my top 10 gotta have list but I am off the bike and have my camera out in a niche of time. I got a few photos but nothing unfortunately that shows how the snake flared it's neck/head at us. Pretty impressive! As usual I had to threaten Ken to stay back and not get too close. The guy is crazy! His dream encounter not mine. Now my dream encounter is more like the one we had at dinner that night...we went to a Thai barbecue. A pot is put on your table, over a flame, and in the pot you cook your own choice of meat and vegies in a broth with/without noodles and in the middle of the pot is a grill where you grill your own meat or seafood. Similar to a fondue idea or a raquellete. Pia turned out to be a nice diversion from the city for a day or two.

We returned back Chiang Mai for the Sunday street market, amazing as always, I have no idea where all whose people come from. The nightly special for the market is the $2 half hour foot massage or head, back and shoulder massage. What the heck we sprung for the full $4 hour package and got both done, I love this place! After a few hours wandering the streets in the market we started to make our way home, and what do we run into around a corner not far from our hotel? Just an elephant, Ken is in his glory again. Ken buys a couple to bananas and we feed them to the elephant, it's trunk in your hand as it picks up the banana feels very cool but at the same time kind of yukky. I don't know...so all is not lost... I didn't get to ride an elephant but at least I got to feed one.

The hooded cobra trys to get off the road with out being seen. We talked to someone else that day that had seen one as well that day, only a few hours later. Maybe it is mating season and they are on the move, they are not usually seen.
Ken kicks back at our guesthouse in Pia. Ours is one of the rooms in the back. They looked very cutsy but ended up being very noisy. Our room was on stilts and the room staff sat under our room talking and doing their business early in the morning, it sounded like they were in the room with us.

This time Ken can cook! Soup around the edge and grilling pork, water buffalo and chicken on the top.

Rice fields along the road to Pia.

Beautiful views for the jungle on the road to Pia.

Oh, what a life! Rest and Relaxation!

Ken feeds a new found friend!

O.K. here we are today, waiting for a connecting flight at the Taipei airport (in the VIP lounge). My knee is not healing as it should, Ken and I were a little nervous so made the decision to end our trip early and return home for therapy that we can understand, in English. Yes it's a drag but on the bright side our health insurance has payed for us to fly back business class so we are trying to make the best of it.

Let the Easter bunny know that we will be home in time of Easter!

Heather can cook

2010-03-26T07:16:00.007-07:00

As I've said in previous posts, the main attractions here in Chiang Mai are trekking and cooking schools and seeings as I (we) are not up to trekking at the moment I decided to check myself into a half day days course. It sounded interesting to me and Ken is never opposed to my learning culinary skills. As it happened I was the only student signed up for the afternoon class so received my very own personal, one on one tutorial.

So, what was on the books in the kitchen on this 36 degree (before flame and oven temperatures) afternoon? I had my choice of numerous dishes from which I had to pick 6. My top 6 picks were.

Tom Yam Kong-hot and sour prawn soup
Kai Phat Met-mamaung-stir fried chicken with vegetables and cashew nuts
Nam-phrik aeng Khiaw waan-green curry paste
Kaeng Khiaw waan Kai-green curry chicken
Paw-pia Thawt-spring rolls
Khao-neeaw Ma-muang-sticky rice pudding with mangoes

After being picked up at our hotel the instructor and I stopped by a local market on our way to the cooking school, here she showed me all the different veggies and spices that are used in Thai cooking (most of which I would be using later on that afternoon). It was very interesting because Ken and I had seen them all before but had no way of asking what certain things where because the people who work in the markets seldom speak English. Most Thai dishes are made from fresh items cooked quickly and in a wok. When at home the Thai eat sitting on the floor, each person has a plate of rice and main dishes placed in the middle and are shared with everyone dipping their sticky rice in the soups or main dishes. Thai also eat 6 or 7 times a day, it is amazing they are such small people and generally not over weight. One Thai described their food as fresh, healthy and made of herbs that were good for the insides. Interesting, but whatever the description I say it is just down right yummy!

Oiy, my cooking instructor and I get ready for an afternoon in the kitchen.

Hot and Sour Prawn Soup

ingredients;

50 gr prawns
3-4 pieces lemon grass
3-4 pieces slices ginger root
2 kaffir lime leaves
1-3 dried or fresh chilies, crushed
30 gr straw mushrooms, torn into small pieces
30 gr onion, cut into pieces
30 gr tomatoe, cut into pieces
1 tsp sugar
1-1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 1/2 c chicken stock
sliced coriander and chives for garnish

method;

Boil chicken stock in a pot, add lemon grass, ginger root, kaffir lime leaves and chilies, cook until boiling.
Add straw mushrooms and large onion in the pot with gentle stir. Wait for a few minutes until everything is done.
Add prawns, tomatoes, and season with fish sauce, sugar and lemon juice to taste. Turn off heat.
Sprinkle with coriander and chives, it is ready to serve.

The best!!!

I made my own green curry paste from scratch, 13 herbs and spices. Pounded to pulp by hand. Obviously they haven't heard of a food processor in Thailand (or at least they are not admitting it.)

Rolled with my own hands vegetable spring rolls (sweet chili sauce for dipping) and banana spring rolls (sweetened condensed milk for dipping).

Now all I need is more chances to practice.

From Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai and back again

2010-03-20T02:12:00.018-07:00

Due to unforeseen circumstances Ken and I will be hanging around the north of Thailand so why not see a little more of what it has to offer? Tony was around for a few days, renewing his Thai visa and we didn't want him to be too bored so it was off to the zoo, the mall,a movie and anything else Ken and I could do with various bum legs and arms. After Tony's time with us was over we decided we had seen enough of Chiang Mai for the time being and it was time to move on. My leg was semi-mobile and we didn't have to see the doctor until the 23rd so we jumped on a bus and off we went farther north and into the mountains to Tha Ton.

Funny story; until now we have travelled by plane on this trip and our bus to Tha Ton was the first leg of our journey using local transport and we decided to go by regular bus with the locals. The trip was a bit hot but overall pretty good. After we were settled in our guesthouse in

Tha Ton we patted ourselves on the back, congratulating our selves on a job well done without our own mode of transportation (our own bike) Ya, later wanting to go for a walk we realized we had forgotten a bag, including shoes and books, on the bus. Crap. Lucky for us a guide staying at the same guesthouse was able to phone the bus station and the bag was delivered to our room the next morning, for $1 (I think Ken gave him a tip). We liked the little town of Tha Ton so much we stayed an extra day and explored the countryside a little and rode right up to the Burma border with was only a few kms from our guesthouse. From Tha Ton the longtail boats only make the trip to Chiang Ria once a day and only if they have 6 people for the ride. Ken and I were little nervous because we had not seen another traveller who was planning to take the trip and although we liked Tha Ton we didn't want to out stay our visit. The boat driver had to make hay while the sun was shineing and we picked up 7 other people along the way. The trip was the best 350 B, or $10 each we have spent so far. We all sat sideways in the skinny boat (head to foot) and off we went in very low waters. The weather has been so dry here the river is quite low and everyone had to get out of the boat ,at least 6 times (except me with the injuries), and help push the boat off sand bars. Good fun with some great people.

Once in Chiang Rai we setup in a guest house and took a look around the city. Chiang Rai is at a higher altitude and farther north (only 60 km from the Burma border) so the weather is nice here, not as hot as Chiang Mai and not at all humid. The only thing wrong here is that the Burmese or the Thai (depending on who you talk to) are burning the rice fields or underbrush even more that around Chiang Mia and there is so poor visibility you can barely see your hand in front of you face, so forget about seeing any of the local hillside scenery, which they say is breath taking. We like the speed of Chiang Rai, slower and with a population of just over 60 thousand it is easy to get around in. Everything is just a little more expensive up here, ha ha, we still have trouble spending $40 to $50 a day.

It has been close to one month for us here in Thailand, 30 days is the end of our tourist visa and seeing as we have to see the doctor on the 23rd we made a the run over the border to Burma and got a 2 week extension on our Thai visa on entry back into the country. On the way to the Burmese border we rode the Golden triangle, where you ride along the Thai, Laos and Burma border, where the opium trade used to be the main economy (may still be). Burma has the largest market we have ever seen, just over the border you can buy any knock-off item you could think of. Anything you ever wanted to buy at one tenth the price and as usual I can't spend a dime...I am so cheap! but Ken got a pair of Oakleys for $1...

Time to head back to Chiang Mai to see the doctor. This trip we took the 1st class bus...with a/c. Oh, and we bought an extra suitcase so all of our things can be put inside so we won't leave anything behind. Man what a ride on the 1st class...a/c, bucket seats, movies and a stewardess handing out bottled water and cookies, life is good! Once in Chiang Mai it was back to the Prince Hotel and our old room.

What a he-man flonting his stuff at the

Chiang Mai zoo.

Thailand's favorite mode of transportation, now which one is ours???

Shopping is the mall, I fit right in.

Sunset on a What in Chiang Mai.

From Tha Ton we rode to the small town of Mae Solong, where the chinese settled in the 1940's and started growing tea.

Ken samples Olong tea, which seems to be the favorite. Tea testings is a lot like wine sampling, including a tradition of pouring, colour and aroma.

The longboats are the main form of transportation in the river. Boats like these make the trip 60 km trip from Tha Ton to Chiang Rai in approximately 4 hours.

Life along the river.

An elephant camp along the river.

The White Palace in Chiang Rai. It looks so different because most are bright gold or made of teak.

Not exactly a luxury model, used for transporting farm goods.

We found out everything we needed to know about opium.

The Golden Triangle sits on the Mekong river, bordering Thailand, Loas and Burma (or Myanmar).

Medical update. We have been getting our wounds cleaned everyday at the hospital. Turns out Kens elbow should have had stitches so it is taking a while to mend. I got my stitches out in my elbow and knee in Chiang Rai. Both knees are not healing as fast as I would like, I'm walking but very slow and I can't bend the one knee at all. We have talked to 3 doctors and have got 3 different theories on healing, it is a little frustrating. It's kind of funny as well, everyday when we go in for cleaning the procedure is different and and bill is different, even for the same thing. Ken and I have started taking wagers on what the price will be at the end of the day. Our Dr today says maybe one more week of antibiotics and cleaning, I hope that is all. We would like to move onto Laos and Vietnam but will not leave until the we feel confident all is well.

Chiang Mai

2010-03-09T04:12:00.012-08:00

We had to say good-bye to Puket, after 10 days we had mixed feeling about leaving. I could have used a little more time unwinding sitting by the pool but we both felt the need to get moving and experience a little more of the Thai culture. We bought plane tickets to Chiang Mai in the north, Faun (the Thai girl whose bungalows we were staying at) gave us a ride to the bus and off we went to catch our plane to new and cooler places in the north.

Desending into Chiang Mai the first thing we noticed was the air quality, it reminded us of the firestorm in Kelowna, but it isn't that bad everyday and after a while you really don't notice it at all...really.

A couple in Puket gave us the name of the Prince Hotel, they said it was a value in Chiang Mai with a pool, h/c water and aircon all for 600 baht ($20) a night, so we have taken up residence here and are quite comfortable.

Chiang Mai is a nice city, it has a population of about 165 thousand, it is very warm and welcoming. The old city where we are hanging our hats is built in a square shape surrounded on all 4 sides by a moat that was built over 700 years ago to keep out Burmese invaders. Each side is about 2 km long with traffic travelling clockwise on the outside of the moat and counterclockwise on the inside. The old city is dissected with a few main roads which makes it easy to get around in but off of the main roads there are hundreds of little "soi" or alleys down which you will find all kinds on restaurants, shops and guest housed (hundreds). It is fantastic to go exploring, each day we have rented either pedal bikes or mopeds to get around on. A close runner up to the number of guest houses in Chiang Mai is the number of Wats, Buddha temples, there are about 300 temples here almost as many as in Bangkok which is a whole lot bigger city.

Trecking, and cooking schools are all the rage here. Every morning when we go the market for our fresh mango shake for breakfast we can see the students and teachers carrying their baskets shopping for all the fresh ingredients they will be using in the coarse that day. The smells of the fresh spices and all the vendors selling grilled meats and stirfrys is absolutely incredible. The Thais use alot of spice/herbs with all fresh simple ingredients, their food is so good for you...well we did see a Mc and a KFC here but that kind of fast food in far and few between and it is expensive compared to the $1 to $2 meals you can buy in a local restaurant.

Needless to say we love it here.

A view of Chiang Mai from the road to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep a temple on top of a nearby mountain.

Looking down the moat at night.

One of the oldest Wats in Chiang Mai

The intricate carving is unbelievable, the hours of labour that must have gone into it is mind boggling

What do you call these?

A dragon guards the long stairway to Wat Phar That Doi
Suthep, Ken and I climbed the steps along with Buddhist monks. At the bottom Ken took their picture for them in this same spot, I guess they can be tourists too.

A vendor in the market sells deep fried cockroaches, grasshoppers and grubs, we passed!

The sun over rice fields, you can see how smoky it is.

OK, you know trips can't be all fun and games, and Ken and I have considered ourselves pretty lucky in all the travelling that we have done, but we had a little bad luck when our friend Tony came up from Bangkok to visit and go on a bike trip to the Golden Triangle with us. We were travelling through a twisty mountain pass having a great time and enjoying our day. I saw a great picture op and asked Ken to pull over so I could take a picture. We hit some loose tar and down we went. Not nice. Luckily a truck passed by and took me to a clinic while Ken and Tony rode the bikes behind. A nurse cleaned us up but told us to go back to Chiang Mai to the hospital. Somehow I sat on the bike for the 1 1/2 hour ride back to Chiang Mai and luckily the bike was still ridable and Ken wasn't that badly hurt he couldn't ride it. At the hospital they cleaned Ken up (some good road rash and a bruise from his hip to his knee). I on the other hand had to have a little bit of a knee surgery, the skin was wore off down to the knee cap, along with a few stitches to an elbow. 3 days in the hospital for me and I will walking with care for a long while. Fortunately no bones were broken, we were wearing our helmets and we both walked away from the accident. The travel insurance company has been good, of coarse we had to pay with our visa and they will reimburse us (more flyer points for us). Much to our surprise the bike only cost $70 to fix and the shop was really nice about it (people are so nice here!) I guess there are many accidents here everyday. The health bills have been around $1000 so far and I have to keep going to the hospital everyday to get my wounds cleaned and then the stitches removed in 2 weeks. I don't even want to think what it would have cost in the U.S.!!!

Anyway, our plans have changed a little, we will hang around the north of Thailand for a few more weeks then probably go to Bangkok and then to Vietnam only for the last week or so before we fly out. That's OK we are flexible. Here are few pics of the accident...

Ken and I get adjoining beds in emergency.

I get stitched up and settled in for a few days.

Ken's nasty bruise on his hip.

One of our lovely nurses, they were all sooo nice!

Life goes on.

A new business opportunity for Ken and Heather

2010-03-04T07:15:00.003-08:00

Have you ever though "What business could I start up in Canada that was new and exciting and never been seen before"?

These little fish are very hungry and they will eat all the dead dry skin on your feet, leaving your feet feeling soft smooth and strangely tender.

A small dollar investment, minimal overhead and literally no upkeep with a great return on your money!

What does Heather think of it? Well after a while she could keep her feet in the water but it gave her the total willies!

I think Kens feet got a real working over, with more fish attracted to his toes and feet. He thought he could feel them nibbling with the occasional pull on his hair.

Oh, I think he likes it. Investors anyone?

Phuket, Thailand

2010-02-27T06:42:00.017-08:00

February 18th, we departed on our adventure to Thailand and Vietnam, the first vacation in 12 years without our own ride. Two carry on bags and smile from ear to ear is all we were bringing.

We flu to Thailand via Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific.

I thought it was a very comfortable ride, considering we were in transit for over 25 hours.

We had our choice of window seats as we flew over the water and islands before landing in Phuket.

The first day in Phuket we arrived at 11:30 am got a room and started our sight seeing promptly. We hired a Tuk Tuk and saw the sights of Phuket town for 1 1/2 hours all for 5 dollars.

Our Tuk Tuk driver, Chia, and Ken down at the port in Phuket town after checking out some markets, the old town, and a view point of the city all the while he is giving us a little commentary/tutorial.

After our tour with Chia we came across a parade, it seems it was "Phuket days" and the people were celebrating with costumes, traditional and new music and FOOD (we are really liking this part about Thailand), all indigenous to the area.

A family steps out to see the festivities in the family wagon, complete with baby seat.

The view of Phuket town from a viewpoint, I love the fact that city has loads of green space.

Ken and I took a tour to Phi Phi Island, a bit of a zoo with tour boats everywhere...

but the sights were really breathtaking!

We found a fish market one day that is run by one of the aboriginal tribes of Thailand. You can buy the fish direct from their fishermen and then take them across the road and a restaurant will cook it for you. You just can't too much fresher than that!

One of the industries here on Phuket island is rubber tapping. They use the rubber to make neoprene for wetsuits.

One of our trusty steeds. This one in brand new. Ken does the driving, after all our adventures with me on the back it just wouldn't be right for me to be on the front riding the wrong side of the road (that would be the left side Andy and Allison), beside who can afford another 6 dollars a day for my own bike!

Behind Ken if you look hard you can see Phukets islands biggest waterfall, they charged us around $14.00 to walk the 10 minutes to see it, hmmm.

It is extremely humid here and we are finding we need to replace fluids constantly. Although we are drinking more than our fair share of water, Ken has found a new favorite in a Mango shake (really a mango slushy) and I have been known to have developed a taste for iced green tea.

Now we don't know this guy but he is having a real good time with young ladies down on Banger Street in Phatong. The only catch is that these beauties actually of the male variety...complete with the knockers and many minus ??? with a little nip and tuck!

Oh yes, here is the the area around our pool where I do a little yoga in the morning and have a little dip before breakfast of fruit and yogurt or a couple hard boiled eggs and toast. We started eating Thai for breakfast when we first arrived but I just can't quite get used to curry and rice first thing in the morning. After breakfast we chill a little with a book before heading out on the scooter for a tour of the island, snorkeling or just riding to feel the wind cool our sweaty bodies, on average we have about 4 dips in the pool, and 3 or 4 showers a day. I love the humidity, it makes the skin feel great, no wonder the Thai women have such beautiful skin.

Speaking of the Thai women, we can't quite figure this whole situation out here with the mostly older men from every corner of the world and the Thai women beside them. They don't seem too happy, can life be so bad here as a women? I can't figure out which is worse- to sell yourself short for what you think is a better life or to take the life from someone who is doesn't know any better. I guess they have been doing it for a long time and it is not mine to understand. And I am not even going anywhere near the girly-boy thing!

Oh yes, the food! The food is nothing short of amazing. We have literally ate somewhere and thing different every meal, OH MY GOD! Noodles, rice, soup, banana pancakes, seafood, chicken or pork. We are averaging about $3 to $7 for the two of us for dinner, $3 for lunch and even less for breakfast. Our rooms have averaged $15 to $20 a night (with a pool, a/c and hot water-although cool water is great), $3 to $7 a day for a scooter. We have treated ourselves one night to an hour body massage, $10 each in our own little corner of heaven, I could get used to that!

2010-02-14T08:05:00.003-08:00

Why is Ken steaming? Why is he so HOT? Why does he look so happy?

Because he is hot, happy and steaming with body heat caused by our afternoon x-country skiing into Peachland Lake and back. Notice how low the waterline is, usually the picnic tables (which are mostly buried in snow) are only a few feet above the water and now they are about 10-12 feet. If you look real close you may be able to see a moose that was up on the hill in the background.

We packed in some dry wood and lunch, which consisted of smokies on a bun, pepperoni and some nuts, we built a fire and enjoyed the bit of sun that shone through the clouds and the mild temperatures.

You see, what a great day. How could you not be happy. Life is good on a Canadian winter day in the snow and cold. What a great day!

Oh by the way, stay tuned...we leave in 5 days for one month in Thailand and one month in Vietnam. Hah the warmth!!! :)

Merry Christmas to all

2009-12-21T10:02:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting