Tinkerblue

My 30min Walk Lasted 4 Hours

I had a lot of crap in my head yesterday. It's been there for a few days. I couldnt turn my brain off. I needed to clear my head before I said something stupid.

So after breakfast I headed out for a quick half hour walk. My plan was to walk to the airport and back.

It was wet and cold and windy. I was wearing jeans, my runners, a fleece and a raincoat. When I reached the airport my brain was still racing, I couldn't even make sense of my thoughts. So I kept walking along the dyke.

I kept walking. And walking. And walking. I walked all along the dyke, past the cranberry fields, past where the Fraser River meets the Pitt River, past the gun club, all the way to the Pitt River Bridge. Then I walked some more, along side Lougheed Highway and down Harris Road to home.

4 hours. About 20km. Did it clear my head? I think so. That or my brain was frozen and numb. But at least I could think straight.

I was so soaked that the dye in my jeans had turned my legs and my sneakers blue. Even after a soak in a warm tub last night and a shower this morning, my legs are still blue. But my mind is still quiet. Mission accomplished.

Stomping Grounds Coffee Shop

5 years. 5 years we've been waiting for a coffee shop to open in our local village. There's been rumours of one coming for years. Last summer there was a business license issued and interior fit out began. But never finished.

For years we used to frequent Bad Ass Coffee shop which became Cafe O Lait. We liked the owners George and Cheryl. We were friendly with the staff. They knew our orders. Friday night music nights, Sunday morning breakfasts. Then they sold and it all went down hill from there. Quickly. Seriously, it shut down completely within the year. It's now a sports equipment shop. We miss it.

Now we have a new hang out. Stomping Grounds had their soft opening on Monday. Their official opening is April 9th. Joanna and I went for hot chocolate and chai tea lattes on Monday. Hubby and I went for sandwiches this afternoon.

The drinks are good, the food is tasty and the staff are friendly. So far, so good. I'm looking forward to summer when they can roll up the doors and have some tables outside.

The Torch Relay made it to Pitt Meadows

On Monday morning Hubby and I woke up bright and early to see the Olympic Flame make its way through Pitt Meadows. It travelled down Harris Road and along Hammond Road, making a brief stop at the recently finished Spirit Square.  Inside the Rec Centre local kids featured drawings, homemade torches, collages, etc.  There were some really creative ideas.

Outside there was coffee and muffins and people everywhere. A lot of people got the message to wear red.

And then the Flame arrived to not quite rousing rendition of O Canada. We watched from Spirit Square, and it was okay.  Because we were not out the street we missed the Coke and RBC Trucks, and the convoy of Torch vehicles. 

Hubby might take my parents to see the Torch in Vancouver later this week. There's going to be a big celebration at the Yaletown LiveCity site.

More Sponsor Ads in Pitt Meadows

The bus shelter ads...

There are lots more, these were just a few that I walked by.
  

Sponsor Ads in Pitt Meadows

 
 

For those that don't know Pitt Meadows is approx 45kms east of downtown Vancouver. 

 
 

 Today was a beautiful day to get some exercise. 

 
 

An 8km walk, and on that walk there is an abundance of Olympic sponsor ads.

 

 

 

        
 

 

 

   
  

  

Vancouver Aquarium and a Sunset Flight

On the day of New Years Eve we decided to go to the Vancouver Aquarium.  Again it is a very long time since I've been there.  The Aquarium has undergone some extensive renovations since I last visited.  

In June of 2008 a baby beluga was born - Tiqa.  We were able to see Tiqa, her mum Qila and her grandmother Aurora.

Other highlights of the day were the sloth, sea otters, pacific white sided dolphins, moon jelly fish and strawberry coral.  

Finally late this afternoon the weather cleared enough that we could take Morag flying.  We had been worried that it wasn't going to happen.  Morag and I hurried home from the aquarium to meet hubby at the airport. We flew up over the mountains, and down over the city.  Morag, who can't drive a car, flew the plane back to the airport, and then hubby took over to land.

 Grouse Mountain from the air.

Morag flying the plane.

 

Bright Nights at Stanley Park

After Grouse Mountain we stopped in Stanley Park to see Bright Nights. Bright Nights at Stanley Park has been put on every Christmas for the last 20+ years by the BC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund.  There are over a million lights, and you can ride the train through the forest to see the displays.

Grouse Mountain

We came back from the Island on the 27th to find my car buried in our drive way.  Our first task was to dig it out. Then we had to clean up the spare bedroom/office so Morag would actually have a bed to sleep in, because previously it was used for storing all the office paperwork.  We have a perfectly good filing cabinet, but the bed works better!

I drove to Seattle on Monday to pick Morag up from the Amtrak station. It was good to see her again. This was the first time she had been to Canada since our wedding - 9 years ago.  We spent the next 5 days seeing some of the sights of Vancouver.  It was fun to be a tourist in the city where I live, something hubby and I don't normally do.

Morag wanted to see scenic views of Vancouver and not museums and art gallerys.  So we headed up Grouse Mountain.

We spent a lot of the day in queues.  In the queue to buy tickets, then in the queue for the lift, the queue for the sleigh ride, the queue for lunch, the queue for the gondola back down, the queue for starbucks... but it was all worth it.  I don't remember when I last went up Grouse Mountain, it was back before hubby and I were married, I think.

The gondola was opened in 1966 and holds 100 people per cabin.  It takes 4 mins to ride from the parking lot to the lodge, including "crossing"  2 towers that make the cabin swing quite a bit.

At the top we went for a sleigh ride, watched Born to Fly and Animal Tracks in the Theatre in the Sky, had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and bumped into a friend from work and her family.

 

Before we headed back down the mountain, we had to try ice skating on the pond.  Neither of us are particulary good, but it was a lot of fun.  My legs ached so much afterwards, we should go more often, it's good exercise.

The wind had started to pick up and we were both beginning to get a little chilly so it was time to take the gondola back down.  It was still snowing but the sky had cleared and we were able to see the city.

To warm us up, Morag treated us to hot chocolates at Starbucks.  It was fun, hubby and I will have to go sometime.  

Living La Vida Local #3

Megan and Ryan used to live next door.  They collected our mail, watered our plants and kept the riff raff out when we were away, which was often. 

Megan creates and sells jewelry.  It used to be a part time thing, and she sold mostly on the web.  But earlier this year she opened her own store in Maple Ridge.

photo courtesy Megan's Facebook album

I have two pieces of jewelry from Gingerly Designs.  When Megan still lived next door, Dave bought me this necklace for my birthday.  Blue and green - my favourite colours.  I wear it lots and I always receive compliments on it.

The second necklace I bought for myself.  It just seemed like the perfect piece for summer -white mother of pearl with a pinky, orangy, coral flower.

The Gingerly Store also carries the cutest cards by The Lemonade Tree,

beautiful letterpress cards by Sunlit Letterpress

I don't want to give them away now.  How selfish is that?

Enjoying my local neighbourhood Part 2

We live near the river.  It's used by pulp mills to transport logs, locals for recreational boating, and by the First Nations people for fishing.  It's quite the busy river.

We often go for a walk in the evening. On a typical evening we'll see:

Fisherman bringing in their catch - that's Mt Baker in the distance

Tugboats and log booms

The odd seal, and the occasional beaver

And the sun setting

I like where I live.