Some words from a Silver

We went camping last weekend in Tofino, BC, on the far west coast of Vancouver Island. It's almost as far west in BC as you can get. This was Lyra's first camping trip, and she loved it. We were in a tent, and it was chilly, but the bedsharing definitely worked in our favour for it. Lyra was cozy in my sleeping bag with me. She very much enjoyed the beach and watching the waves and stuff. You can check out all the photos I posted from the trip on Flickr, ( but here are a few photos I particularly liked: )

Today I took a couple of videos of Lyra playing around in the living room, showing off some of her new tricks: pulling herself up on tables, and standing around.

The trip to Ontario ended over a week ago, but I haven't given you an update yet. I shall now provide you with said update, alongside a few photos I took while in Toronto and New Liskeard.

To begin with, here is a link to all of the photos on my Flickr page.

The flight went quite well. We were up at 40,000 feet for much of the trip to Toronto, and while Adam had a lot of trouble with his ears, Lyra was perfectly happy. She spent much of the trip crawling between Adam's & my laps, and looking around all the weird new stuff. She napped in my lap for part of it as well, and the take-off and landing didn't bother her at all. Adam's ears didn't pop for a week.

Adam's mother & Aunt met us at the airport in Toronto, and there was much fussing over Lyra. We went to Adam's grandmother's home and there was more fussing over Lyra. She loved how much space there was in the living room there, and crawled around for hours. Bedtime was late (Toronto time) but about right in Vancouver terms.



Our first full day in Toronto was mother's day, so after Lyra's morning nap (which she took on the floor) we headed to Adam's Aunt's house to have a huge brunch with a bunch of his family members. There was much fussing over Lyra. At one point, she got put into a broken umbrella stroller which threatened to collapse at any moment so that Adam's grandmother could take her for a walk down the street. We deemed the stroller unfit, named it the crushing stroller, and rescued Lyra from its clutches, only to have another stroller acquired for the purpose of taking her for a walk down the street. It was all incredibly amusing somehow. We rounded out the evening with a Mother's Day dinner at Spring Rolls on Eglinton at Yonge. It was tasty.

The next day was Monday, and we headed in to Toronto proper to visit High Park. We had warned friends in advance that our Toronto visitation times were limited, and they would have to meet us there if they wanted to see us. Fortunately, a bunch of people were able to join us at the High Park zoo & playground. It was a nice afternoon outside.




(photo by Brian Tao, who borrowed my camera to take a few shots)

The next morning we took the long drive to New Liskeard. We took our time, stopping whenever Lyra needed a break from the confines of her car seat, and it ended up only taking us a half hour or so longer than usual to do the drive (about six hours or so, I guess.) It was a lovely, sunny day, and Lyra was once again a superstar considering she was confined to a harness for most of the time.

Our visit to New Liskeard has become a mess of randomness in my brain. I have no clue what we did on what days, but I know that we stopped in to see Paul & Jenn at Chat Noir Books (where they make a fine cup of coffee,) and we spent a lot of time with Adam's mom & dad, handing one of them Lyra at every opportunity. Also, we got poutine at least twice. There's nothing like poutine close to the Quebec border.

We did go to North Bay for a day, as a nice excursion. We spent an hour or so hanging out in a park by the lake, and Lyra crawled around in the grass with her Grandmother (Bubby-T.)



She also went to check out the beach with her Daddy.



Beaches make baby Lyras ROAR:



Grass and sunlight make baby Lyras turn into anime characters:



We also went to at least two Barbeque parties - it was the May 2-4 weekend, after all - and Lyra got to meet a couple of other babies and have social engagements with them:



Nearing the end of our time up in New Liskeard, we took a drive down to Temagami. Adam and his dad decided to take the boat (newly put back in the water after the winter) from the Marina down to where it gets parked at Loon Lodge on Lake Temagami. They needed someone to pick them up at Loon Lodge, so Lyra and I took the Murano from the town of Temagami down the access road to the lake. When we arrived, we were informed that Adam & David had had to turn back due to excessive winds - if they had pressed on, it would have taken them another two hours to reach me. Lyra and I walked back up the trail to the Murano (sweet car to drive down Temagami access road!) and drove the half hour trip back to the Town so we could pick up the boys.

It was actually more fun than perhaps it seems it would be. Adam was pleased to get out on the lake in a boat, I was pleased to spend at least a bit of time at Loon Lodge (although no loon burgers were acquired... and no, they're not made of loons...) and the drive was really quite nice. I didn't see any m00se, however.

We also took a trip out to the Elk Lake Eco Centre for lunch on one of our last days there. It snowed that day. The lodge was quite nice, however, even with the snow.



I'd have to say that the trip was a success. Lyra was a Rock Star the whole time - she traveled well on the plane, she traveled well in the car, and she was so good the whole time. We have an awesomely mellow and happy baby, and we are lucky to have her.

The only really negative things I have to say about the trip are that Adam caught a nasty cold which he promptly gave to me, and we were both miserable for a good part of the trip due to a sore throat/cough type thing; and that next time I really want to spend more time in Toronto, seeing Toronto sites that we haven't visited in a while, like the ROM and the AGO and most especially Canada's Wonderland.

Good times!

This past weekend was a write-off for me. Lyra started to feel sick on Friday, and by Saturday she was pretty unhappy about it. I started to feel sick on Saturday, and by Sunday I understood why Lyra was so miserable on Saturday. Fortunately she was already feeling better by Sunday, so that was one good thing. This cold is rather short-lived - the worst of it was over in a day. At this point we're both still a bit stuffy and my throat feels perpetually dry, but the headache is gone and I have enough energy to walk around outside again.

It's good that we're getting better now, because being sick when we fly to Ontario would suck, so very, very much. They'd probably quarantine us and refuse to let us on a plane.

I'm trying to sort out what needs doing before we go back east. I should make myself a checklist or something to make sure I don't miss anything. So much to do...

Adam, Lyra & I will be visiting Ontario for a bit in a couple of weeks. We discovered a seat sale that basically saved us 1000$ over going in August as previously planned, so we jumped on it. We fly into Toronto on the 9th in the evening, and will stay in North York for a couple of days at least. If anyone wants to see us in that time, please get in touch. We will be making plans with Adam's Toronto family (I'm leaving that up to him to do) but will try to work around that schedule to see our friends before we head up to New Liskeard.

If, on the other hand, you are in New Liskeard, I imagine we will see you around. It's not that big a place. If there is something specific you want to do with us there, let us know and we'll figure it out.

I went for a ride yesterday morning with Maryn, which was nice. I still haven't got all my confidence back, but I am riding a bit better every time I go out. We just did a quick and easy ride, because Maryn was on a timeline, but it was good. I almost feel like I know the bike now - it's starting to feel right again. We rode up in fog, but as soon as we turned around to ride down it started pouring. It was a very wet ride. It felt good to be on my bike though, and Adam had a good morning with Lyra - it was a good morning for all of us.

Today's adventure involves taking the bus/seabus/skytrain out to visit my mom in Pitt Meadows. I haven't done a long trip on transit with Lyra in the past month or so. She was really good on the bus before, quiet and interested in things or just napping in the sling. I'm hoping that still holds true, with the new, more aware and awake Lyra. It's always an adventure with a baby in tow!

Speaking of babies - she'll be five months old tomorrow!

Rather than fill this space with stories, for now I will just post a few photos of our time this week in Arizona - I took the time today to do a whole lot of photo editing. Below is a sample, and here is the entire Gallery. We leave on Monday - so there's still time for a few more photos to be taken!

( Here be pictures )

I'm lounging by the poolside at 8:37 pm here at the Resort. I have to admit, it's pretty damn sweet. It's cooled off to about 80 degrees or so I would guess, with a nice breeze.

Today was a hiking adventure in some small mountains (hills, really) just down the road from our resort. Yesterday we went to the Desert botanical Garden to see some lovely cultured desert plants, which was very cool, but the hike today was much cooler. I'll add a couple of teaser vacation pics here for you (I got Adam to take some of me looking pregnant, finally.)

I don't think I can effectively explain just how bright, sunny, and weird it is here. Yesterday was the hottest day so far - around 98 degrees. Today was less hot, ranging from 85 to 94 degrees. There were some clouds that appeared in the late afternoon today as well - very high, thin cirrus clouds that didn't block any sun at all.

The other thing that didn't block any sun at all today was my sunblock. I am suitably red, but I think I'll be okay. At least I was wearing a nice strapless shirt, which means no t-shirt tan line when it fades. Go me!

In the afternoon we relaxed at the condo (including a dip in the pool), then drove out to Cave Creek on Carefree Highway (let me slip away on you) for dinner and touristy gift shopping. After that we just came back to the condo, watched some American Idol, and are now sitting by the pool with somewhat sketchy but still connected internet.

( Click here for photos of a pregnant woman and cactus attacks! )

There was great adventure to be had today!

We woke up at 4:30 am and were picked up at 5 am by our friend Sean, who was kind enough to take us to the airport at that ungodly hour. Lucky for us, he was on time (Sean has been known to be tardy from time to time...) From that point forward, there were many adventures.

Our first adventure involved the airline. Our flight was purchased using aeroplan miles (many thanks to Adam's Dad for supplying us with said aeroplan miles.) As such, our flight was confirmed by Aeroplan, who work with Air Canada. All over our flight confirmation sheet was Air Canada branding. At the airport, we walked to the self check-in kiosk for Air Canada flights and entered our confirmation number, to be greeted by 'code not found.' Our next step, naturally, was to get into the Air Canada check-in line to speak to an attendant. We stood in line for about fifteen minutes or so before reaching said attendant, who told us that our flight was actually a US Airlines flight.

Into the next line we went - this time the check-in for US Airlines. This went smoothly, and lead us to the next line (pre-customs check) which lead to another line (customs) which lead to another line (baggage check) which lead to another line (breakfast! finally!) which lead to plane boarding (huzzah!)

The flight was uneventful. The in-flight movie was The Devil Wears Prada, which I watched while Adam played the same level of Patapon over and over and over again. Not a bad movie, and one that I would be unlikely to rent otherwise, so that was all right.

After landing in Phoenix, we caught a shuttle bus to the car rental depot (which was a good ten minute drive away, I swear. Big airport.) We got into another line to pick up our rental car at Alamo (also booked using Aeroplan miles.) We stood in this line for about twenty minutes before reaching the front. The nice fellow behind the counter asked for the name the booking was under, and couldn't find it. He then asked for the confirmation number. Funny thing about that confirmation number - Adam had called Aeroplan on Friday to make sure that the fact that we didn't have a confirmation number wasn't going to be a problem. They assured him that the rental would be there.

Since they couldn't find it, we left the counter and went to find a place to sit down and call Aeroplan - whose customer service was closed, due to it being a Sunday. Yay customer non-service. He then called his parents to see if they could look up the rental. His mom said she would try to look it up and give him a call back. It was at this point that Adam started to wonder if he'd written down the wrong car rental place. Perhaps in writing Alamo, he actually meant Avis?

I remained seated near the snack bar with our luggage while Adam walked across the car rental depot (nice of them to put all the car rental places in the same building, let me tell you) to check and see if our rental was, in fact, with Avis. I have to assume he stood in another line - I had enough time to flip through the Scottsdale and Phoenix tour books for interesting things to check out while we're here.

Adam returned, successful - our car rental was, in fact, with Avis and not Alamo. We went down the 3-level escalator to find our car - a nice, brown Chevy Malibu. We filled it with our bags and hopped in. As soon as we turned it on, the dashboard flashed 'Change Oil Soon' at us. we hopped back out and told an Avis attendant, who told us to take a different car - a nice, white Chevy Malibu. This one didn't have any complaints when we turned it on, and so off we went to find our Resort.

Navigating through Phoenix was pretty straightforward, and within about half an hour or so we had reached our resort. We checked in and went to our room, bringing in all of our bags and checking the place out. The room, unfortunately, was not entirely to our liking - the promised fireplace wasn't there (although who needs a fireplace in the desert?) the washroom was very wheelchair accessible (the wheelchair seat wouldn't stay up against the wall in the shower, which we thought might make it challenging for me to shower properly (belly = teh bigness) and it really wasn't quite what we had ordered. Adam went back to guest services to see if we could change out rooms.

They were happy to switch suites for us (it's really a full condo, about the same size as our apartment) so we headed to the new one. We arrived to find another couple just leaving - they had also just checked in and were checking the room before getting there stuff. We stood there looking confused and tired, and they promptly told us to take the room. Adam went back to guest services to confirm things, and we actually did end up getting the new suite. The very nice couple who gave it to us noticed I was rather pregnant and offered it freely. They were really quite nice.

The new room has a huge bathtub (one of those triangular ones with jets,) a patio with some nice furniture, and the fireplace from the pictures. It's quite lovely.

After dropping off our stuff and changing out of our sweaty hot Vancouver clothes, we went off to find some late lunch. Fast-food Mexican is pretty available around here. It was all right, but no Burrito Bros. After that was a trip into the land of Super Target. Adam didn't believe me when I told him it was a magical land of inexpensive but nice things. He now understands its awesomeness. We spent money on nice clothes (maternity for me, stuff that fits for him) and random things we forgot to bring with us. We also got some groceries to stock the condo.

Now I'm online (10$ per 24 hour period) with the laptop in the living room while Adam watches Discovery Channel. It's entertaining to have cable. It's been a very long day of standing in lines and a comedy of errors, but all has worked out nicely.

So far Arizona is hot, dry, and incredibly sunny. I had forgotten what the sun looks like.

Adam called Translink this morning; they found his wallet, although I don't know if everything is in it. They said it was intact. He'll be picking it up around noon. This is helpful and good.

This morning I've got some work to finish that didn't get done at work yesterday. I also have to do some laundry and hopefully start organizing my stuff for the trip.

I'm really looking forward to this vacation. I haven't gone on a proper vacation with my husband in many, many years. To add to the excitement, we're going to the desert. I've never been anywhere like Arizona. It's a bit unfortunate that my current state doesn't allow for much physical adventure like biking or trekking. We will go for a few little hikes, but nothing hardcore, obviously. Adam was even worried about me driving if his license wasn't found. I'm not that fragile, but he's all good husbandly over-protective. It's sweet most of the time, and irritating on occasion.

That's something I really can't seem to explain to him. Being pregnant feels perfectly natural and normal to me. I'm pretty good at being pregnant. I feel strongly as though I would inherently know if something was wrong, and I know when to slow down or when I need to take time to relax. It's all on an instinctive level that I can't explain to him. I know that he feels disconnected from the process much of the time, and I try my best to understand that and be patient, but sometimes I really want to just have him accept at face value that yes, I really am okay, and I would know if anything was actually wrong.

Don't get me wrong, though - I'm not saying I don't think it's sweet how attentive and awesome he's being at taking care of me - he really has been fantastic and I wouldn't trade him for anything.

And now I must get dressed and start some laundry, followed by work, and then whatever errands I need to get done before we leave for Arizona. Arizona!!

Most of the day today was spent in demonstration meetings for various online CRM/CMS/E-marketing service providers that specialize in non-profit services. We even had lunch in meetings. It was a draining thing, especially on my last day of work before going on vacation. There were a few things I needed to get done that I didn't - I'm going to have to do some work tomorrow morning.

Adam and I were planning on going to Pitt Meadows to see my sister, who is visiting from Wisconsin with her newborn and toddler. I left work later than I had hoped I would, and found out on my way downtown that Adam's wallet fell out of his jacket. Bad timing, really. We're flying out on Sunday morning, and he'll have to take some time tomorrow morning to replace his driver's license and debit card. It's not the end of the world - his passport wasn't in it at least - but he went from a good mood to a bad one very quickly this evening. We retraced his route from the bus, hoping that maybe it was lying on the ground (unlikely) but we figure it fell out on the bus. He had already called translink to ask them to look for it. They were unhelpful, as always. Translink is nothing if not consistently unhelpful.

We're holding out very little hope that someone will turn it in to translink. There's a possibility that someone will try to mail it back to us, but that's of no use when we leave Sunday morning. There's also a good chance that it's never going to come back.

And so tomorrow he's going to replace what he can. Hopefully his temporary license won't be a huge issue when renting a car - Alamo's website suggests that it should be fine, so I'm not going to worry about it. If all else fails, we set me up as the driver for the week, and I don't get to take so many pictures of desert out the car window.

At any other time, this would be an annoying inconvenience. Two days before we fly out of the country to go on vacation, it's a major inconvenience. Still, it's not insurmountable, and I think we'll be okay.

This week's Science Matters column is a good one, I think - David Suzuki's thoughts on Earth Hour and the point and effectiveness of the actions of individuals. Check out out.

In other news, I have recovered from my migraine. I feel truly awesome - the lack of screaming pain is incredible. This morning I had a massage with my awesome massage therapist, who I haven't actually been to see in over two years. It was also truly awesome. My back doesn't ache for the first time in weeks. She worked out the residual shoulder/neck pain from the migraine. It was heavenly.

Amazingly, we are going to Arizona in just over a week. I'm starting to get really excited about it. I have my passport (first one I've ever had!) and I'm starting to figure out what to pack. It will be great fun.

Things are good. Ultra Magnus is kicking frequently. It kind of tickles.

So I found this tool that allows you to take your lj and export it, then import it into blogger, Live Spaces, wordpress, and so on.

So now I'm considering copying my lj over to my blogspot blog, as a backup and possibly (or eventually to migrate myself over there?) Not that I don't like the LJ, because I do, but it seems that I could integrate blogspot into my website more effectively than lj... should I actually want to do that.

This could require more thought, and deciding what I want to do in the future with my website. The other minor hitch is that blogspot has a 50 post per day limit, although apparently if you ask blogger staff nicely they can lift that limit for you in extreme circumstances (like, say, importing around 6500 livejournal posts all at once.)

A trip to the desert

Our vacation in Arizona is coming up quickly. We leave on the 13th of April. We're spending a week near Lake Pleasant, just outside of Phoenix, followed by a day down by Tuscon and a night on Kitt Peak at the Observatory. We haven't yet figured out where we're going to stay down by Kitt Peak; hopefully we can find something close to the park there for a night - a nice bed and breakfast or something.

I'm so very excited that we're getting away for a week. I've been putting money aside to make sure we can actually enjoy the vacation. Since we haven't had any time off together since just after the wedding, it's really going to be fun.

A Hoover Epic Movie

Adam's been working on a video montage of the mountain biking trip to the Southern Chilcotins last year. He didn't actually get to go on said trip (sad) but he's the most capable and talented movie editor and sound designer among us, so he's taken Lorne's videos and is turning them into something we will post to YouTube. He and Lorne were up till 2:00 this morning working on it, and he got up this morning and immediately decided to add more to it. I can't wait to share it with the world.

20 Weeks and Counting

I'm at 20 weeks now, and I can feel the baby moving around. It mostly just rolls about at random intervals. The ultrasound last week was really cool (again.) Ultrasounds are just neat. We don't know what we're having, and aren't planning to find out - it's rare to have an opportunity for such a happy surprise, and I know that whatever we end up with will be just that. It's more exciting that way. It also drives my mother crazy... sorry mom!
Feeling the baby move is deeply strange in a way that I don't think I can explain. It's light and fluid still (the kid's not that big yet) and there's no sense of kicking, so much as something doing somersaults in my belly every so often. Also, it reminds me of Alien. It can hear us now, so we both talk at my belly, which is highly entertaining to me for some reason.

Sleeping is awkward lately. I try to sleep on my left side all curled around my body pillow, but sometimes just wake up aching at random intervals anyway. Still, it's far better than before I started sleeping on that side. My neck is permanently stiff and cracking, and the pulled muscle weirdness in my back from when I was fencing (the one they never figured out) is constantly a dull ache as well. Hooray for random aches! I'm also waking up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason (or just to pee) and then finding it hard to fall back asleep. Sleeping in is right out - I have to get up in the morning when I wake up because I'm just so uncomfortable from not moving around for so long.

I need to find more exercising I can do - I walk as much as possible, but I should probably try swimming, and I need to find myself a prenatal yoga class. Stretching would do me wonders right now, I think.

So would a good massage. I made an appointment for that at the beginning of April (my favourite massage therapist got popular! Blast! And good for her!)

So it looks like we will be able to go on a vacation before the baby arrives, barring any unforseen circumstances. This is an incredibly exciting development for which I am eternally grateful. We've booked it for mid-April (once we determined which week we weren't having company.)

So yeah - we're heading to Arizona to hang out in a resort in the desert - because I've never been to the desert, and it seems cool to go from rainforest to desert in a single day.

The eco-obsessed person in me is unhappy about the whole 'flying to the resort, staying in a resort' un-eco-ness of it all, but the part of me that desperately wants one last vacation before Ultra Magnus makes an appearance is overruling things. And so, although I won't be able to bike, and I won't be able to go horseback riding, and I won't be able to hike strenuous things, we are going to Arizona, and it will be awesome.

I now have a sewing machine. In attempt to learn to use it, I've found some patterns at value village. Now I just need some material, so that's my plan for later today - a trip to Dressew downtown. Jessica is going to help me, which is good, because I don't have the slightest idea where to start with a sewing machine. I can sew bits of scrap fabric, but patterns and making useful things is kind of not something I get.

In addition to sewing, I'm crocheting a little blanket while I bus to and from work. Look at me being all Home-Ec and stuff.

Adam and I are hoping to get one last little holiday in, just the two of us, before the baby arrives and changes life as we know it. We have rarely had the opportunity to go somewhere alone together - most of our vacations have been with groups, or friends, or family. Really, the only vacation-like thing we've done with just the two of us was the drive back across the country after the wedding. What we'd really like to do now is go somewhere and stay for a weekend, or a week, and be tourists on vacation. It's a little unfortunate that we won't be able to do things like biking, but we'll still have fun I think.

That is, assuming we can find a way to actually afford such a getaway. I got some money to spend on myself for Christmas, and haven't done so - I'm hoping to put that towards some sort of vacation for us, but it's not really enough.

Still, I'm fairly convinced that we can't afford not to do something. I've been lobbying for a vacation with just the two of us for years now. It was never a real priority though. Now I think maybe it is... if I can just figure out how to do it.

My Big Wild trip begins today! I'm finishing up packing and waiting for the rest of the group (Chris, Sean, Lorne, Jill and Marlene) to arrive so we can head off into the wilderness backcountry with our bikes.

I checked the weather forecast for Lillooet, which is the closest I could find to where we'll be, and it looks like it'll be windy with showers for the first few days. That will make things interesting, I'm sure.

Wish me luck! ... or something.

I have very nearly raised my fundraising goal for the Chilcotins trip. If you were thinking about sponsoring the trip but haven't yet, there is still time to do so.

Just to make things extra interesting (or something) I'll throw a curveball at the whole thing for you.

Adam, who has been training and planning and working towards this trip with me for many months now; who has lost nearly 30 lbs getting fit for this trip, who was looking forward to it for as long as we knew such a thing existed, is no longer able to go. That's right folks, I'm now taking this trip sans husband.

Let's go back a couple of weeks and see how this happened, shall we? Actually, wait - we need to go back about three years to really tell the whole story.

Just before we moved out here, Adam got hurt. Over time this developed into a nasty bacterial infection that doctors were unable to diagnose, or even pin down. There were days that he was in so much pain that he couldn't work, days that we took him to emergency and spent 8 hours in the waiting rooms, days where he was sure he would never feel pain free again.

After nearly two years of going to doctor after doctor, one finally gave him a massive antibiotic prescription for six weeks. This finally got rid of the infection, and for the past year things have been good. He's been getting healthy, losing weight, changing his diet for the better, and just generally feeling great.

A few weeks ago the infection slowly crept back into his system. He denied it for a while, thinking maybe it was just his imagination, but finally had to admit that something was wrong. He went to a new doctor, as the one who had given him antibiotics a year ago has moved out of our city, and got more tests done. The tests once again showed... absolutely nothing. Whatever this infection is, they don't seem to have a name for it or tests that can actually find it. The doctor put him on antibiotics once more, a two-week dosage to get rid of the infection.

While he has the infection, he is in too much pain to be able to bike. While he's on the antibiotic, his entire system is compromised, too much sunlight is very bad for him, if he's active he might rupture a tendon, and he's just generally in rough shape.

He'll be on this antibiotic for another week and a half. He's getting better, slowly, but not in time for the trip; and he can't go on this trip unless he's completely better. It's in the backcountry - there is no way to get him out in a rush if something goes wrong. It's not fair to ask the guide to be responsible for that, either.

So he's very, very sad about this. I am sad on his behalf.

I am still going on this trip, although it may be more of a challenge for me without my usual cheerleader along. I will try extra hard to survive this trip on his behalf...

The past three weeks, since Adam's been sick, my training regimen has suffered. I wasn't biking while it was raining. I wasn't going to the gym after work because I was tired, stressed, or taking care of Adam. This is all unfortunate.

This week, I shall bike as many days as I possibly can. Today I biked. It was good.

So I guess now I'm not just riding this trip to raise money for the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society - now I've elevated it in my own mind to riding this trip for Adam, who can't come with us anymore.

The weekend was a smashing success! Adam, Sean, Chris and I piled into the car at 1pm on Friday and headed out for Vernon - specifically on our way to Silver Star Resort for a weekend of lift assisted mountain biking joy. Naturally, I have taken and posted photos.

Saturday was fantastic. I rented a big downhill bike, a Giant Faith, to try out for the day. It was amazing - the difference in geometry was just stunning - I didn't realize until half way through the day that I was riding down things that would normally scare me and stop me in my tracks, and I was riding about three times faster than I usually do. The bike makes a difference.

We rode hard on Saturday then went back to the condo and could barely move. Sunday we got up and I whined until they let me rent a big bike again. This time we brought the camera on the hill with us, so I got a few shots of riding (including some of me for a change!)

Final analysis: Big bikes are cool, and I can't afford to buy one. It was probably my best riding ever, I just felt so much more confident on it and less freaked out by the steep things... they just weren't as steep.

I consider Saturday and Sunday as part of my training, since I was on my bike at least two to six hours each day. Maybe more on Saturday.

Monday I rode the commuter bike home from work (since it had been left there for two weeks after I decided to stop riding due to finger sprainage) and today I rode in, and will ride home again. I'm due for a visit to the gym, though, as well.

My big wild ticker hasn't changed in a couple of weeks... I'm stalling out. Oh well, I'll try for a push to reach my goal before the trip starts.

The ticker for my fundraising for CPAWS. I set my goal fairly low because I wasn't sure what sort of response I might get... It's going well so far I think.

As a kid I loathed fundraising for anything. I was too scared of strangers to ask them for money, so I never went door to door to ask for pledges or sell chocolate bars. Generally I never sold more than one or two of anything I was trying to sell. When they made us do girl guide cookies, even though they sent us out with a partner and an adult, it was one of the most unpleasant things I ever had to do. In college I was so desperate for a job at one point that I tried doing a door to door promotional golf package thing... I lasted the training day and fled screaming.

So yeah. I set my goal low because I'm still a bit traumatized by the whole thing.

Anyhow. I made a ticker.

I'm participating in the Big Wild Challenge!

In August, Adam and I are joining friends (including Chris, Lorne, and Sean, with whom we ride frequently) on a five day cross country mountain biking trip in the Southern Chilcotins (identified as one of the most important under-protected areas of wilderness in southern British Columbia.) We've also decided to raise money for CPAWS (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) in the process.

I'll naturally be documenting the trip with photos and putting together a few pages about it when we get back. The trip date is August 7th -12th, 2007.

You can help support me by making a secure online donation using your credit card, or just by sending some words of encouragement along, because I am so not ready for a five day trip right now.

Click on the link below to make a donation:

https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/StartUp.aspx?SID=1523304

For more information on how YOU can participate in Big Wild, please visit us at http://www.bigwild.ca/
Thanks for your support!

So I took some pictures while we were in Toronto and New Liskeard. I have placed them in a Flickr Set for your enjoyment.

( Here are a few of them )