Change at the Year's End

There has been so much going on in the past few weeks and months, and not many pictures to show for it. Here's the bullet list, in no particular order:

• Loki didn't work out. He had an aggressive streak that an expert rainer could have handled, but expert trainers we are not. 
• We bought a house
• Flew to Quebec and back
• Started a business
• Quit a job
• Got lasik eye surgery
• Had Thanksgiving in Canada
• Flew to Quebec and back
• Started a half-marathon training program
• ...

After the disappointment of Loki, it has been hard to pick this up again and want to post... but since so much has happened and there is another trip coming up, here are some Quebec photos to start out the new year. 

 

 And a few photos from the beginning-of-January trip...

Mountain West Road Trip part 1

M and I spent last week road tripping. It was so much fun! We loaded up the Rav4 on Saturday morning with borrowed tent and camp stove, Chaco sandals, and a week's supply of Cliff bars and pepperoni sticks (thanks, friends and Costco!). Then we drove south and west to our first range of mountains, and onwards from there... 

L’été à les fortifications

June means another trip to Quebec! A significant amount of work has been done on the fortifications in the past year, and I spent a warm, sunny afternoon checking them out. 

Montréal, rapidement

Normally in June I post about Quebec City, since we have annual update training sometime in the early summer. I almost always stop in Montreal en route to Quebec City, since there are no direct flights from Vancouver, but I rarely leave the airport. This time, I came up with a way to squeeze a visit in without extending my trip past 6 days. A friend from college had recently moved to the city with her husband, and offered to share their couch. I flew out a day early for the meetings, caught the bus to their neighborhood, and spent the day that the rest of my co-workers traveled exploring a new city! 

the Basilica

2 days in Vancouver

Let's say, hypothetically, that you have a spring weekend to spend in Vancouver, BC. What should you do with them? Here's what I did with two of my friends last Saturday and Sunday.

North and West Vancouver from Stanley Park

Second Quebec weekend (more snowshoeing!)

I've run into a bit of a bind. Mumsy took nearly all of the photos on her birthday, since I spent the morning "ice canoeing." Mumsy hasn't shared her photos yet, so I'm going to break the time sequence of my posts and jump to the end of the week.

Two of my co-workers, who are about my age and started at our company about the same time as me, invited me to go snowshoeing with them after our week of training. Of course I said yes! So Friday, while most of my American teammates were flying home, LC and I loaded our gear into JD's car and headed down the St Lawrence. (After a quick stop at Tim Hortons, of course!)

Morning sun in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François

Mumsy Arrives in Quebec City

Mumsy came with me to Quebec this past week. I have three days of training here, she had a birthday to celebrate and very much enjoys the city. It seemed like a perfect plan! Flying in on Friday, we immediately launched into a weekend of food, history, food, outdoor adventure, and more food.

We found the costume closet... 

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Around the time of his birthday (in January), M asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Thinking along the lines of our weekend in Seattle, I said "a memory." A few weeks later, M said "How about snowshoeing?" An afternoon in the trees on the side of a mountain!? Yes, please! How about someplace new, like Grouse Mountain? Wearing our snow boots and passports in hand, we drove up to Vancouver to find our way above the snow line. 

Christmas, round 2

It used to be that each year we would alternate which grandparents we spent Christmas with: my dad's parents on Whidbey Island, or my mom's parents in British Columbia. After so many back-and-forths, swaps, Christmas eve road trips, and opening stockings in the back seat of the car, I can't keep track of which one we're on. In any case, a few days after Christmas we loaded into our respective cars (because we're somewhat adults now coming from our somewhat adult homes) and trekked up to the Kootenays for a second holiday with Nana and Grandpa.

The ridge above Canyon/Lister

the Obligatory Quebec post

It's that time of year again, and I am back in Quebec! The sun sets so early right now that I have hardly seen Quebec in the daylight, but with the current dusting of snow, the city is beautifully frosted in the Christmas lights.

Niagra Falls (the Canadian side)

My  last work assignment was to Rochester, NY.  It was my first time in Upstate NY, so I made  a  point to visit Niagra Falls on the way.

Buckley the Bison at American Falls, Niagra, ON

Another Christmas in Quebec City (aka, M. leaves the USA)

Almost a year ago I asked M if he would join me at my company's Christmas party in 2015. At that time, he didn't have a passport and was vehemently opposed to airplanes. True to his word, we touched down in Quebec together last Saturday. That left Sunday to explore the walled city before I had to go to work on Monday. (Apologies for the poor photo quality. All were taken on our phones!)

First Quebecois breakfast: Crepe! (we went back 2 more times...)

le Citadelle de Quebec

In my previous 3 trips to Quebec City, I have never had a chance to visit the "castle" at the top of the town. Two weeks ago, I took the Saturday before the party to wander the Plains of Abraham and learn a little more about the active fortification.

the Sugar Bush

I've been to London, Ontario a few times. Yank Thank freshman year, last October... It's a neat little city. I got to stay with Erika for two nights this time, which left us a little more time to explore. I really like travelling with friends who are foodies and locavores, and Erika is one of the best. A pastry chef who's lived in London her entire life and is a regular visitor to the farmer's market. Saturday we went for a late breakfast at the Root Cellar, where I had eggs-in-squash on kale (!). We met up with two of Erika's friends and headed to a visit to the (year round!) farmer's market, and then headed to a Sugar Bush!

Yes, that's a coyote on my head. He's really warm!

Il fait froid au Québec!

It's cold in Québec!

Despite my rather lax approach to learning French since I was last in Quebec City, I am certainly enjoying my time here. It's like a grown up version of Erasmus, a gathering of people from all over the world for a common purpose with lots of eating, drinking, learning, and laughter along the way. Last night I finally got a chance to take a walkabout around this beautiful town. With temperatures around -14*c (~5*F), none of my co-workers were interested in joining me!

Catchup with Friends in Suburbia

I don't much care for Suburbia, specifically Midwestern suburbia. Novi, Michigan was not my first choice for a training location. It is basically a mass of shopping centers and chain stores off I-96, 30 minutes West of Detroit. To me, though, it has one endearing trait. It is close to several of my Calvin friends!

Morning Run, Québec City

Plains of Abraham, where the British defeated the French
in the French and Indian War

Saturday morning in Québec City dawned clear and sunny over the St Lawrence. I slept in, then put my running shoes on and headed up the hill, into the old city. I would have had better luck with my run had the weather not been so beautiful, as I spent a good chunk of time taking pictures!

Une Soirée au Québec - An Evening in Quebec

Fall is a double edged sword. On one hand, the hills of Quebec are on fire with autumn colour that glows as the sun breaks through the clouds. I woke up to that colour outside my 13th floor hotel room Tuesday morning. On the other hand, it gets dark early. Fortunately, I'm staying at the edge of the tourist district, which means that sundown is not an end to the day!

On the Road Again - à Québec!

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A week after getting home from Europe, I was underway again heading East. For those who don't know, while I was in Europe I got a job offer from Innovmetric. They build a software that interprets laser scan or probe data and generates geometry for either verification (checking that your part is within tolerance) or reverse engineering (making a digital version of a 3D object). To get trained on the software, I had to take a trip to Canada. Quebec City, to be precise. 

Mountain Time

People here ask me if I would like to stay in Charleston, and my answer is always the same. It's a gorgeous city - I love the food, the art, the history - but it doesn't have mountains. There's something about wild space to get lost in, a horizon that draws you upward, that Charleston just doesn't have.

Before I even came home for Thanksgiving, I booked a cabin at Manning Park and figured I had enough mountain-loving friends in the area to fill it. Sure enough, the cabin was completely full with a random collection of people from work, college, and significant others. It became a condition of me going back to Charleston that I got to stay in the PNW long enough to have some quality mountain time.

I didn't bring a camera, so the pictures here are shamelessly pilfered from Katelin's facebook.

Manning park is one of my favorite spots in BC. There's so much to do there!

• Snowshoe trails
• XC (Skate and classic)
• Downhill (Great bunny hill!)
• Ice rink
• Pool, hot tub, dry and wet saunas
• Lodge (With a big fireplace!)
• Bar (Also with a big fireplace!)

The long and short of it is that we had a great weekend. The snow conditions were great the first evening (people went ice skating and hot tubbing).

It rained overnight, and conditions were crappy for xc skiing Saturday morning. When we came in around noon we were already tired, so we spent the afternoon in the spa. And doing burpees in the snow. Cait made chili in the evening and we had hot cocoa with schnapps and played games.

The next morning, the snow came back... almost too much of it! The groomers hadn't kept up overnight, so the XC ski paths were loose. We decided to snowshoe instead. So. Much. Beautiful. Loose. Powder.

As we were driving out of Hope, this was our parting shot of Cascades.