Burrito West Blog

A friend texted me one night: "wanna go on an 8 day group kayak tour in Haida Gwaii in July?" and an hour later Peter and I were basically signed up. A chance to do a kayak tour in a place that has been on our 'need-to-visit' list for ages, with friends? Yes.

And we were right. It was the right thing to do. It was amazing.

View from our tent, Haida Gwaii.

We flew to Sandspit and walked along the oceanside road to our inn from the airport, being followed by swallows darting magically in the air around us and eagles flying overhead. We were definitely not in the city any more.

Peter and I and one of our friends were there a day early. We hitched a ride (common thing to do there) to the ferry and to the Haida Heritage Centre in Skidegate which was very interesting, full of history and artwork and a carving shed for Haida artists.

Me in front, Peter is in back. Haida canoe.

We walked to Skidegate to find Skidegate Days was on, partook of some bbq, and were offered a chance to paddle a Haida canoe (holds 14), which we did, of course.

The guy who took the steering position was the local RCMP dude, in uniform. It was hard work to move that thing, but super fun to get a chance to do it.
We met up with the rest of our friends that night at the restaurant/pub in Sandspit for a nice dinner and the next morning we were off!

Me, wearing all my layers + lifevest for the zodiak boat trip.

A van picked us up and drove us down a logging road to the zodiak boat launch at Morseby Camp. They told us to bundle up with all our layers for the ride. It would be about two hours with the cold ocean wind blasting at us non stop ("we can't turn off the AC"). They gave us full length rubber jackets to wear, got the zodiak in the water and we were off. And I was immediately glad not to be in front (Peter was in front) because it was very cold!

The scenery was beautiful and we were excited to be starting the trip. We motored ever further away from civilization and headed to central Gwaii Haanas.
Gwaii Haanas, is a National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site that is collaboratively managed by Parks Canada and the Haida Nation on a cooperative management model. Which is amazing.  It is  the first area in the world to be protected from mountain top to sea floor. It is only accessible by boat or seaplane. 1470km2.  It's big. It's wild. The Haida can trace their presence on the land back of thousands of years through archaeology and further via oral history. It's the first time I've ever been in a place where humans are held at bay and you get a glimpse into what nature does on its own (which is not to say the area hasn't been logged and mined and otherwise interfered with, but relative to places I've been which have been heavily modified, this place was pristine).

Our tour was in the central portion of the park. We started in Carpenter Bay and finished at Hot Spring Island, which is as perfect a place to finish a kayak trip as you can imagine or wish for. 

It's important to preface this trip summary with the fact that Haida Gwaii in July is not hot. It's a high of 16C on a good day, and easily less if it's cloudy. I wore two pairs of pants the whole trip, basically. But it's worth it.

Our days would start with breakfast provided by our guides, then paddling. Often the ocean was as calm as a lake. We would pull up on a beach somewhere for lunch, then more paddling until we reached a destination where someone was assigned to make dinner and we all feasted by the fire. 
The first night we camped at Carpenter Bay where the zodiak boat dropped us off and picked up the people who had just finished their tour. Our guides made an amazing salmon dinner for us as a welcome.

We paddled from Carpenter Bay to Jedway Bay on our first day, camping in the forest of moss and foxglove flowers like something out of a fairytale.  
There was a gravestone in the woods at this site - a lonely but well-tended grave surrounded by a picket fence. The grave is of a young Japanese woman who died there in 1913. Her epitaph was handpainted on an oar blade (then later a stone). There was once a Japanese abalone cannery in the area. More details here.  It was a reminder that people have tried living out here throughout the years - in what must have been wild and remote settlements. I imagine hard lives in beautiful surroundings.  The beach in this area was a treasure trove of old equipment pieces, broken pottery, and abalone shells. I happily scoured the beach for ages, adding to the little piles of pottery fragments collected by others who have passed by.

The next day we paddled to the start of Burnaby Narrows - an area of incredibly rich intertidal life that is the highlight of this part of the park. It was cold with blowing rain that night. We all ate dinner quickly and retreated to our tents, tired from a long paddle. 

The next day we did a lazy float through Burnaby Narrows at low tide and saw many amazing things - sea stars catching crabs, huge rocks covered completely in anemones. It was lovely and I've never seen so many sea stars in my life. We had a cold lunch on a beach in the drizzle, then paddled to Island Bay. As we approached the beach we were planning to camp on, we saw a pod of dolphins and we stopped and floated a responsible distance away and just watched until they moved on. Something about the sound of dolphins breaking the water to breath is quite wonderful. We camped in the forest by the beach, near a small waterfall. 

View on Yatza Mountain

No need to break camp and load the kayaks the next day as we were staying put. One of our guides took us on a hike up Yatza Mountain - a place with no trail. Not even the hint of a trail.

The hike started with a river crossing and then proceeded through a bog up the mountain. We were all wearing kayak shoes so we essentially hiked in wet feet full of bog water the whole day - and survived. This is not something I would typically do. It was a great hike, a chance to put our trust in our guide and just blindly follow him into the woods. I learned that bogs can extend up mountains, who knew. Our guide Joe got us back to camp safely, after a detour to a freezing cold waterfall where everyone but me went for a dip (I studiously avoid getting cold and wet and saw no joy in the activity, but it was a pretty spot to visit).  After the hike, Peter and I made dinner and everyone survived.
The next day we packed up (loading up the kayaks with all the gear is a game of tetris and it's kind of exhausting as a way to start the day). After launching, we ran into our dolphin friends again and floated and watched them for a bit. 

We got to Newberry Bay where we set up camp. This was our first really really buggy evening. Out came the bug nets/hats. I spent lots of time in the tent reading to avoid the bugs, until the cold drove me to the fire to take my chances. The beach here was covered in beautiful abalone shells. It's illegal to harvest abalone in this region and it's even illegal to have the shells. I satisfied myself by collecting some and leaving them on display on the beach for the next visitor to admire. I also learned that urchin shells, when weathered are an artwork of their own. 


It rained hard overnight but cleared up in the morning. We had pancakes for breakfast to fuel our hard paddle across Juan Perez Sound. It was a hard slog for me - I'm not a strong paddler by any means and this was our first paddle facing winds and some slight choppy water so it was work. But the prospect of a possible hot spring kept me going. 

View from the hot spring.

We arrived ahead of the sailboat that was heading the same way (the Haida watchmen sites only allow 12 people at a time to visit). We got our kayaks on the beach and ran to meet the Haida watchmen at the house - they were very welcoming and invited us to enjoy the hot spring. An earthquake in 2012 cut off the natural hot water but it had started to come back and this year was the first year it was actually hot again!  And, there were shower facilities so we could get clean first! It was AMAZING. Clean and immersed in hot water with a view of the ocean and Haida Gwaii scenery?  And we were done paddling? I was giddy happy. 


We stayed in the hot spring for an hour or more and then left so the next group (sail boat) could visit. We went back to the beach where Peter and I rehydrated our homemade chili, keeping our fingers crossed it would be edible. I brought out the heavily preserved cakes and lit candles for Peter's birthday. It was a very good day. It felt very good to be warm and done.  We got to camp on the beach of Hot Spring Island which isn't normally allowed, but because they were culling deer on the island next door (via helicopter snipers, I kid you not), we were allowed to. I fell asleep to the sound of drizzling rain on the tent which turned out not to be drizzling rain but sand fleas jumping all over the outside of our tent - something I'm very glad I did not know or I would not have slept a wink. 

At some point very early in the morning Peter woke me up saying he heard a whale. We unzipped our tent and looked out and sure enough, orca fins were slicing through the water offshore. We watched them go around the corner, listening to their puffs of breathing - grateful we caught the sight. For once, Peter being an insanely light sleeper paid off.

The next morning we made another visit to the hot spring before breakfast on the beach. The sun came out and the beach turned into what looked like a MEC yard sale as every item was laid out to dry - finally, dry things!  We had been slightly moist all week really.  


We packed up, cleaned our kayaks and hopped on the zodiak boat for our trip back to civilization. We stopped at another Watchman site on the way T’aanuu Linagaay (Tanu) 

It's an amazing former Haida village site and you can see the collapsed longhouses that are covered in moss and new trees, being reclaimed by the forest. It's heartbreaking to think of the thriving community that lived in this area that was just hammered by the arrival of white people and their diseases & oppression. Canada's history of awful treatment of indigenous peoples is something we all need to do a better job to understand.

Walking through the forest in a former village site, you really felt a sense of what was lost and you really hope the Haida people can find a way to flourish despite everything that has happened and the challenges that face them today. 

We got back to the logging camp and drove back to our inn in Sandspit, saying goodbye to our guide Joe. We showered. Amazing. showers are amazing. Clean clothes are amazing. Then we met at the pub for dinner (we'd been having amazing meals on our beaches actually). Sleeping in a bed was a delight.  Sleeping in a rainforest on a moss covered floor is amazing but after seven nights I'm ready for a bed.
I highly highly recommend visiting Haida Gwaii. If you're interested in getting out into some amazing nature - Green Coast Kayak took very good care of us.  


A trip of a lifetime, for sure. It's amazing to be that far away from people - we saw a total of two other kayak groups in our week-long trip. Seeing nature - what a rainforest is supposed to be when humans aren't messing around with it (much) was staggering - nurse logs with an entire forest growing on them, huge trees. Even out there though there are signs of humans extracting resources and fucking things up - including mines that were left open, draining toxins into the water.  Now that Gwaii Haanas is protected, hopefully it can heal, but it takes time. 


Despite those scars, it is a magical place, and I don't say that lightly. 

The photo album is here. 

I went on an eight day camping kayaking trip to Haida Gwaii back in July.  At some point I will try to sit down and write a post about the actual trip, but this post is something else. 

I have recently returned from travels!

This time I was in Iceland, then London, then West Yorkshire area. The last bit was an Arvon writing retreat, like I did in Scotland years ago. And it was amazing. The setting was perfect - an old mill owners house called "Lumb Bank" donated by Ted Hughes to Arvon for inspiring and teaching writers. It's in a scenic spot and offers many wonderful walks through the woods and by rivers and through tiny villages of stone buildings. It oozes charm. The area oozes history and the mysterious pathways through the woods make you think of who else walked there long ago and where they were going.

The idea of a retreat is amazing. Go somewhere, forget about all the details buzzing around in your head. You don't need to worry about groceries or scheduling doctor appointments or any of that. You pack all that up and it will be waiting for you at the train station when you head home. While at the retreat you use all this newly gained brain-space to try writing in new ways. Morning workshops with tutors push you and challenge you and then you have the afternoon to do what you want with that new perspective.

At my one-on-one sessions with each tutor I had them review some of my writing and I got really helpful feedback and encouragement.

Now I'm back in the real world and trying to keep that part of my brain going - the question is, can I push aside all the chatter of life, forget the constantly refreshing to-do list and be a productive writer?  It's definitely harder here.

I'm reading a detailed Bronte biography so I'm a bit stuck in the language and headspace of Charlotte Bronte at the moment. I flip from practical work and life brain to this richer, deeper side that thinks about an immense literary talent living in 1840s in a small village in rural England, struggling with isolation and loneliness. I think about Lumb Bank with its big wood dining table and the creative energy that has been collectively gathered around it over the years. And I struggle to carve out a bit of space each day to get my head into that place. To forget about dentist appointments and netflix and even dancing and get myself into a fictional world. Not even to get myself in it - to create it from nothing and pull it all around me. At Lumb Bank it was a flick of the wrist and some strokes on a keyboard and I was there. Here, it is so much harder to push away the real world.

Photo album from the trip, including Iceland here.

I've been home sick for the past week so I have a lot of time to think of random things and watch Austen adaptations. I re-watched my favourite version of Sense and Sensibility (this one) and it has me thinking about Pride and Prejudice.

In P&P, much fun is made of Mrs. Bennet, who is very fixated on marrying her 5 daughters off. With good reason - if Mr. Bennet dies, they all must live on charity of the distant male cousin who will inherit the estate. And if he wanted, he could throw them out and they would have to fend for themselves (except there weren't really many ways for women to fend for themselves in ~1800).

This is interesting on its own - it seems cruel but when you read of the origins, you understand it. Estates were big operations and the only way to keep them going was to keep them whole. If you start to split them up among multiple heirs, they wouldn't work. someone would get a large house with no income to support it and the estate would fall into disrepair. So - in a country keen to maintain the estate/class structure, we understand legal mechanisms prohibiting men from leaving estates to their widows or breaking it up among daughters.

Sense and Sensibility is essentially the story of what happens to a widow in exactly this predicament. And it's not good. I think it's easy for us to look at where the Dashwoods end up and think it's all right - they have two servants after all! But they came from a very great estate and were used to very fine things... and then end up in a tiny cottage that must be bloody freezing. This is a huge transition for them and means that the daughters are a burden to any man considering marrying them. They have no titles, no money.

With no son to inherit the estate and provide for his sisters & mother, that responsibility falls to the sisters' husbands; any reasonably well-off man marrying a Bennet or Dashwood sister could expect his obligations towards the mother and any of her unmarried daughters to be written into the marriage contract. So as the situation stands in the book, the Bennet and Dashwood girls aren't just bringing very little money to a marriage, they're actually bringing liability to it. Having a brother wouldn't necessarily give them any more money, but at least the liability would be removed.

I think it's hard for modern readers to appreciate the dire change in circumstance that faces the widow and daughters in a situation like this. Mrs. Bennett is not unreasonable to fixate so much attention on trying to get her daughters taken care of and/or married to a man who can take care of everyone. She goes about it poorly, but given the other things available to occupy her time (covering screens? reading?), this seems worthwhile.

When Lizzie turns down Mr. Collins' proposal - think what she is doing. Her family is at risk of being in serious financial trouble. Marrying Mr. Collins would put Lizzie in control of the use of the estate when her father passes away and Mr. Collins inherits it. She could ensure her mother and sister are all cared for. We cheer her for refusing Mr. Collins because he's kind of a fool, but it's a dangerous choice to make given the consequences. Mrs. Bennet is right to be frustrated with Lizzie.

Then there is Mr. Darcy - he is very very wealthy. I think one of the reasons he's not keen to socialize with strangers is because women must constantly be trying to 'get' him and it must be exhausting/annoying. I've also wondered about the educational difference. Darcy has received the best education England has to offer at the time. Lizzie, as an example in contrast, has been home schooled by her mother (portrayed as a fool in most of the book). Darcy is perhaps understandably underwhelmed by the company offered at country assemblies - making uninteresting small talk with people more interested in your fortune than you.

So - when Lizzie refuses Darcy... first of all, what a shock to him; I'm sure it never occurred to him that anyone would refuse him and his fortune, especially a poor woman with no prospects.  And again, Lizzie has a chance to secure the future for her mother and four sisters and chooses not to.  In the end, the right thing to do because it causes Darcy to reform himself a bit, but she doesn't do it with that intent.  She does it out of anger, dislike, and prejudice.

I think its very interesting to watch S&S and think - that could have been the Bennets if Lizzie hadn't fixed everything with Darcy - forced to move to the other side of the country, leave all their friends, and settle in a drafty cottage by the sea and learn how to do housework when they are used to being gentlewomen. All prospects for good marriages are lost (outside of a good novel plot, that is).  It puts all of Lizzie's marriage refusals in a different light.

One comes away with significantly increased sympathy for Charlotte of P&P- who was 26 (considered old-maid age) and took the only offer of marriage she was likely to receive - a very practical decision.

Peter and I spent the last few hours of 2016 dancing to great live music with fellow dancers & friends. It was at a party where we were possibly the youngest people there, but that's just how it is at dance things - younger people aren't into it, people our age are at home with babies, so it's mostly retirees. That's okay, we had a great time!

2016 was a weird year, wasn't it?

Peter and I started the year by making our second trip to Vienna for another ball, this time with my sister and her partner. It was fabulous. Vienna is one of our favourite places, and we kind of like going back to the same place repeatedly - you get to develop favourite places and you've done the touristy stuff so you can relax; it's good. We're planning Vienna 2018 and trying to talk some dance friends into joining us. Fingers crossed it works out!

We continued to get to know Carlos, and he and Bernoulli figured out how to co-exist. I spent a lot of time cuddling = success. Still miss our little Kitty.

Work started off a drag as I was stuck doing compliance reviews still, but that got moved off my plate when someone awesome was hired. Then I applied for and got a promotion in June, which was cool except that we did not backfill my old position so the rest of the year was hectic and left me feeling like I was not doing a good job. I'm optimistic this will be better starting in February. I'm lucky to work with a great team on interesting stuff, so even when it's crazy, I try to be grateful!

Peter did a lot of night mountain bike riding, which sounds like a strange hobby to me, but makes him happy. We passed our Bronze 4 dance exam and moved to Silver 1. I'm able to follow most of the random stuff Peter makes up, so social dancing is super fun for us now. We made a short trip to Harrison Hot Springs to celebrate our anniversary and dance in the Copper Room which was pretty lovely.  Also on the dance front: we got to be back up dancers in a music video - that was fun! It was a good year for dance.

I did some kickboxing with friends which was fun. Need to do more of that. Peter and I did some local hiking. I went on a camping trip with several friends in Manning Park and had a great time. Went on a cruise with a friend (neither of us really cruise-type people; had fun anyway).  Peter went to Thailand and Malaysia with a friend to celebrate their 40th birthdays.  My sister and her partner arrived in June and set out on their trip across Canada by bike (which they made look easy).  I traveled for work for the first time since I was an Engineer (to Baltimore and Toronto)!  Peter and I did a short trip to Silverstar.

I got back into donating blood. Did some fundraising & photography for local cat rescue groups.  Need to find some additional volunteer work for 2017 I think.

Peter turned 40 and in addition to travelling in Thailand and Malaysia, he had a surprise glider flight, a surprise party organized by his family, and went skydiving.

We saw Christine and the Queens in concert and it was amazing.

I had awesome chunks of blue hair all year until I chopped it all off in November (so good to have short hair again!).

Hoping for better work/life balance in 2017 for both Peter and I. Also: more fun times with friends and finding new ways to contribute to community.

It's been a strange winter in Vancouver. Multiple snowfalls! Temperatures below zero for multiple days! Weird. I finished work on Dec 16, stacked up some unused vacation days to spend the rest of the month relaxing.

Peter and I went to Whistler on Dec 16. Peter went boarding despite the fact that it was -16degC! That's like real Canadian winter cold. Two pairs of pants cold. It's been a long time since I've experienced that. Funny to think I spent the first 26 years of my life in places where that was normal in winter and now I'm quite ill-equipped to handle it.

I spent some time in Whistler's lovely library, happily tucked into an armchair by the fire with a hot chocolate and a view of some snowy woods. It took me a while to figure out that the library is by far the most relaxing place to hang out in Whistler. Also, free magazines to read.

I had a chance to meet up with an old friend (former varsity teammate) and meet her cute 1 year old son. Peter and I even managed to stay up late enough to go to the concert that brought us to Whistler in the first place - Willa. She's from Whistler and was doing a gig there. We lasted until 12:30am and then bailed - definitely feeling how much older we were than the partying young'uns. Was nice to enjoy some live music though.

I've since been puttering around the apartment doing the occasional productive thing (today I will wash the dishes!) but mostly binge watching netflix (The OA!),cuddling cats, crafting (beads!), going for walks. It's exactly what I wanted and it's lovely.

On Dec 20th I went out for dinner with some friends: a dinner I worked hard to schedule - everyone is so busy - and it was fabulous to get us all in one place. I was thinking back to how I met both these ladies, both are kind of funny stories. One is a weaver who had a blog I stumbled on whose work I fell in love with. I connected with her somehow - probably asked for local advice on learning to weave and she was kind enough to respond. Shortly after she started a yarn-dying company (which is doing very well now!) and I went to her studio for a knit night and we just kept meeting & enjoying each other's company. Helped that she was a ballroom dancer in university, so we unexpectedly had that in common! She even invited us to her lovely wedding to her great husband (some pretty amazing dancers on that wedding dance floor). She had also become friends with the other woman at dinner who I met separately. This second woman wrote a book on crochet (she's written several, actually) and had a book reading in a local yarn store. I went to the event with some crafting friends and we ended up chatting with her and inviting her to join us on one of our craft nights. And somehow we actually connected and turned that into a friendship.

They're both such wonderful, creative people. It's so interesting to me how tentative connections - meeting at a book reading, emailing someone because of their amazing blog, can turn into lasting friendships. They both have kids now, so scheduling this is hard, but we all agreed last night that we have to get together more frequently, so I'm going to follow up on that, even if it takes a doodle poll and 47 emails to lock in a date! One of the advantages of getting old - being able to look back at all the interesting and unlikely ways you've connected with the people who are your friends.

Did I mention I got a promotion at work a few months ago? It's good, but it means I've been trying to do two jobs until we backfill my old position. Which means I'm too busy. Like, haven't made it to lunch time yoga in months. And sometimes don't make it to lunch. And stay late. I'm trying not to complain because, I'm glad I got the promotion and this level of busy should be temporary. It's frustrating because I don't feel like I'm doing a good job because there just isn't time. Anyway... one day I will make yoga again. On the home front. I am currently in the middle of Operation Clean Everything because we have a clothing moth infestation. Today I had the day off and did 4 loads of laundry and soaked all the winter woolens in a vinegar bath. Clean stuff goes into giant ziplock bags to stay uncontaminated while I scrub drawers and wardrobes within an inch of their life. Everything smells like vinegar at the moment. And I'm only 1/3 done maybe? I'm most worried about the closet with the coats... drycleaning coats is mad expensive but I don't think there's any other solution for them. I have a bug phobia, so dealing with this infestation is grossing me out big time. But I'm dealing with it. And, purging items as I go, which is always something I need to do, so... yay? Thank god I put my yarn stash into ziplock bags years ago so it's safe. That's it for random updates!

Here is the rule. I will go backpack camping if it means I get to experience places and scenery I can't any other way. The Garibaldi trip from last year is an excellent example - that is the most beautiful place I have ever been to.

I've also discovered the fun of camping with other women and I've learned tricks from them on how to make back country camping more pleasant. So, I joined three friends on a trip to Manning Park to hike Heather Trail to Kicking Horse campsite.

The weather was supposed to be lovely the whole weekend. It wasn't.

We drove to manning Park Thursday night, having booked a car camping spot so we could hit the trail head earlier on Friday. We arrived and set up our tents in the dark and enjoyed a fire. Friday morning we packed our bags and headed to the trail head. Then drove back down to the lodge to get our back country permits. Then we drove to the trail head again. Bit of a late start. And instead of warm and sunny, it was overcast and had drizzled earlier. This was where I realized I did not have a pack cover. So I shoved a plastic bag over the top and hoped the rain held off.


The nice part of Heather trail is that you start at an elevation of 2000m and get to enjoy lovely scenery immediately and wildflowers show up pretty quickly. It's pretty amazing.

We were a bit worried about the arctic wind that kept blowing over us. No rain, but it was COLD. We layered on clothing and I was glad I packed a rain coat even though the forecast said sunny. At one point we discussed turning back, given the weather. We had seen the revised forecast of a low of 6deg down at the lodge and we're we up high enough to knock several degrees off that. We were all a bit worried but decided to press on and see how tomorrow looked. It was 13.5km to the campsite.



The last km went on forever but we made it to camp and found 1 spot empty so we crammed 3 tents on it and hastily made supper while trying not to freeze. At this point I was wearing a shirt, a fleece, a sweater, and a jacket. My feet and hands were getting the worst of it.

We had amazing chili made and dehydrated by one of the women on the trip. It was the best camping food I've ever had. We all agreed to skip dessert to facilitate getting into sleeping bags more quickly with the hope of being warm. I was glad to be sharing a tent, hopeful that would help with the cold. I tucked all of me into my bag with my kobo and reading light, with all of my clothes still on. I managed to get warmed up and get some sleep.

The next morning we woke up to overcast and cold weather. Maybe a bit warmer? We had a hot breakfast and I tried to look on the bright side - cold meant no bugs! We hiked to Nicomen Lake (15 km round-trip) to keep warm, since it was too chilly to relax at camp. It was a beautiful hike even with the cloud cover.

Everyone had a good sense of humour, so the weather couldn't really ruin the trip. And we never got rained on, so we were ok. We got back to camp and put on our bug hats. It had warmed up enough for the bugs to come out! We made another delicious dinner and the bugs had gone by the time we sat down to eat.


The next morning we woke up to sun! Amazing! 

We opted for a simple, quick breakfast so we could get going sooner. Broke camp and packed up, heaving packs on our backs and starting the walk to civilization. Early on one of us had a foot issue so we redistributed the weight from her pack to the 3 of us to try and avoid injury. She made it, in pain, but it didn't get worse, thank goodness. Can't say I loved the heavier pack, but it was nice teamwork and we all survived.

The hike back with clear skies was amazing - like a totally different route. Walking through sub-alpine meadows full of wildflowers with mountain peak backdrops never gets old.



We were slow partly because of heavy packs and foot issues and partly because it was so stunning. After 5 hours, I was super happy to see the parking lot. We threw our packs in the back, took off our hiking boots and we're deliriously happy. Then we went to the nearest pub for burgers. Post hike burgers are pretty awesome.


I've never camped in the cold before. I get cold so easily and it makes me pretty miserable, so I've avoided it. I will continue to do so, but the fact that I still chalk this trip up as a success says something about the fabulous company I was in. Good humour, good sports, supportive, etc. We had a great time. Good friends are good.

I do suspect I will be really over packed for my next camping trip. Long John's and down jackets, even for camping in August.

All the photos from this trip are here, including one of me in my very stylish bug hat:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/lisabrideau/albums/72157671611429325/with/28696406436/ 

Photo of  a back country camper!

So England voted to leave the EU and it's a gong show over there now. Trump is crazy and a substantial number of people are willing to vote for him.  It's weird times.

But I'm not here to write about that, I'm here to write about my new gadget. Because, priorities. And the need to focus on things that bring happiness not head-explodingness.

For a while now I've been waiting for the smart wearable tech to mature enough to provide an attractive, functional, affordable solution to the fact that my cellphone is always in my bag and I never manage to hear it ring/ding. This, being a problem particular to women, went unaddressed by the male-dominated tech industry for ages. Then products like Ringly came along - jewelry connected to your phone via bluetooth that flash an led or vibrate to let you know your phone is ringing or you got a text.

I held off buying these early products because they were expensive and reportedly buggy.  But it was taking ages for anything reasonable to come along. Cuff, for example was advertised in 2014, took a ton of pre-orders and then went under without delivering anything. It was really frustrating. We could make GIANT smart watches that don't fit on smaller wrists but we can't make a small, simple, dodad with basic notifications? I would get pretty annoyed every time I googled smart jewelry to find if there was a new product only to see nothing had advanced.

Then I went on a cruise with a friend who had a FitBit Alta. She was receiving text and phone call notifications via her fitness monitor. And, the tiny display screen would even show her who was calling/texting so she could decide whether or not to pull out her phone.  I got home and basically went out and bought one right away (on sale, yay!).

I'm pretty thrilled. It's basically a watch that provides this connectivity for me and tracks my fitness too. I think FitBit is mis-advertising it, actually. They advertise it as a fitness monitor and down near the bottom of the list of features they say it does phone notifications. They should be singing that from the rooftops.

So, here I am doing it for them. I can't believe how long it has taken to solve this problem, and even the products that do solve the problem don't seem to realize what a powerful thing they've done. Other fitness monitors do phone notifications too - the new Misfit Shine doesn't have a display but flashes leds and is pretty.

I feel like I should thank all the people who are crazy into fitness tracking for making these products a worthwhile place for companies to innovate. Otherwise, if left to the smart jewelry makers, I'd still be waiting!

After our year in Poland the travel bug left me entirely. I was so happy to be home with friends and in a place where I spoke the language and I had no desire to ever see another old church. The urge to sight-see was totally gone, it had left somewhere before our year in Europe was even up.

Peter recently went on a trip to Bangkok & Malaysia with a friend and I enjoyed it. I was honestly quite happy not to go. Which seems awful. One is supposed to love travel, right? Want to go at every opportunity?  That's not me any more.

That said. There is this writing retreat/conference in Reykjavik, Iceland that sounds amaaaaaazing. And the thought of staying afterwards and visiting Iceland seems really appealing. I can't put my finger on why - I suspect Iceland will be rather miserable in April, but it's a place I've heard lovely things about, it's a bit off the beaten track, something different... these things appeal to me. Also - it fits our new method of travel which is to have a reason to go a place, some activity or event.

So, tentatively, maybe the travel bug does still exist in me, it just needs very carefully crafted circumstances to come out.

So, I went on a cruise. Which is not something I expected to do for another few decades, if ever.
 
 I have had many people rave to me about how much they love going on cruises, but they didn't really seem to be my scene (not to mention that they are an environmental blight). An opportunity for a free 3 day cruise came up and Peter had plans to travel to SE Asia so I asked a friend if she wanted to join me and suddenly, a cruise vacation was booked!

Fortunately, I went with the same friend I went to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary with 5 (6?) years ago. She and I had similar views of our stopover in Vegas (not our scene, had to find our own fun), so I figured we'd be on the same page, mocking the same things on the cruise, both keen to opt out of the same things.

We flew to LA (LAX is a hot mess of an airport, fyi) and paid for the shuttle to Long Beach cruise ship port. The process of getting on the boat involved a lot of lines, but the moved pretty quickly and before we knew it we were on board and being told to go enjoy the buffet lunch.

The first thing we learned about cruise life is that they want to take pictures of you constantly so they can sell you photos later. At some point in the cruise we decided to stop fighting it and enthusiastically said yes to all photo ops (there were FOUR in a row when we got off the boat in Mexico, just to give you an idea).

We walked into the buffet food area and were assaulted by NEON and loud music. It was sensory overload. When I posted a photo on facebook, a friend suggested it was a Battlestar Galactica theme. We helped ourselves to fruit and soft serve ice cream and commented on the disappointing lack of sprinkles for the ice cream.

(photo above: lobby/atrium area of the ship. Subtle design aesthetic.)

The first stop for our cruise was Avalon on Catalina Island, California. We sailed there overnight. Which is odd because there are boats that leave Long Beach and get there in 1-2 hours. I really don't know how we managed to take so long, it must be really hard to be a cruise ship navigator and make it take 10 hours to get somewhere you can get in 2 hours.

We went for a wander around town, hiked up a steep dirt path at the suggestion of a local (great view), discovered a sweet pet cemetery with heartwarming memorial tributes to various pets ("Will, RIP, you were a great fish"), and had tacos.

It was strange being part of the cruise ship hoard (I usually flee the cruise ship hoards when they land in Vancouver). Avalon was nice but we had a really hard time finding any shops that sold any Avalon-made stuff which was a bummer.

They were having an extreme water shortage, with signs in their main plaza. FYI. Droughts - soon to be increasingly normal.


There was a section of the cruise ship called "Serenity" that I was keen to experience. I was a section of deck with lounge chairs and two little hot tubs that was kid-free. YAY! Unfortunately that doesn't mean it's free of loud drunk people who sit in the hot tub for two hours talking loudly nonstop the entire time.  At some point when it was cold and windy we tried the poolside area (more sheltered) and had music blasted at us while kids cannon-balled into the pool and drunk people at the bar screamed for no apparent reason. We tried sitting outside the cafe area inside the ship, but staff were setting up for an art auction (?) so there was a lot of commotion. We visited the library, which was cool, but it was off the ship lobby atrium and they had a guy at the lobby bar playing music which was amplified to ensure all 6 decks could hear it clearly. Our cabin was generally the only option for a quiet place to hang out. The intention of this cruiseline was to HAVE FUN, not relax and nap in the sun, clearly.

The next stop after Catalina was Ensenada, Mexico. We signed up for a kayaking excursion here because I'd heard the town was a tourist trap and I've never been to Mexico before so I wanted to get off the ship and see something.

The kayak trip was wonderful. It was well run and our guides were excellent. We went out into open ocean over some fun rolling waves, got to see a cool blow hole, learned to use giant kelp as an anchor.  Good times. We did get off in the town thinking we would find some food but the hawkers trying to get us into their shops were so persistent and obnoxious that instead we just walked back to the ship as quickly as we could. It was pretty awful.

We enjoyed some 80s music trivia and the Diva show, had dinner at a shared table with a random collection of people. Read books in the sun, chatted a lot. Did an 8am yoga class (yoga on a moving ship is interesting). Ate. There is so much food! Definitely gained weight.

Overall, we enjoyed ourselves... but mostly despite the cruiseline's efforts to manufacture fun. This was the party cruiseline. The kind where they ask "is everyone having a good time" and the crowd screams.  I'm not the kind of person that screams on cue. But, a few days of sunny weather and good company and no need to worry about things is always good.

The day I got back I sat in my apartment with two cats and enjoyed the lack of neon and loud music. I went the entire rest of the day enjoying the quiet.

Imagine this being really really loud.  Super relaxing.

I always marvel at how good it is to go away and travel and at the same time how very good it is to get home.  Peter returns from his crazy adventure in a few days; will be fun to share stories.

Trip photos are being uploaded here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lisabrideau/albums/72157666415994404 

Yesterday Peter and I went for a hike. Actually got up early to try and beat the rain. We went up Skyline - which is a trail up Grouse Mountain to the chalet. In fact, the trail goes straight up the mountain. We did it, and enjoyed coffee/chai at the chalet before going to visit the grizzly bear habitat and catching the gondola back down. We were very glad to get to the car at the end because the drizzle turned into real rain. That's pretty much all that has been accomplished this weekend. Tonight we're going to a fancy place to be background dancers in a music video. That should be interesting!

Carlos update: interestingly, when he first moved in he was insistent on sleeping next to my pillow or on my chest all the time. He's now gotten more relaxed and still cuddles (he's on my lap watching me type this), but he also goes and does his own thing. He and Bernoulli are still working it out. I think Carlos is claiming the area rug as his because he does this whenever Bernoulli lays down on it:

Overall I think they get along okay. They mostly leave each other alone. Aside from bothering Bernoulli, Carlos is lovely and we like having him with us. Yay to senior pets. Humans of NY had a wonderful post about senior pets.