Saturday, January 30, 2010
Bill at Doheny State Beach
January 30,2010
Got up this morning and biked to Dana Point. They have a ton of bike paths along the highway here. There are lots of road bikers. It is just crazy tho...you have traffic wizzing by you on the highway and then you have this crazy train track right next to you with trains flying by and the whole time you are trying to dodge all the bikers on the path...TOO MANY PEOPLE!!!! The train tracks are literally right on the beach...you have to be watching all the time for trains.
The shore break was really something to see this morning. I have never seen waves break right at the shore like that.
We moved our trailer to Doheny State Beach. We were the first ones in line to get into the park as they have been closed the whole week trying to clean up after the storm. We are right on the ocean..no more driving back and forth and I can just get up in the morning and go for a run. I am trying to work up my nerve to try some surfing myself...It just looks a little scary to me...can't be any harder than Maui right?? I will have a better look tomorrow...
Bill had fun on his stand up this afternoon.
Mom or dad if you read this let us know where you are.....Mom you would be really proud of me...on our bike ride this morning I hit a garage sale with a bunch of new release movies....we bought 14 movies for $14....thank god we dont have to watch any more CSIs that was all we had to watch.....
Hope everyone is good back home....How are my work buddies???
Deb:)
January 28, 2010
Went out on the stand up board this morning on the bay. It was pretty calm.
We decided it was time to say good-bye to San Diego and move on. Said our good-byes to John and Sam.
We drove up Hwy 1 and it was scenic and pretty...a real nice break from the freeway.
We drove thu Carlsbad and Oceanside and stopped at a park in San Clemente. Most of the parks are still closed in this area due to the storms. We arrived after dark and thought we could just sneak in as the attendant was gone for the night, but we had a knock on our door at around 10:30pm with a citation delivered to us...man there are way too many rules in California. I guess there are just too many homeless people or just too many damn people in general...that they keep on top of everything. There is no boondocking anywhere!
January 29,2010
Got up and drove to Costa Mesa so bill could get his rip curl watched fixed and do some shopping. We went back to the campground and then biked to the beach to check out the surf...both trestles and the beach at the San Clemente State Park. Bill went out surfing and I went for a run....I forgot how tough it is to run in the sand....yikes..We had our first campfire tonight! The weather if finally co-operating.
Went out on the stand up board this morning on the bay. It was pretty calm.
We decided it was time to say good-bye to San Diego and move on. Said our good-byes to John and Sam.
We drove up Hwy 1 and it was scenic and pretty...a real nice break from the freeway.
We drove thu Carlsbad and Oceanside and stopped at a park in San Clemente. Most of the parks are still closed in this area due to the storms. We arrived after dark and thought we could just sneak in as the attendant was gone for the night, but we had a knock on our door at around 10:30pm with a citation delivered to us...man there are way too many rules in California. I guess there are just too many homeless people or just too many damn people in general...that they keep on top of everything. There is no boondocking anywhere!
January 29,2010
Got up and drove to Costa Mesa so bill could get his rip curl watched fixed and do some shopping. We went back to the campground and then biked to the beach to check out the surf...both trestles and the beach at the San Clemente State Park. Bill went out surfing and I went for a run....I forgot how tough it is to run in the sand....yikes..We had our first campfire tonight! The weather if finally co-operating.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A big part of this adventure for me is about the people you cross paths with along the journey and what they bring into your life.
So far 2 people stand out for me….. one is our cute little neighbor with great stories and the other is a neighbor with life changing advice..
We met our neighbor John who has a dog named Sam and a cat named Batman. Of course I wanted to meet this dog named Sam as he was big and very cute. John started talking to Bill and I went right over to meet the dog. When he said my dog’s name is Sam and he is so strong. I was like of course he is… his name is Sam…like my dad.
This man was a great story teller. He told us about all the different places he has lived and that he sold his house here in California and was living in his airstream motorhome. When he would tell his stories he would mention his ex-wife and he would say she was sort of an actress. Of course this made me curious about who she might be. After a couple of days of listening to his stories and getting to know about him…he was talking about some of the LA parties he had been to at the Spelling house etc…and Bill finally dropped the question “what did your wife play in?” and he said “oh a couple of shows… Dynasty and Dallas and some movie with Patrick Swayze”.….I am thinking OMG are you kidding Dynasty…my pre-teen years were spent watching this show and dreaming about owning clothes with big shoulder pads, high heels and lots of make-up…He said ya it was ok for awhile meeting all those people , but I don’t know you get tired of it after awhile.
Bill and I came back to the trailer and googled his wife’s name just to see pictures of her….Her name is Tracy Scoggins. He is a cool guy…I like John.
The first or second day we arrived and we were all bummed out about not being able to make it to Mexico we met one of our neighbours Greg. He came and introduced himself to Bill…I was inside listening to them talk through the trailer window and despite the rain and all the gloomy weather we had been having this man seemed really happy…you could just hear it in his voice, the way he was excited about everything he talked about or described. I heard a deep spirituality in everything he said. Now I was curious and had to get up and take part in this conversation as I hadn’t talked to anybody but Bill in what seemed like days……When he asked Bill and I what our plans were I am sure we seemed sort of down, as Mexico was such a huge part of our trip planning…..He told us he didn’t really have a plan and that him and his wife had another couple with them and they were just going to get up each morning and decide what they were going to do and where they were going to head. I thought this sounds cool, but I don’t know if that is what I want to do. Maybe because society says we always have to have a plan and be thinking about what are we going to do next…instead of living in the now like the Eckert Toole book The Power of Now. Of course we all like to have a plan and be in control right? Greg said to me that sometimes you just have to be open to what is going to happen and not to focus too much on the fact that we were going to maybe miss out on Mexico. He said maybe this is where you are supposed to be right now and I said to him you are right maybe we aren’t going because something bad might have happened if we would have got caught in the storm or whatever harm might be out there for us.
He told us that his life had changed so much since he found out he had a terminal illness. I stood there dumbfounded when he smiled and said he has never been happier in his life. He is just going to take each day and live it.
He was excited for us when we came back from the zoo and told him about the animals we had seen and he said isn’t it just amazing what god has put out there for us to enjoy if we are just open to it….I definitely had an ahhh moment as Oprah says….
Greg and his friend Bill left the next day and decided they were going to Arizona . Bill told us to call them when we were in Colorado and they would show us around. Bill sounds like a real outdoors person who skis and hikes and would be able to show us some good spots.
Greg came over to say good-bye. He shook our hand with a huge smile on his face and said to us “have a great life!” …..who says that??? Someone who understands how precious life is…. As he turned and walked away from me I couldn’t help but feel I had met Greg somewhere before….or that his message was sent to us to really live our life fully both on this adventure and just in general and to stop and enjoy the now instead of always thinking about what comes next….
Thank you so much Greg. I hope our paths cross again along this journey. I read your blog and it sounds like you have a wonderful daughter…
So far 2 people stand out for me….. one is our cute little neighbor with great stories and the other is a neighbor with life changing advice..
We met our neighbor John who has a dog named Sam and a cat named Batman. Of course I wanted to meet this dog named Sam as he was big and very cute. John started talking to Bill and I went right over to meet the dog. When he said my dog’s name is Sam and he is so strong. I was like of course he is… his name is Sam…like my dad.
This man was a great story teller. He told us about all the different places he has lived and that he sold his house here in California and was living in his airstream motorhome. When he would tell his stories he would mention his ex-wife and he would say she was sort of an actress. Of course this made me curious about who she might be. After a couple of days of listening to his stories and getting to know about him…he was talking about some of the LA parties he had been to at the Spelling house etc…and Bill finally dropped the question “what did your wife play in?” and he said “oh a couple of shows… Dynasty and Dallas and some movie with Patrick Swayze”.….I am thinking OMG are you kidding Dynasty…my pre-teen years were spent watching this show and dreaming about owning clothes with big shoulder pads, high heels and lots of make-up…He said ya it was ok for awhile meeting all those people , but I don’t know you get tired of it after awhile.
Bill and I came back to the trailer and googled his wife’s name just to see pictures of her….Her name is Tracy Scoggins. He is a cool guy…I like John.
The first or second day we arrived and we were all bummed out about not being able to make it to Mexico we met one of our neighbours Greg. He came and introduced himself to Bill…I was inside listening to them talk through the trailer window and despite the rain and all the gloomy weather we had been having this man seemed really happy…you could just hear it in his voice, the way he was excited about everything he talked about or described. I heard a deep spirituality in everything he said. Now I was curious and had to get up and take part in this conversation as I hadn’t talked to anybody but Bill in what seemed like days……When he asked Bill and I what our plans were I am sure we seemed sort of down, as Mexico was such a huge part of our trip planning…..He told us he didn’t really have a plan and that him and his wife had another couple with them and they were just going to get up each morning and decide what they were going to do and where they were going to head. I thought this sounds cool, but I don’t know if that is what I want to do. Maybe because society says we always have to have a plan and be thinking about what are we going to do next…instead of living in the now like the Eckert Toole book The Power of Now. Of course we all like to have a plan and be in control right? Greg said to me that sometimes you just have to be open to what is going to happen and not to focus too much on the fact that we were going to maybe miss out on Mexico. He said maybe this is where you are supposed to be right now and I said to him you are right maybe we aren’t going because something bad might have happened if we would have got caught in the storm or whatever harm might be out there for us.
He told us that his life had changed so much since he found out he had a terminal illness. I stood there dumbfounded when he smiled and said he has never been happier in his life. He is just going to take each day and live it.
He was excited for us when we came back from the zoo and told him about the animals we had seen and he said isn’t it just amazing what god has put out there for us to enjoy if we are just open to it….I definitely had an ahhh moment as Oprah says….
Greg and his friend Bill left the next day and decided they were going to Arizona . Bill told us to call them when we were in Colorado and they would show us around. Bill sounds like a real outdoors person who skis and hikes and would be able to show us some good spots.
Greg came over to say good-bye. He shook our hand with a huge smile on his face and said to us “have a great life!” …..who says that??? Someone who understands how precious life is…. As he turned and walked away from me I couldn’t help but feel I had met Greg somewhere before….or that his message was sent to us to really live our life fully both on this adventure and just in general and to stop and enjoy the now instead of always thinking about what comes next….
Thank you so much Greg. I hope our paths cross again along this journey. I read your blog and it sounds like you have a wonderful daughter…
Sunday, January 24, 2010
January 22 & 23, 2010
The weather is slowly getting better. We have been able to go for a stroll on the boardwalk and look at some old ships and to finally get to the San Diego Zoo which was really fun! I think some of the animals were ready to show off as they had been stuck in their dens all week. I am trying to figure out how to put all our photos from the zoo somewhere and have been working on that most of the morning,but having no luck yet. I will attach just a few photos for you to look at.
We have all our stuff laid out on our camping site to dry out and I have done some clean up inside this morning also.
Bill is just gone to pick up some supplies for some fix it jobs that need to be done to the outside after the wind and storms...noticed a few damages this morning.
We are going to maybe head up the coast tomorrow. I will let you know once we decide. Tahoe and Salt Lake are still getting lots of snow....tempting to head that way....
Deb
Friday, January 22, 2010
Mexican Highway
Well we are still hanging out at the trailer park in San Diego...day 3 today. At least we are safe here....We are surrounded by really big coaches...we are definately the smallest rig here. I just can't believe the weather we are seeing....frightening really....just when you think there is hope and you might get to do something bam!! Bill and I just went for a short 25 minute jog before dinner to pick up our van we had to leave at a public park down the road because a water line broke right in front of the campground we are staying at....like there is not enough water flooding everything already?? we just got back and it started to hail....huge....Bill and I have never seen hail like that.
On a more positive note we went to 4 museums yesterday...the natural history museum, air & space, history of man & an art museum...you can imagine how happy Bill was about that..not exactly his bag. Tried to go to the San Diego Zoo today but was told at the gate that all the animals have been hiding all week so if we didn't want to see empty stalls and maybe some poo to not bother spending our money. We drove by Sea World and it was closed.
I guess we won't be going to Mexico any time soon. Some of the roads washed out and some bridges are done, so we need to go to plan B whatever that is. We should have listened to that coin we flipped as it told us to go to Tahoe...now highway 15 is closed and we can't get there. It could be worse we could be in Mexico...see attached photos....
We don't have TV, so we can't see how bad things are in LA.
Please drop us a note..as that seems to be our only entertainment right now!
Deb & Bill
most powerful low pressure in 140 years...
Wow---from the Weather Underground site:
The most powerful low pressure system in 140 years of record keeping swept through the Southwest U.S. yesterday, bringing deadly flooding, tornadoes, hail, hurricane force winds, and blizzard conditions. We expect to get powerful winter storms affecting the Southwest U.S. during strong El Niño events, but yesterday's storm was truly epic in its size and intensity. The storm set all-time low pressure records over roughly 10 - 15% of the U.S.--over southern Oregon, and most of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Old records were broken by a wide margin in many locations, most notably in Los Angeles, where the old record of 29.25" set January 17, 1988, was shattered by .18" (6 mb). Bakersfield broke its record by .30" (10 mb). The record-setting low spawned an extremely intense cold front that rumbled thought the Southwest, and winds ahead of the cold front reached sustained speeds of hurricane force--74 mph--last night at one Arizona mountain location, Apache Junction, between Tucson and Phoenix. Wind gusts as high as 94 mph were recorded in Ajo, Arizona, and a Personal Weather Station in Summerhaven (on top of Mt. Lemmon next to Tucson) recorded sustained winds of 67 mph, gusting to 86 mph, before the power failed. Prescott recorded sustained winds at 52 mph, gusting to 67 as the cold front passed, and high winds plunged visibility to zero in blowing dust on I-10 connecting Phoenix and Tucson. The storm spawned one possible tornado in Arizona, which touched down at 8:32 pm MST in Phoenix near Desert Ridge Mall. No damage or injuries were reported. If verified, it would be only the 7th January tornado in Arizona since record keeping began in 1950.
The most powerful low pressure system in 140 years of record keeping swept through the Southwest U.S. yesterday, bringing deadly flooding, tornadoes, hail, hurricane force winds, and blizzard conditions. We expect to get powerful winter storms affecting the Southwest U.S. during strong El Niño events, but yesterday's storm was truly epic in its size and intensity. The storm set all-time low pressure records over roughly 10 - 15% of the U.S.--over southern Oregon, and most of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Old records were broken by a wide margin in many locations, most notably in Los Angeles, where the old record of 29.25" set January 17, 1988, was shattered by .18" (6 mb). Bakersfield broke its record by .30" (10 mb). The record-setting low spawned an extremely intense cold front that rumbled thought the Southwest, and winds ahead of the cold front reached sustained speeds of hurricane force--74 mph--last night at one Arizona mountain location, Apache Junction, between Tucson and Phoenix. Wind gusts as high as 94 mph were recorded in Ajo, Arizona, and a Personal Weather Station in Summerhaven (on top of Mt. Lemmon next to Tucson) recorded sustained winds of 67 mph, gusting to 86 mph, before the power failed. Prescott recorded sustained winds at 52 mph, gusting to 67 as the cold front passed, and high winds plunged visibility to zero in blowing dust on I-10 connecting Phoenix and Tucson. The storm spawned one possible tornado in Arizona, which touched down at 8:32 pm MST in Phoenix near Desert Ridge Mall. No damage or injuries were reported. If verified, it would be only the 7th January tornado in Arizona since record keeping began in 1950.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
January 20, 2010
Well we made it to San Diego and didn't see anything the whole way here. For those of you who are following the weather....California is a mess....We drove through LA today and there is lots of flooding and mudslides.
We are just holding up here. We are both getting really tired of the rain and high winds. It has been hard on us to be stuck in the van or trailer all the time when we are used to being outside so much. We also feel like we missed out on seeing California.....now we are not sure we can go to Mexico as the road might be washed out.
Have you heard anything Janice or Jerry?
Maybe Tahoe was the better choice....
Might go to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow....do you think any animals are crazy enough to hang out in this weather?
D
Well we made it to San Diego and didn't see anything the whole way here. For those of you who are following the weather....California is a mess....We drove through LA today and there is lots of flooding and mudslides.
We are just holding up here. We are both getting really tired of the rain and high winds. It has been hard on us to be stuck in the van or trailer all the time when we are used to being outside so much. We also feel like we missed out on seeing California.....now we are not sure we can go to Mexico as the road might be washed out.
Have you heard anything Janice or Jerry?
Maybe Tahoe was the better choice....
Might go to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow....do you think any animals are crazy enough to hang out in this weather?
D
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
January 19, 2010
Wow! What a night? I thought for sure when I got up this morning I was in Hatteras? The trailer shook all night..we actually got up around 2:00 and moved to another spot in the parking lot that was more protected. It was rainy and blowing so hard...just like Hatteras! 100km an hour...where are you Janice????
We got up and started trying to make the tough decision of heading for the border or heading to see Jim in Tahoe....looked weather up on computer, ski conditions, road conditions, flipped a coin 3 times and decided to run for the border and see Jim on our way back. We really wanted to drive down the coast of California, but the winds are too high and it is hailing in San Fran....We just hoped on Hwy 5 and drove all the way to LA (home of Jeff the dude Lebowski).
We plan on going to San Diego tomorrow and set up our paper work etc...to head into Mexico...
Adios
Deb:)
Wow! What a night? I thought for sure when I got up this morning I was in Hatteras? The trailer shook all night..we actually got up around 2:00 and moved to another spot in the parking lot that was more protected. It was rainy and blowing so hard...just like Hatteras! 100km an hour...where are you Janice????
We got up and started trying to make the tough decision of heading for the border or heading to see Jim in Tahoe....looked weather up on computer, ski conditions, road conditions, flipped a coin 3 times and decided to run for the border and see Jim on our way back. We really wanted to drive down the coast of California, but the winds are too high and it is hailing in San Fran....We just hoped on Hwy 5 and drove all the way to LA (home of Jeff the dude Lebowski).
We plan on going to San Diego tomorrow and set up our paper work etc...to head into Mexico...
Adios
Deb:)
January 18, 2010
Drove through some more challanging weather...very windy...
Stopped and did some shopping in Woodland California....(not my kind of shopping). We bought chains for the van and trailer, a small Honda generator ($739 dad) and some van parts...We heard Lake Tahoe might be getting 5-10 feet of snow...called our friend Jim who lives there and he says it is going to be epic, but we might not get there with our trailer...we practiced putting the chains on in the Walmart parking lot...they seem to work well...better to figure them then on the road!
hmmm.....Mexico???Tahoe??? Better sleep on it!
Got asked to move from the Walmart we were at, but they gave us the address of another Walmart we could go to.
Good night
Deb
Drove through some more challanging weather...very windy...
Stopped and did some shopping in Woodland California....(not my kind of shopping). We bought chains for the van and trailer, a small Honda generator ($739 dad) and some van parts...We heard Lake Tahoe might be getting 5-10 feet of snow...called our friend Jim who lives there and he says it is going to be epic, but we might not get there with our trailer...we practiced putting the chains on in the Walmart parking lot...they seem to work well...better to figure them then on the road!
hmmm.....Mexico???Tahoe??? Better sleep on it!
Got asked to move from the Walmart we were at, but they gave us the address of another Walmart we could go to.
Good night
Deb
January 17,2010
Very wet, very windy drive....We decided to make a bee line for Mexico, but we hit a high wind advisory and we were forced to pull over. We stopped at Mount Shasta CA at a KOA and it poured non-stop the whole time we were there. I just can not believe how much rain we have seen! It looks like the whole state of California is in for some bad weather for the next 10 days. We might need a plan B!!
Thanks for the update on Sonja and the kids on the Street Patty! Can you give me everyones address # so I can fire off some more post cards to the kids. Tx
Thanks to my secret friends at work....I have enjoyed the coffee cards, coffee thermos, games you put together for us to try in the car (my favorite is the "hey cow", hand warmers (really came in handy), warm/cozy handmade comforters, St. Christopher medal which I have worn everyday, phone cards and for my bracelet and necklace that I wear on dress up days!
Michel (Coach) are you watching the weather? You always explain to me what is going on with the weather patterns...
Deb:)
Very wet, very windy drive....We decided to make a bee line for Mexico, but we hit a high wind advisory and we were forced to pull over. We stopped at Mount Shasta CA at a KOA and it poured non-stop the whole time we were there. I just can not believe how much rain we have seen! It looks like the whole state of California is in for some bad weather for the next 10 days. We might need a plan B!!
Thanks for the update on Sonja and the kids on the Street Patty! Can you give me everyones address # so I can fire off some more post cards to the kids. Tx
Thanks to my secret friends at work....I have enjoyed the coffee cards, coffee thermos, games you put together for us to try in the car (my favorite is the "hey cow", hand warmers (really came in handy), warm/cozy handmade comforters, St. Christopher medal which I have worn everyday, phone cards and for my bracelet and necklace that I wear on dress up days!
Michel (Coach) are you watching the weather? You always explain to me what is going on with the weather patterns...
Deb:)
Monday, January 18, 2010
January 16, 2010
Got up and walked around Hood River. Bill bought a new mast. We went on a hike at Multnomah Falls which was nice. It is pretty wet here!
We stopped at a great outlet mall to just stretch out. I didn't go into too many stores....but......I just could not pass the nine west store without going in and picking up the highest more gorgeous shoes in the store...oh how I miss my heels!!! I would have tried them on if I hadn't been wearing the same clothes for the last 4 days...
We have noticed that the Walmarts in Oregon do not like rvs parking overnight, so we tried our luck at a church. We just feel asleep when the night watchman knocked on our door and asked us to move...back to Walmart we went and didn't have a problem.
We are still hearing the weather is going to be bad in California for the next week.
Deb:)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
January 14/10
We decided to stay in Rossland an extra day and ski with Hendrick. Keith called and gave us a 2 for 1 pass which was very nice of him. Henrick skiied with me the whole day and gave me some great tips. What a fantastic instructor he is. I wish I could stay a week and spend more time with him. Red is definately a serious mountain. It is steep and there are lots of trees...which I am working on. Henrick said not to look at the trees, but where I want to place my turns...sounds easy right?
We spent the night in the Red parking lot again...they haven't come around to collect their $10 the last 2 nights....
January 15,16/10
Made it all the way to Hood River Oregon. The drive was very nice and great conditions. It was snowing and zero when we left Rossland and after driving for about 5 hours it actually went as high as 17 degrees. It was around 10 degrees when we hit Hood River. No snow at all in Oregon and only traces in Washington.
For those of you who don't know about Hood River...it is a huge windsurfing area. Guys sail all year round in the gorge. There are lots of shops here and we are just waiting for them to open. Bill is gone to get the oil changed as we have driven close to 7000km.
We are going to head for California....still trying to decide how much time to spend in Mexico and how much time we need to ski in Utah.....and how we are going to fit everything in between....grand canyon, seeing friends, hikes...etc....
Please send us some comments and let us know how things are back home. Our email is kind of acting up, so it is better to use this.
Deb:)
We decided to stay in Rossland an extra day and ski with Hendrick. Keith called and gave us a 2 for 1 pass which was very nice of him. Henrick skiied with me the whole day and gave me some great tips. What a fantastic instructor he is. I wish I could stay a week and spend more time with him. Red is definately a serious mountain. It is steep and there are lots of trees...which I am working on. Henrick said not to look at the trees, but where I want to place my turns...sounds easy right?
We spent the night in the Red parking lot again...they haven't come around to collect their $10 the last 2 nights....
January 15,16/10
Made it all the way to Hood River Oregon. The drive was very nice and great conditions. It was snowing and zero when we left Rossland and after driving for about 5 hours it actually went as high as 17 degrees. It was around 10 degrees when we hit Hood River. No snow at all in Oregon and only traces in Washington.
For those of you who don't know about Hood River...it is a huge windsurfing area. Guys sail all year round in the gorge. There are lots of shops here and we are just waiting for them to open. Bill is gone to get the oil changed as we have driven close to 7000km.
We are going to head for California....still trying to decide how much time to spend in Mexico and how much time we need to ski in Utah.....and how we are going to fit everything in between....grand canyon, seeing friends, hikes...etc....
Please send us some comments and let us know how things are back home. Our email is kind of acting up, so it is better to use this.
Deb:)
Friday, January 15, 2010
January 10&11, 2010
Said our good-byes to our friend Steve. We had a really great visit with him and we were so glad he decided to spend the night with us. As we said our good-byes we asked Steve “are there any big hills on our way to Rossland?” “No you should be fine he said as he got in his car.” STEVE WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKING…..THE KOOTNAY PASS….WOW!!! Bill did a great job driving through there. We were just commenting on how great the weather was and enjoying the dry roads when we approached a sign that read…..expect weather changes for the next 60km. We hit a bit of everything, but luckily we didn’t have any traffic behind us and didn’t feel rushed. Thanks for the heads up buddy!!
January 11, 2010
We spent some of the day on the 11th in Nelson as I had some gear questions. We stopped at a few shops. We got all kinds of advice…move your bindings forward, move your bindings back, you need a stiffer boot when you ski the resorts, it is probably the touring bindings….ok maybe I just need to sort this out on the mountain. Made it to Rossland. Got organized with groceries, did some laundry in the dirtiest place you can imagine. There was only 2 washing machines working and 2 dryers….This place was so old that it advertised laundromat with washing machines. We found a great rec centre and stopped for a shower and clean up.
January 12 , 2010
Ok…..not much sleep last night as I was too busy wondering what the avalanche course was going to be like and who was going to be in my class and if there would be some other women. I was a little concerned we might sleep in also…what a worry wort eh?? Anyway the class had both men and women which was nice. We were very surprised when the door opened and one of our friends from North Bay joined the class Hendrick Weigelt (Linda you know him right?), very nice guy ! He moved out here about 6 years ago.
Our guide/teacher was incredible. He just made everything so interesting. I found I was really drawn in by him. It was definitely a full day of work, covering lots of material, movie watching (just in case we didn’t know how scary getting caught in an avalanche could be) and beacon searches. I partnered up with a young guy to do the beacon searches as I thought it would be good for Bill and I to split up. This was very interesting! Your partner went outside and buried his beacon like he had gone down and you had to resue him with your probe and shovel. Then our teacher dug an avalanche pit and showed us the different layers and the different signs to look for. Really incredible. Our homework was to get the avalanche report which today was high. There are 3 levels you can ski, alpine(high), tree line and below tree line. I think we were all wondering when we left class what exactly Keith was going to decide if the danger was still high…I guess it gave us something to sleep on…like I could sleep with this on my mind. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner out!
January 13, 2010
Up at the crack of dawn to meet for 7:00 am in the parking lot. Well I guess we are going!!! Holy shit!! I guess a part of me wanted Keith to say it is just too dangerous. He asked us “so guys what is the report?” 3 Highs!!!!!!! His response was “YOU GOTTA GO TO KNOW!” Oh my god!!! I am beginning to understand why I had to sign 3 release forms saying Big Red Cats is not responsible for any accidents both on the mountain or in the cat ride up the side of the mountain.
He said the other 3 ladies won’t be joining us and that he had called them this morning… just Sara and Deb. Sara was this really cute/gutsy girl from New Zealand. She asked me when we got in the cat if I was nervous…… I was like are kidding….I am scared shitless. I am so glad she was there!! They shut the door and gave Bill a 2 way radio in case we needed anything and Keith went in the front with the driver….ok where are they taking us???? Climb, climb, climb….the visibility was good at first and then went downhill from there. We half watched for little slides and clues in the snow on the way up, but mostly just got to know each other a little more. The ride was about 45 minutes. The cat stopped and dropped us and our gear off at the shoulder of Mt.Crowe and Neptune. I turned and watched the cat drive away and realized I was really going to do this. The visibility was not very good. I don’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing…hehe…..I looked down and all I saw was steep and trees. I am sure Bill could see it on my face. I took a turn or two and fell down…..got up brushed myself off and continued down. We did a leap frog pattern so that we were not all in the same area in case something bad happened we wouldn’t all get taken out. We had to bush wack for a bit and then hit a really nice somewhat open meadow which was pretty good skiing and I think we could have easily gotten greedy with the way this was feeling, but Keith stopped us lots and made us guess the steepness of the slope and other material we had covered in class. Then it was time to put our skins on our skis and climb to the summit of Mount Crowe. We started skinning and we were getting lots of action out of the snow with a lot of whomphing and cracking….Keith gave us each a turn to lead the pack so we could all feel the snow breaking away and cracking in front of us. He was quite excited about us being able to experience this. I have to admit it was pretty cool. We stopped and did this digging test which we had to measure out as group work and complete together and then you send someone up to the top of it to test it ….gee I wondered who volunteered to do that….The results were very good or bad depending on how you look at it. It is safe at a 6 or 7 and it scored a 2 which is rare according to Keith who always says “the good news is and the bad news is” with the excitement of a child…..I think we all know what a 2 means. We continued up higher and decided to do another dig to see if the results were any different and they were better, they scored a 4. We made it to the summit and had a group talk about whether we should take an easier or more difficult way down the mountain. I wasn’t saying much…the guys were thinking we should take the hard way while we had Keith, Hendrick thought we would get better skiing on the easy side…I was still wondering if the cat was coming back to pick me up…hehe…Bill said you better speak up if you don’t want to go Deb and I thought either is scary for me so I am in. I am just going to go with whatever the group decides. Keith was saying I am not trying to talk you into it or anything, but I think we are seeing some pretty incredible action and you would learn much more if we go the difficult way……Like I am thinking about learning…ok maybe a bit of me was….let’s do it. We made a few good turns, splitting up and going one at a time and then Keith said I am just going to go over here and check this out myself….I watched him ski away and thought oh my god there goes our guide….Our guide is gone…..he skied a bit and slowly started backing up and back tracking….oh I know what that means we are definitely not going down that little face….Here he goes” the good news is we are not going down that part as I didn’t like what I felt out there, but the bad news is we need to go through these heinous trees". Sara and I looked at each other and how tight the trees, stumps, logs, debris was and thought oh great our favorite- tight trees. I kind of stuck near the back of the pack so when I ran into a tree maybe nobody would see me….bad, bad idea as the more tracks that ski the same line get faster and faster each skier…so now I am going too fast, too fast…boom…..exactly how does a person get up when they put their pole out and it goes right through the snow to the handle and is know where near the bottom of the snow pack and your legs are facing uphill completely buried….climb up the tree beside you?? Tried that..Impossible to get up from this position…do I yell out as I am the last one out here? I guess that would be embarrassing to my husband….I am just going to try and take my skis off….totally comical…I wish someone was filming this move. Once I got up and went around the corner Hendrick was wrapped around a tree also, this made me feel so good seeing a level 4 ski instructor who could not get up. Sorry to laugh Hendrick, but you made me feel so much better and I am so excited to see someone. I waited for him and we continued on together. I was over my embarrassment as everyone had taken their turn tumbling. Bill did a face plant when he thought he was going over a rock ledge. We made our way down and the visibility got better, but there was definitely more bush wacking. Then Keith said he had to go to the bathroom and to give him 10 minutes. So we thought we could have a little snack and drink and give him a few minutes. I should have known the excitement wasn’t over. When we went around the corner, he had pools and skis debris spread out and told us an avalanche just happened and to deal with it and he didn’t tell us how many people were involved. I couldn’t believe the adrenaline kick. We each took on a roll and started responding and it took us 16 minutes to dig out the 3 pretend victims using our beacons, probes and shovels. 2 were not too bad to find, but the third was tricky as he didn’t have a beacon on, so we had to go on clues and use our probes until we found the person well ok backpack….but it seemed real. Had we not asked if the avalanche looked finished and just started reacting we would have all been taken out by the imaginary avalanche. I hope this means we pass even though Bill threw a probe and hit the guide in the head…oops. How is that for adventure? I was excited to see the road and Hendrick’s van, but I also felt a real sense of accomplishment…..I asked Keith on the way back to the shack if there was a test ? I needed something to stress about since things had settled down….he said it will all be oral….what does that mean???? He just stared talking about different topics and senerios and we had to answer the questions and take part ….like our minds were working after 8 hours in the back country. Anyway we all passed and we now have our level 1 certification!!! Yeah!!!! Hendrick had us over for a nice dinner and visit!!!! I feel really good about completing the course and have met some really nice people!!!
Miss you all!
Deb:)
Said our good-byes to our friend Steve. We had a really great visit with him and we were so glad he decided to spend the night with us. As we said our good-byes we asked Steve “are there any big hills on our way to Rossland?” “No you should be fine he said as he got in his car.” STEVE WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKING…..THE KOOTNAY PASS….WOW!!! Bill did a great job driving through there. We were just commenting on how great the weather was and enjoying the dry roads when we approached a sign that read…..expect weather changes for the next 60km. We hit a bit of everything, but luckily we didn’t have any traffic behind us and didn’t feel rushed. Thanks for the heads up buddy!!
January 11, 2010
We spent some of the day on the 11th in Nelson as I had some gear questions. We stopped at a few shops. We got all kinds of advice…move your bindings forward, move your bindings back, you need a stiffer boot when you ski the resorts, it is probably the touring bindings….ok maybe I just need to sort this out on the mountain. Made it to Rossland. Got organized with groceries, did some laundry in the dirtiest place you can imagine. There was only 2 washing machines working and 2 dryers….This place was so old that it advertised laundromat with washing machines. We found a great rec centre and stopped for a shower and clean up.
January 12 , 2010
Ok…..not much sleep last night as I was too busy wondering what the avalanche course was going to be like and who was going to be in my class and if there would be some other women. I was a little concerned we might sleep in also…what a worry wort eh?? Anyway the class had both men and women which was nice. We were very surprised when the door opened and one of our friends from North Bay joined the class Hendrick Weigelt (Linda you know him right?), very nice guy ! He moved out here about 6 years ago.
Our guide/teacher was incredible. He just made everything so interesting. I found I was really drawn in by him. It was definitely a full day of work, covering lots of material, movie watching (just in case we didn’t know how scary getting caught in an avalanche could be) and beacon searches. I partnered up with a young guy to do the beacon searches as I thought it would be good for Bill and I to split up. This was very interesting! Your partner went outside and buried his beacon like he had gone down and you had to resue him with your probe and shovel. Then our teacher dug an avalanche pit and showed us the different layers and the different signs to look for. Really incredible. Our homework was to get the avalanche report which today was high. There are 3 levels you can ski, alpine(high), tree line and below tree line. I think we were all wondering when we left class what exactly Keith was going to decide if the danger was still high…I guess it gave us something to sleep on…like I could sleep with this on my mind. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner out!
January 13, 2010
Up at the crack of dawn to meet for 7:00 am in the parking lot. Well I guess we are going!!! Holy shit!! I guess a part of me wanted Keith to say it is just too dangerous. He asked us “so guys what is the report?” 3 Highs!!!!!!! His response was “YOU GOTTA GO TO KNOW!” Oh my god!!! I am beginning to understand why I had to sign 3 release forms saying Big Red Cats is not responsible for any accidents both on the mountain or in the cat ride up the side of the mountain.
He said the other 3 ladies won’t be joining us and that he had called them this morning… just Sara and Deb. Sara was this really cute/gutsy girl from New Zealand. She asked me when we got in the cat if I was nervous…… I was like are kidding….I am scared shitless. I am so glad she was there!! They shut the door and gave Bill a 2 way radio in case we needed anything and Keith went in the front with the driver….ok where are they taking us???? Climb, climb, climb….the visibility was good at first and then went downhill from there. We half watched for little slides and clues in the snow on the way up, but mostly just got to know each other a little more. The ride was about 45 minutes. The cat stopped and dropped us and our gear off at the shoulder of Mt.Crowe and Neptune. I turned and watched the cat drive away and realized I was really going to do this. The visibility was not very good. I don’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing…hehe…..I looked down and all I saw was steep and trees. I am sure Bill could see it on my face. I took a turn or two and fell down…..got up brushed myself off and continued down. We did a leap frog pattern so that we were not all in the same area in case something bad happened we wouldn’t all get taken out. We had to bush wack for a bit and then hit a really nice somewhat open meadow which was pretty good skiing and I think we could have easily gotten greedy with the way this was feeling, but Keith stopped us lots and made us guess the steepness of the slope and other material we had covered in class. Then it was time to put our skins on our skis and climb to the summit of Mount Crowe. We started skinning and we were getting lots of action out of the snow with a lot of whomphing and cracking….Keith gave us each a turn to lead the pack so we could all feel the snow breaking away and cracking in front of us. He was quite excited about us being able to experience this. I have to admit it was pretty cool. We stopped and did this digging test which we had to measure out as group work and complete together and then you send someone up to the top of it to test it ….gee I wondered who volunteered to do that….The results were very good or bad depending on how you look at it. It is safe at a 6 or 7 and it scored a 2 which is rare according to Keith who always says “the good news is and the bad news is” with the excitement of a child…..I think we all know what a 2 means. We continued up higher and decided to do another dig to see if the results were any different and they were better, they scored a 4. We made it to the summit and had a group talk about whether we should take an easier or more difficult way down the mountain. I wasn’t saying much…the guys were thinking we should take the hard way while we had Keith, Hendrick thought we would get better skiing on the easy side…I was still wondering if the cat was coming back to pick me up…hehe…Bill said you better speak up if you don’t want to go Deb and I thought either is scary for me so I am in. I am just going to go with whatever the group decides. Keith was saying I am not trying to talk you into it or anything, but I think we are seeing some pretty incredible action and you would learn much more if we go the difficult way……Like I am thinking about learning…ok maybe a bit of me was….let’s do it. We made a few good turns, splitting up and going one at a time and then Keith said I am just going to go over here and check this out myself….I watched him ski away and thought oh my god there goes our guide….Our guide is gone…..he skied a bit and slowly started backing up and back tracking….oh I know what that means we are definitely not going down that little face….Here he goes” the good news is we are not going down that part as I didn’t like what I felt out there, but the bad news is we need to go through these heinous trees". Sara and I looked at each other and how tight the trees, stumps, logs, debris was and thought oh great our favorite- tight trees. I kind of stuck near the back of the pack so when I ran into a tree maybe nobody would see me….bad, bad idea as the more tracks that ski the same line get faster and faster each skier…so now I am going too fast, too fast…boom…..exactly how does a person get up when they put their pole out and it goes right through the snow to the handle and is know where near the bottom of the snow pack and your legs are facing uphill completely buried….climb up the tree beside you?? Tried that..Impossible to get up from this position…do I yell out as I am the last one out here? I guess that would be embarrassing to my husband….I am just going to try and take my skis off….totally comical…I wish someone was filming this move. Once I got up and went around the corner Hendrick was wrapped around a tree also, this made me feel so good seeing a level 4 ski instructor who could not get up. Sorry to laugh Hendrick, but you made me feel so much better and I am so excited to see someone. I waited for him and we continued on together. I was over my embarrassment as everyone had taken their turn tumbling. Bill did a face plant when he thought he was going over a rock ledge. We made our way down and the visibility got better, but there was definitely more bush wacking. Then Keith said he had to go to the bathroom and to give him 10 minutes. So we thought we could have a little snack and drink and give him a few minutes. I should have known the excitement wasn’t over. When we went around the corner, he had pools and skis debris spread out and told us an avalanche just happened and to deal with it and he didn’t tell us how many people were involved. I couldn’t believe the adrenaline kick. We each took on a roll and started responding and it took us 16 minutes to dig out the 3 pretend victims using our beacons, probes and shovels. 2 were not too bad to find, but the third was tricky as he didn’t have a beacon on, so we had to go on clues and use our probes until we found the person well ok backpack….but it seemed real. Had we not asked if the avalanche looked finished and just started reacting we would have all been taken out by the imaginary avalanche. I hope this means we pass even though Bill threw a probe and hit the guide in the head…oops. How is that for adventure? I was excited to see the road and Hendrick’s van, but I also felt a real sense of accomplishment…..I asked Keith on the way back to the shack if there was a test ? I needed something to stress about since things had settled down….he said it will all be oral….what does that mean???? He just stared talking about different topics and senerios and we had to answer the questions and take part ….like our minds were working after 8 hours in the back country. Anyway we all passed and we now have our level 1 certification!!! Yeah!!!! Hendrick had us over for a nice dinner and visit!!!! I feel really good about completing the course and have met some really nice people!!!
Miss you all!
Deb:)
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Jan 8/10
Another day in paradise....We met up with another avalanche expert to find out where to go today. He sent us on another tour. Equally beautiful. We had a nice lunch outside and actally skiied from Alberta to BC twice in one day which is kind of funny. We really wish we had more time to spend here, but we are off to meet our friend Steve in Fernie and to give ourselves an extra day to get over to Rossland for our course.
We didn't get away until around 4:30 and headed to Pincher Creek, the weather again was not co-operating with us....darn it....blowing, blowing, blowing....actually it is blowing 80-100km....and it was getting dark and you could see the ice shining on the road and we bailed...it was just too much...we spent the night on the side of the road and you can imagine how much our trailer shook and banged around. It is just so wide open and flat here there is no way to get out of it until we get right into the mountains. We only slept for a couple of hours.
Jan 9/10
We met Steve at around 10:00am and skiied the day at Fernie. The conditions were not very good as it was still windy and the hill was skiied out and very icy. I didn't have much fun there. I guess I am getting spoiled by so much time in the backcountry.
PS.Mom and Dad Steve says "hello"...He just asked me if you still remember him? How could you forget him after him eating 3 helpings of Thanksgiving dinner at your house. His appetite is still the same even though he is done biking across Canada.
Deb:)
January 7/10
Imagine having an entire National Park all to yourself??? I can't believe this!!! We didn't realize that the park basically closes down for the Winter....you can't even get gas or groceries there, not even a loaf of bread. Good thing I had taken the time to prepare some meals at Steph's.
We drove from Nanton to Waterton...not the best drive, very windy and slow going. We arrived at the park about noon and checked in at the visitor information office and the people could not do enough for us. We asked them for some maps and started talking and the clerk asked where we were planning on staying and we said at Pass Creek, but it doesn't look like we can't get in there right now as there is too much snow...just a minute she said and picked up the phone and asked the plow guy to get in there and clear it out for us....then she asked why we were in the park and we said to do some cc skiing and some touring on our alpine gear....just a minute she said I will get the avalance expert on the phone for you. We went down to the next building to met Brent the avalanche expert who told us where to go touring for the day and very thoroughly explained the current conditions and showed us everything on a giant map. Then they told us it was free to camp there and that we could use the rec centre which was pretty much the only lodge and centre that was open for the Winter. It was $6.00 a day and we had a huge pool, hot tub, sauna, steam bath and extremely clean showers/washrooms which was a nice treat. Again we had the entire centre to ourselves unless you count the 10 deer that greet you at the door. We saw more wildlife there than people.
We went for a 3 hour tour the first day and it was so beautiful I can't even explain it. It was so peaceful and tranquil. The trees were so full of snow and the views just breath taking. It was like we were in our own personal paridise.
When the trees kind of ended and the moutain opened up in front of us, it was monstrous...we started our way accross the centre of it one at a time (good avalanche practice, I went first) and we made it across, but you could see where a slide had happened at one point because you could see the mounds of snow and the texture totally changed. It just kept getting steeper and steeper and Bill and I both decided at the same time that maybe we should just turn around and call it a day as we both thought we should respect this mountain and our inexperience at this point. Good idea....as it was a perfect day!
We decided that we wanted to spend another night here, so we had to get conservative with our gas/propane and battery as we were not plugged in, so we had to turn the heat in our trailer down to 5 degrees....how many pair of socks would you have to wear to bed Darlene? Brrrrr.....
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
January 6, 2010
We are on our way to waterton to do some skiing and spend the night.
We got to visit with our friend Steve aka..dirtbag...who is going to met us in Fernie for the weekend. Should be fun!
We are heading over to Rossland for an avalanche course next Tuesday, Wednesday and we apparently will be having an amazing teacher/guide so no worries. I am sure they will be extra careful seeing as a guy got caught in an avalanche and died there earlier this week. He was in a bad area and the avalanche report was considerable. We would not be taking those chances...
I will try and update you later in the week, if I can find a computer.
It was really hard saying good-bye to Steph, Lou and Payton this morning. We will sure miss seeing them everyday.
Deb
PS Lisa I have tried to call you at home several times and keep getting a busy signal. I called boxing day, new year's eve, new years day??? I will keep trying. I miss you guys
We are on our way to waterton to do some skiing and spend the night.
We got to visit with our friend Steve aka..dirtbag...who is going to met us in Fernie for the weekend. Should be fun!
We are heading over to Rossland for an avalanche course next Tuesday, Wednesday and we apparently will be having an amazing teacher/guide so no worries. I am sure they will be extra careful seeing as a guy got caught in an avalanche and died there earlier this week. He was in a bad area and the avalanche report was considerable. We would not be taking those chances...
I will try and update you later in the week, if I can find a computer.
It was really hard saying good-bye to Steph, Lou and Payton this morning. We will sure miss seeing them everyday.
Deb
PS Lisa I have tried to call you at home several times and keep getting a busy signal. I called boxing day, new year's eve, new years day??? I will keep trying. I miss you guys
Monday, January 4, 2010
Evening out with cousin Ted & beautiful wife Kate!
January 3, 2010Met up with cousin Ted, did some shopping and went for a nice walk. I wish we would have got to spend more time together!
We had a great dinner! Thank you for the treat Ted!
We really hope you can met us in Utah in March after your heli-skiing trip. It would be fun to see who could do more damage at the outlet malls.....me or Kate....Bill said he actually thinks Kate could outdo me.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
January 2, 2010Great fire last night. Much better weather.
I am glad we decided to stay the extra night. I really don't want to leave this park!
We stopped in Calgary to get some groceries and some supplies to fix our little door that blew off the trailer and to trade in the GPS that is giving us problems.
Bill barbequed a great dinner tonight and we are just tidying up to get ready for the next part of this adventure.
We have plans to meet Ted and Kate tomorrow for dinner and a visit. I am looking forward to it. I will contact cousin Jay also!
We are just trying to finalize the plans for our Avalanche Course. We are looking at two different locations....watching the weather to see who gets more snow!
I miss everyone!
Deb
Peter Lougheed trails
January 1, 2010HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
These trails were so pretty. This was my favorite ski so far. The trails were very narrow and there was lots of snow. It was just so peaceful and fresh!
Steph and Payton did a loop with us and then went back to the RV for a rest. I decided to go for a loop with Bill and Lou...they gave me a run for my money. Hard to keep up to those two!
We went out for a nice dinner in the Village and Payton got to watch a magic show and have a kitty balloon made from a clown. It was a great evening!
Congratulations to Deb and Paul who tied the knot today! We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness! Wish we could have been there!
December 31, 2009
Very, Very cold morning. Minus 27. I can't believe Bill slept in the tent. It was nice and toasty in the trailer. I can't believe how well this is working out. It makes a big difference being able to plug in. We have been running a small space heater and the furnace is barely running (saving big time on propane).
We just lazed around most of the day around the hot tub as it was too cold for Payton to be out.
Bill and Lou went for a short ski and tested Lou's new skins and BRDs.
We had a fire, but none of us lasted too long in the cold. Just long enough for Payton to roast a couple marshmellows.
Steph won at cards again.....Nobody made it until midnight.
Very, Very cold morning. Minus 27. I can't believe Bill slept in the tent. It was nice and toasty in the trailer. I can't believe how well this is working out. It makes a big difference being able to plug in. We have been running a small space heater and the furnace is barely running (saving big time on propane).
We just lazed around most of the day around the hot tub as it was too cold for Payton to be out.
Bill and Lou went for a short ski and tested Lou's new skins and BRDs.
We had a fire, but none of us lasted too long in the cold. Just long enough for Payton to roast a couple marshmellows.
Steph won at cards again.....Nobody made it until midnight.
Yeah the bag works!! Bill slept out minus 27!
December 30, 2009The boys got up and headed for Canmore to pick up their skis. I guess it cost them a case of beer.
We went cc skiing at Ribbon Creek. It was pretty cold, but very pretty. Steph still rips down those hills...pregnant and all....
We stopped and walked around the village and had some hot chocolate to warm up.
I just love being in the mountains---all the fresh air and great sleeps!
December 29, 2009
Had to start the morning off with a hot tub as Payton likes that. Then we packed up a lunch and cut our own trail right from the campground. The skiing was a little hard as there was no trail, but we managed to find a nice little spot to have lunch. We had a nice dinner together and some card playing...Steph always wins....
Had to start the morning off with a hot tub as Payton likes that. Then we packed up a lunch and cut our own trail right from the campground. The skiing was a little hard as there was no trail, but we managed to find a nice little spot to have lunch. We had a nice dinner together and some card playing...Steph always wins....
The night view from our campsite
December 28
We went camping at Mount Kidd RV campgroud and what a beautiful park it was!
We spent part of the day in Canmore, dropped off Bill and Lou's skis for the bases to be done. The guys were impressed with the homemade BRDs.
I was surprised by the amount of winter campers at the park. There was a great main building with a hottub and showers and a nice common room. It was really great to see families out winter camping together.
I went for a short walk after dark and could not believe how beautiful and bright it was out. The mountains didn't look real it looked like a backdrop for a movie or something. I am so grateful to be here!
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