Mini Hike

This morning Carol took Hiroko and I out to hike up Moose Mountain. It
looked like it was going to be a lot of fun with a plethora of
different terrain. Unfortunately the clouds rolled in and the thunder
started booming so after a mere 1.6 out of 6.4km to the top, we
decided to turn back. The rain came ... and then it went and the blue
sky came out again.

Damn.

So on the way back to Calgary we stopped at Allan Bill Park and then
did the Fullerton Loop 6.4km hike. It went a fair way up so Hiroko was
puffing quite hard (Miss Triathlete wasn't even breaking a sweat) and
we were all avoiding big, sloppy "real cow pies", the kind if you
stepped in you might sink to your knee.

It was wet, but it was good. Nice to feel the back of my head damp
from sweat. After spending several weeks in Italy walking for 10hours
a day, and then very little walking on the bus tours and since coming
to Canada,we really miss it.

Tonight Dave & Quan Ling with their girls, and Sam are coming over to
Carol & Lorne's for dinner so it will be nice to see them all again.

Lorne is currently vacuuming, Hiroko and Carol are showering
(separately) and I'm uploading these three photos to share with the
world.

Just imagining living less than an hour away from this kind of stuff
makes our heart ache. Hiroko says she doesn't miss Tokyo "AT ALL". And
I don't blame her one bit. The wide open space is something that is
hard to find, living in Tokyo.

We head back to Tokyo on Sunday, arrive Monday, and then need to get
ready for hosting Rene. I have to remember that we promised to take a
train out to Matsumoto City to meet him there and bring him back to
Tokyo to stay with us for a few days.

When I get the. Keep all rendered I will upload it, however this is
likely to be the final update on this leg of our Great Adventure. It
has been amazing and I can't believe that as of tomorrow we will have
been away from Tokyo for two months!

30 Minutes Further On

So we walked another 30 minutes more and came to the river again (and
past some really big poop). This was a great place for us to stop,
take a rest, and then turn around.

Another great day.

Hiking In

So the hike in was pretty nice. We didn't go the full 6.8km as we had
a few hours drive to do, but after a 30 minute relaxed walk we came to
a mountain meadow. Then we walked for another 30 minutes. Another 30
minutes pictures to come...

The Falls

Sunny day today on the way back to Calgary. We stopped at these great
falls and then hiked in for an hour. Hiking in to follow.

Today's Trip in the Rockies

Today we went for a short hike, then To Radium Hot Springs, then down
to Vermillion to buy some steak for dinner, back up to the hot spring
pools and then home.

It was a great day.

Today's Trip in the Rockies

Today we went for a short hike, then To Radium Hot Springs, then down
to Vermillion to buy some steak for dinner, back up to the hot spring
pools and then home.

It was a great day.

Continental Divided We Stand

I don't get a chance to come here often but all through my life I have
always felt humbled whenever I come to the Continental Divide.

The flow of life changes direction at this point. And that is
powerful. Spiritually it shows us that we can change our lives, we can
change direction. We can change the purpose of our existence. If we
make an effort.

Also it is amazing that we can be this far into the wilderness and
experience LESS mosquitoes than Winnipeg!

Two days here.
Glorious.
I am so happy that I could bring Hiroko here. I know she'll never
forget it because even though I've been coming here on and off for 40
years I have never forgotten.

The Rocky Mountain Range is very special and powerful.

Amazing.
Always.

Hiroko says "Mata ne" from Winnipeg: http://youtu.be/pYhedjtvg5w

Ootnaboot with Hiroko & Bad_Brad, 2

Here is the remainder of our adventure out in Lockport Manitoba. It culminates in the grand finale!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJifOTYxnWo

I love you!

Ootnaboot with Hiroko and bad brad, Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32dclCOdBvA&feature=youtube_gdata_player Cam

Second five of 10 in GeoLockport

We actually found an egg!

First five of 10 in GeoLockport

Enjoying caching with bad_brad and Hiroko, part 1.
This is the way caching is supposed to be! Tons of history and easy
caches as opposed to having to dig through pine trees and getting all
itchy.

No Longer a Muggle, Them!

Last night we introduced Bruce and Tanya to the world of geocaching.
Thank goodness we found three caches because the first couple we dug
and dug but couldn't get.

Now that they have found a couple of caches with us I can happily day
that they are no longer muggles! Welcome to the magical world of the
geocacher, Bruce and Tanya! I love you!

7/08: Glorious 32C and Walking

Last night Hiroko and I had dinner with Bruce and Tanya. It was a
great time with them. Then we went out for a walk and found a couple
of geocaches. I have to admit that the Manitobans seem to love tucking
caches away in bushes and prickly pine trees so we tend to be
*stumped* a lot (har).

This morning we met Lisa, Kiera, Alayna, Holly and Javan for breakfast
at Smitty's and enjoyed a great two hours with them. Then we trundled
back to Bruce's and sat for another couple of hours with Bruce and
Tanya in the house and in the yard. We really enjoyed the time with
them and hope we can visit again next week or the week after in the
evenings with them.

Then we walked back to my parents'. I think it was only about 7km
which were we walking for exercise we could have done in an hour.
Instead we took it really slowly as we wanted to be out in the sun and
the 32C weather. So we geocaches our way back and got five out of
about eight different locations. The ones in the pine trees stumped us
as usual and also gave me itchy arms.

We actually really miss walking. When we were in Italy we were walking
for 10hours a day but after we left Italy it dramatically decreases
and here in the prairies everything is so big that you need a car to
get anywhere. So today we walked.

I showed Hiroko what a Slurpee is (Winnipeg is the Slurpee capital of
Canada - learned that from a geocache believe it or not) and what
Hickory Sticks taste like as we walked the last km home. She had a
brain freeze.

And near home we found some sidewalk paintings which made us smile.

Today 7/06 Just another ordinary day

Well, the rain stopped about 10am and it turned into a lovely day.
Instead of going to the Folk Festival (sorry Darrell) we went to Grant
Park Shopping Center (near where Darrell used to live a few decades
ago) and Hiroko picked up two books at McNally Robinson.

Then we drove down Wellington Crescent for Hiroko to see the wealthy
old money part of town. It was a very nice slow drive. We went into
Assiniboine Park and I took Hiroko into the Conservatory. She played
with the turtles, we admired the banana trees and took time out for
some head.

We were a little hungry so we walked over to the Duck Pond. The ducks
didn't look too tasty so we had lunch at the restaurant. We had a
modified version of pulled pork poutine. We had the fries replaces
with onion rings. We also had a great breaded chicken burger. And a
couple of glasses of red wine (Argentinian and Canadian).

We had time and both felt a little sleepy so we wandered back to a
great big open field, lay down under a tree and snoozed for 30-45
minutes. What a glorious way to snooze!!

On the way home we stopped at the supermarket for groceries, the LC
for some alcohol (we drank Mom's 4L box of wine over the past couple
of days), and filled up the gas tank.

This came up today so thought I would share it with you as it may be
of interest.

How many of you knew that Winnie the Pooh is based on a real life bear
that a Canadian Military officer in the Great War saved, and called
Winnie, after his home town of Winnipeg? There is some amazing history
for you!

Bearing All

On our way back we stopped by the bears and took a few shots with the
lovely Hiroko.

And then we came back and cooked up some bear burgers. I mean beef
burgers. With Wine!

Historical Caching

We dropped Hiroko off at St Boniface Hospital and Nancy showed her
around for 30 minutes. It was a great experience. During that time
Brad and I had a Tim Horton Coffee and a geocache. Then we picked up
Hiroko and grabbed another cache along the promenade of the
Assiniboine River.

We caught a river taxi down to the Legislative buildings and took a
few photos. Then we walked back to the Forks (grabbing another
geocache along the way), had a glad of wine with Brad, then walked
back to the car. It was a great day!

Geocaching with Brad and Nancy

These are all just a few hundred meters from their home!
I think they are hooked.