Where to start?  Well, after trying for 2-3 years, I finally transferred from the Vancouver Operations Centre to Abbotsford in late January.  The commute has been so much better!  The people out there are great and it certainly was the change that I needed.  I’ve applied for a couple of service technician positions out there, one of which is still pending.  I’m ready for a change.  I’ve been an installer for over 8 years.

It terms of travel, I’ve been very lucky.  I had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in April.  Going to Las Vegas was amazing just for the experience of the altered reality that it provides.  Arizona and the Grand Canyon had a different significance to me.  In the winter, my grandfather would go down to the Tucson area to wait out the cold to leave southern Ontario.  As a child, I remember him talking about Arizona and what it has to offer.  He should us pictures of the Grand Canyon and even then, I knew that I wanted to go see it for myself some day.  Well, mid-April was my chance, and I couldn’t pass it up.  Even though it is very much a tourist attraction, I managed to find some peace there.  I literally sat on the edge, looking over it and thought about my grandfather.  Meghan just let me have my time there, not saying a word.  It was what I needed.

Two months after that trip, it was time to take out highly anticipated cross-country trek from Maple Ridge to Winnipeg.  My youngest brother was getting married and I simply could not miss it.  on a nearly 2 week trip, we drove across, seeing many things along the way.  It was great to reconnect with my family again and spend some time with them.  This was also an opportunity to get to know my new sister-in-law a little more.  Andrew and Martha seem to be perfect for each other.

In the summer, Meghan, the girls and I went camping only once, but we made it worthwhile.  We went to Vancouver Island and stayed in Victoria for the first night (and a hotel there!).  The next morning we drove up the coast to the Courtney are and stayed at Miracle Beach.  It was nice and sandy, but we didn’t get a lot of opportunity to enjoy it due to rain.  We did manage to find a short window of time when the tide was out to go digging in the sand for sand dollars and clams.  (They bite, I discovered!).  We also managed to find Canada’s largest geocache.  Then again, it’s not that hard to miss as you go by.

Lastly, in terms of travel, Meghan and I didn’t have the kids over Thanksgiving, so we decided to take a quick two-day trip down the west coast to Oregon.  We managed to get all the way down to Florence, where there are a lot of sand dunes.  We would have gone on a dune buggy, but we got there too late.  So, we drove to a state recreation area with sand dunes, and played in the sand there (both myself and in my truck).

It has been a remarkable year for geocaching for me.  My personal goal for the year was to find 200, which was double the amount that I had found the previous year..  Well..  I blew that out of the water.  Unless I go out with the kids later today to find one (not very likely), I found 386 in four provinces and four states.  Not too shabby.  I think I’ll try and make my goal for next year to be somewhere between 400-450.

Towards the end of the year, my back injury has been getting worse again.  For the month of December, I’ve been restricted to light office duties until it improves.  I find out on January 4th what the next course of action will be.  It could be a bumpy year next year.

For 2012, I’ve set some goals for myself.  I plan on losing a fair bit of weight, and getting into yoga to help strengthen my core muscles.  In a general sense, I’m planning on getting rid of the crap in my life — both physically and mentally.  I’ve been letting too much drag me down and that has to change.

So..  That’s pretty much it.  I’m also hoping to start blogging some more.  The one thing I’ve noticed about myself is that when the shit hits the fan, that’s when I get quiet on here and Facebook.  I’ll try to keep the complaining to a minimum too..  :)

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope your 2012 treats you well!

Today is the first day of our roadtrip to Winnipeg for my little brother, Andrew, and his fiancee’s wedding.  Meghan and I spent the better part of yesterday and today packing and making sure that we have everything.  We started really planning this trip after we got back from Las Vegas in April, but we’ve known about the trip for nearly a year.

The plan was to leave at 4:00pm today to do the 5 hour drive from Maple Ridge to Salmon Arm, BC.  We got a late start, but only by about 40 minutes.  We made it to Hope, BC for a not-so-nutritious dinner at McDonald’s.  It was about this point that I realized that my jacket was still sitting at home on the bed, right next to where I was packing my suitcase.  ”Oh well, we can’t turn back now!”

We finally made it to the Holiday Inn Express in Salmon Arm around 10:20pm..  Much later than I hoped for, but the kids got ready for bed and were asleep within minutes.  Actually, Megan is still awake, but Meghan and I have told her that she needs to go to sleep.

The plan for tomorrow is for another solid day of driving to Medicine Hat, AB.  If things go according to plan, it’ll be approximately 825km and if we leave the hotel by 8:30am, we should be rolling into Med Hat by 8pm.  We know that there will be stops along the way for food, bathrooms and geocaching.  :)

Night!

Next weekend, my youngest brother is getting married.  His fiancee and her family live in Winnipeg and they made the decision to have the wedding there because it is central to the country, and I believe the majority of people going to the wedding live in the general area.

I originally looked into airfare for myself and the girls.  It would have cost $2300 just for airfare.  I then did the math on driving out and discovered that it would cost about the same amount to drive out as it would be to fly.  The advantage to driving is that I will be able to take the girls halfway across the country.  We plan on making a couple stops on the way back, including to Drumheller and the Alberta Badlands.

It’s two days before I leave now and I’m in full packing/organizing mode.   I’ll post updates from our trip..  :)

In the last month, I have been on my very first trip to Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Since my girlfriend was already going, I paid virtually nothing for the trip.

Now, Vegas was exciting. It was the first time in a long time that I could forget about reality in a long time. I stayed up late and got up early. Since I was there for a wedding, I met a few nice people and got to enjoy a bachelors night out. Not only that, I found 9 geocaches in Nevada and 4 in Arizona.

One of the biggest highlights of the trip (and perhaps my life) was going to the Grand Canyon. We went to the south rim and stayed the the Village. You may be wondering why seeing a large hole in the ground was exciting. I have my reasons…

My grandfather used to live in Ontario when I was growing up. Every year, right after Christmas, he would head down to his place in Tucson, AZ where he would stay until the spring. Over the years, he would show us pictures from Arizona, including the Grand Canyon. In the early 90’s, my grandfather made his annual trip down and passed away. My mother went down to take care of things she needed to, but I never got to go. So, this part of my trip was a way for me to quietly feel a connection with him.

Since that trip, I’ve been getting busier at work. It’s been a very lean winter at work, but it appears that the annual slump is slowly coming to an end.

In the next 6 weeks, I need to get caught up on some bills, but also save enough money for a two week trip to Winnipeg. Why there? Well, my youngest brother is getting married there, so I’m packing the girls and I into the truck and we are booking it there! After the wedding, we are planning a slightly more leisure trip back, including to make a slight detour through Rouleau, SK (aka Corner Gas’s “Dog River”), and a visit to Drumheller and the Alberta Badlands.

The kids and I are very excited about this trip! We’ve been talking about it for months, so it’s nice to see the plans for it coming together!

Stay tuned for more!

My life the last few months has gone through some radical changes..  I won’t go into the details, but those of you who know me…  well..   you already know..

That being said, this past weekend, I went to Victoria to get away and do some sightseeing..  I had a great time!  One of the things I got to do was go on a whale watching tour.  I have never done this before and was not disappointed!   Here is a clip of the whale watching!

Other than that, I went on a ghost walk, went to the museum, went into the BC Provincial Legislature buildings, and found 7 geocaches in the two days that I was there..

All in all, it wasn’t a bad trip!

Once we arrived in Seattle, we checked into our hotel (The Grand Hyatt), and figured out where to go, with the wonderful help of the concierge, Paul.  He directed us to Chandler’s Crabhouse, covered the cost of our taxi ride there, and surprised us by ordering (and paying for) an appetizer.  We had a great meal.  I had steak and seafood (and it probably was one of the best steaks that I’ve ever had), and my wife had Alaskan Crab Legs..   Unfortunately, we were in a hurry to get to the concert, so after dinner, we called a cab and headed over to Key Arena.

As I said, the concert was incredible.  They sang all the songs that I remember growing up as a kid.  At first, it didn’t look like there was much of a set or lighting, but we quickly discovered that the pianos and other instruments were raised and lowered through the floor when they were needed..

The concert lasted 3 1/2 hours with no intermission! We were impressed with how long it was.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Cheesecake Factory for some coffee and dessert..

The next morning, we went shopping and headed back home.. When crossing the border, we discovered that you needed to spend at least 48 hours before you could have an allowance for duty-free items.. Whoops! We got pulled off to the side, had to show all our receipts, then pay the duties on part of our purchases..

All in all, it was a very good trip!

I’m looking forward to seeing my brothers and parents. I last saw my youngest brother, Andrew, about 18 months ago. But I haven’t seen my other brother and mother for over 5 years, and my father since 2001.

There are a couple of friends I’m looking forward to catching up with too. Also, it’ll be nice to do a little geocaching on my trip.

I’m ready for a short break from work, the kids, and life… Even for only a few days. Hopefully, I’ll feel a little refreshed and able to focus on my goals for 2010…

Happy New Year, everyone…

After some research online, I came across this place called Fraser River Fishing Lodge and Resort (http://www.fraserriverlodge.com/). They have a variety of packages available, including one called the Romance package. This was the package that I selected, with an upgrade to a honeymoon suite that included a jacuzzi tub.

Overall, we were very happy with our experience. The dinner was good, and because it was family style seating, we met some very interesting people. The room was cozy (the fireplace helped!) and it was quiet too. We were about an hour away from home, but a world away.

I highly recommend this place for a getaway!

It was only when we arrived that we discovered that eagles can be found there during the winter, and usually leave the area in February. We walked along the trail on the dike until we saw a bear about 300 feet ahead of us. Fortunately, there was a fence between it and us, and we started to walk the other way, but it seems that the bear knew the way around the fence, crossed the street (in front of a pedestrian), and went into the wooded area by the Easter Seals Camp. Now, the Squamish area has plenty of signs and information warning you that you are in bear country and to be aware, but we expected to see them in the campground or provincial park that we were staying in— not a busy street!

So, after bearly containing our excitement/nervousness about running into a bear (yes, I couldn’t resist the pun), we decided to go looking for an estuary that we read about. Well, either we took a wrong turn, or didn’t go far enough, we never found it. At this point, it was getting close to lunch time, so it was back to camp.

After lunch, my youngest daughter, Ainsley, and my wife wanted to have a nap, so me and two other daughters went for a walk along the Four Lakes Trail to find the other two geocaches in the park. Three hours, we completed our 7.5 kilometre walk, including going up and down a hill of about 300 feet in height. My 7-year old and 4-year old were real troopers, not complaining at all. I was truly amazed at how well they did!

The rest of the evening went well. A family had arrived at the campsite across from ours who had a couple young kids, so Megan was happy to have “friends” to play with. It was unfortunate that they arrived the night before we left, especially since they seemed nice and the kids all played well together. After we got our kids to bed, my wife and I sat by the campfire talking well into the evening.

That pretty much sums up our trip. Today was spent packing everything up this morning, heading home, and then the fantastic job of unpacking, putting things away, and 78 loads of laundry!

For once, our kids let us sleep in until 7:30! After getting up and making coffee, we made something that my daughter learned in Brownies… Barf-in-a-Bag! As gross as it sounds, it’s just eggs and mushrooms, peppers and onions in a ziploc bag. You seal the bag up (with no sir), smoosh it up, and cook it in boiling water. Very good! Afterwards, Megan and Elisabeth did the dishes. It’s nice that they are old enough to help!

After breakfast, we decided to go for a walk and search for one of the three geocaches in the park. After a short walk, we found it and I finally was able to leave a Las Vegas geocoin that I had picked up in Manning Park a couple weeks ago. We then went to have a quick look at the beach at Alice Lake (which barely qualifies as a lake — more like a big pond), and then it was time to head back to our campsite for lunch.

Within a minute of arriving at the site, one of the park operators notified us that the campfire ban that head been in place since we had arrived was now lifted. As we cheered, we prepared to make our lunch: hot dogs cooked over a fire.

After lunch, we drove into town to Walmart to pick up a couple supplies, and then drove down to Shannon Falls. We spent about an hour there taking everything in, including some ice cream, then took a drive to Brackendale.

Brackendale is the location where the annual bald eagle count is done, so we found where a viewing area is, and plan to check it out tomorrow.

Following our drive, we came back to make a spaghetti dinner, then had a campfire and made delicious, hot smores.

It was the perfect way to end the day..