Category Archives: adventure

lol sports

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Last night Ed and I went to an ice hockey match. The Edmonton Oil-Men took on the Vancouver Sea-Whales in a rambunctious battle of wits and sticks. I ate an extremely expensive hamburger sandwich that tasted as though it were reconstituted from a gentleman hobo’s boots. There were fisticuffs.

I hadn’t been to a hockey game in nearly a two-year, because Ed has a bad habit of asking his girlfriends to go before thinking about asking me. We – okay, I – had many loud angry words to say about this, and this time Ed asked me if I’d like to go to the games (we’re going to another one next month) first. I don’t know if I was supposed to accept, but I did. Hockey for me!

I really do enjoy going, because he gets the tickets from work and they have crazy good club seats. Hockey from the 4th row is a different beast altogether. It makes me a little ill to look at the tickets and realize that we’re each sitting in a $150 ticket for a pre-season game, but I didn’t pay for it so it makes the $9 burger a little easier to swallow (or would have, if it wasn’t made out of hobo boot leather). Hockey games fun. Looking forward to next month’s game.

It’s a very Edmonton-centric week ’round these parts. Ed, of course, just got home from Edmonton. The minute he walked in the door on Monday night, he made me change the channel so he could watch the Edmonton/Vancouver game. Last night, we saw the two teams play again on local ice. Tonight the gang is going to the Black Frog in Gastown, an Edmonton-themed bar, to celebrate their birthday. Not sure how that all happened, but it’s kind of neat – as long as I don’t actually have to GO to Edmonton, that is. I like the city just fine, but I am none to willing to spend more time there this year.

I am planning a mini-trip to Seattle for December. Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls is playing Vancouver on December 10th and Seattle the following night, and I am going to both shows. I plan to drive to Seattle on Thursday, see the show that night, spend Friday doing secret Christmas-type things, then hopefully pick Ed and assorted others up from the train station that night. We’d be able to do fun Seattle things for the remainder of the weekend, then drive back up to Canada on Sunday. I’m looking forward to it, even if it’s many days away – I love Seattle. I know the city well enough to entertain myself for two days until the others arrive, and I can get all those pesky Kimli-only things out of the way that the others aren’t as interested in for some reason.

I took many pictures at the hockey tournament. Here are some:

bawdy wench

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I know it’s Monday, but bear with me as I recap the previous week as though it were Sunday:

The Lagwagon show was awesome. I discovered the existence of a band from England called TAT that I really enjoyed, and purchased their EP for $5 (making a hefty profit, as I received $15USD in change for some reason). The crowd was really lame though, until Lagwagon took the stage – at which point, everyone went stupid. We witnessed two violent takedowns in front of us by security, and I was hit twice – once by a guy running past me who collided painfully with my left hip and kept going, and again by a guy who, in a desperate attempt to puke in the garbage can I was standing beside, ran full strength into it and me. At that point I gave up and watched the rest of the show from the back of the hall. Large drunken frat jocks are scary, and I was sore.

Riding home was a trial. It had started raining at 5pm, and got steadily heavier as the night wore on. I wasn’t wearing rain gear, so before the show started I opted to scoot home, change, and grab the car. When we all got out at 11pm, it was still monsooning so we decided to go single file with me in the rear, hazards on. We made it home, but it was not a lot of fun.

In fact, parts of it were downright creepy. As we crossed over the Lions Gate Bridge, we saw a car coming towards us without lights on. We assumed it was just an idiot, until the car passed under a streetlight – the front end was completely destroyed. As in, the driver plowed at a very high speed into something that was standing still. I have no idea how the car was even functional and the driver alive; it was utterly smashed. That was strange enough, but as we got off the bridge, we saw the accident. Something had happened just past the bridge turn off on the road to West Vancouver, and there were cars sitting around with police and an ambulance on the way. We figure the creepy car we saw either was in or the cause of the accident, and drove off in an attempt to get away. He wouldn’t have gotten far – the car was a little obvious, and not running very well – but it was still spooky to see.

Not much happened for the rest of the week, but on Saturday morning I was up bright and early to drive Josh and Shan to the airport. We left at 6am and made it with plenty of time to catch their flight. I am an excellent friend. I was back home by 7:30, then slept for a few more hours. Ed and I spent the afternoon scooting around the North Shore buying rain gear and lunch, then came home to have a nice little fight and a sleepy evening.

Sunday was much better.

We knew we wanted to do *something*, but were at a loss as to what. We thought about going downtown to the Art Gallery to see the KRAZY exhibit before it closes next week, but weren’t really sold on the idea. I started snooping around the internets for ideas when I found it – the BC Renaissance Fair was in town!

Neither of us had ever been to a Ren Fair, so we were off to Fort Langley to check it out. It was pretty cool – many neat costumes, Ed got nearly drunk off one cup of mead, and a hilarious guy that we dubbed The Village Dick, whose job it was to walk around and insult people with a flourish. Good times! Definitely worth the drive out there. It helped that it was a gorgeous lazy Sunday with no plans but to explore, and explore we did. I wandered in a river, we tried our hand at antiquing (verdict: the suck), I somehow almost blew out my knee, and I bought a pin that proudly tells the world I am a brazen hussy. It was an excellent Sunday.


And now we’re having an equally lazy Monday. There might be some cleaning, the art gallery may still happen, and if not – it’s all good. I like long weekends.

paying the price

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Last night the gang went to Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver for an impromptu picnic. While we were there, we were treated to some of the most beautiful scenery seen since .. well, since the last time we went outside (as is the fun when living in Vancouver; almost everything is spectacular). Many pictures were snapped, including this one of mine that is my new favourite:

Click on the image for the big – there’s kissin’ going on! Total chance shot, so hooray for me. I like it.

Today, however, I am paying the price for my outside-going ways: mosquito bites. They were out in horrible numbers, and we were attacked by the blood-thirsty beasts. Last night before bed I counted 20 bites on my lower left leg alone, and today I keep finding exciting new itchy spots. It sucks, because I have no control when it comes to not scratching. I’m also allergic to bug bites, and will swell up and turn horrible colours when bitten. I’m very uncomfortable today, so please ignore my squirming.

SO. ITCHY.

vaseline gremlins

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We seem to have a Vaseline Gremlin in our apartment. Somehow the jar of Vaseline in our medicine cabinet was removed and placed on the bathroom counter, where it sat for the entire day. I didn’t put it away, but when I asked Ed later that night why the Vaseline was out, he didn’t know and hadn’t seen it – it was back in the cabinet. Spooky, and somewhat greasy.

In fact, the only plausible explanation I can come up with – other than the Vaseline Gremlin – is that maybe Ed’s parents went through our medicine cabinet and took out the Vaseline while trying to peek into our secrets (which, for the record, are kept in my nightstand in the basket on the first shelf and please just do not look on the second shelf, ever).

Usually Vaseline would be a mild source of titillation, but that’s just not the case here. For starters, I know so much better than that. I didn’t spend a week taste-testing various lubricants to settle for an oil-based petroleum jelly, and no one in our household needing any sort of personal lubrication would need not fear as we boast a healthy – some might say abundant – assortment of water-based and silicone lubes for your slippery pleasure. I don’t even know why we have the Vaseline. I think it came free with something. Frankly, the Gremlin is welcome to help himself to it.

It was a busy weekend. Ed’s parents are visiting BC for the first time ever, so we crammed a week’s worth of sightseeing into two days. They’re out exploring on their own today, and we’re doing dinner tonight before they make their way back to Edmonton tomorrow. Showing them around town was a blast, though. We did a lot of things we hadn’t done before or just take for granted that it’ll always be there so we can just do it later – taking the Aquabus from Yaletown to Granville Island, for example. That can be a pretty crazy experience for someone who’s never even seen the ocean before, so I’m glad we did it. In fact, I think it’s something we need to do more. I love being on a boat, even if it’s just a tiny little tug taking me across the harbour.

Sometime soon, I need to measure all the boys.

comedy of suck

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My new motto in life is “That which does not kill me will make for one hell of an update later”.

I left the house this morning planning on driving the car into work. It’s wet outside, and I’m just plain tired of riding in the cold rain. We also need groceries, so I thought I would gently love two birds with one hug and just take the car in, outrageous parking cost be damned.

This is the setup for the comedy of suck; you’ll see why it’s important in a minute.

I gathered my belongings, opting to forego the coat and umbrella because hey, I’m driving and won’t really be outside. The instant I pulled our apartment door shut, it hit me – I didn’t have my apartment keys. Shit. Well, no worries – I’ll just go to work and worry about getting home later.

I walked out back to where we parked the car, and .. no car. It’s not there. Turns out Ed took the car this morning without telling me. He never, ever takes the car – but neither do I, so he didn’t think it would be a problem. I hadn’t communicated my grand plan to him – we’re not talking at the moment, but that’s another update altogether – so imagine my surprise when I realized there was no car.

I walked around the block and to the front of our building, planning on buzzing someone else to get inside. Good plan, except no one is home. I tried calling our building manager, but his phone went straight to voicemail. Same story for our landlord. I decided to empty my bag and look carefully, just in case I missed my keys. I didn’t find them, but I also didn’t find my scooter keys, which put Plan E – scoot to work anyway and deal with everything later – out of commission.

So, here’s my situation so far:

  • No house keys
  • Car keys, but no car
  • No scooter keys
  • I could take transit to work, but I have no money to take the bus
  • I could walk to the sea bus, but I had no coat, no umbrella, and it was pouring rain
  • No one could let me into our apartment: Building manager and landlord were both out of commission
  • I couldn’t get to work without catching pneumonia
  • .. and once I was there, I couldn’t get home – Josh/Ed/Shan all had plans after work and wouldn’t be back until very late into the night

I finally had to call Ed. See, the reason I didn’t want to call him in the first place (other than the “not talking to one another” thing) is that he took the car so he could drive to the boats. Today is his work’s annual boat cruise – an office outing on a rented boat with many foods and boozes and no working. It’s something they look forward to all year, and while the weather certainly isn’t cooperating, the trip is still on and still pretty much guaranteed to be fun.

We went back and forth for a while, but against my wishes he decided to bail on his work outing to come rescue me. While I appreciate not being trapped outside my apartment building like some sort of wet animal, I now am the direct reason Ed is at work instead of on a boat getting drunk on the company dime.

Frankly, I’d rather be wet and cold.

To add a final insult to injury, the very second Ed opened the gate to our yard, Blow Job came out of the building. If I had been able to get inside, I could have attempted to either break into the apartment somehow or at the very least continue to look for rescue while warm and dry. I could have even worked from my iPhone. But no – she only came to open the door when I didn’t need to get inside anymore. I know it’s not her fault, but as she is tall and skinny and graceful (and gives blow jobs in cars in the middle of the day), I hate her by default and so this is all her fault.

I’m at work now, and I’m at least 14 different shades of miserable. I have not had a good last couple of days, and everything is damp and smelly right now.

I think I will buy this to cheer myself up.

change of plans

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We didn’t quite make it to the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

There were some excellent intentions – we left just after 10am, giving us plenty of time to get to Horseshoe Bay via Marine Drive. It was a lovely day, and the scooting was great. Around 10:40, we arrived at The Intersection and confusion set in: to our left was Horseshoe Bay, and to the right was a sign saying “Ferry Traffic”. Ed was in the “well, we need to get to the Horseshoe Bay Terminal, so we should go to Horseshoe Bay” camp, whereas my logic and DPS told me that we should be heading right, following the sign. Since I was in the lead, my cuisine reigned supreme. We went right, and immediately found ourselves on the TransCanada.

I had no fear, though. There were signs, signs that said “Ferry Traffic take Exit 4”. Heavy construction on the highway meant the speed limit was 50 km/h, easily handled by even the wussiest of our gang. Eventually, though, the construction ended and the speed limit shot up from 50 to 90 – no worries, we’ll just ride on the shoulder until exit 4. We were doing an inordinate amount of backtracking, but signs don’t lie.

Exit 4 loomed ahead, and this is where shit got weird. All along we were told to take Caulfield Drive to the ferries, which is fine – except at the exit, another sign said Ferries were to the left and Caulfield Drive was to the right. Well, fuck. We stopped to regroup, and as no one wanted to ride the highway again it was decided that we needed to head BACK to Horseshoe Bay, and take the ferry from there. We made our way through mystery neighbourhoods and expensive houses, winding down secret roads and barely visible “no exit” signs. Finally, we found ourselves back on Marine Drive .. at Lighthouse Park. Our little detour set us about 16 kilometers from where we needed to be. Super!

We did the drive again, this time following the Horseshoe Bay sign at The Intersection. There were signs all around that said “Ferry traffic this way”, so we followed them to find ourselves in the middle of Horseshoe Village. We rode around a little longer, then illegally parked so Ed could dart into the ferry terminal and ask where the hell we were supposed to go. In a group of four, in a village 4 blocks long, we couldn’t find the damn entrance to the ferry and it was infuriating.

Turns out, there was a good reason for that – we weren’t at the ferry terminal. I mean, we were, but for foot passengers only. There was no way for vehicles of any kind to get on the ferry from the Village; you were supposed to take the TransCanada to Exit 4 and turn off at Caulfield Drive meaning I was right all along (this is important, honest). Well, fuck. None of us wanted to backtrack along the highway again, so at this point (around 11:15am; we had missed the 11:10 sailing) we decided to change our plans and spend some time in Horseshoe Village instead. It would save us the cost of the ferry, the need to backtrack, and we’d get to hang out in a cool place for the afternoon – not too shabby. I still want to do Sunshine Coast at some point, but it’ll just have to happen later. Maybe in August. Yes, August.

I’m glad that my DPS didn’t fail me after all. I was seriously worried when it looked like I had led us all astray, and Ed was being a little vindictive about it – but my faith in my directional abilities held strong, and I pledge to always listen to my inner compass because it is never wrong, even when it looks like things are bad. So there.

Sunday was for cleaning – I went through all my drawers and closets, and filled three garbage bags with stuff for Goodwill. My underwear drawer is pristine – things are folded and organized, and my bras are filed by colour and newness. There still isn’t a hell of a lot of room in the closet, but it’s better than it was – you can walk around the bed now, and it turns out we actually do have a floor.

This is just the beginning, I’m afraid. Ed’s parents are coming for their first visit ever over the August long weekend, and I’m feeling about nervous about the state of our apartment. It’s getting there, but there’s still a lot of clutter that needs to be sorted and dealt with. Shouldn’t be a problem. We’re the only people I know NOT going to Pemberton next weekend, so I’ll have plenty of time to clean while everyone else is out having (expensive, loud, sticky, yucky) fun.

scooter trip #1: victoria

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That was just awesome.

I’ve dreamt of scooting in/around Victoria for a very long time, and we just spent four days doing exactly that. It was amazing – roads I’ve traveled a thousand times before take on an entirely new dimension when you’re on two wheels instead of four. Hell, we ended up in places I’d completely forgotten but somehow instinctively knew they would make for incredible scooting – and they did. While I could have easily spent another 3 or 4 days just riding around with a big silly grin on my face (as was noted by my riding partners more than once), I am wholly satisfied with how our trip turned out.
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missing

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Missing: One Shopper’s Drug Mart. Last seen in Victoria in the vicinity of the massive hole in the ground at Town and Country Shopping Centre.

We are in Victoria and using the free! wireless! internet! at the hotel. The room is a tad ghetto – it doesn’t even have a hair dryer, hence my late night ride into near-oblivion. I was ultimately successful though, and now I have not only a hair dryer but also Diet Coke and some Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies.

What? I’m on vacation.

We’re having a great time, and I have many pictures to share. They are mostly of animals, but still. Stories will come later, and pictures will be uploaded when I’m not on a 7″ screen are up now, with more to come.

set a course for adventure

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ROAD TRIP!!!

I am excited. I love road trips. I love my scooter. I love Victoria. Put those three things together, and I’m so excited I could just feel only the slightest bit of annoyance at the $140 round trip BC Ferries price tag!

Seriously, though. I am really looking forward to this. It’s overcast at the moment, but that actually makes for good scooting – not too hot and no glaring sun to avoid. The forecast also calls for a bit of rain, but I will not melt and it’s supposed to be such a small amount that I will deal with it. Hooray! ROAD TRIP!

I tried really hard to pack modestly for this trip, but I still think I’m over packed. Most of the trouble seems to come from my toiletries – it takes a lot of product to be this fabulous. I also truly enjoy being clean. Another part of the problem is my enormous portable electronic addiction – power supplies take up room. Not very much room, but room nonetheless. Add in the unavoidable fact that fat girl clothes just plain take up more room than skinny girl clothes, and suddenly my backpack looks as though I may need a donkey or sherpa to accompany me up the Himalayas. It would be easier if I was a boy, but I have extreme aversions to wearing the same clothes more than one day.

Ed’s out of the shower, so we’re that much closer to being on the road. See you from whatever unsecure wireless signal I can pick up from my mom’s basement until we can get to the free! wireless! internet! from the hotel.

Yay!

vacation redux

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Let’s try this again.

I’ve made reservations for Ed and I to go to Victoria next Thursday, returning on Sunday. We had to make a couple of concessions – hotels are now in “summer” mode, so the price of a room almost doubled. We’re still going for three days, but we’re going to spend a night at my mom’s place and only two nights in a hotel. My neck is already sore in anticipation of sleeping on the leather and steel love seat from hell, but two nights in a king-sized bed should make up for it nicely.

I am excited once again. I would probably be MORE excited if my headache would go away, but I am reasonably full of glee despite my growing dependency on Tylenol Ultra. Fun times ahead! Set sail for adventure! Let’s all get naked and dance!

I think I will celebrate my upcoming vacation plans (v2.0) with the adding of bacon and tomatoes to bread.