Local Streets and the Dipsy-Doodle Hamster Wheel Blues: Saturday, February 22nd!

We don't understand life any better at forty than at twenty, but we know it and admit it. -Jules Renard, writer (1864-1910)

The Birthday Girl! As close as I could get with all the paparazzi! Olivia Rose on her 1st birthday! Hip Hip Hooray!

Hello Tinsel Towners! I assume no news is good news! In keeping with his methane production I'm attaching an interesting video as thought Rowan James would appreciate it!

Cousin Pierre!

Was hoping to ride yesterday but had to wait until I heard from Curtis who said he would pop by to do a number of small re-wiring jobs that we had discussed last time he was here. However, by the time he was here and completed the work, [New ground-fault interrupters at front and patio, on different circuits from hot-water-on-demand unit so it won't trip, as well as lower plug in Rumpus Room. He had to put a plate over former plug but you can probably hang a small picture over it, although it looks fine.], it was close to 4:00 pm so I decided to do my shouldares instead. Forecast suggests I should be able to ride today. Had a note from Stacey, [bar tender at Dream], and she has the flu so had to cancel snowshoeing. Had included Colin in invitation but he hasn't replied. He's never really good about answering anyway! Have organized and outing to Apex on Monday, to snowshoe to Molly's Hut, where I took Chloë. I happened to speak to Bill and Ellen yesterday afternoon, [Duke was in bedroom window and growled at them as they came in from his truck!], and they had just returned from this very outing. He said conditions were excellent and trail easy to follow.  We'll meet at our place again and then carpool. I assume we might have lunch at the hut and perhaps coffee in the village at Apex but that will be decided on the fly.

Cousin Alex!

Duke slept on the blanket last night as Miss Etta was on the chair! He bounced over me at 6:30 am but went out without fussing. I was up at 7:00 am and opened a new can of food, "tuna" as "venison" is being boycotted! [I think I'll take back the cans we have and ask to exchange them.] Poor Etta had a mix of both but Fussy El Diablo had straight "fish"! [He's in the linen closet as I scribe!] I'll head over to Winnipeg Street after I've had a bite of breakfast to check mail and work on gate pulls. Want to wait for a couple of hours until it warms up. Supposed to hit 8º C and wind won't be too, too strong, out of the SSE at 15 km/h, gusting to 22 km/h.

Off to The Dream tonight. Not sure who is on. Sheryl MacKay played Noah Derksen, apparently an American citizen but born and raised on the Prairies, on North by Northwest this morning, [Duke turns on radio at 3:30 am!], and announced that he was appearing at The Dream this evening. On Wednesday Hazel asked me to invite any people I knew who might wish to hear The Wardens, [I guess show was not sold out so no cover charge.], on Saturday. Website lists Noah on Friday and The Wardens tonight! 

Must away to fry up some kartofellage for breakfast, fuel for ride. Send me some snapolas of you and the LA gang and let me know what you've been up to when you have a minute away from your royal tour! Fondestos, Love and Cheers, Dad/Poppa/Patrizzio! Pics: Dinner with Gas! Snowshoe warning! Life of a cat!

Thanks for the update! Had a busy first day yesterday with some shopping and lunch with P as well. Today if the big party at 1 pm. Gave Rowan a bath last night. Bognar's chile sounds very yummy. More later and pictures of the birthday girl. Love you Corinne Hi Darjeeling! This in from Flamin' via Greg. 

Hi Guys, Just found this one looks flat and E bikes are available for those of us that want to enjoy the trip without the need to get super fit, looks flat and the distances are not too bad. https://www.biketours.com/portugal/algarve-coastal-route/ Cheers Greg and Claire Could you forward to Patrick no email address gets thru from this end

What time of year had you in mind? On another matter, do you have my Mastercard? Can't find it and I'd like to use if for Spirit Ridge payment. If you don't have it then perhaps you should pay bill. Let me know what you think! Look forward to seeing snaps of Olivia Rose, et al. Love, Patrizzio!
 

Hi Kids! Thanks for information on bike trip. Looks like a wonderful route. If we opt to sign up we'll need to figure out details of support vehicle, etc., as I don't think Lady Darjeeling will want to bike, even with an ebike, but she'll have to decide, of course. Must away to fry up some kartofellage for breakfast, fuel for coming ride. Fondestos to one and all. Cheers, Patrizzio! PS: Album of last Monday's outing. Pic: Snowshoe warning! Hi all I liked the route but this is pretty pricey for a week trip $3200 CND plus add-ons. Wondering if it is possible to rent bikes and map out similar route and find our own stays in the areas the bike company suggests ?? Corinne probably won’t bike - I am not sure if my ability but my vestibular system is starting to recover. 

Any one have suggests for other areas I hear we should go to Porto . Also we have ability to trade our place in spirit ridge for lodgings in Algave and coastal Spain Portugal, might be worth looking into if we want to do a week in an area and branch out from there M Hi again, Portugueses! I agree with Flamin', [A First!], about price and perhaps trying to plan our own trip. I just did a quick search and came up with the following site: Cycling Algarve - a guide for exploring the south of Portugal:

Dec 31, 2015 - Best areas for cycling the coastline, from West to East: The Costa Vicentina area, in the West Coast, is a Natural Park that starts in São Torpes (Alentejo) and extends towards the south, entering the Algarve region in Aljezur, continuing all the way to Sagres. I'm sure there are more but this might be a way to start planning. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Had a very restful night. Duke slept on the blanket at the foot of the bed as Miss Etta was on the chair! He bounced over me at 6:30 am but went out without fussing. I was up at 7:00 am and opened a new can of "designer" cat food, "tuna" as "venison" is being boycotted! [I think I'll take back the cans we have and ask to exchange them.] Poor Etta had a mix of both but Fussy El Diablo had straight "fish"! [He made a "nest" in the linen closet after eating!] Afterwards I spent my time answering messages and around 10:00 am drove to RBC as I had to have my Visa pin changed. Having done that I can now spend like a drunken sailor! Then I headed over to Winnipeg Street to check on mail, [No cheques, Chloë!], and water a few plants. 
 

Wanted to have my ears lowered so popped into First Choice Haircutters but there was a 45 minute wait so returned to The Burns Street Bistro and after a bite of brunch suited up for the ride to come. Earlier, had decided to wait for a couple of hours until it warmed up a tad. Forecast suggested temperature was to hit 8º C and wind wasn't to be too, too strong, out of the SSE at 15 km/h, gusting to 22 km/h. This being the case I thought I'd make for Trout Creek even though I usually do this ride on a Sunday, when traffic is lighter, and I'd be bucking a head wind on return. 

Having considered these facts I left the house at 12:30 pm. I knew I had plenty of time for an extended ride, [Was selling 50/50 tickets at The Dream that evening so wanted to be home by 5:00 pm, at the latest, so that I could do a short set of shouldares before showering and changing.], and had set my goal for the outing at 80 km +.], so decided I'd pile on the klicks before I hit 97 so that I wouldn't have to do an inordinate number of loops around Trout Creek when I reached that community. Couldn't have had a better day as sun was shining and the lake was mirror calm as I rode along Lakeshore, the gulls, not packed together, but spaced out evenly, on the water's edge, like sentinels on a watchtower.
 

Using the roundabout, opposite the SS Sicamous, as a slingshot, I hurled myself back along Lakeshore and started on a series of loops using both Dynes and the back lane to the south of this street, alternating each individual circuit to provide a tad of variety. Having not ridden for almost four days my legs felt pretty strong and the wind resistance seemed almost negligible in spite of the what the forecast had listed. By the time I'd finished three or four rounds of each mini-loop, I changed my mind about making for Trout Creek and thought I'd see if I could "squeeze" out the final distance I had in mind, right here in town. And so after I ridden the requisite seven loops of each street, I set about enlarging my circumlcyclations to include Burnaby and then Churchill. When these were complete I turned my attention to the last remaining loop, using Westminster and Wylie to return to Burnaby and ride it south, this time, instead of north.

When this circuit was discharged I looped through the Riverside Mall and made my way back, on Riverside/Lakeshore, to PTC. By the time I'd dipsy-doodled my way between the marina parking lot and the PTC, [four loops], I had over 67 km on the clock, when back on Lakeshore, and I knew I would have little difficulty chalking up the remainder of the distance before heading for home. Did this, after one last loop of the Riverside Mall, by taking Burnaby to cross Westminster and do four loops of a number of the streets adjacent to SOEC, Alberni, Creston and Comox finishing off on Westminster. Then just a hop, skip and jump to the lights on Power, turning right at the intersection to race past the Penticton Community Centre and then

the roundabout adjacent to the Cascades Casino for Wade to Winnipeg, dipsy-doodling on Orchard, across Martin and Main and then I was soon pumping up White to Burns.  Absolutely delighted to have ridden this distance on local streets and especially chuffed that the AVG was 19.5 km/h. Last ride, of this length, was on January 4th, to Crescent Beach, and AVG was 19.3 km/h, even though there were far more extended long stretches of road on which to build up speed. Hip Hip Hooray! Cheers! Map and Stats for ride: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4580297210#.XlHgC7T2lys.email

Was back in plenty of time to make a salad before showering & changing, readying myself for The Dream. As it turned out Sheryl was wrong and The Wardens were performing, as announced. Was a very good crowd so place was buzzing. Had loads of fun selling 50-50 tickets and Hazel had assigned me a table on the upper level, right across from the stage, so I had a perfect view for snapolas.



I had no idea about the band other than the fact that I knew they played country music. Imagined their name was the surname of one or more of the members but I soon discovered that it had been adopted as three of players were/are actual National Park wardens. All singer/songwriters, Scott Ward (guitar), Bradley Bischoff (guitar), both now retired after over 30 years of service, each, and Ray Schmidt (upright bass, mandolin), who plays upright bass and is still working in Banff National Park. They include fiddle player, Scott Duncan, from Calgary, on a part time basis, as often as he is available to join their tours/performances. 

I had a chance to talk to all of them before the show started and then during the break between sets. Wonderfully friendly, endlessly interesting and interested individuals so it was a pure delight to have the opportunity to chat. Aside from their playing they have a large screen set up on the stage and show slides related to a particular song as it is performed. Each song is introduced with its "backstory" so a concentrated, simply riveting history lesson describing the working life of the wardens who have dedicated themselves to patrolling, usually on horseback, and protecting the various national parks in the Rockies. Of course, many of us have seen the grandeur of Banff and Jasper but I had no idea, at all, of the remarkable stories surrounding these dedicated, self-sufficient and courageous individuals, whether involved in mountain rescues, avalanches or Grizzly attacks. 

So many fascinating stories, usually told with self-deprecating humour, some with deep sadness, [the slaughter of the buffaloe/bison and wolves], yet always with hope and gratefulness for the truly remarkable landscape and its magnificent creatures. Only have time/space to relate two of them. One of the early wardens, 1930's, was on the run from the law in Montana and crossed over into Saskatchewan to enlist in WW I to become a sharpshooter. Surviving the conflict he returned to Canada to join the Northwest Mounted Police. Apparently, a heavy drinker, in full dress uniform, red serge and all, he rode his horse into the Banff Springs Hotel! Not surprisingly, his career with the Mounties came to an abrupt end but, almost immediately, he was snatched up by the Park Service to have a long, distinguished as a warden. 

One memorable incident had him utilize his sharpshooting skills when tracking down and killing two men who had murdered two policemen in an armed robbery in Saskatchewan and then four more Mounties in their escape westward to Banff. 
 

Here the fugitives took off into the bush and when the posse found them it was fired upon. Resistance didn't last long as the armed robbers were more than easy prey for the hardened, ex-soldier/sharpshooter! On a less grisly note, when Scott Duncan was featured, playing Red Wing, a traditional fiddle tune, pictures of him, as a very young child, with his grandfather, Clarence, still living at 94, were shown on the screen. He learned how to play from his grandfather who was one of the founding members of the Maple Creek Old Tyme Fiddlers and is the last surviving member of the group. Scott said he and his family visit him regularly, in Maple Creek. Quite a juxtaposition to see him holding his grandfather's bow, at three or four, and then playing in a school band while he dazzled us with his remarkable playing! Time travel with music! Don't miss seeing them if you ever have a chance, Dear Reader!