This is the life...

Aaaahhhhh!! Gotta love summer vacation!! The weather has been co-operating surprisingly well so far, and we've gotten in several climbing days at Cougar Creek as well as a completely nuclear kiting day at Keho Lake. Tomorrow Sonja is joining us and we're going to ride our bikes up the Cascade Fire Road and then hike into Coral Crag for some sport climbing. According to the guidebook, it looks pretty rad! Then on Monday, I think we'll try to get on a multi-pitch - maybe the East End of Rundle, Goat Mountain or Guides Rock... the choices are endless! The rest of the week is open, but I'm sure we'll keep ourselves entertained. Yaaayyy for time not spent at work!!
Cheers!

The Daily Drive

I have been driving to my job at a plant out near Joffre for almost **GULP** ten years now! And surprisingly, I do not find the commute boring in the least. The road winds through some beautiful Central Alberta farmland and down through the Red Deer River valley - the 25 minute drive is scenic and soothing - and it's a great way to start and end a work day.

Here are a couple of pics from along the route on various mornings - I see everything from animals to heavy equipment to amazing cloudscapes! How lucky am I!!

Fore!!

Although it's not my first choice of outside activities on a nice summer day, I must say that a round of golf is not a bad way to pass a few hours! I was reminded yesterday that I actually don't mind the game - the course we played is in lush condition and (bonus) I didn't lose even one ball! Plus it's relatively decent exercise - I carry my set of ancient clubs (read: old, made of steel, in the bulky, original-equipment bag, all of which I received as a 20th birthday gift!!), and often times I am all over the place trying to find my crazy shots. Add to that about 100 swings, and there is no lack of energy expended on my part! So, in light of the fact that there are no rock faces and few sufficiently windy days in Red Deer... I'm thinking I'll be seeing a bit more of the fairways and greens in the area when I'm in town on days off. If you need a 4th and don't mind hanging out with a moderate hacker who doesn't take it tooooo seriously... give me a call!!? Oh, and did I mention I'm super efficient at flagging down the beer cart!!

Cheers!

Um... summer... where art thou??

Ha. Well, the great weather came to an abrupt halt last week. However, as Albertans we are pretty resilient, and we've grown accustomed to just rolling with it. Which means: break out the wetsuits/drysuits... and go kitesurfing! It seems like the logical thing to do doesn't it, when it's blowing 30kts, the temp is +5C with the 'windchill', and it's raining intermittently?!

Gull Lake was the place to be this past Friday/Saturday/Sunday. There was a bit of sun and the ambient was quite warm at times, but the best thing was that, due to the wind, there were hardly any people on the beach. Todd rode for hours and hours each day, and I even gave it a go. My water start is working out okay, but riding in the chop was a bit challenging. Combined with a few obstacles (buoys, moored boats, the odd crazy person out swimming!), my attempt was somewhat in vain... after about 45 minutes of thrashing around I went back to taking pictures. But it was fun to get out and fly the kite and get a bit of a feel for the water again.

I'm back to work now full-tilt for the next couple of weeks, but hopefully by the end of the month, summer will make another appearance?? Keep your fingers crossed!