Grandma Pellerin Visits

Fran and I were so happy to host my Grandma Pellerin for a weekend visit. It would be her first time to visit her thirtieth-something great grand child, Cohen, as well as our new town home. It was a beautiful weekend and I was conveniently able to pick her up after attending a conference in Victoria and bring her home with me on the ferry. We enjoyed some nice walks along the river (photo), brought her over to see Jay, Jess and Cohen (photo), and cooked her up a nice meal.

We were a little concerned about dropping her off on the ferry - Grandma is a very capable 92 year old woman, but nonetheless we were a little worried that someone could inadvertently knock her over with all the hustle and bustle of getting on/off the ferry; she's only 93 lbs afterall. The BC ferry staff were excellent, and let Fran and I park for free nearby and assist Grandma right onto the ferry. We found her a seat, said our goodbyes, and walked straight off the ferry again, having enjoyed another fantastic visit with my amazing matriarch.

Size 21

Silly photo of me at conference in Victoria on February 17th. There was a sport supplier in the tradeshow who had a range of crazy sized shoes for the overly developed adolescent athlete, such as these sized 21 high tops. A bit roomy, but stylish nonetheless!

St. Valentines

Fran and I have not generally fallen into the many available romantic traps that spring up every Valentines Day. However, this year, being our first as a married couple, I thought I'd try to do something different and fun. I heard a radio interview on the CBC about this Chocolate Fondue Snowshoe Walk up at Mt. Seymour and I thought it sounded fantastic. I knew that Fran had enjoyed snowshoeing from time to time in the past, and when I heard the details from the sales rep it sounded like exquisitely romantic idea. I could see us enjoying a brisk snow shoe hike and arriving to our own little romantic corner, lit by moonlight and flickering candles, eating fresh fruit dipped in melted chocolate. I was even told there would be little chairs and tables made from snow.

Well, it did turn out to be fun - and I surprised Fran. The night before I packed every piece of warm clothing I could find (I brought our largest suitcase) so I could pick her up from work and drive us up to the mountain. We enjoyed a deli dinner we picked up along the way in the 'old school' ski lodge (all to ourselves!) before getting ready for our 7:00pm snow shoe. Franny was so cute all bundled up - she doesn't really have a good selection of outdoor winter clothes so she was wearing my old military issue rain pants, plastic bags and socks in her old boots, and TONS of layers.

We soon realized that we were going to share our romantic snow shoe trip with 10 other people - strangers! And we ended up with a total surf-dude-pot-head guide. He was hilarious...and annoying. He continually stopped us along the way our very brief hike to tell us enlightening stories like "Does anyone know the history of Valentines? Well, it's, uh, from the Greek - or was it Roman? - period and this dude..." You get the point. He was Keannu Reaves like, without the looks.

I thought, okay, let's be positive and when we get to our private forested snow booth everything will be fantastic and the romance will begin. As it turns out, the snow booth never materialized. Instead, there was a snow bank equipped with ziplock bags of fruit, a thermos full of thick hot chocolate, and blown-out tea light candles that could not sustain the light breeze. All 10 of us laid on the ground around the snow bank and struggled to manage our chocolae dipped fruit from these little blue mats with our freezing hands and/or mittens....!

Oh well, we had fun; and it was certainly a memorable Valentines Day. If not Romantic.

Steveston Stroll

Another February weekend, and another nice day in the lower mainland. We decided to check out south Richmond, or the community of Steveston as it's known. A very historic area - especially with respect to fishing and the BC Packers heritage buildings. Nestled along the south arm of the Fraser River, history is butted up against some very modern medium-density residential developments, which have been tastefully designed in my opinion. Others may argue that it's developing too quickly and becoming too 'yuppy' perhaps. I don't mind some corporate coffee shops in the old village area, but I do appreciate the many small, independent businesses there.

The seawall along the dyke is also well crafted, with many intersting historical and art pieces sprinkled throughout. Check out this link for some great photographs of the area along with some other information.

Baden-Powell Trail

If you never been, you've got to go. It's a great little hike out of Deep Cove on the Baden-Powell trail. It provides an unique view of Burnaby and East Vancouver, and all of the stairs and climbing will give you your requisite dose of cardio. Some teenage girls hiked all the way up to this view point, only to pull out bags of lukewarm MacDonalds meals. Lovely. Nonetheless, Fran and I enjoyed the walk - I preferred the walk back.