Juan de Fuca Trail

Last weekend, Dan and I took the opportunity to spend sometime on the Island. We went to China Beach on the Juan de Fuca trail. We also took some day trips into Sooke (to see the Potholes), Port Renfrew (just to say we've been there), and to Sombrio beach (to hike to Sombrio beach east, where Amanda had once hiked during her years in Lifeteams).
We had many wonderful adventures along the way. But some of the highlights were:1. Picking up Hitchhikers: well actually hikers, who needed a ride to Port Renfrew. They were a nice couple, currently residing in New York (originally from Alabama and BC).
2. Hiking Sombrio beach: This time around, I (Amanda) actually got to hike more of the Juan de Fuca trail, than I did during Lifeteams. During Lifeteams we were supposed to walk 32km, but made it about 4km due to unforeseen medical emergencies. It was a pleasure to hike with Dan about 14km while exploring various beaches.
3. Port Renfrew: while standing on the dock, we saw an eagle swoop down and catch a salmon. He proceeded to fly off and eat it.
4. Meeting random friendly people on the Island: From Linda, the Parks manager (who called us the "happy campers"), to the family from Santa Barbara, to the road workers on Juan de Fuca road, the Island was full of friendly people. It seems a stark contrast to the snobs we meet in the valley. (I mean, come on. The Road workers, who stood in no-man's land all day chatted up cars and waved friendly hellos. The most i get out in the valley is a wave to keep moving.)
5. The waves: there is nothing quite like listening to the ocean roar. All night, this dull roar could be heard from our tent, as the waves pounded the shore. During the day, it was magical to see the waves come in and hear them recede over the rocky shore.
There are so many more wonderful things that are imprinted on our memories. It truly was an amazing trip.

Dan's hand - an update

Thankfully its not broken!!!! But his hippopotamus hand is turning a wide variety of colours, including but not limited to: black, blue, purple, red and green. His hand is swollen to twice its regular size, but he has full range of motion. Update finished.

Are Smokers ruining the World?

Or is it just our Starbucks experience? They seem to be everywhere lately. Smoking their 10 feet from the doors, but still within breathing distance. Establishments have it planned just right for them, so that the smokers can sit outside and take up all the fresh air. I cannot count how many times we've wanted to sit outside and have had to move indoors due to the smell. Amanda is allergic to the smoke, and her lungs close up if she is within breathing distance. This proves to ruin many evening dates, as we have to move indoors to the air conditioning (which isn't as nice as sitting outside on a balmy evening, plus the AC hurts Amanda's back after a while). We can only wait for the day when smoking is outlawed in any public place. What a glorious day that will be! We would be able to sit outside and enjoy the evening air! We must note that we are not haters of smokers. We realize that it is their right to pollute their bodies with thousands of toxins, but what happened to our right for clean air? They choose those toxins, I didn't. In fact, they pay to ingest those toxins. And we do our utmost to avoid it at all costs, but it seems unavoidable. How much should we pay for clean air? Why should we be forced to inhale these toxins? It seems unfair that you're willing to commit mass murder. (okay, that might seem a little harsh, but how many people have died from second hand smoke? Or have gotten cancer because of your cancer sticks?) We just wish we had the right to breathe clean air in public places. 10 feet doesn't cut it. I want to be able to sit outside of Starbucks and enjoy my coffee without inhaling your costly fumes.

Meet Adventure and Disaster

aka Amanda and Daniel.
Yep, that's right. Adventure and Disaster. It only takes a road trip with us to realize that those names really, truly do apply (just ask Jocelyn, Dan's family, Amanda's mom....the list goes on). People have regularly commented on the fact that adventure seems to follow me(Amanda) or that nothing exciting ever happened to them until they met me. Perhaps the common denominator is me! And now that I married Disaster, its been an even better adventure. There are always stories of things happening; like the defrizzer bottle and the toilet, food poisoning on the Lacombe AB trip, cars breaking down a few miles from home....the list goes on. Its great to know that an adventure is always around the corner. Sometimes that can be a bit foreboding as some of these (or most of these) disasters are quite expensive to fix. But needless to say, adventure and disaster are just around the corner. I love this life! I love the stories! I love the memories! The bills...not so much. I can only wait in expectation for what will happen on our road trip to Smithers-hopefully we make it out alive and in one piece (or three pieces: Dan, Amanda and Mom)!
I guess that's why the lesson that "Life is about the journey, not the destination" is so important, and quite often my mantra! But really and truly, I love the journey. It provides hours of entertainment and many laughs (usually months later) about the adventures and disasters we face.
Meet Amanda (adventure) and Dan (Disaster)! Hope you're ready for the ride of your life!

P.S. Dan just called. He fell off his bike and has two horribly swollen fingers. See! Disaster and Adventure are just around the corner! (Hopefully they aren't broken!)

Haircut from Hell

Going for a haircut, is one of those simple benign things that everyone needs to do and does without a second thought. Apparently adventure and disaster seem to follow me wherever I go and getting my haircut was no different.
Being a frugal young lady, i went for the economic haircut and went to one of those "cheap $10 haircut" places. I've been there before and got a wonderful haircut and great service, so I decided to go back. I got this young Kosovoian lady, who had been cutting hair for a year. Already i started to feel apprehensive. Then the haircut began. She commented on how nice my hair was and proceeded to comb it. And comb it. And comb it. And then it felt like she was combing my neck...no rather she was sawing through my neck with a comb. I honestly thought I was going to have scratch marks all down my neck from her combing it. I began to feel as though she was more interested in combing my hair than cutting it.
The cut itself wasn't great either (perhaps because she wasn't really listening to what i wanted). She took almost an hour to cut this ugly blunt straight line through my hair on the back of my head. There was no texture, just plain blunt ugliness.
Then she started in on the front. I felt the comb coming towards me and got worried. Then it kept hitting my cheekbone, so hard that i though i was going to go back in two days with a huge bruise on my face (it would be a great match to the scratches on my neck!). I knew i had to say something.
She started to blow dry my hair to check the length. A large strand flew into my eye and it welled up with tears. Then the flood gates opened. My eyes began to leak. Then i started to cry and lied to the girl that it was just from the hair in my eyes. By this time, i knew she had to stop and i had to get someone else. But I'm too nice and didn't want to hurt her feelings.
She asked me to put on my glasses to check the length of the back of my hair. It was rather uneven, but i just left it and told her it was fine. I figured I would just come back in a day or two and say i was unhappy and get it fixed. Or i would hit another "$10 haircut joint" on the way home. But i realized i was too frugal to pay for two haircuts. I was in a pickle. And a painful one at that.
She kept cutting my hair and scratching my neck. Then she started in with this special comb and it felt like my hair was getting caught in it and ripping out of my head. I kept quietly saying ouch, holding back some tears and randomly wiping my leaking eyes. Then she started in on the combing again and i couldn't take the pain anymore. I asked her to stop and told her i didn't want to hurt her feelings but i would prefer if someone else would finish the haircut. She kept holding my hair about to do more cutting. I told her to put down the scissors and walk away, she was done. And i was in utter agony.
The girl next to us said she would finish cutting my hair. By this time, I'm fully crying (doesn't help that its that time of the month for being emotional). Dan had to come over and bring several tissues for me. The waiting room saw me crying and this weird aura wafted over, as if they knew something was wrong and didn't want that girl cutting their hair either. The girl went into the back room (after hanging around awkwardly for a few minutes).
Finally, Penny, the hairdresser came and saved the day. Or saved what she could. She was so gentle. In fact, when she was getting out some pretty tough knots in my hair, it hurt LESS than the other girl combing my neck. Penny did a wonderful job with what hair i had left. She listened and fixed the other girl's mistakes. She was even able to suggest that she fix the blunt straight back of head hair and give it a bit of texture. I agreed. The haircut, turned out okay. A bit shorter than i would have liked, but what can you do when the other one cut it too short? Penny gave me the haircut for free and also suggested that i ask for her when i come back. (if i come back, i'll definitely be making requests!!!!)

Sad Statistics

I've been reading a book called "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson, which chronicles a man's walking journey over the Appalachian Trail (about 2000 miles). I came across a few sad statistics (please note these book was published in 1997, and things may have changed). Let me quote his words if you don't mind. He seems to have said it better than i ever could.

"Now here's a thought to consider. Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz (his friend) and I walk further that the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of all trips outside the home, for whatever distance or whatever purpose, Americans now get in the car. On average the total walking distance of an American these days -that's walking of all types: from car to office, from office to car, around the supermarket and shopping malls-adds up to 1.4 miles a week, barely 300 yards a day. That's ridiculous." (pg. 135)

For those of you who like a visual example, I've done the conversions for you. 300 yards is equivalent to 0.27 kms. That's the distance from House of James on Emerson to the Tim Hortons on Gladwin. That's ridiculous! The length of Tim Ave (that's where we live) is TWICE the distance that most people walk in a day!!!
To Dan and I, that seems utterly ridiculous. Dan even commented aloud when I told him the distance, that he was shocked and that these stats are from over 10 years ago. He wonders how much they have changed!!!
But somehow these don't shock me. How often do we drive around (wasting precious expensive gas) to find the closest parking spot to the mall? Walking from one store to another seems like too far a distance, so we hop into our cars and drive to the next store.

Last summer, we were lent a car for almost 6 weeks. Dan and I enjoyed the vacation from walking, and took the opportunity to tour around the Lower Mainland (a staycation if you will). But about 5 weeks into it, i took the car on a beautiful day to go shopping. All of a sudden, i realized that it was a bad thing for me to have. I wanted to drive from Michaels to the Seven Oaks Shopping Center. Why do i need to drive??? The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. I normally walk, so what made it different? It was at that moment that i realized that having a car makes me lazy. I don't walk short distances, i prefer to drive. It was awful. I couldn't wait to give the car back to its owner (who couldn't have come home at a better time. Another week and i would have driven it off a cliff somewhere)

Walking has become second nature to us now. We love it. We talk more as a couple, as opposed to listening to music silently in the car. We spend less money, since who wants to walk home a large item, or even who wants to walk 30 minutes just for a Starbucks? I found that I am more relaxed and less anxious and uptight. Having a vehicle makes me rush and feel like i can't get somewhere fast enough. Walking relaxes me, slows me down and calms my nerves. Walking keeps us healthy and active. We are strong advocates of walking if at all possible. We know its not possible for everyone (i mean, it does have its downsides) But we do encourage people to slow down and try it. Even if it means pulling into a far away parking spot and walking from one mall to another.

Father Forgive us, for we have sinned

Confession time!
We feel the need to come clean about some activities in our lives that we find counter to everything we stand for. In the last week, we have done two horrible things.
#1. We took a Taxi
-Our excuse: it was in the name of bringing home a load of groceries that we were not physically capable of lifting ourselves. (See how far you walk with a bag of flour in your arms!) Plus, the grannie cart was on its way to the retirement home and couldn't last the trip. therefore, we caved, and took a taxi.
#2. We bought bread
- Our excuse: we had a coupon for 6 FREE hotdog or hamburger buns from Cobs bread. We didn't have to buy anything to get the free items. But we remembered the Apricot bread that we sampled last summer from Dan's parents. Our mouths craved it. Therefore, gluttony took over and we bought a loaf. And boy was it good!!! (Please note that we do routinely buy hamburger and hotdog buns as it is still beyond our skill level to make)

Motorists and the "F" Bomb

It was supposed to be a nice quiet evening walk down our street, but instead our peace was screamed away by enraged motorists. Granted, neither episode was directed at us, but we were definitely witnesses in the line of fire.

Episode 1: "Kids taking back the streets vrs enraged "F" Bomb dropping SUV driver"
Children frequently play on the streets in this neighbourhood. It isn't uncommon to see upwards of 10 children riding bikes down Tims Ave. Today we actually witnessed one girl fall off her bike near the middle of the street. As she was still lying on the road (uninjured, just slow to get up. Don't worry, her mother checked), MR. SUV driver came barrelling down the road from one of the neighbouring buildings. The mother yelled at the driver as he drove by, "Slow down! There's kids on the road." The SUV driver stopped his car, put it in reverse, backed up aggressively, stopped in front of the mom and yelled (we will remove all expletives for your reading pleasure), "This isn't a park, your kids shouldn't be playing on the road." The mother shouted back, "Can't you see the kid lying on the road?" A few explicative from the SUV driver and he drove off aggressively (yet again) down the road.

Episode 2: "Cyclists verses South Fraser Way"
A mother and her son were biking down South Fraser at about 9:30pm. Along came aggressive young male in sports car (with two lanes available for driving), who drove right next to mother on road. His passenger yelled out window, "Get on the sidewalk. Use the bike lane, "as his driver road off enraged. Mother yells back, "Go to hell, you expletive"

Comments from observers (aka Amanda and Dan)
1. Where are the bike lanes? This town is distinctively lacking bike lanes, wherever they are remotely necessary. This is not the first time we've heard these comments about bike lanes and South Fraser Way from motorists.
2. Why can't children play on a nice quiet street? What's wrong with that? They are merely taking back their childhood and choosing more constructive behaviours than sitting in front of a TV for 14 hours a day.
3. Since when did the "F" bomb become an intelligent phrase? Don't people know what that means? And if they did, don't you think that propositioning someone for sex is counter productive to venting your anger towards said person?
4. Why is it that it is commonplace to see drivers of SUVs/Trucks and sports cars screaming obscenities at random people? We know you have an inferiority complex, but MUST you share it with the world? (This is just a generalization and by no means is this inclusive of all SUV/ sports car drivers)

Views from the road

Walking around town lets you see the most interesting vehicles. Today, we saw two unusual and one funny.
#1. A Chevy 12 passenger Van with a lift kit. Picture a monster truck, except its a van.
#2. Army camo Volkswagon style van. Probably a Unimog, but Dan's unsure. Amanda has no idea what a Unimog is.
#3. At the corner of South Fraser and Trethewey, a tractor. That's right, a tractor. In the middle of the city, in all its slow farm implemented glory.

Movin' and Shakin'

Sorry for the distinct lack of up keep, but our lives changed dramatically over the course of three weeks. Without going into details, we found it necessary to move from our beloved house on Princess St. to a new abode about two blocks away.

The Background Story: After realizing that we needed to move, we began looking around for a places within walking distance of work and bus stops, as well as something in our price range. This proved to be futile. The first week was nothing but crack shacks, "4-20 friendly" homes or mansions out in the boons with a large price tag. We had our hopes set on a duplex a block up the road from where we are now. We decided to do a quick walk-by to check it out, before the viewing the next morning. It was nothing short of an "act of God" waiting to happen. As we were walking home disappointed, Amanda remembered seeing an ad for an apartment on Tims Ave, a block down from the duplex. We decided to walk by to see what the neighbourhood was like and perhaps see the "for rent" sign hanging in a window. As we started down the road, we walked past an apartment where a couple of our friends had lived in years previous. Much to our delight there was a "For Rent" sign out front. Although this wasn't the advertised apartment, we were interested. We went home and called the number and arranged a viewing for the next morning. By 9:30 the next morning (when Dan should have been at work), we had decided that this was our new home. Two days later, we had the keys to the new apartment and began a progressive move in.

The MOVE: For most people, moving is an inconvenience and a pain. But for two young people with NO vehicle, moving becomes a bit more adventurous. With nothing but our two arms and a broken grannie-style shopping cart, we set out on the adventure of moving by foot. We admit, the bulk of our boxes was moved by Amanda's work SUV, but we still did take a lot by foot. (just ask the elderly couple in the building next to ours, who still think we are moving!) Moving boxes and odd sized items with a cart proves to be a somewhat arduous task. A thorn in my side, or maybe it was one of the broken ribs from the side of the cart. Nonetheless, we moved a great deal of stuff by foot, proving that even without a vehicle, it is possible to move a great deal of what you own by foot. One thought we had while moving was that even the pioneers, who didn't have cars, still had horse drawn cart or even just horses in which to move things. We didn't even own a fully functioning grannie-cart, but still made it. Another thought we had, was that you really decided what is important in your life to move, when you have to move it by foot. (Do i really need a Christmas plate or that extra pair of pants?) The funniest and most painful load by grannie-cart was moving a cooler full of fridge food. The cooler kept falling off the one side and into the half broken cart, finishing off what many overloaded shopping trips had started.

Side note: The grannie-style cart has died and it currently residing in its permanent lodgings in the Canadian Tire parking lot dumpster. May he rust in pieces. Needless to say, he has been replaced by a brand new YardWorks Garden Wagon.