Monday, November 17, 2008
Halloween!!
No words can describe the events that transpired on October 31st of 2008. Highlight of the night was obviously hanging out with Gollum, David Lee Roth, a sketchy truck driver, Michael Jackson and a Geisha. But Gollum did truly steal the show, and I only wish you all could have seen it with your own eyes.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Whitehorse
This blog entry is a doozy! As it should be, though. It's not every day that the first Grandchild comes into the family. Meg Rose Papenfus is the newest addition to the family, on Holly's side. Holly and I were overdue on a visit to Whitehorse, and given we hadn't seen Amanda or William since before we left for Korea, it was high time we went.
Holly and I drove to Calgary to catch our flights to Whitehorse, and on the way drove through a beautiful storm that had to be photographed. Sask has some of the most breathtaking skies on the planet (well, compared to the limited number of places I've visited!).
Calgary was a perfect lead in to the vacation, as we spent a night at the spa (i.e. Joni and Colin's house), where we were treated to excellent company, and Joni's highly regarded cuisine.
We didn't have much on the itinerary upon arriving, just quality visiting and catch up time. Not to mention meeting Meg. As you can see in the pictures, she is a beautiful litte baby, with a set of excellent parents! William and Lecia opened up their home for the rest of us, in return Holly and I introduced them to the best show ever...the Office!! Aside from nightly installments of the office, we spent a lot of time explorng the town, hitting up the coffee shops, and getting out to some of the very scenic spots out of town.
Early in our stay we tackled the Chilkoot trail. It's a pretty historic trail. Many people came up to Skagway, Alaska, in the gold rush days (1898ish) and took this route to get into the Yukon in search of gold. The hike starts in the northern tip of the temperate rainforest near Skagway, rises to a barren-looking glacial/alpine meadow setting, and gradually drops to a sandy, boreal forested finish. Although it only took us 2.5 days, people would historically take weeks or months to do this (did I mention that federal law stated they had to haul in 1 tonne of provisions to enusure that they wouldn't die of starvation?).
We also made a friend from Japan who, for ease of pronunciation, had given himself the nickname 'Hickory' in replace of his actual name. Our meeting involved Hickory taking a handful of Bill's wasabi-peas, throwig them all in his mouth, and proceeding to gasp and drink most of his water to aleviate the burning... I do not need to explain the irony here. Hickory ended up hiking with us for one and a half of the days. It was a blast.
Following this hike, we caught a train back to Skagway and then drove back to Whitehorse. It was a privelage to see such a beautiful part of the continent. I have also added pictures from a few other little hikes we did. You can see the beautiful fall colors that covered the landscape.
Did I mention that Whitehorse is maybe the coldest place in Canada?!?! Or at least it is according to Holly. She set the record for the most layers worn by one person at one time (10). I think I may have married an ectotherm! In her defense, it was reaching the 30ies when we left Regina... it was less than half of that in Whitehorse! Temperature aside, it is truly an enchanting area. Thanks so much Brenda for helping to get us there!
Holly and I drove to Calgary to catch our flights to Whitehorse, and on the way drove through a beautiful storm that had to be photographed. Sask has some of the most breathtaking skies on the planet (well, compared to the limited number of places I've visited!).
Calgary was a perfect lead in to the vacation, as we spent a night at the spa (i.e. Joni and Colin's house), where we were treated to excellent company, and Joni's highly regarded cuisine.
We didn't have much on the itinerary upon arriving, just quality visiting and catch up time. Not to mention meeting Meg. As you can see in the pictures, she is a beautiful litte baby, with a set of excellent parents! William and Lecia opened up their home for the rest of us, in return Holly and I introduced them to the best show ever...the Office!! Aside from nightly installments of the office, we spent a lot of time explorng the town, hitting up the coffee shops, and getting out to some of the very scenic spots out of town.
Early in our stay we tackled the Chilkoot trail. It's a pretty historic trail. Many people came up to Skagway, Alaska, in the gold rush days (1898ish) and took this route to get into the Yukon in search of gold. The hike starts in the northern tip of the temperate rainforest near Skagway, rises to a barren-looking glacial/alpine meadow setting, and gradually drops to a sandy, boreal forested finish. Although it only took us 2.5 days, people would historically take weeks or months to do this (did I mention that federal law stated they had to haul in 1 tonne of provisions to enusure that they wouldn't die of starvation?).
We also made a friend from Japan who, for ease of pronunciation, had given himself the nickname 'Hickory' in replace of his actual name. Our meeting involved Hickory taking a handful of Bill's wasabi-peas, throwig them all in his mouth, and proceeding to gasp and drink most of his water to aleviate the burning... I do not need to explain the irony here. Hickory ended up hiking with us for one and a half of the days. It was a blast.
Following this hike, we caught a train back to Skagway and then drove back to Whitehorse. It was a privelage to see such a beautiful part of the continent. I have also added pictures from a few other little hikes we did. You can see the beautiful fall colors that covered the landscape.
Did I mention that Whitehorse is maybe the coldest place in Canada?!?! Or at least it is according to Holly. She set the record for the most layers worn by one person at one time (10). I think I may have married an ectotherm! In her defense, it was reaching the 30ies when we left Regina... it was less than half of that in Whitehorse! Temperature aside, it is truly an enchanting area. Thanks so much Brenda for helping to get us there!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Nemeiben Lake with the LA crew
Holly and I were fortunate enough to spend a beautiful, sunny weekend with some great friends at Carina and Graham's family cabin on Nemeiben lake. Nemeiben, with its clean, fresh water, was the perfect getaway for me personally, since up until then I had been working in the goose-poop-saturated waters of Wascana lake!
Putting his teacher skills to work, Gabe was giving lessons on how to roll a kayak. He also gave a bonus lesson on how to drive a 4 wheeler like a pro.
We ate some of the best shishkabobs I've had in a long time, and finished up the evening with a nice big fire.
I'm already looking forward to the next time we can all get together.
Putting his teacher skills to work, Gabe was giving lessons on how to roll a kayak. He also gave a bonus lesson on how to drive a 4 wheeler like a pro.
We ate some of the best shishkabobs I've had in a long time, and finished up the evening with a nice big fire.
I'm already looking forward to the next time we can all get together.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
High and Heavy Hitters
A few weekends ago we had the privelage of spending the weekend at our friends' farm in Preeceville. Nevin, his wife Lindsey, his brother Nels, and his folks, Ken and Elsie, not to mention their Lion-like dog Montana, were taking care of buisness at the farm. Holly and I helped out with some berrypicking/painting for Holly, and fence building/beer drinking/freestylin, for myself.
Check out the new combine...pretty sweet! Also check out the hummingbirds feeding. A small army of little hummingbirds fight over the sugar water feeders, all day long... who knew Kool-Aid was such a hot commodity in the Preeceville region?
The crops are pretty nice this year, Nevin informed me. If you don't beleive me, check out Nevin's Mom, Elsie, in the bean field... I half expected to see a big nasty alien come sauntering out of there like in the movie 'Signs'... Or maybe shoeless Joe Jackson and James Earl Jones...
"If you build it, they will come"...
So, we built it - A fence that is - to keep virtually everything out of the orchard. Well, in 2 days we put up most of the 12 foot tall posts, pounded 4 feet into the ground. The fencing wire and other components were to come later. Meanwhile the ladies painted and caulked the grain truck, turning it into the hottest ride east of Saskatoon.
All in all it was a great weekend.
Finally, I have made a blog entry... it's off my chest and I can go to bed. If you're wondering why I'm up so late, it's because we just watched Batman in the theater with Holly's cousin Rob (my awesome, but now-ex roommate), and now I'm jacked, and trying to fend off the urge to put on tights and a cape to catch some criminals lurking around downtown.
Check out the new combine...pretty sweet! Also check out the hummingbirds feeding. A small army of little hummingbirds fight over the sugar water feeders, all day long... who knew Kool-Aid was such a hot commodity in the Preeceville region?
The crops are pretty nice this year, Nevin informed me. If you don't beleive me, check out Nevin's Mom, Elsie, in the bean field... I half expected to see a big nasty alien come sauntering out of there like in the movie 'Signs'... Or maybe shoeless Joe Jackson and James Earl Jones...
"If you build it, they will come"...
So, we built it - A fence that is - to keep virtually everything out of the orchard. Well, in 2 days we put up most of the 12 foot tall posts, pounded 4 feet into the ground. The fencing wire and other components were to come later. Meanwhile the ladies painted and caulked the grain truck, turning it into the hottest ride east of Saskatoon.
All in all it was a great weekend.
Finally, I have made a blog entry... it's off my chest and I can go to bed. If you're wondering why I'm up so late, it's because we just watched Batman in the theater with Holly's cousin Rob (my awesome, but now-ex roommate), and now I'm jacked, and trying to fend off the urge to put on tights and a cape to catch some criminals lurking around downtown.
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