Rantastic - Outdoors

Long Weekend Recap

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:48:00 -0400

So, finally, I have time to sit down and write this out. Hooray for Grandmas putting little boys to bed!

We had a great Canada Day long weekend up at Highwood group camp in Kananaskis country.

We went camping with The Mantracker (among others).

Wil learned how to keep cool.

Saw some flowers...

... and some wildlife.

Did some geocaching.

Wil slept in a tent for the first time (at least the first time we slept there all night).

Took time to smell the wild roses.

Also... we learned that there are raccoons in K-Country.

I was woken up one night and something was climbing on the tent. We were sleeping in my parents' 70's tent - heavy canvas walls, good floor, heavier screen on the windows than you'd see these days. Not a backpacking tent, for sure.

The initial thought, as previously mentioned, was monkey. Then I woke up some more and came to the conclusion it was definitely not a monkey, and started second-guessing myself as to whether something was there at all. I stared at the shadowy shape on the tent window, in the darkness, with no glasses on. When I finally woke up enough to decide there was indeed something there, I reached for my glasses and flashlight, which of course made a big clatter and scared it off. I wasn't quite coherent enough to realize there was no point in turning the flashlight on though, and did it anyway. That woke up Matt.

"What? What is it?" he said.

"There was something climbing on the window."

"You're imagining things. There's nothing there... go back to sleep."

"There was something there!"

"No, there wasn't."

*sigh*

I couldn't sleep at that point, as every animal it could possibly be was running through my head. I had gotten a good look, since my glasses weren't on, so I was going on a shadowy shape of some approximate size, which could climb and would be stupid and/or curious enough to climb a tent. Porcupines climb, but it seemed a little small for a porcupine. The canvas tent seemed pretty poor protection against a pissed-off porcupine though, so it kept me worried nonetheless. It was about the right size for a skunk... did skunks climb? I couldn't remember. At one point I thought I heard whatever it was trying to get into the cooler, and I had a fleeting thought - raccoon? That was quickly dismissed... we don't have raccoons around here.

At one point it jumped up against the tent right beside my head, and I gasped and let a few words fly. Matt taunted me for being jumpy and once again didn't believe there was anything there.

I laid awake until I heard other people moving around the campground, figuring whatever is was wouldn't bother us then. Got a little bit of sleep. Once Wil woke up I went to the trailer my parents were sleeping in to ask what it could have been.

My stepdad figured it was probably a pine marten, and that sounded less threatening or troublesome than a porcupine or a skunk, so I relaxed a bit.

A little while later, I was in the trailer brushing my teeth, and my mom called, "Tamara, come here!" in the light-hearted tone that usually signifies baby birds or my kiddo doing something cute.

Instead I got a heck of surprise when I tried to leave the trailer, only to find a raccoon waiting for me on the trailer steps.

It was indeed cute, but my first thought was, "That thing better not have rabies."

Unfortunately we never got a picture; we were mostly concerned with chasing it off so it would stop eating things from our coolers. Poor thing finally got pepper sprayed; I didn't see it again after that. (For those about to tell us we're cruel to animals, the options at that point, as it was into our camp at every opportunity, were: pepper spray, big stick to the head, or shotgun.)

It was kind of fun to watch the little guy (someone guessed he was probably a yearling); I'd never seen a real live raccoon before, except maybe in the zoo. And it sure made for some interesting conversations. And we got to learn something new. But the best part of the whole thing was Matt was finally forced to admit that maybe I might have better hearing than him (as we totally slept through the raccoon climbing right by his head, and I was about as far away in the tent as I could get).

Canada Day Long Weekend: A Preview

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:27:51 -0400

Immediate thought upon waking (at 4 a.m. or so): "Is there a monkey on my tent?"

More later!

Me, a golfer?

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 12:27:17 -0400

Well, I played my first ever round of golf yesterday. Other than mini-golf, I had never even swung a club before. My friend Tayfun decided it was too nice a day to be stuck inside, so he rounded up a group of us to go over to Henderson for a round (man, I love being a grad student sometimes).

Henderson is just a little 9-hole "pitch and putt", so it was probably a good place to start learning. I didn't have to hit the ball too terribly far to get pretty close to the green. I even did not too bad for a total and utter beginner - I got a birdie on one hole when I chipped in a shot from about 15 or 20 yards away. Of course, I got 8's and 9's on a lot of the other holes, but come on! A birdie! Other than a couple horrible shots (like my very first one - almost sideways right into the bushes), my shots even went pretty straight. Now I just need to build some power.

I don't know why I resisted golf for so long... I always said it seemed pointless and boring. I just did not get it. But now I see it's not about the challenge or the scores or anything; it's about getting out of the office and having fun with your friends. Which I like. :)

We won!

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 13:09:15 -0500

We had an awesome, awesome frisbee game last night. The team we played against was (with two exceptions) there for a fun game, some exercise, and a good time. No over-eager trampling people down, no showing off, none of that. I think they were in the fun league with us, as opposed to most of the teams we've been stuck playing.

We only won by one point, so it shows how well-matched we were.

I actually started to like Ultimate again. :)

I have got to remember my camera next time we play (after reading break, sadly), so I can show everyone just how all-out crazy Matt gets. He had some sweet dives trying to catch the frisbee last night. And he flipped himself over one guy about half his size. :D

Rainy days

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 08:00:31 -0400

Well, I think the fall/winter season is here for Victoria. There's been fog the past two mornings; it lasted all day (well, on and off) on Monday and made me really wish I had brought my camera to school to take pictures. I think fog is my favorite weather.

Unfortunately, with the fog also came the rain. So now I won't see the sun until December, when I go home for Christmas. I don't mind the rain too much, but I think I have the slightest bit of seasonal affective disorder, since on the rare sunny days in Victoria winters I'll be bouncing off the walls. I guess I'm just used to having more sunshine year-round.

We played Ultimate in the rain last night. It was an interesting time. Playing in the rain wasn't nearly so bad as playing against a team that has come over, whole, from the Thursday night league (the most competitive, hard-core league). Now, we have a few players from the Thursday night league, but we certainly don't have a whole team. We've balanced it out with a few beginners (that would be Matt and me!) so we're not totally kicking every other team's ass. We have won all of our other games; but they've been pretty close. So for one team to come in and kick our asses 20-0 or whatever the score ended up being by the time our hour was up, it's a bit annoying. I think we barely even touched the frisbee for the first ten points. So, instead of playing a fun team game, we just chased the other team around in the rain for an hour, mostly.

I wonder what that team was even getting out of the Tuesday night league; did they need an ego boost because they're utterly destroying every team they come against? Who knows.

Anyway, I hope we don't have to play them again soon. Their bearded woman scares me.

Playing in the rain really isn't too bad; it's still warm enough that although you'll be soaked through (I decided not to wear my sweater so it would be dry after the game; I played in my t-shirt), you're still quite warm from all the running around. Even my shoes stood up OK, which I was surprised about. I had been told by a few people that when playing on the artificial turf in the rain, you'll wish for cleats because other shoes will just slide around. My trail runners did just fine though, and I'm certainly not spending $160 on shoes I'll only wear for 7 more months, unless we find a league in Calgary, where we'd only be able to play during the summer anyway.

Hmm, I guess I shouldn't be making so many assumptions about us coming back to Calgary or not since we really should see where we can both find jobs first!

Hiking - finally

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:03:29 -0400

Matt and I went for a hike yesterday for the first time in a very long time. Hopefully we go again soon, but our weekdays are all busy (especially now that someone cares if I show up to work instead of working at home - my boss is back from Switzerland) and our weekends all fill up so quickly.

It was pretty nice to get outside for a day, though I was a little unprepared for this hike in particular as I've gotten pretty out of shape while in grad school. We climbed up Mount Finlayson, down the other side, and around the bottom to get back to where we started. The next five hikes I go on cannot have the words 'Mount', 'Mountain', 'Peak', or 'Fire Lookout' in their titles or descriptions. Gah. My legs were killing me by the time we got to the top of Mount Finlayson, but I made it (as evidenced by the picture to the right). The rest of the hike was alright from there, going down the other side was a lot more gentle (and a heck of a lot less crowded) and walking round the base was not too bad, if a bit boring (you walk along the side of the road for the last 3 kilometers or so to get back to the park). After that we tacked on an extra 1.2 kilometers by going over to the Goldstream Park Visitor Center and grabbing a nice icey cold Coke (mmm! forbidden pleasure while dieting but I earned it!) and checking out the area. This is apparently a great place to see the salmon run in the fall and I am going to try to get out there for that since I've never seen it before and won't probably have too many more chances. We didn't see any salmon, since it's way too early, but we did see a crayfish in the stream (ick! ick! ick!)

All in all a pretty good day. We went 8.6 kilometers total with an elevation gain of about 400 meters (all in the first 1.8 kilometers!). Today is not looking as good as I am pretty stiff and sore! D'oh. I did at least get the chance to update all my photos and add some new recipes last night since getting up and walking around was no fun.

Breaking in the bike

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Mon, 26 Apr 2004 04:54:00 -0400

Well, I put 65.5 km on my bike this weekend. Whew!

We rode around a bit on Saturday, down to downtown and up to Russ Hay's to get my derailers adjusted. I got to try out my sassy new bike skirt, which I love love love.

So, no catastrophes on Saturday, no crashes, no wardrobe malfunctions... so we gave'er on Sunday.

We rode all the way up to Sidney and back on Sunday. 48.6 km, and I am tired today. My legs and arms are sore (still getting used to riding with my arms lower down). However, I did get a lot of long breaks since Matt got a flat. We had to stop and fix it three times. D'oh!

The first time Matt couldn't quite get the patch to stay on. We found an open hardware store in Sidney and got a bike tube, but the valve stem was too wide for the hole in his rim. So we sat down in the shade to try to get the patch stuck down. Got it more or less fixed and off we went - only to stop a ways out of Sidney to fix it yet again. The patch had held, but the rubber around the valve stem had deteriorated (guess it's not made to be be taken in and out several times). So the tube was totally wrecked, since it was now leaking around the valve stem. Boo.

Matt managed to scrape the hole in the rim out with his key so we could fit the new tube in, and finally got it in and headed on our way again. I don't know how much time it took (neither of us had watches) but we got home about 7 hours after we left, and my bike computer tells me we spent 3 hours and 11 minutes actually riding. So, one hour for lunch, one hour for various water breaks... two hours spent repairing the tube.

I think I will be getting a spare tube for my tire before we got on the next long ride!

Introducing Nelly

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Sun, 11 Apr 2004 06:22:00 -0400

Yep, I got a new bike. It's a Devinci Destination; I'm calling it Nelly.

We took it out for a short ride yesterday to try everything out. I'm still getting used to the low handlebars and different riding position; but I really like being able to move my arms around a bit. Apparently I can now really giv'er on the flat parts... Matt said I was going over 30 km/h at some points yesterday. I suppose the extra gears really helped that. I'm still getting used to the STI shifters; I can never remember which one makes it harder and which one makes it easier. This is especially bad when you wait until the last minute to shift right before a small but rather steep hill. In fact, it can cause you to fall off your bike (especially if the seat is high enough you can't reach the ground). So yeah, I need lots of practice. It's a damn good thing that I didn't try the clipless pedals on the same day (no shoes yet).

So, despite the need to re-learn how to ride a bike (when did my balance get so terrible?) I love my new bike. Nelly is SO light. I can carry her up to the apartment. But not, as I discovered yesterday, on my shoulder. This would be the ideal way to carry a bike, as it affords you more clearance on the stairs, but Devinci frames have an inverted teardrop shape on the upper bar that makes it rather pointy and painful for your shoulder. Still, I can go further, faster, and be less tired than before. Yay!

Bikes, bikes, bikes

nospam@example.com (Tamara) — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 03:07:00 -0400

I never thought I would be as gung-ho about biking as I currently am. All I've wanted to think about the past couple days has been bikes, biking gear, places to bike, and so on. My test ride bike won't be ready until tomorrow, and I'm pretty disappointed about that. They said Thursday at the shop, and then phoned on Thursday and said not till the end of the day, so we should come in Saturday instead. Dammit, I want to know if that's my bike NOW!

OK, done with the three year old tantrum now. I'm just really, really excited about all this stuff. Maybe biking can become an activity both Matt and I enjoy, instead of one he enjoys and I go along grundingly. I think getting a better bike should help alot. My bike weighs about twice (or maybe more) what the bikes I've been looking at do. So I think that will help. Also, the change in riding position, better gears, and clipless pedals should help me get up those big hills by the university. Now I just need to find women's showers closer to my office (and, you know, actually buy my bike).

If anyone is interested, the bike I am looking at is on this page; it's called the "Destination". Devinci has pretty weird bike frames. They're not round poles like most other bikes out there, but sort of a smooshed tear drop shape that's supposed to be more aerodynamic. Whatever. I think I'm pretty damn un-aerodynamic right now, so it's not going to help if my bikes is or not. But Devinci bikes are Canadian designed and manufactured, and thus lacking in the big obnoxious "Made in America" stickers many other bikes seem to feature. Plus, compared with other bikes we were looking at, they have alot of the same features of much, much more expensive bikes. I can get drop handlebars, clipless pedals, STI shifters and seat suspension for $500 less than the Trek bike I was looking at. It's a different material that makes up the frame, and I don't know much about that, so I'm just going to trust Matt when he says it's shouldn't make much of a difference to me.

Speaking of seat suspension, that is the weirdest, weirdest thing if you're not used to it. Gah. I tried a Cannondale at Fort Street Cycle with seat suspension, and I hadn't realized it was there. I jumped on and thought the bike was falling apart or something! My feet and hands were in the same place but my butt was moving around, what the hell! I suppose it's going to be something I will come to absolutely love, but for now I think it's going to throw me for a loop every time.

Stuff I am drooling over this morning:

I know I probably won't get half that stuff, especially since I am currently outraged at how much longer and cheaper men's biking shorts are, especially the non-skin tight ones that come with liners.

Wheee!