Evaluating Translink

This picture has nothing to do with the topic - it was my only good sunrise to see while visiting my folks near Sidney. This is the view from their place.

My goal was to reduce my carbon footprint by NOT flying all the way to Victoria and using public transit after arriving in Vancouver. It worked fairly well. From the South Terminal I took the free shuttle to the main terminal at YVR and from there it is a set of stairs and arrival at one end of the Canada Line. The trains are frequent and I managed to arrive at Bridgeport Station within 5 minutes. Then a bus arrives (only once per hour) for transport out to the ferry terminal. The bus ride took about 40 minutes. The information I got on the internet was entirely accurate. I'd say there were at least 500 foot passengers on the ferry going both ways, so you need to be at the head of the pack when doing the return trip because only two double-sized buses were awaiting our arrival in Vancouver. If only the planes could fly in the winter into the Kootenays it would have been a great trip but I got to spend a lot of time at YVR on my journey home.

Visiting Victoria

Where else in Canada can you visit in February and be able to take a picture like this one? We didn't have truly fabulous weather and I did have trouble both getting out of Trail and getting back into Trail, but Dad and I had a lovely walk at Tod Inlet near the Butchart Gardens, with actual warmth in the air when we were in the sun. The "Indian plum" plants were just starting to show a bit of green and a few clumps of snowdrops and crocus were in bloom. I noticed that the daffodil pickers in the fields near where the folks live were just starting to get set up for work. It shouldn't be too long now, Canada!

Reducing the Carbon Footprint

I know we're not really supposed to fly places if we really want to reduce our carbon footprint so this Friday I'm attempting to reduce my environmental impact by only taking a plane from Trail to Vancouver. From there, I intend to use public transit, taking the Sky Train from YVR to the bus and then carrying on to the ferry terminal to get to the Island. The internet states that this should add about 90 minutes of time to my trip. As well, I'll have a little over 90 minutes on the ferry. This same thing could be accomplished by about a 12 minute flight to the Victoria airport. The option that I am attempting on Friday is certainly cheaper, but will add a lot of travel time to my day. I'm hoping the public transit facilities work well that day. Has anyone had any experience with getting from YVR to the ferry terminal?

More Queens of the Mountain

Last weekend was Rossland Winter Carnival and while watching the bobsled races, I enjoyed seeing all the kids playing along the Spokane Street route. It was delightful to see these girls setting up their jumps from a garage roof into a big pile of snow! Here are more of our Queens of the Mountain in Rossland. From watching kids along the street, I think many of them get a good hands on education in how snow can avalanche and I hope the lessons remain with them as they grow up and head out into the back country!

Queen of the Mountain

Don't know if Andrea has had any time to post about her recent Queen of the Mountain victory, but she did win! Here she is, sporting her costume on her way to the race. She needed to get up there for a couple of practice runs and I took the boys in the Chariot, leaving 30 minutes after she did. The way the race is set up, it's a bit hard to tell what is going on and the viewing area where the fans all stood wasn't the best place for a Grandma with a Chariot full of babies! I didn't want to be strolling around on a ski hill with those guys. We did see her after her transitions onto a new set of downhill gear, but it wasn't up close and personal. Congratulations, Queen! The Queen Mother and the little Princes are proud!

Bobsled Race in Rossland

It's Winter Carnival in Rossland and today was the bobsled race. Some of you might have seen it in action on RMR (Rick Mercer Report) a couple of years ago. The race takes place on Spokane Street and it's a steep hill, but does have a flatish section in the middle. This picture is taken on "the flats". I take the boys up Spokane Street almost every day so it's my workout! Now that they are 13 lbs and 16lbs and I am noticing that is harder to push. I admire the racers: I don't even like walking down this hill and take an alternate route with my precious cargo.

Ski Chariot!

We went out with the ski chariot on Thursday and Friday this week. It's a bit of an excercise getting everything ready, but Andrea will reduce that time with a bit of practice. It works best with two people involved! I can just keep up with Andrea when she pulls the chariot (my normal speed!) and I pulled it for about 20 minutes each day. The slightest incline really made me sweat! It's great for me on the flat and I wasn't too intimidated by a gentle downhill. We had two lovely skis with our boys and can do the Aquaduct/Gibbards route in about one hour and 20 minutes. Our "transition time" of getting the boys in and out of carseats and into the chariot and us into our skis still needs work but our last transition is getting down already - I load the skis and get the boys ready for their carseats; Andrea folds the chariot and gets the boys locked into their carseats. They don't like transitions so we get to hear some crying - luckily, it's only a 10 minute drive to the local x-country trails.