A Year in Review: 2024

This year I thought I'd try sending annual wishes via my blog.  The reason for this is twofold - I want to be inspired to write my blog more regularly AND some of the things I wanted to share with you can be found elsewhere in the blog.  

Christmas 2023:

We bought our most expensive gift to each other at Christmas 2023 when we purchased a 2018 Tesla on Christmas Day!  I'd been looking at purchasing an EV and had gone to the Toyota dealer in Castlegar with a request for information - I wanted a red,  full EV Toyota  in the spring of '24.  Could it arrive then?  Two days later we had a text from our daughter about someone selling a Tesla in Rossland.  We called and thought we'd take it out for a drive on Christmas Eve afternoon.  The owner, Cody, was moving to Iceland in January - the reason it was for sale.  We only mulled it over for a few hours and made him an offer on Christmas Day.  Voila! 

We took possession of it in mid-January and plated it at the beginning of Feb.  We have definitely experienced adventures in Teslaland but Dave has been figuring out how to do most of the required maintenance and repairs.  He successfully changed a wheel bearing and is about to tackle the heater in January - it quit a few days before THIS Christmas.

Gardening:

I enjoyed another year in the garden and I'm pleased that I can still do the work.  We have 3 gardens going - one in Kaslo, one in Trail and one at Kaslo Community Garden.  This year, I put our garden on the Edible Garden Tour in Kaslo and that was a very satisfying experience although BC was experiencing one of those "heat domes" on the weekend of the tours.  It was a hot summer and the garden produced very well, particularly tomatoes.

Reading:  

I still belong to two book clubs and enjoy each one.  Favourite books from this past year are The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams and Doppelganger by Naomi Klein.  I also read Walter Issacson's biography of Elon Musk and likely would never have bought a Tesla if I'd read it earlier.  I actually do really like the car when it communicates with me in a way that I can understand and it does seem to be a well-made product.  I need a bumper sticker that states:  I did not buy this car from Elon Musk; I bought it through the circular economy.

Bridge:  

I rarely play "live" bridge now and try to have a weekly online game with my brother-in-law, Phil, in Wetaskiwin, AB.  We rarely do well but we enjoy it and it's cheap.  I did play in a "live" tournament about a month ago - it was shocking to see how some of the players have aged.  But they still manage to play a mean game of bridge!

Exercise:

I'm still pretty dedicated to exercise but decided to give up running after a summer attempt at getting back into it.  My knees just DO NOT like it.  I'm still trying to get out for regular fast and slow walks and most of the time it works.  Cross-country skiing this fall is in full swing.  I usually ride an e-bike now and put on 3000 km between March and Nov simply riding to town on it, plus a few holiday excursions.  Definitely trying to follow the axiom "use it or lose it".

Travel:

We went to the Maritimes to visit with Dave's sister and one of his brothers.  It was a good time and we did a bit of hiking and also got over to PEI to see our friends near Montague.  The Island is just as beautiful as it was 40 years ago!  Actually, not much seemed all that different in NS and PEI - it's slow to travel through and totally scenic!

We took a trip to ID, OR and WA in the fall with our camper and bikes and discovered some new areas in Central OR that we had never visited.  That trip is somewhat covered elsewhere in the blog if anyone is interested.  

          

Family:

The NJ folks seem to be fine and we are heading there for a visit at the end of December.  Callie will turn 13 on January 8th. Both girls are into soccer and basketball and Callie plays tennis, while Abby is becoming quite the gymnast.  

Meanwhile, in Rossland, we don't see as much of the boys as we'd like to do but we do try to take them out for a monthly meal so that we can REALLY talk.  They do love to talk.  Atley is heavily into cross-country skiing as well as continuing with downhill.  Miro is completely a downhiller.  And they bike everywhere.  The entire family keeps very active all the time and I feel that we rarely see them.  This seems to be a bit of a thing with our generation.

Wishing you all the best for the next year.  It could be interesting.....and let's hope it is not too eventful.  

Travels in America: Back to John Day

 We left Deschutes State Park early one morning and had been advised by the camping attendant that the Cottonwood Canyon State Park was full to capacity.  We decided to head over there and take a look at the park anyway.  It wasn't too far out of our way and it would give us an opportunity to scout out the area.  We were glad that we visited.  Once again, we hiked along the John Day River which we had met earlier on our travels through eastern Oregon. 

The cliffs alongside were rugged and beautiful and we walked for a couple of miles as an out and back.  It was busy there (although not "full" at the time of our arrival) with lots of fisher folk, and I enjoyed the historical displays.  

On the route over to Cottonwood, we finally had an opportunity to get a good glimpse of Mt. Hood which had been shrouded in cloud for days, even though it was bright and sunny at Deschutes.  I was simply amazed at the huge network of wind generators located in this part of OR.  I'd always admired the commitment WA state seemed to have towards renewable energy, but it wasn't a patch on the state of Oregon!

After one more venture back to Biggs, OR and the great Indian food, we crossed the Columbia and headed north towards Canada.  Our last night in America took place at one of the Roosevelt Lake National campgrounds.  It was a lovely spot with lots of nice FLAT walking and the campground had few visitors.  No one monitored the place and there were no drop boxes for camping fees.  When the rain came we headed for Canada with a stop in Northport, WA to pick up an awning for the camper van.  It hadn't arrived, unfortunately, because now we'd have to make a return trip and pay duty on the product.  Glad that our dollar was slightly higher in those days of crossing the border!  

Travels in America: The Columbia River Corridor

We have visited the Pacific Crest Trail in Manning Provincial Park and have walked a few km of it.  In OR, we had the opportunity to walk a few more kms on our hike to Dry Falls (previous post).  I found this sign interesting when we walked 

into Cascade Locks (parked our camper van there) out to Dry Falls and back.  Also had great burgers at the local pub with a view of the Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia.   This sign is mile 2155 if you are walking north to Canada.  

I always enjoy a stay at Deschutes State Park along the Columbia.  We noticed that the bike trail along the I-84 is pretty much complete from Cascade Locks to Hood River.  We did the section from Hood River for 9 miles out to the end of the bike/hike section.  Then we biked on the road (sometimes adjacent to the I-84) to the town of Mosier and beyond.  Very pretty at that particular time and there are spectacular views of the Columbia Valley and the many wind towers that dominate the WA side of the corridor.  Here's a picture of the park and valley  at Deschutes State Park. 

Travels in America: Biggs Junction, OR

 Our travels through central OR were good and I wanted to spend a bit of time hiking some times at Mt. Hood.  It didn't work out.  That was the first day of poor weather and Mt. Hood was completely invisible.  We did drive to one area with a lodge and there was even a bit of snow on the ground.  This is advertised as having lovely meadows which I am sure is very likely.  I did a lone, very short hike to a waterfall, walking in cold and wet  conditions.  We headed off to Deschutes State Park and were able to get a campsite, but barely!  Tons of fisher people there.  As the wet weather continued, we heads to Cascade Locks and hiked a wee bit of the Pacific Coast Trail to a quite lovely waterfall.  It's been very dry in the area, and I was surprised to actually "see" Dry Falls, pictured below.  

We opted for a second night at Deschutes and decided to go out to a restaurant I'd seen a billboard for on the I-84.  It's an Indian restaurant in a very small place.  What a pleasant surprise!  We biked the 8 miles from our campground to the "bus" that is the take out restaurant.  A local writer had an article about the owner which was posted on their billboard.  The owner decided that since over 20% of truckers in the US are of East Indian descent, he figured they might like a "taste of home".  I got the impression that the truckers order their food online and give the cook an idea of when they will arrive.  Biggs Junction is a "truck stop" on the junctions of the I-84 and SR 97 that runs N/S through central OR.  In the western part of the US the number of East Indian truckers is more like 35%, according to the article.    We loved the food so much that we headed back there the next day after taking a short side trip over to Cottonwood Canyon State Park.  That was more of an exploratory venture than anything else but we did like it and plan to visit the park some time.  We will definitely plan to travel to Briggs Junction again and eat authentic Indian food.  Highly recommended.    

Arrival of Winter

 Yesterday, I hiked with one of the local walking groups and we came across steady snow just above the Wardner bench.  I was surprised at how much snow the snow deepened as we ascended.  Very nice though because we had

our first "bright" day since the beginning of November.  A welcome relief!  As well, at our place, the temperature went below zero last night so I guess the bedding plants are finished for the year.  Nov. 27th - not bad!  Here's the view from the clearcut at the top of the Wardner trail - that's Kootenay Lake visible,  with lots of snow and interesting clouds.  

Fall Gardening

 It's been a long fall and I can actually still garden, I notice.  We did get snow on Wednesday and it covered the ground but I have geraniums still blooming and I have yet to bring  my potted dahlias indoors.  These capers were harvested on November 6th.  I cannot  ever remember picking seeds on the 6th of November.  

                       

 

Meanwhile, in the mountains of the Rossland Range there is plenty of snow and I have already been skiing 4 times.  Last year, we did not have this much snow until January. The strange behaviour of the weather is all part of climate change, I guess!  

eanwhile, up in the mountains of the Rossland Range, there is plenty of snow.  I've already been up to ski 4 times this year.  I think we can attribute all these strange weather behaviours to climate change!  

Travels in America: Palisades Cove State Park, OR

 After making the decision to avoid the last piece of the John Day Fossil Beds, we rerouted ourselves further west in central OR.  Originally, our plan had been to visit Crater Lake, but with more smoke further south, we opted to stay "north" and happened upon the Palisades Cove State Park.  What a stunningly beautiful area!

  The National Forest campgrounds were all closed, as well as many other campgrounds in the area.  We opted to stay in the open one and it was nice.  We didn't realize that we were high on a plateau above the Crooked and Deschutes Rivers.  After our arrival, we immediately took our bikes out for a ride and realized what sort of a plateau we were on.  The sunset was gorgeous that night and we opted to spend the next day at the park.  That day we hiked and biked and unfortunately the clouds moved in and we didn't get a second amazing sunset.  But we did see great views of Mt. Jefferson, a place that I had never heard of.  It is pictured above.   I'm sure that this place is VERY crowded in the "high season", but visiting it in October was perfect.  About a dozen other campers shared the campground with us and the fall colours were just past peak, but still hanging on.  Here is a view from a plateau top showing the 2 rivers and their reservoir.  I'd highly recommend a visit if you can get there when it is not busy.  

Travels in America: John Day Fossil Beds, Painted Hills Division

 Our second day in the John Day area had us visit the Painted Hills Division.  I expected there to be a lot more trails to hike and less driving,

but it is certainly worth a visit.  The longest hike we did was about 1 km and had a good view over the area.  See photo to the right.  We pretty much had to drive from site to site and they are unique in their own way.  We were both a little underwhelmed with the experience and made a quick decision to skip out of going to the last area, which contained a picnic site and a sign from what we could glean.  Death Valley is a much better place to visit for a similar experience of "painted hills".  That change in plans led us to a new area in Oregon that we very much enjoyed.  Wait for the next post!

More scenery from the Painted Hills to the left.   The smoke had entirely disappeared by that day.  

Weddings

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a same sex marriage.  I rarely attend weddings - I've been at fewer than 10 in my entire life.  This will probably be my only same-sex wedding.  The wedding was held in Vancouver and included 50 - 60 guests.  It was held at a condo building with the action occurring in the "common rooms" of the establishment.  It was a joyful occasion!  One of the wives had her nephew stand up for her; the other wife had her daughter.  The Marriage Commissioner was very open about the tax advantages and government subsidies involved in "being married."  I suspect that this was at the request of the two wives.  One of the reasons for the marriage was tax advantage.    But the two women do love each other, too!  

The ceremony was followed by an afternoon of board games and karaoke.  The karaoke was definitely the most popular.  Everyone seemed to have a very good time and we ended the celebration with a dinner of pizza and salad, followed by cake and fruit.  Wedding, indeed!

 

John Day Fossil Beds: Sheep Rock Divison

 

   One of our destinations in the US was the John Day Fossil Beds which we had "flown by" via car on our way to Death Valley many years ago.  We had the opportunity to visit the town of John Day, and the museum,  which is centered on the lives of 2 Chinese,  settlers is worth a visit:  the Kam Wah Chung Museum and the building is a National Historic Landmark.  Failing to achieve a campsite in the National Forest near the town (fires had closed roads) we stayed at a state park and the next day went to the Sheep Rock division of the Fossil Beds.  Everything is totally "free" in this area even though it is part of the National Parks.  I guess this is because it is a National Monument and not a park.  We had a lovely hike through the fossil beds - this picture does not do it justice.  The hazy skies from the area smoke is visible.  The hike had a lot of variety and a side route leads you to the popular part of the site - some actual fossils on display.  At the headquarters, there is a large display of the entire area and the fossils found in it - I was impressed with all of the dioramas and the amount of work that has gone into the displays. 

 

Travels in America:  Rattlesnake Pass

We made the decision to leave Clarkston and take WA 129 into Oregon.  When you look on the map, it's pretty straight forward and I offered to drive.  One hairpin turn appears on the 50 states atlas.  Little did I know that I would encounter Rattlesnake Pass.  We got to the top of the pass pretty quickly and saw the summit sign.  Then the descent began.  I have never felt vertigo when I've been the driver but I did notice it here.  We did not  pull over to take a picture or change drivers - there were rare opportunities.  This photo appears care of a friend, Annette, who travelled north over the pass a couple of weeks later.  It's an amazing road in a very sparse area for population.  I wonder how often it closes in winter??  At the bottom, we crossed the Grande Rondo River before it travels further east and joins the Snake River.  This is an extraordinary road and very scenic - not recommended if you don't like exposure!  We arrived in OR and had more stunning viewpoints and as we made our way to Enterprise, OR.  

 Travels in America:  Lewiston/Clarkston

Our original intention was to spend a day in Moscow and we did enjoy visiting the University of Idaho's arboretum in that town.  We did not find satisfactory places for camping.  We headed south and decided to stay in Lewiston or Clarkston.  It worked out well for us because we were introduced to a long, winding road off the newer highway into Lewiston, ID.  Here's the Lewiston version of the highway into Bella Coola (only this one isn't nearly as long.)  

The Snake River divides the states of WA and ID and Lewiston is location on the ID side, while Clarkston is on the WA side.  We thought this road looked pretty impressive.  Little did we know what we were in for on the other side when we travelled over Rattlesnake Pass.  Here's the view of the Snake at Lewiston/Clarkston:  

Travels in America: Idaho Biking Trails

We basically spent 3 days exploring Idaho on a bike.  The first day, as mentioned, was at Farragut State Park and we avoided Idaho State Parks following that night.  The next day we had picked up groceries and parked in Coeur d'Alene where there is a lovely bunch of trails, many of them relatively new.  There is the State Centennial Trail which travels through the city and then seems to follow the I-90 to the WA border.  We experienced a wee bit of this at the end of our vacation in Spokane, because the trail connects to the Spokane River Trail.  We chose to travel on the Coeur d'Alene Lake trail which took us close to the lake for a solid portion.  Then we went through the central part of the city and it could have been better marked, but it was really quite lovely.  There are not a lot of building cranes currently located in downtown Coeur d'Alene.  Rather than take the State Centennial Trail,  we chose to follow along the Spokane River and went through a couple of neighbourhoods that were new with large homes.  The fall colours were gorgeous on that day.  I'd definitely recommend this trail to others.

More than 10 years ago, we had experienced the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes on 2 separate occasions out of Plummer, ID and out of Cataldo, ID, on the I-90.  This time, we parked at the town of Harrison and rode up to Rose Lake which we had reached from Cataldo 10 years ago.  It was a nice ride and the trail is in good shape - might be great to try it during spring migration.  One thing we did find was that we think they are working to "reclaim" some wetlands and so we did have to ride past a 10 km section of brush burning and equipment tearing up the area.  The total ride that we did was 30 km each way and most of it was very good.  A state highway is audible, but it wasn't that busy.  It was good to see how well used the trail is - we encountered more than 60 people on the trail that day - mid-week in October.   It's amazingly FLAT!  Highly recommended. 

Travels in America, 2024 Part 1

 IDAHO STATE PARKS

We left on a 2 weeks holiday to hike and bike in various areas of Idaho, Oregon and Washington states.  No specific destination was in mind but we knew of a couple of trails in Idaho that we wanted to visit and one in OR and in WA.  Basically, we followed our nose.  

The first night we stopped at Farragut State Park near Coeur d'Alene, ID.  Generally, we've liked the national and state parks throughout the US on previous visits.  We couldn't "register" for camping until after 3pm but we picked out a site and rode our bikes around.  There were lots of views of Lake Pend'Oreille and there were numerous roads and trails for biking.  Our bikes did not like the obstacles on  some of the trails, but there were plenty of options.  We stuck to the roads most of the time.  

When we registered for camping we were a bit shocked to discover that the price was $65USD.  In Idaho, if you are "non-resident", the price is doubled - a regular campsite is $32 for a resident, plus tax.  In Canadian money, this is close to $100 for a single night of camping?!  As a result, we did not visit more state parks in ID and I'd suggest that the prices are too high for Canadians to consider.  Fortunately, this did not occur in other states that we visited.  

The National Forests are good places for camping and we were a bit surprised to find out that the campsite we located called Beauty Creek had already closed by October 8th.  We parked at the entranceway and the bathrooms were still open (with toilet paper!) and it was quite a nice spot.  Of course, the Beauty Creek had completely dried up - this whole area was in great need of rain.  There was a pretty good hike up a hillside to some good views but I had no idea if I had enough time to actually "hike" it before dark.  I opted for one viewpoint.  The next morning we did do a lovely hike above Lake Coeur d'Alene near the campsite.  

Our third night of camping in ID took place at the trailhead on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes near Harrison, ID.  There were no signs stating no overnight parking and a bathroom was at the location we chose.  We observed our best sunset of the entire trip.  The 2 "free" nights rather made up for expensive camping in the state parks.  

Harvest Days

 Harvest Days

I can hardly believe it, but we've managed to get most of our fruit safely into the house this season with very little damage from all the animals who share our space.  We have had a small black bear turn up a couple of times and he/she took a considerable number of grapes.  We had purchased these grapes as "seedless" and they didn't turn out to be, so we don't really mind losing some grapes.  

The apple harvest is featured in the photo above.  It was small this year, compared with last year, but there are plenty of trees around that want picking and we have been able to obtain more "eating" apples from a friend or two.  Thanks to Tammy who got us started with the "transparents" which are now frozen,  awaiting a pie plate!  Our peach crop was extremely plentiful and we gave away quite a few and made lots of frozen and canned peaches.  The Damson plum produced well, as it normally does, and we have lots of it canned or made into other things.  I gave a considerable amount of them away to a woman who is promising me some fruit leather in the future.  Mmmm.  

This is always my very favourite time of year.  I love harvesting....oops, there goes the timer on the stove - time to get the salsa into the jars for the upcoming water bath!

Meeting A Great Horned Owl

 Three weeks ago while spending a weekend in Trail we had an unusual experience with an owl.  I had gone for a morning walk around our neighbourhood and was walking through one of our two parks in Sunningdale.  I noticed an object close to a fenced yard and as I got closer, thought that it was a pretty good statue of an owl.  The closer I got, the better it looked.  Then it blinked at me and made a hissing sound by opening its beak.  It stared at me with considerable venom.  I gave the owl a fairly good space and it watched me as I moved away.  I told Dave about the experience and he took his bike up to take a look.  Sure enough, the owl was still "on location".   We figured that the owl must be hurt because it was allowing us to get so close.  Dave googled a bird rescue facility and spoke with someone in Delta, BC.  Within 5 minutes of that call, we had a call from Amanda who works with animal rescue facilities and she was prepared to come out to help us capture the owl.  Amanda had a cage for the bird and we were told to bring a blanket or sheet so we could cover the bird.  We returned to "the location" and then I wandered out to the road to wave at Amanda (we had never met) so she would know where to leave her car and meet the owl.  That worked very well and within seconds Amanda and I were walking towards Dave who had been near to the owl.  Then Amanda said, "Isn't that an owl over there on the hillside?"  Sure enough, it was "our" owl.  It had flown there.  What we did discover is that the owl had caught a skunk and had devoured its head.  We figure that the skunk had the opportunity to spray the owl before its death and the owl was probably in recovery, somewhat stunned by the skunks' actions.  We attempted to get close to the owl 4 times as we walked through the park but it would not let us get too near.  There were several crows enjoying the owl's predicament and they were making plenty of noise.  The owl did a good job of ignoring them.   It would fly very low over the ground or it would walk.  It was obviously not injured in a serious way.  Amanda called Delta and she was told to let it go and we did.  Hopefully, it recovered completely.  

I wandered over to the park later that day and saw no sign of the owl or the skunk.  I wonder if the owl came back to get that meal??  I can't imagine something so distasteful, but apparently skunks are often a preferred food of owls.   Who knew?  

Return to Summer

 I believe Kaslo had the wettest August since we moved here - maybe not the coolest, but the wettest.  There were 3 major storms this past month that did a fair bit of wind damage and we lost power twice for 7 hours and 22 hours from two of the storms.  It was lovely to have a couple of full, day-long steady rains.  It doesn't make up for the years of drought, but it's been nice.  

The weather this summer did delay hiking.  We simply didn't go in July because it was HOT.  We hiked with Atley and Miro at Cornice Ridge near Stagleap Provincial Park on August 19th and had pretty much clear weather.  The fires have been plentiful but not as long-lasting as several summers.  This past Friday, Dave and I hiked up to Milford Ridge and found the biggest, most plentiful huckleberries we've ever found in BC.  That was a treat, as was the hike and the views!  This first month of September is looking like fabulous summer weather with lots of sunshine and heat.  We may get out a few times more!

The tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen and yesterday I simply tore out those nutrient-poor cucumbers from their pot.  I put them out of their misery.  The corn is looking great but still not developing - planted too close together???  I've had 3 ears from that patch so far and they've all been good.  We had a good crop of peaches (although they were small) and the Damson plums are nearly ready.  I intend to pick another box today after picking one full fruit box yesterday.  It's always so joyful to enjoy the bounty of the garden!  

 

Going For Coffee!

Today I had my second time going for coffee inside of one week.  I have really enjoyed both episodes!  The place I've "coffeed" is at Kane's Corner in Kaslo which is directly across from the community garden where I spend a considerable amount of time.  I notice that my garden colleagues have coffee on our Monday morning work parties and of course I have been invited but I generally decline.  

Last Thursday, my friend David bought me coffee at Kane's Corner after we did our Thursday hike over the Wardner/No Brakes loop.  It's been super hot here and I was introduced to iced latte which I did really enjoy.  I felt pretty wasted after this fairly benign hike (the heat got to me and I drank lots of water) and that latte really picked me up. I've been timid about taking on iced lattes because I hear that they are "strong" and I get a racing heart from coffee with punch.  Our barista (MJ) is giving me a single shot and I have found it to be pretty much perfect.  

Today, I was out for a river hike with my regular women's walk/run group and we decided to go for coffee (well, 3/6 did).  It was great. The 3 of us had some good conversation and then I had the opportunity to greet my new neighbours who showed up with their child and after that I talked to a woman I haven't really spoken with in 5 years - and I used to sub for her "back in the day".  Going for coffee is a great way for people who live in a small town to connect.  I'm all for it.  Too bad my husband will never convert.

The next goal might be to encourage MJ to give up her supposedly recyclable plastic.  I was smart enough to remember to tuck my "go mug" in my bag before leaving home.  I'd like to see everyone be required to use their own mugs at these coffee places.