Lunch with Matt

Met Matt in Port Moody for a Japanese lunch.  Picked up groceries at Thrifty's before going home.  Was really tired again this afternoon.  The tumours in my groin are bigger and starting to hurt a bit.  

 

Found out this morning that an old friend, George Taylor, died on the weekend from cancer.  We worked together in Health & Safety at the BCTF and on grievances at VESTA.  Always a pleasure to be around.  He had a big influence and will be missed.

Taylor, George

Nov 30, 1946 - Jul 28, 2012

George Benson Taylor of Oliver BC passed away at the South Okanagan General Hospital on Saturday, July 28, 2012 at the age of 65 years. George is lovingly remembered by Marg, his wife of 45 years, his daughters Keri of Victoria and Kali Hagel of Oliver, BC; his two grandsons Marshall and Ethan of Oliver; his mother Della, brothers Larrie (Pam), Lyle (Bev), and Delbert (Diane); his sister-in-law Pam Clarke, and many more extended family and friends. He was predeceased by his father, Frank. George taught for over 25 years in Oliver, and worked for the BC Teachers Federation for the last ten years of his career. He loved to travel, especially to scuba dive and run marathons. His favourite past-times included golf, hockey, swimming, diving, skiing, and running. Donations to the charity of one’s choice would be gratefully appreciated. Condolences and tributes may be directed to the family by visiting www.nunes-pottinger.com Arrangements entrusted to Nunes-Pottinger Funeral Service & Crematorium, Oliver & Osoyoos, 250-498-0167.

Pam's return

Started the morning at Mary Pack to pick up new finger splints.  Still have to go back Thursday for adjustments.  

Picked up Pam at her son's house to go for our first geocaching day in 7 weeks.  She has been busy caching in Europe.  I planned the day for Vancouver & UBC as she had to be home by 1.  We found 8 together and she helped with one she'd already logged.

Dropped Pam off and had lunch at Top's.  Found a couple of Burnaby hides that had defeated me the first try.  Easy today.  Didn't get a first to find on one as it was in kids' playground equipment.  My GPS took me by the benches but I see from later logs that it was in the climbing stuff.  Don't like it when the hides are right where little kids play.

All of a sudden I felt really tired.  Looked at the clock and it was 3:30 - time to go home.  Watched the Olympics but fell asleep for part of it.

Lily's party

Picked up Andrea's parents in Dunbar and we went out to Port Moody for Lily's 5th birthday.  They will be away camping on the day so we celebrated a week early.  Beautiful day for the drive.

Took the parents back home and picked up dinner at George's Pizza & Steakhouse on the Boulevard.  Enough lasagna for 2 meals only cost $10.  Must come here more often.

Olympics begin

Renewed my travel insurance for another year at BCAA.  

Did some grocery shopping at Granville Island.  Was there before 10 so it wasn't too busy.  Picked up a couple of things at Lee Valley Hardware on the way home.

Was home by 11 so in plenty of time to begin watching the Olympic coverage.  The Opening Ceremonies were really well done. 

Hottest day

This was the hottest day so far this summer.  I had halibut & chips on the beach in Steveston at Pajo's.

Walked along the Shell Trail to get the 2 caches I needed for today.  New GPS worked well and it lighter to carry.  It was so hot that I gave up shopping and went home.

Oregon 550

Went to Deakin on Powell St. and bought an Oregon 550 this morning.  Could have saved a few dollars buying from Calgary, but I like being able to go back if there is a problem.  Have it all loaded up now and ready to go caching tomorrow.

Had lunch at the Sunshine Diner and bought presents at Kidsbooks.

Talked to my lawyer tonight and it looks like we will settle with Oakridge for my fall without going to court next week.

Home again

Left Loon Lake before 9 this morning.  Found an Earthcache east of Cache Creek and then went to COSTCO in Kamloops for some cheap gas. 

Went down Hwy 5A, along the eastern shore of Nicola Lake.   Found a few caches that I needed for a mapbook page.  

Had lunch at Home Restaurant in Merritt - senior's pot roast.  Grabbed another cache and headed south.  Stopped at the Chilliwack Airport for a piece of raspberry/peach pie and took a spinach salad home for later.

Got caught in a big jam near Langley but turned around and followed the other vehicles in a big detour around it.  Finally got home at 6:30.  Too tired to bring up the suitcase tonight. 

There was a box of Purdy's leaning against my door from Telus?  Strange.

Last day

It poured all night and rained on and off though the day.  Did get a photo of a rainbow right across the lake from us.  No boat ride this visit.

We stayed in and read all day and watched TV.  WiFi was off most of the time.   Home tomorrow.

Cloudy day

Was cloudy most of the day and started raining in the afternoon.  Had to put jeans on to warm up.

Just sat around and read.  Got my GPS units ready for the trip home Tuesday in case the storms take out the satellite again.  It just went off for 5 minutes again.

Gold Country caching

Jane and I started out at the Painted Chasm this morning.  We got the answers for an Earthcache but two others were too hard to walk to.  We worked our way back to Clinton and stopped for lunch.

We ended up in Cache Creek just after 3 and decided to call it a day.  It was too hot to keep going and we had been driving since 9:30.  Found a total of 12 caches.  Some were really clever.

No WiFi

No WiFi most of the day.  The cloud cover messes up the satellite dish. At least the TV is working so we can watch the Lion's game.  Spent most of the day relaxing with my Kobo and Winter Palace. Sat outside for quite a while but it got cool and finally rained for a while.  Jane told me to bring laundry but the drier gave out.  Everything was hanging outside until the drizzle came back around 10.  Just got online again!

Fraser Canyon

Left home by 9:30 and bought fresh fruit & vegetables on Steveston.  By this time the tunnel was easy to get through.  Had a great lunch at Joe's Restaurant & Lounge in Hope - bison & beef burger.

Found 3 caches up the Canyon and think I have enough to get 2 Earthcaches.  It was far too hot to do any walking.  36 in Spences Bridge!

Now I am at Jane's and plan a lazy day tomorrow by Loon Lake.

All packed

Went to my metastatic support group this morning.  There were only 3 of us but the time went quickly.  The new quiet room is quite amazing.

Bought a pair of sandals at Coast Mountain.  Stopped at Safeway and the liquor store and was home by 1:30.

Loaded up my GPS units and took most things down to the the car.  Met Moira at Applause for dinner.  Delicious as always.

Packed my suitcase tonight and ready to take off in the morning to visit Jane at Loon Lake.

 

New camera

Busy day today.  I went out this morning and found 3 caches in Burnaby.  Two were a bit of a walk.  

Met Rum, Marilyn, Mary & a former school secretary from Weir at the White Spot at Lougheed & Gilmore.  Haven't seen them for a while so it was good to catch up.

Bought a new compact camera to replace the one I lost.  My guess is someone lifted it from my trunk as I was getting out my chair & water at Lake Cowichan.  Went back to Lens & Shutter and got a newer model, the Nikon COOLPIX S9200.  Very nice with an 18x zoom.  It was on sale & it included a memory card.  

Went home for an hour before heading for Pru's and a big family dinner.  Good to see all the boys and Kathryn together.  Daniel is visiting from China.  John's sister is here from Australia and she greeted me with several hard slaps on my sore shoulder.  The kids nearby were even upset.  I swore and went inside and she didn't even notice.  Lucas got me an ice pack and I managed to avoid her for the rest of the evening.  Dinner was amazing ribs and 2 pies that Patience made with blueberries, raspberries & peaches.  I ate far too much.

Caching day

First day using the new car GPS.  Took it a while before the voice started telling me where to go.  It is a lot better than the old one.  The image is impressive and the Voice Command scary.  My iPhone works perfectly handsfree now.  The old one did these things but not nearly as smoothly.

Found 3 caches in Delta and a couple in Surrey.  Stopped at the Wired Monk for soup & a scone.  Didn't find a couple of caches and it was getting so hot, I decided to stop.  Did some shopping at London Drugs.  

Decided to buy a Roam Mobility SIM card for my iPad to use in the U.S.  The website said they sold it in Scottsdale Mall.  I wandered around and asked a few people.  Finally phoned and discovered it was the Rogers store.  Duh!  The card cost about $20.  When we go to Seattle next month, I'll buy 30 days of just data time for $29.95.  That will give me 500 mg of data.  Way cheaper than any phone plans.  The beauty of prepaying, is there will be no surprises.

Met Louise at the Cactus Club for dinner and then we bought cones at Mario's Gelati. 

Cloudy day

It was cloudy and cool all day.  A nice change.  I heard a bit of distant thunder but nothing came near here.

Had a bad night.  My left groin was quite painful even though the tumours are showing on the right.  Took some Tylenol and finally went back to sleep until 9:45.  Decided to have a quiet day and did feel better.

Pru called and talked about being in Chinatown today.  That made me hungry so I nipped over to Richmond mall food fare for take-out.  More than I could eat for $6.00.

nüvi® 3490LMT

Bought a new car GPS at London Drugs this morning.  It is the Garmin nüvi® 3490LMT.  Took a long time to copy everything I wanted from the old one and then set it up for Pru.  Started updating the maps but Lucas asked me over to Pru's for dinner and I had to start all over when I came home.  Then I had to figure out how to get the geocaches into it.  Sometimes I wonder about the intelligence of people who write manuals.  Got it nailed in the end.  I had to put in a memory card and copy the file to it.  Works a treat.  Like all the new things this one does. 

Spent a few hours on the front porch at Pru's with Patience, Patrick, Kathryn and Lucas.  It was far too hot to do much else.  We finally sent for delicious pizza from Supreme Pizza on Victoria Drive.

Came home early.  This heat is just too much!

Comparing prices

Came into some money this week from my cranberry farm.  Thinking of buying new GPS units.  The car one is cranky and I can pass it on to Pru (she is delighted).  The handheld would just be fun to upgrade.  

London Drugs sells the car unit for the same as GPS City & Deakins sells the Oregon® 550 for less.  Don't think I need to pay for the model with topo maps as I like the Open Source maps.  Not planning on climbing mountains.

I can certainly afford it and I don't blow money on other stuff.

Found Bell's Bake Shop in Steveston that was mentioned in the 365 Days of Dining blog.  Excellent cupcakes.

Spanish Banks

Took Patience to Chapters so she could buy Pru a Kobo.  Tried setting it up but couldn't get the library card to work and Pru needs a WiFi router.

Pru, Patience & I spent the day at Spanish Banks East.  They were in the sun but I stayed in the shade in my chair.  Fish & chips made the day complete.

Met Patrick & Lucas at the Oakridge White Spot for the obligatory family meal of Legendary hamburgers.

Fire alarm

Apparently a woman on the main floor has something to do with the fire alarm going off again.  She was in the hall saying nothing was wrong.  Another tenant was livid and said someone should get her out.  A couple of hours later I saw him leading some firefighters in to see her.  She looks like an addict.

Decided to have a lazy day and just read and watched TV.

Rear ender

Found a cache nearby this morning and went to the Kerrisdale Library.  Failed to find the book I was looking for on the messy kids' shelves and no one was free to help.  Gave up and will try another. 

Had my teeth cleaned and was finished by noon.  Nothing much wrong.

Picked up our drinks at Starbucks and met Lori for a couple of multis.  One gave us trouble so we went to the next.  She now has all she needs for the challenge we are working on.  I still need 27 Earthcaches and 13 Multis.

On the way to the last one, I stopped for a woman with small kids at Victoria & Venables.  The woman behind smacked into me.  It wasn't right away so it was clearly her fault.  I called the mother back to get her name and we all traded info.  She was a bit shaken and didn't seem to question the blame.  Neither of us could see damage to the cars.  Our bumpers did their work.  I phoned Lori to come back while we all talked.  Good thing we found the cache.

I found another one on the way home and failed to find one as the slope was too slippery.  Stopped at Safeway for a load of groceries.

Put my new fan together tonight so the bedroom is cooling.

My should is still sore.  Sitting in the dentist's chair didn't help it any.

New fan

Had to go out for a new fan for the bedroom.  The one I have is kaput.  Also got fresh produce, including strawberries, raspberries & cherries.  Used my wheelie to get the fan upstairs.  Was waiting for it to get cooler to unpack and then forgot.  

Got all my caches for the weekend entered and updated my stats.  They do look good.  Loaded up my GPS units for tomorrow when I need 12.  The car GPS acted up for a while again and wouldn't load the caches.  It seems fine again now.

Mega holiday

We were up early and had the free breakfast at the hotel before checking out.  We drove up to the Pancake Breakfast event but they were having propane trouble and the line was long.  We logged in and headed out for some caches.  Got a few multis and one challenge.  You needed 7 types of caches in a day and since we did 11 yesterday we couldn't ignore it when the owner told us about it last night.  Trouble was, my car GPS decided a totally wrong way to go.  We went too far North and then tried to drive on a closed logging road.  We had to backtrack to the Cowichan Lake Road and then nearly missed the turn to Chemainus River Park.  The GPS never did accept our route and kept trying to get me to turn around.  We not only parked close to the hide, another cacher had just found it and told us it was close.

This took a lot of time so we didn't find all the multis we wanted.  I stayed in my car at the top of a hill while Lori climbed down.  I finally phoned to say time was short.  She sent me on to the ferry and started running up the hill to her car.  I made it on with my reservation with 3 minutes to spare for the 3:15 ferry at Duke Point.  She was close enough to the window that the woman let her on.  There were only 2 other cars behind her!  We had a mid-afternoon lunch/dinner onboard and were able to have a relaxing trip on a perfect afternoon for sailing.

I am tired but in pretty good shape.  I was fading last night and this morning but have gained a second wind.  The trip was well worth the effort and who knows if there will be another mega event close by any time soon.

Island Spirit 2012 Mega

Up early and headed to Victoria.  We were aiming to find 11 different kinds of caches and DID IT.  On the way we found a Wherigo.  There was a WebCam along the Dallas Road in Victoria and a Virtual nearby.  After finding a Starbucks we headed up Island and found an Earthcache, a Multi, a Traditional, a Letterbox and an Unknown.  The Island Spirit 2012 gave us a Mega and there was a Geocoin Event and a CITO (cache in and trash out) to finish the day.  We also found one of each size possibility.

After the BBQ dinner, we went out to find a couple of Multis.  One defeated us but the owner has given us a boost for tomorrow.  Too tired to log tonight.

Pre Mega Day

Lori and I were up at 8 and had our free breakfast in the hotel.  We then went to an event right in Chemainus.  We joined a small group getting a guided tour of the murals.  Really interesting and worth the effort. 

We then rushed out to Lake Cowichan for another tubing event.  I took pictures and then found a shady spot for my chair.  Lori headed down the river on a tube,  The river was slow so they were gone for a long time.  Lori`s legs are bright red tonight.  Had a great lunch at the Cow Cafe.

We then went to a Whereigo but didn`t get it finished.  Lori wandered a big field for about 3 hours,  I gave out after a while and retreated to the chair under a tree.  We ran out of time and will finish tomorrow.

After a quick break at the hotel we had dinner at Tim Horton`s in Duncan and came back for a night event.  So glad to be home now!

Chemainus

Caught the 10:15 ferry to Duke Point.  Not many got on after me.  Met the Wild Thingys and we had brunch together and visited for the trip.

Failed to find a few caches on the way south so just gave up,  Checked in to the Best Western (using Aerogold Points), read the papers and got my GPS units ready.

Drove down the road to log a new cache and then walked across the street to eat in the Horseshoe Bay Pub.   Lori arrived at 8:30 and we went back to find the cache for her and then logged a multi in honour of Emily Carr.

FTF #9

My Starbucks was too busy so I waited until I was near Haney to buy my morning latte.  My iPhone Tweeted that there was a new cache 4 km away.  I made it in time to be First to Find.  The owner was pleased and came out to take my photo!

Found 3 more but didn't find a lot.  A couple of times I was close but the owners clearly don't understand that 1.5 means you can't find it in a wheelchair.  Some need serious bushwacking or were down inclines.  I tried one horse trail but gave up close to the prize when I realized how dangerous it was getting.

Had lunch at the Bobby Sox 50's Diner in Maple Ridge.  Went a bit further for cheap gas ($1.25) but started feeling really tired and my Gerd was acting up.  Stopped at Timmy's for the bathroom, took some antacid and started drinking water.  It settled down and I was home by 4.  Took the Golden Ears for a traffic free trip.

Just about ready for tomorrow's trip to Chemainus for the big Mega.

Laundry day

Did a couple of loads of laundry.  Had to go back down & up an extra time as I must not have pushed the last button on one dryer and had to do it again.

Picked up some geocoins at Point Roberts and then met Lori for a cache in the Secret Garden.  I had missed it last week and she found it right away.  Go figure!

Got through the tunnel just as the counterflow was put in but it didn't take long.  Stopped at London Drugs and was home by 4.

 

Strawberries

Went out to Richmond this morning for some strawberries, fresh peas... at Richmond Country Farms.  They have the best looking produce of anywhere I've looked and an amazing selection.  Bought an SD card at London Drugs.  Stopped at M&M and Cobb's and was home by noon.

Downloaded the Canadian Open Street Maps for my Garmin and am really impressed.  Thanks to KNL_Caching for the idea.  

Canada Day

Enjoyed watching the ceremony at Parliament Hill.  The GG and his wife were great.  Harper was a doofus.  The best anthem singers!

Euro game was boring.  Spain totally dominated Italy.

Spent the rest of the afternoon watching Music Man.  Best thing about getting old is not remembering old movies and experiencing them again.

Another caching day

I needed 33 today and got 10.  I waited until the rain stopped before heading out.  I managed to stay dry as most of the showers were while I was driving.  Got a text just as I left about a new one in Richmond.  Someone just beat me to it.  He doesn't have a lot of caches but does have a lot of First to Finds.  There was a problem with the cache terrain (shouldn't have been a 1) and it was disabled by the time we tried logging.  It appeared again in the afternoon.

Had liver & onions at the Waffle House in New West and started off across Surrey to Aldergrove.  Kept finding the Wild Thingys' sticker just ahead of me but never caught up to them.  Gas at Aldergrove was 123.7!

Stopped around 5 and headed home.  The sky was pretty black and it was beginning to rain pretty hard.  Picked up Chinese food in Richmond.