July saw the arrival of some more very welcome visitors from home. Ms Karen B and her partner Dr. Frankie A arrived into a bit of a Vancouver heatwave - a heatwave which is ongoing and getting hotter!
F., K. and M. Connors. Frankie's confirmation.
We had planned on having them for a couple of days longer than they actually stayed. We were the first stop on their mini North American tour. They headed off to San Francisco for a few days afterwards, followed by a few days in Las Vegas no less. But we managed to pack a good bit into the few days they were here. We did the sea wall cycle stopping off at Granville Island to make jam.....
Anyone else spotting a recurring totem pole / bicycle theme?
Toasting marshmallows. To Marshmallows!
Face ajourned!
Then it was up to Whistler on Monday for the day. After breakfast of the stickiest cinnamon buns we decided to take the plunge and go white water rafting - mainly to try and get the cinnamon stickiness out from between our fingers. There's very little photographic evidence of the event as we were told that there would be a photographer on board and we shouldnt risk getting our cameras wet. When we finished the trip and got back to base, the official photographer was looking for $99 for a CDROM of the pictures. We laughed, said screw you and went ouside and took this....
Whitewater rafting in Whistler - the bootleg photographs.
F., K. and M. Connors. Frankie's confirmation.We had planned on having them for a couple of days longer than they actually stayed. We were the first stop on their mini North American tour. They headed off to San Francisco for a few days afterwards, followed by a few days in Las Vegas no less. But we managed to pack a good bit into the few days they were here. We did the sea wall cycle stopping off at Granville Island to make jam.....
Anyone else spotting a recurring totem pole / bicycle theme?
Then on Sunday, we went to watch the world cup final in a cinema out in "Little Italy" on Commercial Drive. I was heavily hungover from the previous evening's visit to Sugar Daddy's so I wasnt the best company but the Italian contingent made up for my lethargy. Then straight after the match (and a pitstop snooze) we picked up a hire car and a hired tent and headed for Whistler. We pulled in at Paradise Valley campsite, about half way between V Town and W ville, and pitched our tents for the night. Well M pitched our tents for us - K and F are novices and really needed all the help they could get, I'm just lazy. Then we had campfire brewed coffee, toasted marshmallows and even some beer and an interesting chat about BioChemistry and small dogs. We had a terrifying visit from the Polar Express at around 5am. We really need to stop camping by the main East West Canadian railway line.
Toasting marshmallows. To Marshmallows!
Face ajourned!Then it was up to Whistler on Monday for the day. After breakfast of the stickiest cinnamon buns we decided to take the plunge and go white water rafting - mainly to try and get the cinnamon stickiness out from between our fingers. There's very little photographic evidence of the event as we were told that there would be a photographer on board and we shouldnt risk getting our cameras wet. When we finished the trip and got back to base, the official photographer was looking for $99 for a CDROM of the pictures. We laughed, said screw you and went ouside and took this....
Whitewater rafting in Whistler - the bootleg photographs.
The whitewater rafting on Green River was a definite highlight. I've personally never been in a wetsuit so that was an experience and a dilemma in itself - I decided against commando cos I didnt want to catch a cold or anything else. So Joe, our bucktooth ginger adventure man, guided us through the preliminary training on the beautiful setting of Green Lake and off we went down Green River. We got an absolutely brilliant day for it and despite the excitement of the whitewater rafting itself the surroundings were absolutely magnificent - if you got the chance to take a look around you between the bouts of whiplash and being assaulted in the teeth by your companion's out of control oar. For K and F it was a pretty impressive first. For me and M it was an interesting way to spend our 13th anniversary. Yes, exactly 13 years ago the lights flickered, static and the smell of burnt burgers filled the air, time stood still and I slipped in some vomit and landed in M's arms on the dance floor of Nijinsky's Co Kildare. And the rest is the subject of an ongoing investigation. So we've already booked K and F to come visit us in Chile or Carbury or wherever it is we end up next. We had a ball and they were thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable and accommodating guests if there is such thing as guests who accommodate. Hope the rest of the trip went nearly as well as the first leg. Drop us a line and let us know how the Grand Canyon thing went and whether any lights flickered or not.........
Tonight's Summer City Sunset from the balcony
Tonight's Summer City Sunset from the balcony
In other news, as per their mention in the milk carton section, Louise and Stephen have left Vancouver and are currently on an adventure in Peru before they head home to Dublin/Kildare via Nova Scotia and New York/Connecticut. They were both very good to us when we arrived and we'll miss them terribly - not least for late pints. Best of luck to you both when reality bites back in Dublin! We'll see youse in Naas' own Sugar Daddys - Fletchers for a pitcher of Carlsberg some day soon. Get Marc to tell you about Tommy Fletcher some day :)
M's parents are currently a week into their visit here aswell. I'll post some pictures and words when they leave - using the new laptop which is incidentally also hotter than July :) But its got wireless which means we can go and hang out with all our buddies in the local cafes. I've got a gut feeling that wireless is our first real step into understanding what makes Asians tick. I'm so excited.
M's parents are currently a week into their visit here aswell. I'll post some pictures and words when they leave - using the new laptop which is incidentally also hotter than July :) But its got wireless which means we can go and hang out with all our buddies in the local cafes. I've got a gut feeling that wireless is our first real step into understanding what makes Asians tick. I'm so excited.
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