For our Caminos de Santiago we didn’t train overly hard and were quite successful. If we could manage a 10k trek we figured we could do 20. We were correct. Six mile Sundays were our routine with half that on our daily walks.
This trip will average 16.5, so six mile Sundays could be reduced to five. Excuse my distance references, living in Canada has given me the gift of binumeralism.
Last Sunday took us to Delta, BC, where we walked the Millenium Trail follow by the intriguing Spirit Trail, with its carved wood spirit guides.
This guy had a ladybug in his eye.
It was a beautifully sunny November day, not always guaranteed in British Columbia.
Afterwards we met up with long term friends, Lynn and Dennis for lunch at Greek restaurant, Ramies. C and I shared a platter for two, highly recommended. This is my half after the Greek salad.
Eating is the icing on the cake for point to point hiking. Looking forward to the food (and wine) of Portugal again. Stay tuned.
Just got my new passport in the mail. It’s good for ten more years. I hope that serves as a warranty on my life expectancy. I intend to put it to good use starting with a hike in Portugal. Not the Caminos de Santiago we have done in the past, but something milder, given the amount of time that has passed since our last long distance trek. It’ll average 16.5k per day rather than 22.
It was Canadian Thanksgiving and off we went to Washington’s Bayview State Park, less than 90 minutes from home, pulling the trailer, plus the border line-up. Of course we stop for groceries on the US side to avoid questioning and searching re food. What you can and can’t bring over the border is a moving target depending upon the health of chickens and cows. Peppers, citrus and tomatoes are a hard no.
We are in the same campsite as we were earlier in the year, with a view of Padilla Bay from the front and back.
This time we were joined by friends, Karen and Allan, who are staying in their newly renovated 1975 Boler trailer.
Morning walks took us along the bay
and to Uplands Trail at the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.
We had the opportunity to pick apples for some campsite maple spice applesauce to go with tonight’s pumpkin pie, both a vehicle for whipped cream.
The weather was on our side as it only rained the first night, when we turned leftover burgers into delicious soup for a cozy meal for four in our trailer. The rest of the days were 15c (60F) with bright sunshine.
Our local owl hooted us to sleep. I was too tired to go out and search for him, but I got this photo last time we were here.
I’m glad we got this trip in before C winterizes the trailer and puts it to bed until next year.
I found a list of goals for retirement, written over ten years ago. I am grateful we’ve exceeded the ten year mark, happy and healthy. It’s the luck of the draw I suppose, so many sad stories.
Back to the report card, I’ve only reached maybe half of the ten goals, but have achieved many new ones.
First on the list, not in order of importance was to improve my Spanish speaking skills. Although it was my mother’s first language, I forever confused it with French, my high school act of rebellion. I have studied many languages in high school, university, continuing education and Duolingo: Latin, French, Spanish and German. I wouldn’t consider myself proficient in any. I can do tourist Spanish and ask where my key is in German. Perhaps I lack an aptitude for foreign language skills.
Second was to develop my watercolour skills. Ding, ding, ding, definitely achieved that one. I have a healthy supply of ongoing commission work and show sales have been good.
Third: jewelry making. Nope. That time has been dedicated to my artwork.
#4 Yoga with balls. What the heck is that?
#5 Sort stuff 🤣🤣🤣 I did buy Marie Kondo’s first book. I guess stuff sparks joy in me.
#6 Organize photos. Ha! I have 55,000 pictures on my phone and 200+ albums, so perhaps that qualifies as organization.
#7 Rescue the blog from Typepad to assure its existence in perpetuity. Success! I need to put my intentions in my will so the funding continues for a few generations; an important bit of family history.
8 & 9 have to do with improving photography and photo editing skills. It’s an ongoing process mainly iPhone-centric, but I haven’t used an actual camera in years.
#10 Convert written recipes to typed. There are easy ways to achieve this digitally, but my style of eating has changed, so fewer will need conversion.
Funny list that was, I wouldn’t have achieved an impressive grade on that one. I’m happy, though, with what might be considering credit for actual life experience, covered in another post.
We are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend the wedding of Kirsten (Chuck’s nephew’s daughter) and Ben in Galesburg, Illinois.
Four days of celebrating started with a family dinner where we reminisced with the bride’s dad about his wedding over 40 years ago, where we were the young’uns listing to the old folks talk about their hearing aids. Now we’re on the other end of that spectrum 🙀
Uncles Chuck, Kurt, and Greg, and father of the bride, Kevin
On Saturday we drove to Macomb, Illinois for the ceremony with a stop at the wrong location, where we were invited by a father of the bride of another wedding, to attend their’s if we couldn’t find our’s. Luckily we were only 15 minutes from the correct location. Long story.
A four year old diva was the flower girl, wearing a dress the bride wore as a flower girl.
The happy couple.
Day three was a family reunion at Boecrest, the 40 acre rural property of the bride’s parents. It was a daylong feast honouring the Greek and Scandinavian backgrounds of the two families:
Pit roasted lamb and pork.
Toasts of akvavit and ouzo, this one by Uncle Chuck.
The traditional marzipan kransekake made by Auntie Ellen.
A hayride was fun for all ages.
The fourth day included a breakfast hosted by the bride’s grandmother, Betty, from Phoenix. From there it was a four state day, driving back from where we flew in, Minnesota, from Illinois, through Wisconsin and Iowa, including geocaching in two new states.
The South Rock Art Tour was a success for these two artists of Beachview.art. The weather was perfect and a constant stream of art lovers came through the house and sales were steady. It was also an opportunity to exchange ideas and helpful info with other visiting artists. And we made new connections with people in the area that we hope to meet again.
My painting of Crescent Beach has a new home with Jane T.
Transforming the main level of the house into a gallery was no small feat, but it worked out well.
These old folks are usually winding down by 9:00 and the preparation work required two 1:30a.m. nights in a row. It was a lot of work with a couple of hard lessons learned for another time, but it was worth it.
I completed this post in ten minutes as opposed to an hour on our old platform. Photos uploaded instantly. What a relief to know that Lifesastitch has a new life on WordPress.
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