motivation = zero

I hate it when I get like this. There’s all sorts of stuff I know I should be doing with my weekend. And yet, I sit here and do nothing.

I think the downpour really threw me yesterday. I was all set to do yard stuff first thing, but that made it kind of impossible. I’ve been mostly “off” ever since. Yeah, I’ll blame that. It’s a good scapegoat.

Canadia

Now I have spent the night in a foreign country. Gabe came to pick me up at about 5pm on Sunday and we headed north. At the border crossing, they asked what our citizenship was, what the purpose of the trip was, what we do, and if we had any product on board (comic books, pharmaceuticals). They didn’t request ID.

Gabe had been avoiding telling me which hotel he booked. I just wanted to know for mapping purposes and to know what to bring (hair dryer? bathing suit? workout clothers?) Anyway, we went pretty much straight there. We were at the Listel. I personally always go for the cheapest hotel that isn’t scary. Well, for a little bit more, we were staying in a really great place. I think we were in the best room in the place, though not the most expensive. I highly recommend room 627. The hotel is situated on the west end of Robson St. We were on the 6th (top) floor in one of the two rooms with balconies. We had the one overlooking the shops on Robson. It was a very large balcony, probably more of an elevated patio. And you can’t overlook the fun of the mini-bar!

We had to move pretty quickly to eat some food in time to get to the movie. We walked over to the Noodle Cafe, right across from the hotel. Tiny little place, really yummy food. We drove over to Tinseltown. Very nice theatre. Very comfy seats, stadium seating, good atmosphere with old movie star pictures throughout the halls, etc. The movie wasn’t as good as it should have been, but it was fun, nonetheless.

On Monday morning, I woke up ridiculously early, despite the fact that I hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep. Damn light coming in. It’s too bad I can’t bring my cave of a bedroom with me everywhere. I went down to use the fitness center since I had time to kill before reasonable people would be awake. I used the step climber and the bike for a really brief time then took a dip in the whirlpool.

We checked out around 11 and did a bit of driving around. Stanley Park, North Vancouver, West Vancouver. It was actually a pretty nice day as it turned out. Ate at the White Spot, stopped at London Drugs for Allegra and Canadian candy, headed up towards Whistler. That’s such a great drive. We took Marine Drive for the western drive then hooked up with Hwy 99. Stopped at Shannon Falls. Got to Whistler around 4:15 and found the Dubh Linn Gate, just as Shannon and Cam were going on a break. Chatted with them a bit and tried to find any open seats in the cramped place. We eventually found space at a little table and listened to the rest of their set. We headed over to their condo for a bit while they had dinner and worked out what they were going to play in their evening set.

We left at around 7:15 and headed toward Seattle, despite a few side stops and missed exits. At the border this time they asked about the same questions and asked for ID and proof of citizenship. There were no other cars anywhere, as opposed to the long wait on the way in. Once we were past Bellingham, I decided to get a little snooze time in. Wrapped up in a nice warm blanket, I nodded off off and on ’til we hit King County. Home around midnight. Crash. Fun.

Never thought I’d see the day

My company offers Good Friday as a holiday. I normally love having this day off. It’s the perfect time of year for a holiday and it’s in the middle of a holiday wasteland. The weather becomes warm, spring fever starts to hit. I find it’s the time of year I most want a day off.

Today I officially declared that I would work this Friday in exchange for a different day off in the future. Weird. I’m a little concerned that if too many people do this, that they will take away this holiday in the future. This year though, I’m already taking lots of vacation time and time off for training classes right around now. The prospect of coming in when almost no one is here so I can actually get stuff done sounds pretty nice. Besides, I was just out for training on Friday and out on vacation yesterday. Plus, I’ve got another 3 days out of the office in the next two weeks. I’m not overly aching for a vacation day this Friday.

O Canada

I’m about to head up to Canada.

I’m going to Vancouver to watch a movie. (Steamboy)

I’m going to Whistler to see a band play. (Splinters)

Of course the main purpose of the trip is for Gabe to buy allergy meds. (Allegra-D, otc in Canada)

It’s all seeming a bit silly. I’ve actually never spent the night out of the country before, so that’ll be new.

Yummy food

I had a big cooking bug yesterday and wanted to try something new. I surveyed the 30 minute meals options of recent and upcoming episodes. I made the breaded chicken portion of this recipe. It was really good. I added some spiral pasta and my favorite jar of spaghetti sauce. Tonight I was feeling lazy and decided to eat some straight out if the fridge. I don’t usually like cold chicken all that much, but this was wonderful! I think I might like it cold better than hot. I’m thinking maybe for sandwiches in the futur or something. I’ve definitely added it to my list. The actual episode airs tomorrow evening, so it’ll be interesting to see how my technique differed.

BTW, I also want to put a plug in for the sauteed crimini mushrooms. Really simple, really quick, really good. I’ve made them a few times now.

I’m really more of a baker than a cooker, but it can be pretty satisfying when I really enjoy something and it’s simple.

At the pinnacle

On Friday I decided I wanted to go hiking this weekend. It seemed like a better idea while I was at work and fantasizing about leaving for some time with nature. Nevertheless, I decided to do a moderate level trail yesterday. I toyed with the idea of inviting others, but I realized I really wanted to go at my own pace and spend some time by myself. I really like going on solo hikes sometimes. It’s very relaxing.

After pondering my options, and realizing Mt Pilchuck would be too hard in my current shape and its current shape (still a fair amount of snow on top per the latest trip report from yesterday plus the road up is really tricky). I decided on Lake 22. I didn’t really expect to follow the whole trail unless I felt really inspired. I headed that way late this morning and arrived at the Verlot service center in the early afternoon. I went in to buy my parking pass. The guy asked where I was headed. “Lake 22,” I replied. “It’s going to be really crowded.” He tells me. “Duh!” I think but don’t say out loud. I actually just gave an affirmative nod. Then I decided to ask if he had any other recommendations. He tells my of Pinnacle Lake. I’d never heard of it. He pulls out the reference sheet and tells me about it. Says he’s had 3 people go there today as opposed to “a hundred” headed towards Lake 22. I find myself easily swayed and head thataway when I leave the parking lot.

The road: a mess as well. 6 miles of semi-loose gravel, but only a few areas of potholes. I stayed at around 15 mph and all was well. There were maybe 8 cars at the trailhead. A good sign. I passed 2 guys just as I started out, but was alone for the next half hour. All told, I probably saw 12 people on the way in (including 6 at once), maybe half that on the way down.

Overall a nice hike. Not the best I’ve ever been on, but an interesting walk and good workout. Lots of rocky, tangly terrain. A few patches of mud early on. It was pretty constantly somewhat uphill with a few level breaks. I could see Bear Lake from the trail in places which gave a good indication of just how far up I’d gone. There were some switchbacks, but certainly not monotonous ones. I had a couple places where I had to hug a tree for a particularly narrow path. My ranger skills seemed pretty low as well as I tried to lose the trail in a couple locations. After awhile, it was more walking on the ridge than switchbacks. At the top, I ran into icy snow and big mud patches. I made it through a few of these, despite the fact that one mud patch tried to eat my foot.

Pinnacle lake was down below. Really it was more Pinnacle Ice/Snowfield. I couldn’t really tell where the path was going to go. After a number of struggles with mud/ icy snow/ rocks, I decided I’d had enough for today. I turned around and headed back down. Unlike normal, it took me only a little bit less time to get down because I had to focus on my footing. I made it up without many stumbles, but downhill was a different story. It might have been from the mud worked into my boots, buy I was slipping a lot on the way down. It took me an hour and 20 minutes up (including rest breaks) and about an hour and 5 minutes coming down.

There was a lot of brush along the trail that looked dead this time of year. I couldn’t tell what it was, but I saw that some of them were JUST starting to bud. From some notes I’ve read about the trail since, it sounds like they may be huckleberries.

I’m happy to have gotten an early hike in this season. Maybe I’ll actually go more often this year.