Category — Hobbies

Today we headed up to Sun Peaks for our final day of snowshoeing for this season. The weather was not too bad, it was certainly warm however the sun never really came out but you still needed sun glasses from the glare off the snow. The parking lots were full, lots of people on the hill and plenty of tour buses loading and unloading vacationers and their luggage. The snowshoe trails were alright considering they have obviously not had any new snow for quite a while. Overall there is probably 3′ – 4′ of snow in the trees which is a lot less than in previous years; so it could be a pretty dry summer unless we get a bunch more precipitation. Kamloops is such a great place to live….. Golfed 4 days earlier this week, a bicycle ride in beautiful sunny weather yesterday and today it was up to the ski hill. Attached are few pictures from today.

This morning we headed up to Sun Peaks for our first Snowshoe trip of the season. It was fairly cold in the Village when we arrived; the notice board said it was -14.3c at the bottom and -12.8c at the Alpine Meadow. So there was definitely an climate inversion happening. Although it did warm up once we got into the trees and by the time we left, which was shortly after lunch it was about -7c. Today we just did the Valley Interpretive Trail which isn’t overly long and apart from going up and down a few hills there isn’t really an big change in elevation, it was basically a warm up trip for future snowshoe trips. There was a fair bit of snow for this early in the season and it was really sticking to the trees, so you did get the occasional dump down the back when ducking under branches. Also at one point on the trail they have set up a bird feeding station with some bird identification charts hanging in the trees so you can see the various species of birds flying around. While up there we also checked out the Condo we have rented at Trails Edge for the January and the Family Ski Vacation, it looks good and the location is definitely ski-in and ski-out. Pictures are attached – they were taken my cellphone camera.

Last weekend was The City of Kamloops Rube Band60th Anniversary. Rubes from across Canada attended the celebration. In total there were approximately 60 current and past members in attendance. Festivities started on Friday night with a Wine & Cheese get together at the TRU International Center; where we had a chance to renew acquaintances and reminisce about days gone by. Then on Saturday morning we all met at the Kamloops Curling Club to form up and parade (with a police escort) down Victoria St. to Riverside Park. After a few minutes to catch our breath and cool off we put on a 1 1/2 hr. stage show for the park audience. The band was looking good and sounding good………. best in years. The afternoon show was followed with an evening Banquet and Dance. Members who have passed on were remembered and stories that are unique to the band were shared……. what an evening. Sunday activities included Golf, the Wildlife Park and/or Sun Peaks. It was great weekend! In the end it was best summed up by emcee Claude Richmond on Saturday night when he said “Lots of Bands can play better than us”, “Lots of Bands can march better than us” and Lots of groups are probably funnier than us”; “But, No One can do it all and have been around as long as us”. That pretty well sums it up!

Thanks to our friend Roxy for taking all the great photographs……… below are a sampling of her pictures and her great eye for catching the  perfect photo op!

Saturday evening after attending Lynette and Arjuna’s wedding we headed back downtown to the Wall Centre Hotel where Larry and I had been invited to the BC Amateur Hockey Association’s awards banquet.  There was about 400-500 people in attendance as the awards were handed out.  It was a proud moment as Larry was called to receive the first award which was the BC Hockey Development Award for Officiating.  For those of you who don’t know, Larry has been working with the brand new referees for the past few years helping them with on ice development and also giving them written feedback about their refereeing skills.  Everyone at our table was from Kamloops including Ryan Dawson who was awarded the “Referee of the Year Award” which was also very exciting for himself and family attending. In the photos along with Larry are Ryan Dawson, BC Referee in Chief Rob Fryer and Kamloops Referee in Chief Shawn McCaskill.   Attached are a few pictures.

Today we headed up to Sun Peaks for our last snowshoe of the season. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky,  the sun was shining bright, the temperature was about 5 deg C and it was a fantastic day. There is a lot of snow up at Sun Peaks and the conditions were perfect; it wasn’t icy and it wasn’t sticky so snowshoeing was outstanding. We headed out of the village and not too far out on the valley trail we came to a snow cave that someone had built; see the pictures below. Then after going about 3 km we stopped for lunch just off of the snowshoe and cross country ski trails. After a few minutes we could hear a snowmobile coming down the cross country tracks which at first we thought was the trail setting machine; but it wasn’t. The driver of the snow machine went by and waved, he wasn’t going that fast but he kept looking behind. Well all of a sudden around the corner came a dog sled team of about 8 huskies pulling a sled, there was a lady all bundled up in blankets and the sled was being steered by a driver on the back. It was really neat to see and it happened so fast we didn’t have time to get a picture. After lunch we headed back to the village. For those skiers out there the conditions were amazing. No lift lines, the slopes were not busy and the snow was looking good. It’s hard to believe that a little over one month ago we were on a beach in the Caribbean enjoying 30 deg heat and sun. Enjoy the pictures below. L&B. 

Well it’s no longer a secret. We’ve started a Rock Band and it’s called “Lindsay and Grampa Rock Band”. Attached are pictures from our media kick off and just click on this link to hear our 1st Big Release Hit Single. The video quality isn’t the greatest as we are just starting out and on a pretty low budget. However the music is excellent, especially Lindsay on lead guitar. Now, some of you may say that this sounds and looks like another somewhat famous band, but we are currently in negotiations to get rightful ownership of this song. We’ll keep you all posted, until then……. WE ARE   HITTING THE ROAD!!!!!!!!

Last night we called up our friend Rick P. and asked if he would like to go snowshoeing at Sun Peaks, he was game so off we went to Sun Peaks this morning. It was snowing lightly when we left Kamloops and a little harder up at the mountain. But, overall the conditions were excellent. There has been quite a bit of snow since our visit a week ago (get ready Lindsay, Jeff, Kevin and Tamara for some great skiing/snow boarding at the end of February). Once we arrived we got suited up and headed off on one of the many trails. Part way along we stopped to take a group picture by resting the camera on our day pack and using the self timer. We had no sooner taken a picture than this lady comes jogging down the trail wearing small snow shoes. No Kidding, she was jogging along. We got her to take another group picture. I’ll get these two pictures attached and others once Jeff (a.k.a. Low Paid Tech Support) fixes my weblog picture link issues. The trees along the trail are really getting covered with snow and if you accidentally bump a tree or branch it will dump a load of snow on you. Well, poor Rick is that slight bit taller than us and a couple times when ducking under hanging branches he moved the tree limb enough that he got completely covered. He has the greatest sense of humour and the greatest most memorable laugh even when getting snow covered. We did a loop of about 4km and headed back to the Sun Peaks Village to have our lunch at Bento’s Day Lodge. After lunch we headed home and by now it is really snowing. Got stopped in a traffic back up because somebody put their car in the ditch and the tow truck driver decided the best way to pull the vehicle out was to block the main road…. not thinking I guess. We finally made it home but the road conditions were a little slick. Great companionship, great conditions and a great day……… we’ll do it again.

We were talking with Jeff and Lindsay last evening and they gave us a bad time about the lack of updates on our Web Blog. So, here’s what’s been happening.

Brenda – Exercise, exercise, exercise………. she is going to be “ripped” on the beach when we head off for our winter vacation. In addition she is working hard at getting the house ready for Christmas and the Kids and Grandkids coming home, plus baking up a storm.

Larry – Curling, curling and more curling. There is an old saying that goes: ”be careful what you wish for it may come true”. Anyway, I was hoping to get a bit more time on the ice to practise the new sport of curling that I have taken up. So I took my broom and curling shoes down to the Kamloops Curling Club a few Mondays ago for Monday Seniors League and guess what I picked up a game as a spare. Since that time I have spared every single Monday for that team as one of the guys has a shoulder injury. That lead to another opportunity to spare on Wednesday and Friday for Mixed Seniors Curling and I have done that the past couple weeks, This is in addition to my regular Thursday Night Mens’ League at Mcarthur Island Curling Club. This week I curl at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Monday and then there is a mini-bonspiel and luncheon on Wednesday for the mixed seniors. I am really enjoying the camaraderie and I actually believe my game has improved.

Both of Us – Our volunteer work continues at Sagebrush Theatre. We have received a couple short notice calls to help out. We are so close to the theatre that it only takes us about 20 minutes to get dressed and walk over. Last Sunday we were sitting comfortably at home and got a short notice call to usher for the George Canyon Christmas Concert. George Canyon is an outstanding Canadian, a World Vision Humanitarian and he and his band put on a fantastic show. 

Well it’s getting very close to the end of the golf season and I am trying to squeeze in the last few rounds. This past week we did not golf on Monday, since it was cool and windy. That gave me chance to get the winter tires on our Subaru. On Tuesday Dave H., Bart B. Al J. and I went to Eagle Point and the weather was great, a slight wind but sunny and I shot a smooth 80. On Wednesday the four of us went to Rivershore and the sun was out but the wind was a lot stronger. Rivershore is not my favorite course and I never really play that well there, however on Wednesday I shot an 85 with a triple somewhere in the round, so that wasn’t too bad. Then on Thursday we had a fivesome at Eagle Point and I shot a 78, which could have been a 76 if not for one small pine tree that managed to deflect my ball back into the rough and I ended up taking a double on the 16th hole. I recovered nicely on hole 17 which is the number 1 stroke hole, got my best drive of the season, my approach was just right on the fringe and I 2 putted for an even par, which is really difficult to do on that hole. On Friday just Bart B. and myself went out and I shot an 84 so alright but not great. As it sits now my index is 9.1……. the lowest I have ever golfed. YAHOO!

As far as curling, I am struggling. I guess it’s only my first year and I don’t get a chance to practise, however I am having trouble with my draw weight. On Thursday the ice on the left was faster than the ice on the right and that threw us off for a little while until we got a few rocks down it. Our team has not won a game so far, but we are not expecting too much in our first year. As a team we need to find a time to just go practise throwing rocks, sweeping and getting into a groove. Oh Well, it’s still great to try out a new sport and meet some new folks.

Well the Hockey Season in Canada has begun. So without further ado, you are true Canadian if get a real laugh out of this:

TOP TEN REASONS HOCKEY IS BETTER THAN SEX
10. It’s legal to play hockey professionally.
9. The puck is always hard.
8. The protective equipment is reusable, and you don’t even have to wash it.
7. It lasts a full hour.
6. You know you’re finished when the buzzer goes off.
5. Your parents cheer when you score.
4. A two-on-one or three-on-one is not uncommon.
3. Periods last only 20 minutes.
2. You can count on it at least twice a week.
1. You can tell all of your friends about it afterward.

On a similar note, the beginning of the hockey season also means that I will be busy assisting the Kamloops Minor Hockey Officials. Check out the Web Page Kamloops Referees. This year, as in the past few years I help with the on ice development of the New and Level 1 Officials. What this involves is an on ice shdaow and then a written report/evaluation to help them improve their skills as officials. We work on the basic positions and procedures toi be an effective referee. For the most part these are very positive experiences for the new official and myself…… it’s great fun to watch the young ref’s improve after a little bit of coaching and support. I always remember my very first game and my first on ice evaluation. My first hockey game was an Inititation “D” at Brock Arena and the other referee was Nick Swaine who is now a linesman in the WHL. I expect Nick will one day be an NHL Official, he’s a very good hockey official. My first on ice shadow/evaluation was done my Steve Kozari. At that time Steve was a WHL referee and now he is a full time referee in the NHL. Actually I ran into Steve in the Vancouver Air Canada lounge and we reminisced about the on ice shadow/evaluation and our time together in the Kamloops Minor Hockey system. The really cool part is that the invited me to visit the officials room if I was ever at an NHL game where he is officiating. More about refereeing and hockey as the season goes on.