Category — Travel

Well, the week in Vancouver flew by and I’m not sure we took many more pictures………… but, we certainly have lots of memories.

The weather for the most part was great. We started with 4 days of Sunny weather and lots of clear skies, however it was cooler. It was kinda weird the first night in the penthouse suite the evening was perfectly clear and cool and then around 8:00 p.m. the fog started rolling in and from our vantage point on the 21st floor you could see it coming off of the North Shore mountains and pretty soon the entire downtown core was thick pea soup.

By Wednesday, it started to warm up which brought the rain. Now, for us non-Vancouverites it wasn’t a bother, we simply took our umbrellas and we were off for a walk and daily adventure

Thursday we took the Sea Bus over to Lonsdale Quay to meet our good friends Fred & Barb for lunch. It’s always great to see them and their big news is that their son Ryan who lives in Kelowna is getting married this summer and their son Marshall who is an RCMP Officer recently transferred to North Vancouver District, so he is working closer to home.

We had some great meals out in the Yaletown are and cooked a few in the apartment; which was nice to have to come back to each afternoon and evening.

So, we would definitely rent City Solace on another trip to Vancouver.

Now we’re back at it in Kamloops……….. so stay tuned.

Tuesday was an absolutely gorgeous day in Vancouver. It started with watching the full moon fall in the horizon over English Bay and then a bit later the sun coming up in the east.

Today we were headed off fairly early to the Canada Passport Office at the Sinclair Center downtown. When we got there it was pretty packed and we expected a long wait. Well, because ours was a renewal they sent us in a shorter line up and in just a few minutes we got to the agent and after a few signatures, a couple clarifying questions and a few bucks we were done……… and we should receive my new passport within 2 weeks. The whole process is so much simpler.

Once we left the passport office we headed off for a walk along the water front. Even though it was sunny out it was still cool and the walkway was pretty icy, they tried to put down some salt , however it was not enough.

We took a couple pictures, hard to find a more beautiful City when the weather is like this?????

So, if you cancel a trip to Hawaii what’s the next best thing you can do? Well, it’s take a last minute trip to Vancouver.

We were lucky enough to find a VRBO rental in Yaletown. It’s called City Solace and it is a penthouse loft suite on the 21st floor of a Condo on SeymourSt.

The suite has everything we need for the week. A small kitchen, washer/dryer, a loft bedroom, a couple decks and the best of all a Hot Tub with a view towards False Creek, Granville Island and out towards Jericho.

So, we are going to spend the week being Vancouverites. We’ll update you as the week goes on…………….. so stay tuned.

Well on Wednesday there was no way I was going to miss being a Caddie, so I had decided right after Monday’s experience I was going to get to the golf course extra early for the Wednesday Pr0-Am. When I was originally contacted I was told to be at the golf coure by 5:30 a.m., however I set the alarm for 3:45 a.m. and arrived at the course at 4:15 a.m. and even arriving that early I was number 5 on the list of Caddies. The one thing I forgot was my camera; oh well, I was here for the experience.

The Wednesday Pro-Am is not optional for the pro players. If it is requested by the tournament organizers and sponsors they are required to play in order to play on Thursday and Friday which gives them a chance to make the cut for Saturday and Sunday.

At about 6:00 a.m. the Caddiemaster arrived and he started assigning caddies to golfers bags I was in the first group and was assigned to Marc N. who was from Toronto and was the director of sales for Samsung and Bell Canada. After Marc had breakfast we headed over to the driving range. The range balls were lined up in large buckets – ProV1, ProV1x, Srixon, Callaway, Bridgestone, Nike….. all the major name brand golf balls and all of them were brand new. From there we headed to the practise pitching/sand trap green and then over to the practise putting green.

Brenda was watching Global T.V. morning news and she said she saw me in the background. Shortly after 7:00 a.m. we headed to the first tee and to meet the other players, get our Caddie Bibs and meet our Pro player who was Anthony Kim. Fortunately Marc had a camera and gratefully forwarded the attached pictures.

Anthony was very friendly, easy going and it was a lot of fun to be with this foursome. Right at the start he offered to help the amateurs with their golf game, especially with reading the greens and making putts.

Anthony’s caddie was his college roommate Brodie. He asked me where I was from and I said a small town in the interior he had probably never heard of; when I said Kamloops, he said he lived in Kamloops for a couple years. His brother owns a landscaping business in town. Small world isn’t it?

Anthony said that the Shaughnessy course conditions were as tough as anything they had played on this PGA Tour season, even tougher than the British Open. What made Shaughnessy so difficult was the narrow fairways, the course length, the exceptionally deep rough and the very small greens. On one green he putted the ball and it seemed to run across the green forever. I asked him how the greens and the speed compared to The Masters, he kind of chuckled and said Augusta fairways are as fast and as manicured as the Shaughnessy greens and the greens at Augusta are twice as fast.

The round went fairly quickly and our group ended up at -9 under par. After turning in the Caddie Bib to the caddiemaster he asked if I wanted to go out for a second round. I said, why not I am here now and would probably not get this chance again.

In the afternoon round my amateur player was Lindsay H. who is V.P. and C.F.O. for a gold company in Vancouver. He made the round relaxed and enjoyable. Our playing pro was Brian Gay and his caddie was Kip Henley. Brian was friendly and very accommodating to all the fans, however he is very focused when it is time to hit the ball.

Kip was very easy going and readily offered advice to the playing amateurs and to the other caddies. Kip was the winner of Big Break II – Las Vegas; he really made the afternoon round a lot of fun. The team finished at -5 so not quite as good as the morning group.

So, what a day and what an experience and I will do it again when the Canadian Open gets back to the west coast.

Right after Whistler Brenda and I headed to Vancouver for a few days. The main reason for the visit was so that I could Caddie for an amateur player in the Pro-Am events as part of the RBC Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.

Shaughnessy G&C is a private golf club on SW Marine Drive and is definitely an “old time members style” club. It kind of reminded me of something out of the Movie “Caddieshack”. The grounds, the setting and the facilities are amazing and then add all of the organization and glitz associated with a PGA Tour event and it was remarkable to be part of it.
The original time I was given was to show up at was 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning, however I was excited to get there early. So, after parking my car in the designated lot at UBC I hopped on the shuttle bus and got to the entrance around 8:15 a.m. After going through security I arrived at the Caddie sign in area and was number 23 on the list. So, I felt I had a good chance of getting a bag to carry as there were 42 registered amateur players for Mondays Childrens Hospital  Pro-Am. The shotgun start was at 11:30 a.m. and nothing much happened till about 10:30 a.m. and then they started taking Caddies in groups of 5. A lot of amateurs players brought along their friends as Caddies so it looked like it was going to be close to see if I even got a bag to carry. Finally the last person signed in at 11:10 a.m. and they only needed 22 Caddies and I was number 23, so no luck today.
Well, I was “bummed out” and hung around for a bit more to see if anything else came up, but no luck, So, I decided to make the most of it and experience a PGA Tour event and walk around on the grounds, since I had a Caddie Grounds pass. Early on I headed over to the 10th tee box and there was a spot to stand next to a cedar shrub where you were about 10 ft. from where all the Pro’s were hitting their drives. I chatted up the team of volunteer officials there and told them my tale of woe about being number 23 of 22 Caddies and how I had come from Kamloops and didn’t get a bag, etc. etc.
Anyway, after walking a couple fairways I see the John Daly foursome coming up 8, so I watched them for a while and then headed to the 9th fairway to watch the players drives. After that I headed straight for the place I had scoped out on the 10th tee box. A few minutes later John Daly arrived and all of a sudden one of the caddies said to the volunteer official “please contact the Caddiemaster we need another Caddie as one of ours pulled his hamstring”. I immediately raised my hand said I’m number 23 and once I showed my Caddie credential pass I was allowed inside the ropes. I quickly introduced myself and before I knew it we were off down the 10th fairway.
Man………. what an experience! I was caddying for one of the principal owners of Richmond BMW, Infinity and Min-Cooper Auto.
Pete was a great guy and a pretty good golfer, his playing partners were the other dealership owners and they were very friendly and easy to get along with. They had paid $7500 for a threesome with all the monies going to BC Childrens Charity. John Daly was very friendly, easy to talk to and still hits the golf ball a looooonnnnngggg way. His pants are his trade mark and are provided by Loud Mouth Golf and they are colorful. Going down the 15th fairway I asked him if he had brought his guitar along and he said he hadn’t since he only plays Martin Guitars and they’re about $4000 and the airplane travel and humidity changes really messes them up.
The course was playing extremely tough for all the players. Especially the rough, it was 6″ to 7″ deep and you could lose a ball 3 feet off the fairway if it wasn’t for the excellent volunteer spotters. At one point John mentioned that probably 7 to 8 of the Pro’s would drop out after the 1st round just because of the course rough conditions.

The back nine went by extremely quick and it seemed like all of a sudden I was walking up the 18th fairway and the day was over. What a day……… more on the Wednesday Pro-Am in the next post.

This past weekend we got together with our group of Reunion Friends in Whistler B.C. it was year number 33, we first got together in Kamloops in1979. Reunion weekend is a very special time to reconnect with long time friends (you’ll notice I avoided using the term “old friends”). Unfortunately our good friend Ed H. from Portland was unable to join us as he is battling some health and personal issues, we really missed him. We do not know of any other group that have a similar friends reunion once a year. 

We found a Condo on VRBO in an area of Whistler called Montebello. The Condo was excellent and it was well located to Whistler Lower Village. There was a nearby walking trail that led directly to the village which took less than 10 minutes to be in the center of the action. It was where the Winter Olympic Celebration Plaza was located and it was being used this weekend for outdoor concerts that were part of Crankworks Bike Downhill.

Most years the hosts of the reunion plan an outing or event. However this year nothing in particular was planned. It was kind of nice as everyone did their own thing or we got together at different times as a group to head into the village for shopping or lunch. 6 of us did take advantage of a dry moment to go for a bike ride on some of the trails of Whistler. The picture was taken in Alta Lake Park.

Unfortunately the weather was not the best and even though it rained only occasionally the clouds and fog were low enough that it was not worth taking the Peak to Peak Gondola or to go on one of the many Zip Lines.

As with all reunions we brought too much food which meant we ate and drank too much, stayed up well beyond our regular bedtime and laughed till our sides hurt. Special friends and special times………. we are blessed!

Tuesday we started the long trek home. After leaving the Villa we headed to the St Jean Airport to catch our 10:30 a.m. flight and we left lots of time to spare.

We met Nurse Brigitte at the airport where she assisted in administering the daily dose of Lovenox to Brenda. Thanks Brigitte for all your assistance and help over the last 13 days, it was truly appreciated and helped us both deal with an unexpected turn of events on a vacation.

We checked in early and so they got us out on an earlier flight. Getting on the Twin Otter was a bit of a challenge but thanks to the crew and other passengers Brenda finally got a seat at the back of the plane. The challenge was getting her up the stairs on one leg. The stairs of course are part of the fuselage and they bounce as you climb them since they are attached with a cable. You can see what I mean in the attached picture.

One final thing it was good we got an earlier flight out of St. Bart’s since the plane immediately after us had a mechanical issue and got stranded on the St. Bart’s runway and they had to close the airport for a period of time.

Anyway, we arrived into St Maarten with lots of time to spare. Checked in with Westjet 3 hrs. prior and were able to get front row (bulkhead) seats which gave Brenda a little more leg room. Once in Toronto we were met at the ramp by a Toronto Airport wheel chair assist person who helped us get through Customs and Immigration quickly and we checked into the Sheraton Gateway at the airport. It was super convenient and we will definitely stay here again.

The next morning we were up early and discovered that our flight was cancelled/rescheduled for a little later. Anyway after a late departure and stop over in Calgary we ended up in Vancouver at 3:30 p.m.; about 2 hrs late from our original travel plans. Overall the service by Westjet was outstanding and we would fly again with them to the Caribbean.

Since we were both itching to get home we hit the road and arrived in Kamloops shortly after 9:00 p.m. I’ve got to say Brenda was a trooper and never once complained about her foot even though it was getting extremely swollen by the end of the long day. It’s good to be home.

Monday was our last full day in St. Bart’s. After much planning and coordination by both of us we decided to give it a try to get down to Gouvenor Beach for one last time.

So we packed up one of the Villa deck chairs complete with cushions for Brenda to sit on and a small beach chair for her to prop up her ankle and of course beach towels, books, water, snack, a plastic bag to wrap around her cast so sand wouldn’t get in, etc.

Getting a close parking spot at Gouvenor is always a bit of a challenge. Anyway, we got lucky and someone was pulling out as we drove in and it was not too far from the entrance to the beach. The nice thing about Gouvenor is that once you are at the beach there is a large tree to sit under right at the entrance so Brenda could be in the shade.You can see the view she had from her chair…. not too bad Eh?. Plus   I walked the length of the beach and went for a couple dips in the ocean, we stayed for about 1 1/2 hrs and then headed back to the Villa.

We had a great final dinner on the deck, a couple glasses of wine and watched the sunset. What a gorgeous ending to an interesting vacation.

On Sunday we had a visit to St. Bart’s by Donna and Bob. They sailed over on Saturday from St. Maarten and anchored in Corossol Bay. This Corossol link is a local web site that has everything about the Village of Corossol. Corossol is known for the dried palm frond handicrafts that were made by Village ladies years ago; it’s a dieing art however there is a small store that still sells a few items. The most treasured one is called a “Quichenotte” which is a bonnet worn by the ladies to hide their appearance and discourage advances by male suitors. English translation of “Quichenotte” is “Kiss Me Not”.

Once we picked ip Donna and Bob (sorry we were a little late Bob) we did a quick circle island tour and pointed out the various areas of interest, look out points, popular beaches, etc. on the island. From the look-out at the end of Colombier road Bob was able to count the number of available mooring balls for their Monday night anchorage in Anse du Colombier.

We also stopped and showed them a couple of the Catholic Creches or Shrines that were built on the island so the people in the small villages had a local gathering spot to worship. We believe there is about 6 or 7 of these scattered around St. Bart’s.

After our island tour we headed back to our Villa for a dip in the pool and a shower; you sailors out there will appreciate the enjoyment a dip in a fresh water pool and nice long hot shower feels after being on sailboat for a few days.

We had a great Bar-b-que lunch of Filet Tournadoes, Quinoa, Potatoes and grilled Red Peppers andthen it was time for a photo and back to Corossol so they could get back to Bergybit for the afternoon-evening.

It was great to see them and we wish them Calm Seas and Fair Winds!

The roads in St. Bart’s are steep, twisty, narrow and a patchwork of concrete. However the local government is working at fixing them up a little bit at a time. They are slightly widening them, adding sidewalks and beautiful rock work along the edges; so in a few more years they will be greatly improved. However this post isn’t about the roads it’s about the variety of vehicles you see on the island. There are a lot of electric vehicles and for the most part cars and small suv’s are used. When it rains you need 4X4 to get up the hills as the concrete get’s very slippery. The first picture is our Suzuki Jimny we rented from Europcar, it’s much better shape than last years.

For years the island vehicle was the Moke or Mini-moke, you still see a few around and most have been restored, I don’t believe you can rent them anymore. Next are a few random images of a selection of island transportation.

Finally, one unwritten rule of the road in St. Bart’s is that some motorcyles, scooters and quads are exempt from all road regulations; including no passing on corners, no passing at the crest of a blind hill, no passing on the left, no passing on the right towards oncoming traffic, etc. You can also expect to have a motorcycle cut in front of your vehicle at any moment then wave and grin. Also expect to see 2 or 3 people riding a motor scooter rated for a single rider, or if you are fortunate you can see the ladies riding with their small dog, groceries or other packages sitting on the scooter floor area. For sure any use of common sense does not apply to operation of these vehicles. Helmets are not required but a surprising number of riders wear them.