Element

I've never been one for cars, really, but I've always liked the Honda Element. Although our little Acura was only 5 years old, it was well over 100K and things were starting to happen. Plus, the Acura wasn't the best car for bikes and gear. So we bit the bullet and bought a new (to us) car!

You can roll bikes right in with both wheels on! This is going to make roadtripping so much more fun.

Not ours, but same model and colour.

Weekend on Saltspring

We are really lucky in that Graeme's parents own a house on Saltspring. There's quite a story around the house as it was actually shipped over to the island on a barge, and set on a piece of bare land they had owned for a while. The house has been there about 7 years now and we've had a lot of good times there. Over the last few years Graeme's parents have been renting it out a lot and between that and Graeme's ironman training, we didn't even make it to Saltspring once last year!

Mid last week Graeme took a look at the booking calendar and saw that the weekend was free so we decided last minute to head over. We tried something new this time and went through Horsehoe Bay, and then drove down to Crofton to take the ferry to Vesuvius. Being that we live on the North Shore, this is a great option for us.


Of course Friday night was a Canucks game, and neither of us wanted to miss it, but through the beauty of technology, we were able to watch the game while on the ferry - by streaming cbc sports on the laptop with tethering to the iPhone! Pretty amazing what you can do now!


The weekend was great as it always is. Good food, good drink, farmers market (I wanted to buy more stuff!), pub lunch, a couple funny short runs (after a failed attempt at finding a trailhead) and a ride on Sunday, in the sunshine (as it rained in Vancouver!), and a great book.



I will say that the ride was one of the hardest I have done! I think it was a combination of a tired body, a wee bit too much to drink on Saturday night and the fact that the hills on the north end of the island, while not long are STEEP. All in your smallest gear, standing up, leaning over the front wheel. In the end the ride was not as long as I would have wanted as I was just DONE. The stop for an iced latte in Ganges on the way back was a necessity!

I hope we get back a few more times this year. It's just so easy to fully decompress when you are there.

Kona

Not the place this time.

We are dogsitting this pretty girl for the next week.

Kona



She is a very smart and funny one and the biggest suck I have ever met. But she is so cute that it makes up for it.

A Very Vancouver Weekend

Friday night trail running




Saturday skiing at Whistler



Sunday long bike ride




What a great place to live!

San Diego

So finally a San Diego update!

We arrived in late Friday night, down one suitcase. Luckily it did show up at the hotel the next morning. The hotel itself was good. We were "upgraded" to a 10th floor ocean view room. I say upgraded as it is right below the restaurant and you can hear the music in the evenings, but aside from the first Saturday it wasn't loud. It was mostly blue-haired dancing music.

The first weekend the weather was awesome. Perfect blue skies, warm/hot. The weather for the rest of the week was cooler, but still nice. Arm warmers for the rides, and even leg warmers for one. Even the “storm” they talked about all week turned out to be less then ½ inch of rain during the night. I guess it’s a different standard!

With getting in later on Friday, although we had talked about heading up to Oceanside to watch the 70.3, we were tired. Instead we went for a really yummy breakfast at The Cottage, walked around La Jolla, and then went and picked up our rental bikes. The bike Graeme had reserved had been stolen and so he ended up with what is still a nice bike, but more of a comfort bike, and it was the most purple bike that ever that is not a little girls bike.

The first day we rode a few hours up the coast to Encinitas and back. It is such a nice ride! Really breezy, though not as windy as later in the week and warm!

So many people out riding, running, surfing. I think that was our favourite thing about San Diego. Everyone is actually out enjoying the fabulous weather.

I had read a lot about the hill in Torrey Pines National Reserve, and while it is a long hill, its not steep. During one ride with the wind, I felt like going up the hill was the easiest part of the day due to the tail wind. Graeme says it wasn't. Maybe I am in ok bike shape. At least one thing is going well!

My back started acting up on Thursday (and still is a bit) so I didn't get as much riding in as I'd like, but still 5 rides (mostly on the coast, with one heading inlad to Scripps Ranch). Because I had only ridden outside twice this year, it took until the last day for me to really feel comfortable. That and being on a bike that wasn't mine and wasn't a perfect fit. I think that also contributed to the back issues.

I also have decided that its not that I don't like swimming, its that I don't like swimming in crowded indoor pools. Swimming outside in your own lane is like a little slice of heaven. I would probably swim almost every day if that was what I had here.

Running on the beach was fun, especially watching the surfers, but my favourite run was in Torrey Pines. The trails are so much fun. Dipping up and down, running through brush, just completely different type of trails then we have here. And of course all overlooking the ocean on a cliff. Loved it.

I really like La Jolla as a town. Lots of restaurants, stores, nice beach, good running, riding, and people are friendly. I said when I was 10 I wanted to retire there and I could still see doing that. And housing is cheaper than Vancouver...Oh, and good CA wine and craft beers too.