b’s blog

I’ve been here about 3.5 days now and the weather is absolutely perfect! Sarah arrived at the airport about an hour before I did so we took the TTC (subway) into town together and easily found our hostel. (Thank you Julie from WestJet for being so helpful when I realized I left the directions to the hostel at home) Clarence Castle is highly recommended. The hostel is newly renovated and small. It’s quiet and faces a park! And it’s within walking distance of the Waterfront, CN Tower, Air Canada Centre and Skydome.

I am making it my goal to feed Sarah a bunch of different foods she’s never tried before!

Wednesday night Andrea took us out for Korean BBQ.
Thursday we had Chinese bakery buns, celebrity stalking in Yorkville, and Street Salsa. (outdoor salsa dancing in the summer)
Friday we had Vietnamese Pho and Bun in Chinatown, strolled Kensington market and went up the CN tower
Saturday we went Canoeing in Paris, ate Tim Horton’s and went to the Leafs game (where we won in OT!)
today we strolled up Spadina to Auntie’s and Uncle’s, a brunch place recommended to me by Mish.

Scheduled:
Monday - local tour guide around the harbourfront
Tuesday - Niagara Falls
Wednesday - Dinner at Andrea’s
somewhere we need to fit in Greek food, Indian food, ethiopian food…. etc. This place is so multicultural!

Charlene, Dan, Jane and I took the time to do a small hiking trip after driving out to Mt. Robson for Jana and Jonathan’s wedding. It was my first back country camping experience and I think Jane’s also.

We had a great experienced leader who planned everything and all we had to do was show up with our backpacks and go! Thanks Charlene for making it a great trip. Every meal was planned very well and she got to break in her brand new camping stove.

The portion of the hike that Jane and I did was just an overnight up to campsite #2 beside a beautiful stream just across from a suspension bridge. I think it was either 11km or 14km in. The last 4 kms were inclined and so I was suffering the last bit. Dan and I were quite slow in comparison to Charlene and Jane but they were both very patient. Dan and Charlene continued onto Camp #5 nearer the top of the mountain and took an additional 2 days. The hike up to camp 5 starts steep, with switchbacks for quite a few kms. (I’m glad I skipped out on that for my first trip!)

At camp 1 we took a short rest break to enjoy the glacier lake. The water was so brilliantly blue, I love that colour! I would definitely recommend this hike to anyone who likes a bit of a challenge. Anyone want to come along next year?

(Pictures on Facebook. Lots of them are on Charlene’s profile but you can see some of them on mine.)

This weekend I invited Angela out to Lake Wabamun for tubing and swimming on a friend's boat. It was a great day as the weather was hot (+30) but the lake was cool. We were trying out her new 3 ... [Continue reading this entry]