Fairy Lake Camping

 We decided to take an excursion west of Victoria out to Port Renfrew -- there are a few lakes up the San Juan River to choose from.
 


Our initial plan was to stay at Lizard Lake -- however upon arrival it was crowded and there was only one general lake access. So we headed back to Fairy Lake, which has a larger campsite and we scored a spot right on the lake. Yippee!

Then we rowed out across the lake to where the slow moving river winds its way through the forest. We found a deep section where an otter was hanging out and an eagle was trying to catch fish. Good sign right?

After little success (only caught one wee fishy and he managed to get away!), we headed back to camp, hungry for dinner.

Unfortunately the camp stove we brought was propane when all we had was white gas.... uh-oh... and there's a province-wide campfire ban, so that was out of the question. We headed to Port Renfrew, but the general store had closed early. Luckily the local fisherman's watering hole was still open so we ordered up some tasty home-cooked grub and had dinner back at camp under the tarp in the pouring rain. No leaks though!

The next morning Cam did a little fishing...

Then we packed up and headed to Botanical Beach for a short hike.

What's been going on 'round here

 It seems whenever I'm busiest is when I post on here! Why is that? Probably when you're in the "busy zone" you get a lot done. (My kitchen would say otherwise.)

These are just some photos from the last week... rainy shots of our garden (which is a lovely refuge during a busy work day!)

 

The contents: lettuce, radicchio, cabbage, beans, carrots, onions, cucumber, zucchini, and peas! Now if only the slugs would stop eating things.

 

My dear sister sent me a congrats-for-going-full-time-with-your-business parcel. In fact, it was a mini-ice cream shop!

The contents: mini marshmallows, waffle cone bits, m&m's, Rollos, mini Easter eggs, almonds, caramel crumbs, walnuts, jet puff marshmallow cream, kit kat, chocolate sauce, chocolate cake mix (!), an ice cream scoop, ice cream dish.

Spoiled? You betcha. Ice cream every day? mmmmaaayybe...

In other news, Cam has had career changes of his own... and has finished the first weld on my new mountain bike. EXCITING!!

 I shall leave you with a sight rarely seen by anyone....

Evening in the Garden

Wine, cheese, and sausage in the garden last evening .... with a curious companion!

  

A box office hit!

  

Jersey watching his favourite flick -- Birds on a Deck.

Disney Royal Family 5k

I should be doing a million other work-related things right now, but instead I'm doing my belated race recap for the Disney Royal Family 5k in Florida.... which was well over a month ago!


Ah well, better late than never.

The morning of February 23, in Orlando Florida, we got up bright and early -- 4:00am? -- in order to get to the race start early. There were something like 6000 people in my race!
 

 

Posing in the parking lot. 

(Photo by Kylie)

  

My great race support crew, who tried to get me dancing... yes even my Pops got down to the Chicken Dance.

(Photo by Kylie)

The racers were all funneled into separate corrals -- having NEVER done a running race before, I had no clue if there was a good spot to be in the corral. So I chose to stand at the back. Bad idea.

We had fireworks send us off!

(Photo by Kylie)

Since I was at the back of my corral, I was trapped behind a wall of people walking. What? Walkers in corral A? Either way, it was like a game of slow dodge ball for the first three minutes of the race.

First lesson of the day: never wave at cameras while running. A nice big smile will do, but being caught mid-wave makes it look like you're running with pinwheeling arms. Haha, I should run a whole race like that.

 

It was HOT.  Even though the race started at 6:30am, it was 19 degrees with 90% humidity. It was like running through molten lava air.

No race re-cap would be complete without a good pain face.

We wound our way through Disney/Epcot, past a few different characters along the path (Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, etc.). I didn't stop for photos with any since I was hoping to make up some of the time I'd lost during the slow start.

As I neared the finish line, I could hear my sister's voice in my head: "When you get to the home stretch, remember to raise your arms and smile, no matter how much pain you're in!"

Well, I put the hammer down in the last 1km -- a full out sprint! Or what I thought passed for a sprint.

 

Must. Remember. To. Look. Happy.

Yay! I'm finished! Why am I about to puke?

Yeah throwing up after a race has never happened before -- even when I used to race my road bike.

 

Trying to look cool as a cucumber. 

(Photo by Kylie)

Minnie Mouse was a great post-race pal. She kissed us!

This was definitely a fantastic first race for me -- I enjoyed the friendly atmosphere... much less competitive than the cycling world!

Ski ski skiiiii

What did we get up to today?

Looking seriously thoughtful over a cuppa hot chocolate post-ski.






































Enjoying our room's fireplace.

A day wouldn't be complete without skiing in the morning and a muddy ride with an old pal in the late afternoon.

Race Recap - by Kylie!

Things are a bit busy around here for me, so who knows when the next instalment of Florida will be up! In the meantime, my sister has written a great recap of my little Disney 5k race. Check it out!