Back up to speed

My new camping Hat! 

Well, it's been a while since I've taken the time to post anything here and I know you're just dying to find out what's going on in my life, so I guess I'd better man up and deliver the goods!


Not much.


Ha! just kidding.  It's been quite a busy summer for me.  I've been out of town almost every other weekend for most of the summer.  The weekends that I stay behind seem to be jammed with activity too.  I think my cats are wondering who am I these days and are starting not to recognize me anymore. 


Ironically enough, they're not the only ones.  Hopefully you can tell from the picture, but I've dropped a bit of weight since the beginning of June.  I'm now half way to my goal!  I'm down about ~25 lbs and hope to loose another 25 before the end of December.  There are a couple of special occasions along the way that I have to contend with but hopefully I can manage to enjoy them without putting too much weight back on.  I'm averaging about 1-2 lbs a week without too much stress.  


For a while I was pretty dedicated to exercise and was pretty active even outside the gym.   Unfortunately I injured myself playing softball this summer and not only ended up tearing my calf muscle but also severely bruising my heel as well.  I loved playing ball though and it wasn't until my last game that I finally started to put it all together.  They let me play first base (my favorite position) and I stretched to make some great outs and then my stick finally came alive and I was smacking the ball out into the field for some solid base hits.   It's been well over 10 years since I picked up my bat and glove and even despite the injuries, I loved it. I hope they invite me out again next year! 


Now that winter is approaching I'm hoping to break out the snow shoes and get out to do some more of that this winter.  In the meantime I have had a chance to buy myself some new toys.  To be fair I also need to sell some toys too so that I can afford the new ones.  Hopefully I'll be able to find some buyers in the spring when the markets are more attractive to a potential buyer. 

2001 Goldwing 1800

What did I buy?  Well, I finally found a bike that I can really enjoy for some longer touring.  I now own a 2001 Goldwing 1800.  It has a ton of chrome on it, so I'm sure I'll be spending a butt load of time polishing it.  The "wing" does have some nice accessories on it though and I think I got a great deal for the bike.  When I tore my calf muscle this summer I missed out on a ride that was planned with a couple of friends of mine (Darren & Christian).  It would have been the "maiden voyage" with the new bike and as it happened I ended up staying home and spent the weekend being jealous of the trip my friends were able to go on.  Hopefully next summer I'll get a chance to try out the route they ended up taking while I had my feet up trying to heal.  


I was pretty motivated to take the bike out in spite of missing out on a great ride and ended up enjoying two other trips down into the US.  We had a fantastic ride down through Lolo Pass and then a couple of weeks later we took route that spanned Washington, Idaho and Montanna.  On that ride we saw some beautiful scenery near Kettle Falls, Thompson Falls and Kalispell.  We managed to take a run through Glacier Park for the second time this summer and rode the "highway-going-to-the-sun" route up through Logan's pass.  It was fantastic.  


On one of the trips I picked up an HD cam for the bike as well.  You can check out some of the videos from our trips on my youtube channel if you like.  Now that I have some new mounts for the camera, I'm hoping that I can make the footage even more interesting the next time we take the wings out. 

2008 KLR 650

Now as it turns out Christian and Darren were also exploring the back trails on a couple of KLR 650's they bought.  At first I wasn't really too keen on that type of riding and didn't have much interest in getting a KLR as I didn't really picture myself on the back of a dirt bike.  Well that was my first mistake - believing these were dirt bikes.  They are definitely not dirt bikes.  Like their classification implies, they are dual purpose bikes, meant for both street riding and trail riding.  A metaphore that Darren likes to use when describing the KLR is "rock crawler".  It truly is more like a rock crawler than a dirt bike.  Low RPMs with decent horsepower and a "go anywhere" frame, these bikes are great for getting off the main roads and into the back country where the scenery can really be breath taking. 


My second mistake was in believing that I would have no interest in doing any trail riding.  Well one night while I was hanging out at Christians place, he throws in an instructional video on Dual Sport Adventure Riding.  It didn't look that hard and these guys were filmed on their dual sport bikes in some great locations having a lot of fun exploring the "not so" beaten path.  It looked like a lot of fun, and the video really changed my perception of what type of riding that Christian and Darren were interested in doing with their bikes.  


Not too long after and I find myself scouting the ads on Kijiji and the autotrader.  I told myself I wouldn't buy a bike unless I could get a really good deal on one.  Boy did I find a good deal.  I picked up an 08 with only 2000 km's on it for about $3500.00.  They are currently selling for $5000.00 and up.  It was hard to pass up and so now I own 3 bikes (if you include my v-star that I need to sell).  Two weeks ago I finally had a chance to take the bike out and learn how to ride it.


We picked McLean creek to visit since it had a campground that we could stay at for the weekend and access to some great OHV (off highway vehicle) trails for us to play on.  This weekend we plan on going back to get some more experience and to try out some new trails.  I'm really looking forward to it! There will be about 6 or 7 of us out to do some camping and riding and should the weather become uncooperative we'll probably hide out under "tarp town" and play some board games while enjoying some Baileys and Coffee. 

Christian with his 10+ fish!

In addition to getting out on the bikes and playing softball, I even manged to get out do and some fishing this summer too.  Another friend of mine - Darren B - took us out on his fishing boat to a small fishing hole just south of Nanton.  Apparently you can't help but catch fish at this place, unless your name is Jason.  Darren and Christian pulled in 20+ fish between the two of them, while I only managed to hook one.  Yes.... one damned fish.  Truthfully I think it felt sorry for me and hopped on my line out of sympathy.  In the picture is my buddy Christian with his 10th or 11th fish. 


Our day started out with great weather but by the time we pulled off the lake, it had dropped 10 degrees and the wind picked up to the point where it wasn't much fun being in a boat on the water.  The line up to the boat launch was 15+ deep by the time we decided to call it a day and we ended up waiting for over an hour just to get our boat back on the trailer and out of the water. 


Along the way I've also taken in the Global Fest fireworks as I do every year.  There is a clip on my youtube channel of some of this years show as well.  I just love fireworks and was happy that I could make it out for a few different nights during the fest.  Jodi, Christian and I went a couple of times and then by Sister and Brother-in-law came down to see the finale and we went to check them out again that night.  As always they are spectacular and I highly recommend this event if you have nothing to do in the last couple weeks of August next year. 


Oh... minor foot note... t'was my birthday on 14th.


Unfortunately the summer can't be all fun and games.  I've spent some time doing domestic chores, helping friends out with their home projects and even tackling my outstanding chores too. This past weekend I finally re-grouted the tile in my bathroom shower.  That will teach me to do it properly the first time round!  


Coming up in the next couple of months.  Thanksgiving is the second weekend in Oct so I'll be making a trip up to Edmonton to celebrate with my mom.  Also in Sept is a comedy night that my friend Jodi invited me to.  In November we're getting a bunch of people together to go to "Just for Laughs" which should be a great time.  I'm really looking forward to those two comedy events. Of course at the end of October is Halloween.  I have a costume picked out this time round so hopefully it still fits by the time I need to use.  No I'm not telling what it is... I'll post a pic up here after I get a chance to use it though! 


Well, I'm sure I've forgotten a few things but I should probably wrap this up.  Talk to you soon!