YIR 2009

JANUARYDragged my feet back to work after a wicked Christmas break. Christmas in Grand Forks and New Years in Fernie. The photo is New Year's day snowshoeing when we almost got lost.

FEBRUARY

The event season had begun. 14 events from January through March. Here I am spectating (not working!) at the snowboard World Cup at Cypress. Thanks to Rachel for the VIP access.

MARCH

I felt like I got run over by pneumonia but still managed to squeeze in a little fun. Met up with the rowing peeps at my first speed skating event and Rachel and I were snowshoeing up a storm. It is the winter version of Grouse Grind.

APRIL

Travel! This trip straddled two months. Here I am in the desert in Morocco. My first organised tour, and definitely not my last.

MAYI return from Spain (where Rachel, Chris and I enjoyed a tour of Alhambra) and while my tan fades we have a lovely birthday party for Joanna. I buy the Garmin and start stepping up the half marathon training.

JUNE

Amongst a lot of Grouse Grinds I go on a trip to Seattle to see the Clumsy Lovers, take in my first major league baseball game and catch up with Seattle peeps. Photo is of the guy I was dating at the time. I know, random. But I really had no other photos of June. And this is supposed to be the year in review....

JULY

Allison already posted the family bbq photo so I am throwing one in of Stampede. Third year of attendance at Stampede and first year with pregnant people. We found out months later there was actually 2 of them. Rachel and I run 10k in the Underwear Affair. It is painful in the heat and Rachel had a bit of a death march.

AUGUST

Grud visits and we meet the latest Dave. Grand Forks Dunnets are in town and I think I got in more than one picnic with them. Rachel's baby shower brings Seattle friends to town. A very social August.

SEPTEMBER

First trip to Tofino! In love with the place and can't wait to go back. Running on the beach, swimming in the ocean, cooking crab...it was awesome.

OCTOBER

Henry arrives! I don't think I remember much else from October other than running the Turkey Trot with a cold while Rachel walked it. We were both quite uncomfortable but the weather was amazing. And a week or so later my newest friend arrives a little early.

NOVEMBER

I run my 2nd half marathon ever and feel like I am officially back in shape. I also go to NYC for the first time and really enjoy the city. Must go back. I also spend as much time as possible with new nephew.

DECEMBER

We head to Seattle for Kim's baby shower (Henry's first road trip), have a few lasts at work (nearing the finish line) and I book my airfare for my trip next year! Christmas was all about relaxation this year and I can't find a photo with me in it. I guess I was too busy relaxing.

Too much to see

With a huge event on the horizon I am taking some time over the holidays to do a little planning. Trip planning that is. Other events should be well planned at this stage are so I am trying to get organised before that other event starts.

Travel planning is an art and not suited for someone as neurotic as I am. I have spreadsheets and bookmarks, cost versus countries visited analysis, and lots of information/opinions from friends that have done a lot more traveling than me. This is probably the first time I have had this much freedom, and time, to plan for a trip. I'm not bound by a limited amount of vacation time or geography. The only thing holding me back are the seasons and my budget. I'm okay with getting rained on but not sure I am up for living like a backpacker on $25 a day.

Other things to consider:

Accommodation - I don't need to stay in the Four Seasons but I would like to have my own room and bathroom if possible. I just like the idea of locking my stuff up, not listening to someone else snore, and not waking someone else up with my snoring. And...I'm 32...I'm over sharing a room. If I was to stay in hostels I bet I could travel for 12 months and see 20 or so countries. A friend of mine travelled for 12 months on 10k. Said she had a wicked time and was paying between $1-5 a night for accommodation in Central America. But she is a braver soul than me and has admitted she sleeps like the dead.

Organised vs. Solo - I really enjoyed my tour in Morocco with Gap Adventures. I paid extra for my own room, which was worth it, but really enjoyed that someone had planned out the route and I could follow along, picking and choosing which activities I wanted to join in on. And as an introvert, it was great to easily meet people. I hate having to make small talk over and over again. While I wouldn't want to do a Kontiki tour (no name badges and big buses) I do like being in a group of 8 to 12 people where there is flexibility to stop at the smaller sites along the way. Gap Adventures, Intrepid and Exodus all have this type of format. Gap offers the option of paying extra to have your own room. I could easily make up a tour of these trips but the challenge is the cost and the fact that there is little spontaneity. It is end to end organise. No stopping for a week on that beautiful beach, or cutting out that big city tour because you're not in the mood.

Roughing It - Having very limited experience in camping I am a bit scared of Oasis. I met two Aussies on the Morocco tour that had just been through Africa with them. They loved it. It was super cheap and they covered off 10 countries in 2 and a half months for about 3k. As it was all overland, they felt they had seen it all, up close and personal. The bargain makes it super tempting. The equivalent trips with Gap are closer to 6k and are also 'participant camping'. They also do tours through South America.

Where to go - I've seen bits and pieces; some of Europe, some of Asia, Costa Rica, but not really all of something. Do I take this time to fill in the missing pieces? Or am I okay with not seeing Laos? Really enjoyed Vietnam and would love to spend more time there; is now the time to go back? Or do I start a new continent? All of Africa or Nepal and a beach tour of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore? Do I even bother stopping in Europe? I will be flying through on my way to Nepal; do I sneak in 3 days in Paris? I'm sure I'm going to have a great time wherever I go, but still debating over whether I should focus in on one area or jump around. I was going to do a theme trip of all trekking; Annapurna, Kilimanjaro and Mount Blanc. Asia, Africa and Europe. But added together they make for a very pricey trip and me not actually seeing that many new countries.

Break it up? - My other debate is if I should do two trips and come home to catch my breath and enjoy summer in between. Head out for Nepal etc. for April through June, enjoy July and August in Vancouver, then head to South America or Central America or Africa for the fall. Risk is that I will come home, get a job and not finish my travels. Or that I will blow my travel money living it up in Vancouver.

I think I've spent about 8 hours today researching for my trip. Might be time to shut down the computer and work on something else.

Christmas highlight reel

A great Christmas in Vancouver this year.

It kicked off with Christmas Eve at Rachel and Chris'. An evening of great food, lots o kidz, and a couple episodes of 30 Rock. Does it get any better? I also used video skype for the first time. Awesome! Please, everyone in the family sign up, I will be using this during my travels next year. My user name is 'hazbnrower'. :) So great to see the Dunnet Chicago branch of Christmas Eve. Love technology.

Above are some of the Dunnet and Jonat boys on Christmas Eve. Cute eh? So impressed they are all looking at the camera.

I slept over at R and C's for Christmas Eve. Henry woke from a coma just when we were all going to bed. I think that was the only time I heard him before 7am but rumor has it he was up every 2 hours.

Spent a quality hour and half with H while is parent's caught some sleep on Christmas morning. I even put the carrier on and made myself coffee. Not sure it gets any better than nespresso and newborn sleeping on you.
We opened stockings (thanks Santa!) and presents, had homemade breakfast sandwiches and then went for a walk/run as it was a spectacular day out. Above is Henry really happy with his stocking.

FYI Santa was great to me; great stocking, and presents from H, R and C for my travels. Not that it is about the gifts; that was all bonus after the great evening and relaxing morning.

I third wheeled on the family walk and went for a bit of a run. First run outside since the half marathon in November and the day was perfect.

We all split up after, me home to mash potatoes, Jonats off for Jonat Christmas.

Headed over to Mum's with the mash potatoes around 4pm and spent the evening there.

Highlight for me was some quality time with Kaz late in the evening. Here he is climbing over his passed out Dad (too many rum and cokes!).

Boxing Day brunch at Chach and Dave's; Grand Forks Dunnets are all about Wii. Disappointed to have missed the Boxing Day run but the cold is starting to win and I am not feeling great. Awesome breakfast casserole thing at Chach's and it was a nice chill morning.

Next up: the Grud returns to Vancouver!!!!!!!!!!

'I can see clearly now....'

'...the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way.' Johnny Nash

Other song lines running through my head in the last 24 hours.

'I wear my sunglasses at night. So I can, so I can...' Corey Hart

The sunglasses song was as I was sitting in my living room wearing sunglasses while eating a super late lunch.

Yesterday at about 2:30pm I paid $1580 to have a surgeon do this to both of my eyes. I have to say the worst is when they put the ring around your eyeball because on the left eye it was super tight and uncomfortable. Feels like your eyeball is being squished. And that is the part where you vision goes black so that was also a bit worrying. Other weird parts are watching the surgeon rake a tiny brush across your eye to make sure the flap is sitting smooth. It is like your eye has turned into a camera and you kind of watch it happening. Surreal. Overall, a short amount of discomfort for what I am hoping is a lot of comfort for the next ten years when I am not wearing glasses. And never having to wear contacts again.

I also really enjoyed the Ativan they gave me right before the surgery.

One more week of no eye makeup, a month of being super careful outdoors, and I should be good to go.

Only noticeable signs of the surgery are a couple of broken blood vessels in my eye. If you actually lift up my eyelid they are worse on the top of my eye and are big bruises. Small price to pay for 20/20 vision.

All about dinner

Had a lovely barbecue feast last Sunday evening at Memphis Blues with Mum, Harry, Rachel, Chris and Henry. The four of us from downtown walked (FYI it is 4.4kms one way) there and back to meet to Memphis Blues on Commercial. I am really enjoying the walking these days...especially when it is not raining.

Dinner was a protein feast. Can't even remember the last time I had ribs. Had the combo plate and only made it through 1 rib and 1/3 of the chicken before I called it quits. I did eat the sides (fries, beans, corn bread and slaw). All washed down with a beer. Yum.

Other restaurants I've eaten at recently.

Campagnolo

I went for dinner post-work a few weeks ago with Kristina and Beth. Walking there from Main street skytrain I didn't know quite what to expect as it was right next to sketchville but looked to have a fantastic menu. Outside dodgy; inside cool modern and inviting. Excellent Italian food and I kicked the meal off with presseco. Just because. Had a Vancouver market salad and a pizza. Felt like I really might have been in Italy.

Grub

Another post-work meal with Jacqui and Kristina. FYI Kristina has the hot hand with restaurant picks as this was her pick as well as Campagnolo.

From the exterior I again had no idea what to expect. On main street a little farther south and so subtle we almost walked by it.

We started with the bread as we waited for the third and it was a massive serving of assorted breads with hummus, butter and olive tapenade. Third arrived and we ordered; had steak with mash potatoes and veggies. Amazing! Generous portions and the food was perfection. Simple fare that was extremely well done and at very reasonable prices.

Bistro Pastis

This time it was dinner with Jodi and Anna. Jodi and I go out for dinner every 4-6 weeks to catch up and we like to eat at higher end restaurants. C, Chambar, Goldfish and Glowball so far. All excellent. It was Jodi's choice and I decided to make the effort to meet her and Anna OTB (over the bridge) as they both live in Kits.

Pastis felt like being Europe; warm, inviting and cozy. Had the endive salad to start; was a bit too cheesy for my taste as I am not a huge fan of Roquefort but still good.

Went with the bacon wrapped tenderloin for main. C'est fantastique! I never cook red meat so I often go for it when it looks like it is going to be good. Almost wanted to go for dessert but didn't have the space and it was 10:30pm at the point.
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No plans for any dining out this weekend but am really making an effort to try out new (to me) restaurants as much as possible. Not that I don't enjoy Earl's, Milestones and the Keg, but feeling like I should be diversifying my taste.

Back at it

I've just enjoyed a vegetarian chili and rice dish Rachel gave me after my Sunday run (treadmill). So tasty and healthy but really hope I won't be too full to enjoy Memphis Blues ribs in a couple of hours.

Life has been busy since I returned from my New York trip on Wednesday but I finally got some quality hanging out time in with R and H. We made stew (a first for me) had sushi for dinner and I watched the film Angels and Demonds while Henry slept on me. It was an awesome Saturday afternoon/evening and I now feel organised as I head into a busy week with laundry done and food in the freezer.

More (higher quality) pictures from new york on facebook. Not that any of it compares to the amazing stuff Dave has been putting up. Although, it looks like he is resting on his laurels in the blog world.

Day 4 NYC: wrap it up

Day 4 kicked off with brunch. Dominika was running late so I grabbed a latte in the Essex market. See attached photo of coffee beans. One man show coffee bar with old school espresso machine. After a late night with drinks (only 3 but that is a lot for me) I welcomed the caffeine.

Brunch was at Shopsin's in the market. Tiny breakfast and lunch place with great food where the staff are known to be rude. I was hoping we would get yelled at when Dominika asked what 'Hatch" was (hot pepper sauce) but they waited right until we left and yelled at us for trying to take a photo of the place. I had 3 poached eggs on spicy, cheesy garlic bread with peppers and chicken sausage. Yum.

Said goodbye Dominika (who was the best tour guide ever!) and got on the subway to head to Battery Park for Ellis Island ferry.

This experience was by far the most touristy. Full security check to get on airport, long lines and crush of humanity. After security we all piled onto to ferry; first stop Statue of liberty. Very cool seeing it from ferry.

Having purchased a ticket yesterday I actually got to go into the pedestal. Another round of security to get in and no phones allowed (sorry, no camera phone pics). Pedestal was very cool. Neat history on how it was but and restored, along with 156 steps to the lookout on the pedestal. You can visit the crown again (was shut down after 9 11) but tickets are sold out for it until March. Wandered around listening to audio tour and taking photos.

Next event was supposed to be Ellis island but I was exhausted and not in the mood for more tours. Maybe next time.

Ferry back to Battery Park and subway to Rockefeller plaza. And mixed nuts from street vendor. See photo.

Day 2 I had a brief visit NBC store but didn't look around and took no photos as I was running late for Greenwich food tour. Picked up a half dozen famous Magnolia's cupcakes (hope they make it home) and watched the ice skaters. Definite Christmas feel.

Now I am going to look for somewhere to get a pedicure. Tired feet.

Heading to Newark airport hotel in a few hours and then on 7am flight tomorrow. May take my only taxi ride when I bring my luggage to Penn station (to get to Newark) as it is 5 blocks and 2 subway transfers from hotel.

Awesome trip and I am looking forward to coming back soon.