Quick Trip and Surprises

A couple of weeks back Christina and I took off for the weekend to her brothers cabin. Her brother requested that we take his truck up there and leave it there for him. It was my duty to drive the big rig. It was a bit of a rough ride with a pushing side wind and the click clack of big rubber pads on the tires but it also was a nice change of perspective on the road. After driving my little Honda for so long it seemed weird, yet fun, to be that high up.

Upon arrival at the cabin we found a couple new surprises. A stuffed otter and a giant bottle of vodka.

 A lovely father,daughter, and stuffed weasel moment.

The vodka bottle came with its own light in the base. It actually looked really cool when it was all lit up.

Pouring out of it though was quite a challenge but I attacked it like a trooper. 

All in all it was the perfect quick getaway from the city.

I find that if I am in the city for a month on end I just need to  get out and re-charge my batteries. Hopefully, we'll get out there a couple more times this year.

The encore! Group Golfing With Edmonton Opera

As stated elsewhere I volunteer occasionally with the Edmonton Opera and the encore! group. One of the perks of working with the organization is an occasional invitation to their fundraising events. This year I was lucky enough to join them for their annual golf tournament. Along with Paul, Stella and Kierstin we took on the challenging Glendale Golf and Country Club in a Texas Scramble.

  The course has many rolling hills and a periscope is required to judge whether it is safe to hit.

Swingers.

I was the most experienced golfer of the bunch (which is scary) and we often found ourselves in these types of predicaments.

We didn't fare much better on the greens and after missing an impossibly easy putt the penalty was pushups.

There was great representation from the sponsors and funders. Many cool little games and freebies were given out. I even met a nice Uptown Girl.

Swing camera GIF action of my form.

We finished with a new world record for futility in a scramble at an unfathomable plus 12.  But, Paul ended up getting rewarded for an extraordinary shot with an entry into a million dollar hole in one challenge. We waited with bated breath...just look at the nerves showing below ;)... but luck wasn't on his side.

Overall, though it was a fun day, with fantastic weather and great company.

Thanks Edmonton Opera, Can't wait for the season to start in the fall!

Humboldt in Edmonton

A couple of weekends ago my buddies Bryce and Glenn came to town. Originally Bryce was going to flat track race in Thorhild but the weather report said there would be rain. Not one to pass up on a good time they came anyways to hang out with Dan and myself.

After some drinks at Julio's, and the Tilted Kilt we hit up the Pint for some table kegs. It quickly became a shit show.

Around this time we got Andrew on the phone and made the announcement of the newest members to the Humboldt Fucking Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Cal "Fucking" Hobbes and Ryan "Fucking" Merkosky. 

The night continued to blur on to the Black Dog and a long cab ride home.

The next day we headed downtown and briefly checked out the Pride Parade - it was pretty gay...heyo!

We powered up again with some specialty jello shots placed into orange peels. They were fabulous...heyo!

All powered up we headed to Dan's and had a great BBQ before heading to the basement to drink OV. Just look at these athletes lined up. Seriously though, we're athletes.

The morning was a little rough but hanging with Dan's girl  Hazel helped wake us all up. Note the model like pose and the goofy pose...the girl has range.

 And she is an artist.

It was a great weekend with the old boys from Humboldt. Drinking too much warm OV, taking one joke and running it into the ground and hanging out in a basement. It was like a great trip back in time..

But, Fuck it all came to an end by noon on Sunday.

Thanks for coming to town and hanging out guys. Thanks to Chrissy and Deb for putting up with us. We'll have to do it again soon.

Bonus picture: The Family Dan from the weekend.

Rugby Couple

Last weekend my friends Kevin and Melinda came down from Grande Prairie to play rugby in Edmonton.  I jumped at the chance to hang out at the pitches all day drinking beer and watching.

Big Daddy Kevin of the Centaurs

Melinda of the Sirens

Melinda was playing Prop and was pretty bad ass in the scrums and lineouts. Very impressive.

Kevin seemed to be playing all over the place. It looked like he got some time in as a hooker, prop, 8 man and in the backs.

Dan and his girl Hazel came out to witness the action. Hazel had the best seat in the house.

At one time - all three of us were athletes.

Kevin modelling both of his teams jerseys on the day. Note: the pink one was for a charity initiative.

It was great to watch the two of them play. Melinda is a natural out there and Kevin is of course a bit of a superstar. Proven by his multiple tries on the day. It's funny - I still remember his first try ever quite well. It was later in his high-school career and he finished a fantastic team effort of rolling rucks and malls that went down the length of the whole field. After that - the floodgates opened.

I'm already looking forward to their next trip to Edmonton and watching both Kevin and Melinda popping in a few on their next time around.

Really?

We found this in the mailbox earlier this week.

So much to love...

Lake Louise (Chrissy Sojourn Part 4)

After hanging around in Banff for a couple of days we decided to head down the road to Lake Louise for a bit of a look see. As we drove North along the TransCanada we started to encounter more and more snow. It made for an ideal setting for a walk around the lake at the Château.

   

 Inside the Château Chrissy and I posed for the now customary pictures.  

 For some reason that I can't fully fathom I really liked this chandelier.

Of course the last and best stop on any roadtrip is going for ice-cream. Tiger-Tiger!