CaptainOrange

This post will soon be a glorious and philosophical examination of my trip around the city of Saskatoon. For now, I want you to know that I have been successful in an all too short 16 hours and 17 minutes. Perhaps obsession would be too strong a word to describe it. But, I have been pursuing this goal for more than 10 years. Sometimes without diligence and sometimes with everything I had in me. Why? I have heard that question more often than any other in association with this quest of mine. Some people decree that it doesn't really seem that difficult. Why bother? Some think that it is an inane way to spend 16 hours. Could I be just a little bit crazy? Recently, Wendy wanted to know why it was so important? Why keep going back to this seemingly innocuous task? After all, since my first attempt I have lived in three different towns/cities, I have had two children and I have backpacked through Italy. It seems as though a walk around town should hardly register on the radar. I didn...

I've been waiting for the opportune moment. And here it is. Saturday, Aug 26 will mark my third attempt to walk around the city of Saskatoon in a single day. Here, roughly, is my proposed route. As you can see, it clocks in at around 60km. A pretty heavy investment. Lots of it is asphault, but even more of it is gravel and a fair chunk is just plain off-road. I'll be leaving from my house around 4am (if I can manage it, ug). If I could manage a consistant pace with a few stops, I should be able to do it in 12-14 hours. Tidbits: - first attempted with a group of questers in about 1994. I had to stop (about 38km) due to excruciating joint pain which largely abated, yet lasted for several weeks. -Second attempt in 2005 (completed about 41km). This particular excursion was called on account of the impending hypothermia of my companion. There was a lengthy deluge of rain and hail in the mid to late afternoon! I would love to see any or all of you for portions of the journey. I will ...

It' s not really our style to celebrate with expensive gifts or fancy hotel getaway weekends -- we are just too cheap. But we do like to camp. In contrast to our last camping experience (which you may have read about below), Meadow Lake Provincial Par k was pleasantly vacant of other human beings. We camped for a couple of nights at Greig lake. Here are some of the hightlights.

I worked at the exhibition for a couple of summers, some 12 years ago. What a hell hole. The only thing that can get me back there year after year are the glowing looks on my children's faces and their delighted screams as they tear along the enormous roller-coaster. Children's day isn't really half bad. $10 and the kids can ride until they drop. It's a bit of a zoo, but we were fortunate this year. A short blast of wind and an hour of rain really thinned the line-ups. Naturally, we all had umbrellas and rain gear. This is a video montage of our day set to The Beatle's lyrics and Bono's vocals. Little history (wikipedia) for those with inclination.

Last month I saw a woman cycling to work. Admirable in itself. She was dressed in a pants suit which made her biking look that much more important. In one hand she carried a briefcase and in the other she was talking on her cell phone. My only question at the time was which one would she drop if she lost her balance, as she was riding with no hands. Today, Brad sent me a link to some fellows who thought that it was cool to take coffee on their bikes. They were right, of course, but I don't think they went quite far enough for me. If you are going to do something half-assed, you may as well do it full-assed. Here I am fully armed for the modern world. The bike enables me to credibly eat crunchy granola for breakfast while at the same time avoid the skyrocketing gasoline prices. I've got my PDA with MP3s blaring (so I can be organized while oblivious), my cell phone, my digital watch timing my arrival at nirvana, and my coffee keeping me awake for when I finally arrive. Now, don...

Things got off to a bit of a slow start. That is to say that it rained all the first day. Good thing we brought Wendy with us as she came with a whole host of supplies -- rain gear and umbrellas among them. When we did get a chance to be outside, the girls made their old dad proud... We drove to Lloydminster and stopped at Bud Miller All Season Park. The gate was indeed open, but everyone else seemed aware that the 'all season' bit was simply a gimmick. There was no one in the whole place. That's fine. For given that we were headed full speed into the tourist trap of the Alberta long weekend, it was the last privacy which we were likely to have. We had a quick snack at McD's and proceeded toward Edmonton. We stopped at Vegreville on the way for the obligatory photos with their tremendous egg. The rain had mostly stopped by this time and the girls took the opportunity to do a little climbing. I am ashamed to admit that I was compelled to tell Leora "no" w...