CaptainOrange

If you "missed out" on the first two posts related to this vacation... Here is  Our trip out and some early adventures  in Waterloo. There are a few items left on our vacation agenda that I would like to discuss. Stratford is less than an hour from Waterloo. We made a lovely afternoon trip out to see Alice: Through the Looking Glass . Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are childhood favourites of mine and I have read them both to Leora and Anwyn. So, while Gus worked and Darwyn stayed with Joanne (the current au pair), Wendy and the girls and I went with Greta and Max. We arrived with enough time to enjoy some amazing chocolates (for Wendy, Anwyn, Greta and Max) from Rheo Thompson Candies and coffee/cheesecake (for Me and Leora) from Coffee Culture . They were both quite close to the Avon Theatre. We all enjoyed the show, but Greta and Max thought the story was a bit impenetrable. That sounds about right for Lewis Carroll ;) I found the visuals qui...

Greta loves me, so there was pizza on the day of our arrival. One with meat (boo!) and three vegetarian options (yaa!). Like our family, they like to eat outside nearly exclusively in the summer. They have a wonderful, sheltered deck with burgeoning grape vines and a peach tree surrounding it with vibrant leaves. Max knows how to get attention and is incredibly full of energy. The first thing he wanted to show me was his room. At this point, he was called "Super Bat." He was only too happy to continue throwing himself off his dresser until I got the perfect shot with my camera. Darwyn was pretty shy of me at first. Her reluctance to smile, despite my strategic sulking, was heartbreaking (if typical). I'm used to this response from my work at the library and managed to persevere in short order. Success!!! I got to tell them a bedtime story. We made up a lengthy story about Super Bat Max and Fairy Princess Darwyn. We also sang to guitar:  Pete the Cat Loves His W...

We've been planning this trip to visit Greta, Gus, Max and Darwyn for 6-8 months. As departure drew near, our darling 8 month old cat, Lylah, got very sick. We still don't know what exactly is wrong with her. But, a recent remission in symptoms and an offer of help from  +James Diakuw  meant we were able to leave nearly on schedule. Of course, there was an immediate detour due to some of the recent flooding in Saskatchewan. The upside is that we were treated to many new lakes spilling their banks and covered with a fine mesh of pelicans. Much less used to human interaction, none of them wanted to pose for a photograph. I won't take it personally. They didn't seem to want to be very close to one another, either. The detour lead us to Wadena, which meant a mandatory stop at the bakery there https://goo.gl/maps/oZIQx . That made me think of Great Granny. We stopped at the same bakery last year as we all drove to lay her remains to rest. She WAS great . We pressed ...

Once I heard my heart beat in the crinkly-muffled silence of your long snow tunnel the damp fog of my exhalation barely visible in the blue black of your depths You pressed on my shoulders and I imagined the cloud of sobs condense and freeze imperceptibly shrinking the space I had left to breathe I'm still here...

Pretty hard to get this photo wrong Up before sunrise again. Even though there is only a two hour difference between Saskatchewan and California, neither of us has managed to adjust. Wendy wants to try and sleep in, so I am going to head to the Golden Gate Bridge. I think I can catch the sunrise. SF skyline at sunrise Not Alcatraz I missed my first bus, but when I arrived, this is what the SF skyline looked like. Alcatraz is beside my pinky. To the right of the awesomely giant cable, you can make out bits of the Bay bridge and then... the other stuff. At this point I'm about 1/3 of the way across. There were no other pedestrians at 7am, but there were plenty of cyclists. Every couple of minutes, I was passed at high speed by a flight of whizzing spandex. At the far side I managed to find a way to walk under the bridge. Their security is a bit more forceful than under the Broadway Bridge at home. The razor wire did, in fact, deter me (the shame). Mario's Dream. ...

My Preciousss... At 2am Wendy startled me awake. There was scratching on the roof. I leapt out of bed and closed our skylight fearing something big, like a racoon, skunk or jaguar might come tumbling in. We haven't quite worked it out, but at 8am, it seemed more likely that it was mice or squirrels and not jaguars. In the morning, when we awoke for the second time, we were tired and a bit too sore to get out of bed. San Francisco hurts my ass! But, in a good way ;) The hills and stairs are really omnipresent. Also, we haven't been great about catching the bus (which SF folks call the 'muni'). Everything seems really close--and by Saskatoon standards it is--but the vertical is a really big thing.  +david aschim , I have renewed respect for your trail running. This morning we headed back to Golden Gate park. It is huge and there is still some stuff we missed. We stopped for breakfast at  Amitis Cafe . Wen had a great toasted sandwich and I had a mediocre coffee. ...

Lots of these strange things in SF??? Went for a run this morning. I've had my eye on the Twin Peaks since I got here. According to my GPS, it is only 2.2 miles from where we are staying--Oh yeah, stupid Google decided that since I came to the US, I must now want all my measurement in imperial--anyway, I thought I would give it a try. I mentioned this to our hosts, Jorge and Nico, and they seemed to think it was a little odd. It was only 240m worth of ascent, but I found it quite difficult. The grade on these SF streets is really something else. Had you ever heard that? It was pretty grueling work, but the view was totally worth it. Wendy suggested that I not take my phone while scrabbling up the slope so you will have to make due with an iPhone panorama. Sigh. View From Twin Peaks -- Stupid iPhone :( We spent most of today at Fisherman's Wharf and specifically on pier 39. We saw a pretty lame aquarium and went on a cool boat tour of the bay. My legs were really kil...