Catching Up

Well, I guess it’s about time I got back to business now that the Olympics are long over. So let’s get up to date, shall we?

The weekend the Olympics started, we checked the dogs into camp and headed into Palm Springs. Friday evening, we went to our first opera, La Traviata, put on by a regional opera company and starring a woman Sandy knows from golf. Wow, we were so impressed with Jamie’s performance!  Her singing was amazing and she played the role so convincingly that I was mesmerized throughout the performance. This won’t be our last opera.

Jamie (Violettta) with the black gloves

We stayed overnight in Palm Springs as we had an 08:00 roll out for the 50 mile route in the Tour of Palm Springs the next morning. This is a huge charity ride, with over 7000 participants. This year it raised over 3 millions dollars for local charities.  It was a perfect day, weather wise, but we weren’t too pleased with the route, and some dangerous riding by some of the participants so we won’t do this event again.

February 10, 08:00 start. Pretty nice weather already!

We had a busy go of it during the two weeks of the Olympics; out cycling in the mornings then binge watching the Games in the afternoons and evenings. So many events, so little time; lots of it spent on cross country skiing, biathlon, and speed skating, but I am pretty sure we saw something of everything. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Canada specific coverage as we were at the mercy of NBC, but they did a pretty good job of providing coverage of most of the events.  Our sports viewing didn’t end with the Olympics, as when they were done, there were World Cup finals and World Championships in many of the winter sports so we just kept on going in fan mode through most of February. I think our eyes are finally starting to blink normally after spending so much time in front of the TV! 

The world fell in love with Virtue and Moir, but what a season for figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond, who trains at the Ice Palace in West Edmonton Mall. Olympic gold in the team event and bronze in the women’s event, followed up with gold in the women’s competition at the World Championships! I stumbled on the live broadcast of the women’s event and was glued to the set as none of her competitors, including the Olympic champion, could match her stunning performance.

Kaetlyn Osmond, Black Swan long programme routine

March was busy with visits from both my friend, Linda, and my sister, Patti. The day Linda arrived, I had us signed up for a sushi making class at our clubhouse. The chef-instructor was very impressed with how well we assembled our rolls, “the best,” he claimed. Linda says it was because we have been cycling team mates for many years that we work so well  together… at least when we aren’t trying to one up one another in everything else we do!

Kate rolling sushi

Linda and Kate's "best in class" sushi rolls

The next day, Sandy drove us to Algadones, Mexico, just across the border from Yuma.  Sandy and I had been craving the best tacos we ever had at a little restaurant we found there last year. When we finally located it, however, it was closed, but the place next door was almost as good. While checking out the shops, we discovered a new food to add to our training regimens … not that we are looking for any short cuts!

Could this be the next new training supplement?

And never under estimate what you can get in Mexico, if only you pay attention!

We did a little Geocaching while there, which is a good way to get off the beaten track and discover places and things that one would otherwise miss by sticking to the usual tourist trails. While exploring a side street in search of a Geocache, we heard Sandy call to us.  She says now there is no denying what an angel she is!

We continue to venture out with our hiking club and have a new favourite hike at Borrego Springs, about a 45 minute drive south of our place. The hike is only about 3 miles return, but the scenery is beautiful the whole way. At a few points along the hike, we could hear the sound of trickling water, which is not very common in the desert. Sure enough, there were a couple of small streams making their way through the rocks, and creating lush little greenbelts all along their courses.  

Starting off on our Borrego Springs hike

A little desert wildlife along the way

 A stream in the desert

The objective of the hike is a natural palm oasis. How stunning to come across such a spectacular, contrasting display of nature in the desert. 

Following the stream towards the palm oasis

Amongst the tall palms in the oasis

I continue to do some baking, usually trying something new when we have guests over for game night. With two lemon trees in our yard, we have lots of lemons to use up, so I am always on the look out for recipes that employ them. A new recipe I found was for lemon cake with lemon cream cheese icing. This was my first attempt at a layer cake, and construction wise, let’s just say I think I learned some lessons for next time; flavour wise, this one was a hit! 

The icing recipe was very generous, so I saved some in the freezer. When my sister was here, we had another game night, so I needed to bake something for dessert following the game. Sandy requested carrot cake. I figured this was a great suggestion as this would be a good time to use the left over lemon cream cheese icing. Although Sandy made a comment about me “messing with her cake” this was an excellent combination and received lots of complements.

Lemon cake with lemon cream cheese icing

My sister, Patti, was here for a week. Mostly, we just hung out together enjoying sister time. She whipped me but good at just about every game we played.  I think she may have been cheating when I wasn’t looking, either that or the big sister was doing her bit to make sure the baby sister stays humble!

Before I wrap up this edition, I guess a doggie update is in order. Rockie has completed all her nose work classes for the season, finishing off with the advanced class. She absolutely loved it.  Next up for her is her exam for the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen certificate. Here’s hoping her handler (that would be me) doesn’t screw up on exam day. In the meantime, the geckos, lizards, and snakes are out of hibernation. So far no snake sightings, but Rockie is on constant look out for geckos and lizards in our yard. 

First gecko catch of 2018!

Benny had a good winter, but is less than thrilled with the rising daytime temperatures that are now happening. When it is too hot for him to go for a walk, which is anything about about 21C, Sandy takes him for a ride in the golf cart. He practically flies to the door with grand enthusiasm when she asks if he wants to go for a ride.

Benny with his chauffeur

Easter has come and gone. We had a wonderful Easter dinner and evening with friends, which we were able to enjoy outside. What a contrast to Alberta, where it was the coldest Easter in Edmonton since 1940.  I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been eating outdoors there!  Our chocolate Easter bunnies succumbed to the classic demise for their type ...

... consumption from the ears down!

Hopefully, the next update won’t be so long in coming, however, we are getting busy with season ending wind-up activities, so who knows when I will get back to the keyboard. 😊

The Games Have Begun!

It’s here! The XXIII Winter Olympics, PyeongChang 2018. Forty-eight nations are scheduled to compete, but I don’t know if the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” are included in that team count. Team Canada is 225 athletes strong and looking to do well in many disciplines. 

Last night, we were already caught up watching action in first day competitions in team figure skating and mixed doubles curling. Who knew about mixed doubles curling? Not us! Have we spent too many winters in the desert without curling coverage and missed this development?  A very interesting twist on the old rock game, and I bet if you start watching a match, you won’t be dragging yourself away from the tube too soon. Team Canada looked pretty solid.

Well, this is one short and sweet blog update. I am going to be pretty busy the next two weeks, and may well have square eyes before its all over. I will then only have a short two years to recover and get ready to take in the next Summer Olympiad, Tokyo 2020.  For now, it’s all about PyeongChang and games on ice and snow. These games are made for us Canucks! Go Team Canada Go!

And what events am I most looking forward to? Let’s see:  

• Long track speed skating
• Biathlon
• Alpine downhill skiing
• Ski jumping
• Short track speed skating
• Skeleton (of course, an old anatomist is gonna like this for the name alone!)
• Free style skiing ski cross
• Snowboard half pipe
• Figure skating
• Hockey
• and pretty much everything else

The official sports logos for PyeongChang 2018

Enjoy taking in your favourite Olympic winter sports and perhaps discovering a few that are new to you as we already have. So, get your red mittens out and cheer on Team Canada and the good old maple leaf. 

We encourage our friends and family who will be following Team USA or Team Great Britain to show their team support. Sorry, looks like Team GB doesn't now about mittens, so they get a tuque. 

You know what we will spending our off-bike time doing from now until February 25.  Happy Winter Olympics, everyone!

Please note:  all images have been downloaded from the internet. 

It’s All About Being Flexible

No, I am not talking about being a contortionist, but rather about being flexible in what we do. In December, we had planned to go cycling in the San Diego area with our cycling buddy, Ed. A couple of days before we were to depart, the wild fires that plagued parts of coastal southern California grew massively, fed by dry hot inland winds blowing towards the coast. When new fires developed just outside San Diego we decided to re-schedule. Fast forward to January, and we flexed that coastal trip into a visit with our friends, Rick and Jan from North Vancouver, who were staying in Oceanside for a couple of weeks. Rain was in the forecast, so we decided a couple of days off the bikes and on foot would be good for us.

We left on a Monday and it started to rain just as we were approaching the coast. We checked into our hotel and walked through a gentle rain shower to Rick and Jan’s place. 

Just as we settled in to enjoy their fire pit at the beach, the rain really picked up. Another change of plans and we were off to enjoy dinner out together. 

With Rick and Jan at their fire pit

It rained heavily through the night, with the storm taking out a power substation leaving our hotel and about 1500 buildings without power for a few hours Tuesday morning. 

Storm coming in, Monday evening 

Tuesday morning, we met Rick and Jan at the train station to head to San Diego. It rained enroute, but most of the day we only had intermittent showers while we walked all around Old Town. It poured while we were in for lunch, then again later in the afternoon when we popped into a brew pub for a beverage. Again, no rain while we walked back to the station, steady rain on the train back to Oceanside, and pouring rain once more through the night. We were pretty impressed that despite getting 3 inches of rain while at the coast, it’s coming and going really had no significant impact on our trip. 

Bird of Paradise blossoms in San Diego

Wednesday morning, however, the news was full of stories about the storm’s impact on some communities.  We looked outside to see that the parking lot across from our hotel was flooded. Terrible mudslides hit San Bernadino and Montecito where the December wild fires, the largest in California’s history, had burned off the vegetation and baked the ground. When these heavy rains fell, the run-off was dramatic, leading to the damaging, and fatal, mudslides. We were relieved that we only had to deal with a temporary power outage! 

Rough water Wednesday morning after the storm

Western Gull on guard duty, Oceanside pier

This passed Sunday, we were invited to join some friends to watch polo at the Eldorado Polo Club. This meant that our usual long Sunday bike ride had to be flexed into a shorter, faster ride so we could get to polo on time. It pays to know people as our hosts knew someone who had a corporate tent that wasn’t booked, so they let Mike and MJ have use of it. We felt like the rich and famous as we comfortably watched the matches from under the shade on an afternoon when the temperature reached over 80F (over 26C).  Oh, and it goes without saying that there was lots of good food to enjoy. 

As long as the ball is inside the red barrier,
it remains in play. The horses can come over the barrier (blue rider #2), so there is about a 10 yard buffer zone
between the barrier and the spectators.

So where’s the flexibility here? Well, a polo field is 300 yards by 160 yards, with an area equivalent to approximately 9 US sized football fields. A couple of weeks ago, we were cycling by and noticed that a massive field lacrosse tournament was being held on the polo fields. I don’t know how many games they had going at once, but there seemed to be lacrosse players as far as the eye could see, with many of the polo fields each converted into multiple lacrosse fields.

Lacrosse tournament. 

Our house, here, has two bedrooms, no den. What is a poor nerd like me to do without a place to have a desk to “work” at? I mean, really, my dad brought home a school desk for me to work at (puzzles, plasticine, colouring, etc.) before I even started school! I was frustrated to have my desk here crammed between the bed and the window in the second bedroom. This was practically making me apoplectic! I tried out all sorts of different room configurations, made little scale drawings with sofa beds, day beds, no beds. Nothing seemed to be the solution I was looking for. Finally, when my sister was here last year, we searched the internet until we found the perfect solution: a Murphy bed that is desk by day, and bed by night. The great news was, that there is a Murphy bed store in the area that can build this model! I was one excited and delighted nerd!!

It was too late in the season to have the piece ordered, built, and installed before we left, so I arranged to have it ready for installation in late November.  Much to my wallet’s relief, the mattress from our existing guest bed fit in the Murphy bed; it was almost too thick, but it fits just fine and makes for a very comfortable bed. 

 It took the boys almost 4 hours to do the installation.

I now have  a study here! I am the happiest nerd I know!!! Just like at home, I share my study with the dogs as that is where they have their beds and stay at night or when we are out. I have my space, the dogs have their space, and Sandy is more than happy to have us out of her space!

The desk stays parallel to the floor through the transition from desk to bed, which takes less than 30 seconds.

Even Rockie has been working on her flexibility. Why wander all the way down the hall to her bed when she can find another space to make herself perfectly comfortable?

So there you have it. Kate and Sandy, and the dogs, working on their flexibility in retirement. I just don’t know why the city works department couldn’t show some flexibility when they were doing a major drainage project that turned part of the road into a rather impressive trench.

Really?!?!?

Winter Hibernation

I have to confess, although we have escaped the rather brutal cold spells that have been visiting most of Canada and the eastern half of the USA, we still seem to have gone into winter hibernation mode. How interesting, that despite the sun, and warmer than usual temperatures in southern California (we are still in shorts every day), the primitive parts of our brains still know it is winter and make one just want to hunker down and conserve energy. Although the days are about two hours longer here than at home, that additional daylight is due to early sunrises; the sun sets early, currently making it dark right around 5PM. That makes for some loonnnnggg evenings, that usually find us in full relax mode watching TV, not our usual activity. Sandy enjoys history of the great wars, and I have discovered the Olympics channel. I don’t want to have to fess up to how much time I have spent watching World Cup competitions in cyclocross, cross-country skiing, biathlon, and speed skating. And don’t even think of disturbing me once the Winter Olympics start in February!!

We hope you had a great Christmas and New Year’s season. We miss spending that time with our families, but are able to share it with wonderful friends we have made here. The season started off with the annual golf cart parade. We won the prize last year when we put lights on ourselves and our bikes and cycled the parade route. Since we now have a golf cart, we decorated it instead. No prize for us this year, but apparently our effort last year inspired the organizers to create a special prize for decoration that was “outside the box.” 

Our entry in the golf cart parade

Our neighbours and good friends, Ron and Joanne, have been volunteering at a local community support charity, the Galilee Center. Just before Christmas, the organization was gifted with 450 bicycles to be given to needy families. There was one catch, they needed help getting them all assembled, so we spent a day helping out. There were bikes of all sizes, and of course each type had to be put together differently.

Working on one of the many bikes we put together

This was a good workout for our old brains! Note the assembly and use instructions for the trikes we put together.

We never did find the spare part mentioned in #2. Hope no one ate it!

The bikes were donated by a retired physician, who has made his fortune as an author. He had an alcoholic father who kept promising to get him a bike, all he ever wanted, but a bike never arrived. He has always felt that every child should be able to have a bike. When he found out that there were only enough bikes for each family to receive one, he and his son wrote out cheques for over $20,000 to make sure every kid gets a bike next year. I think we will be spending more then one day at an assembly table next year!

A few of the bikes

We were out for a ride the day the bikes were given away and saw two trucks go by that were taking some of those bikes to some, no doubt, soon to be very happy kids. That sure brought smiles to our faces!!

Even more bikes.

Christmas day, we went out for our annual Christmas Morning Because We Can bike ride. It was a beautiful sunny day, but with no snow on the mountains, it was really hard to believe it was Christmas.

Ready to ride with Christmas carols playing through the
red wireless speaker on my handle bars

Christmas Day in our neighborhood

While walking the dogs, I finally come across some snowflakes!

After the holiday season, we had some left over eggnog. With a bit of research, I was able to find a recipe for eggnog cupcakes. Needing someone to share them with, we decided to have some friends over for Games and Dessert Night.  After a rousing game of cards, I served up the cupcakes. They were a hit but I did receive feedback that I should have put more icing on them (must have been the rum talking!). If you like cake, eggnog, and rum, you might be interested in the recipe. Let me know and I will send it to you.

Eggnog cupcakes.

This year, we joined our community hiking club and have enjoyed some wonderful desert scenery in some spectacular nearby locations we had not previously explored. Our first hike was in the Painted Canyon, which is aptly named as the rock formations are an amazing variety of different colours including shades of blue, pink, green, black, and beige.

In the Painted Canyon.
Hard to believe the the guy behind us is 83 years old!

The second hike we did with the group was one of the many trails in Indian Canyons. This day, we went through a natural palm oasis before heading out into the desert and lots of hill work.

Kate taking a photo of Sandy as we start the hike

Of course, we have been spending lots of time out on our bikes, and have managed to cycle over 1800km since we arrived in early November. As always, we enjoy trying to figure out what vegetable it growing in the various produce fields we ride by. The other day, cauliflower was being harvested with some of the “rejects” being probably at least a foot in diameter. Usually, the rejects and what gets missed are picked later by volunteers and donated to the local food bank. This year, we have been watching some okra fields. A few weeks ago, they had beautiful yellow blossoms, and now the pods must be getting close to being ready to pick, but so far, we haven’t seen how that is done. I imagine they are picked by hand, and it may not be as back breaking work to harvest them as many of the other crops appears to be.

Need some okra for your gumbo?

That’s it for now. We trust that the New Year is treating you well so far. May 2018 be happy, healthy, and safe for you and those you care about!

Early December in the Desert

So far, this has been a Sandy Bucket List trip. As you may recall, on the way down we stopped in Las Vegas so we could check “go to Celine Dion concert” off her list. Another item that has been on her list for quite some time, is “eat at a place featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, a programme on the Food Network. From the show’s website:  Host Guy Fieri takes a cross-country road trip to visit some of America's classic "greasy spoon" restaurants — diners, drive-ins and dives — that have been doing it right for decades.

Our friend, and former La Quinta neighbour, Pat H, had a birthday in November, so we took her out for lunch to celebrate. Since Pat was the birthday girl, she got to choose the restaurant. She picked Grill-a-Burger, just down the street from her new home. You know it is going to be a fun place when the first sign you see says that complainers will have $10 added to their bill!  

When the menus arrived, Sandy was delighted to find that the restaurant has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  Another item off her bucket list!  The menu was extensive, comprised of thirty different big burgers, a variety of mini burgers, where’s the beef burgers (chicken, turkey, fish, or veggie), as well as a selection of hotdogs, salads, and sides; all with cheeky names.

A peak at the Grill-a-Burger menu

It took quite a while to read through the menu and make our selections from all the choices ... and we just kept getting hungrier! The verdict, once we each received and devoured our burgers? Six thumbs up (two from each of us); this place does it right, all right. We will be back!

Happy Sandy checks another item off her Bucket List

The weather here is like summer to us. The first few weeks after our arrival, it was warm enough first thing in the mornings for us to enjoy breakfast outside.  As winter (or what passes for winter in the desert) approaches, the mornings are getting cooler, often with the temperatures in the single digits (Celcius) when we rise for the day. I have even had to wear long pants to walk the dogs some mornings!!! As winter settles in, we will likely have some light overnight frost that may delay the golfers’ morning tee times, and may even cause some damage to the cold sensitive desert plants. But it still gets warm enough for shorts most days, even then.

Kate enjoying breakfast outside

The lemons on our tree are coming along, but right now Sandy is out picking two or three oranges every day. An orange fresh from the tree is a real sweet and juicy treat. It sure makes getting your servings of fruit each day a lot easier!  We did, however, have to get a lesson about orange picking from our gardener last year.  Orange trees will draw the moisture out of the fruit if it isn’t taken off the tree in time, making for dry, woody oranges. We are making sure to get them off the tree this year while they are still juicy and good! Lemons don’t do that, and can stay on the tree for quite a while after they are ripe and still retain their juiciness. 

Fresh oranges from our yard

As you may recall, our development is right on the edge of town, so we do much of our cycling in the countryside, passed the neighbouring produce fields. It is an interesting time, crop wise, right now. There are lots of crops just coming up, and lots that are being harvested. We rode passed massive fields of leaf lettuce, today. They are fun to ride by as they are planted in wide strips of different varieties, showing off different colours. Today, I noticed one patch of lettuce that was deep purple, almost black.

Purple lettuce; harvesting crew in the distance

 For those of you wondering about the dogs, they are doing great. The big excitement in Benny's life is he had a spa day:  bath, hair cut, nail clip. Oh, and he is the only canine that is allowed up on the furniture, provided he can get there on his own.

Benny, before and after his special day

Rockie has started back to school at Dream Dogs and is absolutely loving the scent work class she is taking. She keeps her eyes glued on the instructor throughout the class and can hardly contain herself while waiting her next turn to sniff out the treats the instructor hides for the dogs to locate. A Jack Russell on the hunt; this is what she is meant to do! 

Rockie does her homework in the garage.  Benny has figured that out and likes to try to get in on the action. He gets really excited when he accidentally finds one of the hidden treats I set out before Rockie gets them all.  Ben's sniffer is no where as good as Rockie's, but it is fun to watch him try to locate the treats.

Rockie, not so patiently waiting her turn at school

A tired dog it a good dog. And after long walks, classes, or homework sessions, Rockie is one sleepy little terrier.   

All tuckered out after school, and sneaking a nap on the chesterfield!

You may have heard of the many serious fires in southern California, driven by the Santa Anna winds. These are hot, dry winds that blow from the desert towards the coast. There are a string of fires burning from north of Los Angeles, south, with thousands of acres burned, many structures consumed, and over 200,000 evacuees. For us, this brings back memories of the Fort McMurray fire.

Recently, we made plans with our riding buddy, Ed M, to go cycling this week in San Diego, about two hours drive from here. Routes were selected, Ed and I booked our dogs into camp, and travel plans were made. The next day, another fire broke out outside of San Diego, named the Lilac Fire.  As with the others, this fire was fast growing and out of control. With the unpredictability of the winds and fires, we made the decision to cancel our trip.

As of writing this entry, the San Diego fire was under control, but still burning and with lots of smoke in the air over the city. Here in La Quinta, we are safe from the fires, as we are on the east side of the mountains that separate us from the coast.  

Devastation caused by the Lilac fire, San Diego

 

That's about it for now. We are busy getting out on our bikes 3 - 4 times a week, joining in some other activities, and getting ready for Christmas.