Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Today was a good day !!!

I've been watching the weather channel and today looked like it was going to be a good day. So I got up this morning, checked the weather channel again and off to Victoria I went. I didn't walk around as much as I usually do because I've had an upset stomach. I'm doing better than Paul because he has been real sick the last 3 days. It might be kidney stones. He went for blood tests today and then he has to go for more tests soon.Hes in alot of pain and I feel sorry for him.

Back to today...
I drove down to Victoria this morning and went to the inner harbour. I went to see the Seaking who I had used to go whale watching when I first got out here. They were saying that the killer whales were around but its early in the season so they were not as active and were spread out. So I caught the 1 pm tour and off we went. We chose a direction and sped out across the ocean in our Zodiac. This is a different boat than I had been in before and it was way more fun. The young skipper looked for any big wakes to fly over. There were only 8 of us and the boat holds 12 so we had lots of room. Well the following is some of the better shots I got. Because the whales were spread out it was hard to tell where they were going to surface. Also unlike the first time I went they were not breaching at all. But I didn't get any shots of that the first time I went out because my camera back then was too slow. Other passengers on the boat today had camera envy when they heard how fast my camera was.

You know when I get back to Ontario I'm going to Marineland and paying the extra just to touch the whales !!!!
















Yes this last picture was taken from the boat

Monday, May 29, 2006

weekend was a bust

Well as you can tell by the header the weekend didn't go as planned. I did not get to see the UFC fight as I was hoping because the player who was going to have the fight on pay per view had to be elsewhere that day. I did go see a lacross game and after talking to one of the owners I'm going to help them out with their web site.

Sunday was a bust as well because the only person I knew that was supposed to go over had to go to a wedding instead. It would have been fun but for just me to go in my car it would have cost me well over 100 bucks. I have plans for that money this week.

By the looks of Mike's blog they had a fun time in Muskoka at the guys weekend. Reading about the bugs brings back many memories and I gotta say I don't miss that at all LOL. They probably missed my money at the poker because I was allways good for playing and leaving my cash behind. Well it won't be long till I'm back at it but don't expect me to lose all the time. I have come in second a few times so I can get lucky once in awhile.

I did take a drive Sunday to Mt Provost. You can see this mountain from Paul's yard. At one time you had to have a 4x4 to get up there or had a long walk. It wasn't easy but I made it up there in my car. It was a hazy day so the pictures are not as clear as I'd like but here they are.


From the top


Duncan from above


Paul's place from up top


A golf course for the boys


an old shed



Saturday, May 27, 2006

Happy Birthday Tara and Tyler !!!!

Happy Birthday Tara and Tyler !!!
I was going to put this on last night before I went to bed but I fell asleep watching a movie and when I got up to go to bed the computer was off. I'm sorry I can't put any pictures up because I'm not using my computer. All the old embarrasing photos are on my computer and I've tried to go online with it but the modem recognizes it's a different computer and wants a password.

Well I hope you both have a great day and don't get too drunk. I'll see you sometime in June. I will try to call later but I'm off to get ready to go to Nanaimo. I've only gone once this week. I installed a trailer hitch on my car yesterday. I will bring a couple things back in it to give me room in the car but I want to try and use it to go camping a couple times when I get back. A makeshift tent on wheels.

I hope to go to Vancouver tomorrow to see the lion's scrimmage. The bus is way cheaper than taking my car but I'd have to stay overnight. If I can get a ride back to the ferry Sunday evening then I will go. I'm also hoping to see the UFC fight tonight on pay per view. A couple of the football players will have it and have invited me. Weather doesn't look too good but they were calling for some sun.

Have a good weekend all !!

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

News

Well its another rainy day in B.C. I'm not sure why everyone complains about the rain but other than I don't like useing my camera too much in the rain because its digital and has all those diodes and other electronic thingys I don't mind it at all. It feels a little cooler than if the sun was at and it was the same temp. Yesterday I went to Nanaimo yesterday but didn't get much acomplished. I took some pictures for the football team for some event comming up June 1st. Hung out and talked to some of the players after practise which was cut short because of the rain.

Today I decided to hang out here so I took Aunt Glady's shopping and then took her to lunch. I told her it was on me because she likes to sneak up and pay for it when she says shes going to the washroom so she let me buy today. We had a nice chat about how she met Uncle Don. She also told me other family stories from way back when. We just sat and chatted while having a nice lunch in a restaraunt called the Dog House. After I dropped her off i went and picked up Lalaine from school. Jess would love this school because they have their own stable with horses. Lalaine says her class gets to go riding some days when the weather is nice.

I'm not too sure whats up for the rest of the week. I'm trying to decide whether or not I'm going over to the mainland this weekend for the B.C. Lions scrimmage. Lorne Plante from the V.I. Raiders football team is still there. He even got his name on the news for getting into a fight with a D lineman at camp. I really want to go but its kind of expensive to go for the day with your car. The camp is in Chilliwack and I'm not sure if there are busses that run a normal schedule to there. I'm going to research that tonight and I'm going to talk to the owner of the Raiders because I'm pretty sure he and his son are going over but they might have a car load with coaches. He might be able to get me on the field for pictures.

Now for the news...

I called and talked to Jean to see how dad is doing. He was napping because they had been out at a casino for a couple hours with Aunt Alice. I thought his appointment with the cancer clinic was yesterday for some reason but its not till June 7th. While talking to Jean I asked her if I could come back and stay with them again. I told her I knew before I left Ontario that that is where I should be to help dad. After talking to Dave DeVier at the fire station I knew in my heart I should be there to help dad. Dave went through all this last year with his mom. He never once told me I should stay and he told me it wasn't going to be easy. I'm glad that no one else tried to talk me out of leaving. As hard as it was it was something that I needed to do for myself. I do want to make it clear that I know this is where I want to be and the time will come when I come back out here for good. I can't explain it it just feels like home to me on the island. I had a good talk with the owner of the team and the place where I use to work and explained it to him. Everyone out here says they will miss me but that they understand. I went into work the other day to talk to the new manager and asked him if he was the guy I needed to suck up to if I wanted my job back. He asked me if I had my boots and said it wouldn't take much because they were short a sawyer. I told him I just wanted to keep the door open for the future and his exact words were "no problem dude". Now I have a couple things I need to do and a couple I want to do so I'm looking at leaving in about 2 weeks for the long drive back. I'm hoping to get a trailer hitch and bring my trailer back with just a couple things I'd like, the main one being my bike. I want to start riding around the bay with Mike on weekends. If we ride to Solid Gold's I'm not riding you back on my bike Mike! I'll also have to get a real job when I get back so Shawn better watch out I'm gunning for his!! I'll have to let Dave know I need a weeks vacation because I'm booking a flight back her at the end of August to catch some football games. Well thats enough for now sorry I have no pictures but I did add some wolf shots on my photo blog.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Hello all update

Before I left Ontario I made a post about stopping to see Dave DeVier. For those of you that read this and don't know Dave here is a little bit about him. I met Dave and his family a long time ago when I was just a kid on Brittannia Ave. It wasn't too long before Dave became my best friend. We hung out together, we went to cubs together we slept over at each others house, we did walkathon's, and we went on trips with each others family. I used to call his mother "mom". His sister Donna became like a sister of mine and she used to call my parents mom and pops. Dave and I got along great and I can only remember us having one fight. I'm sure we had other dumb arguments but hey we were kids. We were playing hockey and Dave was in net and I had a cast on my arm but was playing anyways. I can't remember what it was about but it was probably really stupid but no one got hurt except for my cast needing a repair job we went back to being friends. When we moved to Melvin Towers we still seen each other but not as much. It got worse when we moved up north but he did come stay with us a couple times. After a few years we both were in high school and we lost contact. Then I came back to Hamilton and decided to finish my education there. Dave was a QB for the Sir Winston Churchill football team and I was going to Glendale where Gord Culp was playing at the time. Right before a game where Glendale was going to play Churchill Dave was injured while playing in a game and was taken to hospital. I was told he had probably broken his neck. I went to visit him in the hospital and it was a severe injury but thank goodness his neck was not broken. We stayed in contact for a bit and even played some touch football together after that. I moved away again and Dave met Jennifer and they were married and now have 2 sons. I did see him once in awhile and was at his wedding but then we lost contact again. I had also seen Bunny once in awhile when she drove for Go Go's Pizza. I was saddened before Christmas when I found out that Bunny (mom) had passed away. In the last couple months I have met Dave and his family a couple times and on my way west I stopped to see Dave in Oakville where he is captain of a firehall. That is the reason for this post as I took some pictures and wanted to post them. I just want to say that I'm glad that we got the chance to get together and talk a few times and that I'm proud of you what you have accomplished in life so far and I'm glad to say we are still good friends after all these years.













Saturday, May 20, 2006

Island pics

I haven't done much since getting to the island other than getting into Atlas Truss to let them know I'm still around and still a sawyer. Plus I've spent a couple days working for the Raiders football team and Timbermen Lacross team for free of course. Tonight I was asked to work at the Timbermen's game but I told them I was spending time with my family this weekend. Today Paul, Dimples, Aunt Gladys, Lalaine and mysefe went out for lunch. We had Fish and chips at Aunt Gladys' favourite spot Salty's. After Lunch Lalaine and I went to see a birds of prey show.























After this Lalaine and I went back to the house where we all hopped in the van and drove to an old train trestle that is going to be torn down this year. The Kinsol Trestle is Canada's longest trestle. It was a short walk to the top but then we followed a trail to the bottom. I climbed onto a rock in the middle of the river to try and find the best shot.

















Wednesday, May 17, 2006

re: email on dad

Last night I received an email from Tyler. He told me dad had been taken to the emergency with back pain. They thought he was going to be kept in. I just got off the phone from talking to dad and he is home. They never ended up keeping him in. They did xrays and blood tests and found nothing so told him to call the cancer clinic. They were waiting for a return call from the clinic. He seemed in pretty good spirits on the phone.

Jean was thinking he might need blood because last few times he has had back pain like that he needed blood. I told dad the only difference is he didn't have chemo this time and thats what usually does the damage to his blood. Will have to wait and see what they hear from the clinic.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Trip west details

Here are just a few details from my trip out west...

Monday May 8, at 9am I pulled out of the muskoka Gower's driveway. I stopped in Parry Sound for gas and thats where I started keeping track of km's. I hit Sudbury right at noon but didn't stop till a place called Echo Bay for gas and drinks and more than likely a pee. There wasn't much to see but I did see a total of 3 moose along the way. The only one that didn't run away when I stopped to take a picture did run off when a car going the opposite direction of me stopped right beside where the moose was standing not obly scaring it away but getting right in front of me blocking my photo chance. I passed through Wawa around 6pm getting gas on the outside of the town. That night around 9pm I stopped in a very small town called Terrace Bay and got a motel room for the night. I did 947.4 kms not including Gravenhurst to Parry Sound.

Tuesday May 9, 8am I was up showered and on the road again. I stopped at Thunder Bay for gas around noon. Again there wasn't much to see and the weather started to change. Before I crossed into Manitoba there was lots of rain with thunder and lightning. Just before Winnipeg there was hail and a car up in front of me spun out and went off the road. I passed through the Peg about 6pm heading for Brandon. I went to check out the Hostel but it was used as a half way house and was in a real bad part of town by the looks of it so I kept on Driving. I stopped once and tried to sleep in the car along the road but couldn't so I drove to the Saskatchewan border and pulled into a rest stop where I slept about 4 hours. I also played texas hold'em on my cell phone for at least an hour. I don't remember the actual time it was at least 10pm but I drove 1149kms.

Wednesday May 10, 8:30am I was on the road again. For Jodi because she had asked me about this before I left, I did brush my teeth in the washroom at this rest area but did not change or use deodorant. Not sure why I remembered this or that you asked about it. I stopped only for gas drinks and washroom breaks stretching my legs for 5 minutes while stopped. I reached Alberta around 4pm and the sky was nice and clear. I took the #3 crows nest hwy which is nice for a scenic drive but lots of mountains to climb and lots of twists and turns. I made it to a small town called Kimberly in B.C. around 10pm and boy was I beat. I stayed in a hostel in town where I had stayed on my way to Ontario in November. The guy gave me a room to myself for the price of a bed which is 21 bucks. I stayed in the common room and watched the O.T. periods of the Oilers game with a woman that was staying there. We gabbed for a while but I had to get to bed because I could hardly keep my eyes open. I took a nice long hot shower when I got back to the room. When I got up in the morning she was in the common room watching tv and gave me a hug goodbye. I had drove 1330.9 kms.

Thursday May 11 it looked like rain so I headed out again bright and early. At this point I didn't care so much about keeping track of the time. I knew I was just going to take it easy. I stopped not far out of Kimberly and decided to do a nature hike. I had a map and still managed to screw up and took a 3 hour hike instead of the one hour I was going to do. I had to keep pulling my shirt up over my head because the sun had decided to come out and I had left my hat. I saw lots of different birds and a quick glimps of a deer. It was a nice but tired me out so I drove for only a few hours and then stopped and got a room and barely made it through survivor before passing out. The next morning after a refreshing shower I layed in bed a while watching the movie channel. I left there later than I had left anywhere else but it was still early because I had left my watch on Ontario time and it is 3 hours different.

Friday May 12 I drove to Abbotsford where I found the SPCA that Jodi managed. I sat and waited for her because she was in a meeting. When she came out of her office she looked around and then suddenly realized who I was and screamed before comming over and giving me a hug. I was thinking of just having a visit then heading to the island but she asked if I wanted to go home with her for dinner (roast beef and yorkshire pudding so how could I refuse) Her mother inlaw Joan is there and Joan's sister from Scottland is over for a visit. They are both on a cruise to Alaska since Sunday. After dinner Jodi and I took her dogs for a walk and had a nice chat. I crashed on the couch watching TV and in the morning headed off to the Ferry.

I must have seen well over a hundred deer going through the mountains and ran into some pretty heavy snow at the higher ellevations. I did see one coyote as I was comming out of the last of the mountains. He jumped up on a cement wall along the steep hill and just watched me as I drove passed him then jumped back down and was gone. All in all it was a good drive.

To date this is the total of miles I put on my car this trip. 4647.6 kms !!!

Monday, May 15, 2006

Hello from Paul and Dimple's

I got off the ferry at 2:45pm and drove straight to the Raiders complex. They were on the field practising so I took out my camera and started taking pictures. Many that I knew from last year came over to greet me when they saw me. The owner of the team was up in a sky lift and called down "welcome back Kevin it's good to see you" It felt good to be back. My friend Jake was there so I walked over to see him. He is doing fantastic. He walks with crutches and is able to drive so he is getting his truck back on the road soon. He has still not put on most of the weight he had lost while in hospital.

I hung around for a while after practise to chat then drove into Nanaimo and went to see my old boss Cam. He was shocked but glad to see me. We hung out for a while then I went for another drive. I went to see a guy named bob that I worked with at Atlas but he has probably moved to Victoria because Cam told me he got accepted into the Victoria Police Dept. I knew he had been trying ever since I had met him. He lived about 5 doors down from me in the townhouses. I went out to Neck point for a walk and where I used to go to just sit and think. It's where I took the picture at the top of my blog. Next I went to the downtown to walk along the pier. In less than an hour I saw 2 seals, 8 sea otters which I had never seen yet in the wild and 1 eagle that hung around hoping the fishermen would offer it food.

Sunday I hung out all day at the Raider complex and Redmen field where the Raiders had a scrimmage. I got to see Lorne Plante before he heads off to the B.C. Lions mini camp. If he does well he goes to main camp and if he doesn't quite cut it he comes back to the Raiders for his last year. I hope he does well but I'm pretty sure B.C. picked up some vet linemen from Ottawa.

Sunday evening I went to Paul's house who wasn't home at the time so I spent time chatting with aunt Glad. Shortly after Paul got home from his bike ride and we went over to see Lainy and Dimples at swim practise. Then it was home and watch survivor final which sucked because Terry should have won. I'll be setting up my computer soon and will be able to start posting pictures. Apparently Mike D. thinks this normal daily stuff is crap especialy without pictures. He didn't say that about my site so don't jump all over him. He was just talking about it on his site. I like what I have seen so far on your site Mike. It's a good thing Karl deleted his site because it wasn't half as good as yours. Ok I'm off to Nanaimo soon so thats all for now.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Hello from B.C.

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm safe and sound in B.C. right now. Well I have been for 2 days but I'm just outside of Vancouver tonight. Staying at my friend Jodi's place and will be going to the Island tomorrow. Will do another post soon telling you about my trip.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Hello All

Hello all
Just getting ready for bed at Karl and Trudy's. Did a laundry tonight to have clean clothes on my trip. Had a busy weekend. Stopped to see Dave DeVier on my way north. Had a great visit with him at the fire hall. Even got to slide down the fire pole. I must have spent a couple hours with him checking out the firehall and meeting his co firefighters. Took a few photos to post later.

Today I went to see the wolves with Tara. Had a great time there and took lots of pictures. We got to see the wolves get fed and for many it was pretty gross. For me it was a great oppertunity to take photos. I will post some photos as soon as I can. Right after that Tara and I went to eat lunch. I've been told that at times I'm gross when I eat. Going to get a pretty early start tomorrow. Will call Dad and Jean to let them know how the trip is going. Well goodnight all will post as soon as I can.

Friday, May 05, 2006

Last post from Hamilton for this trip

Today dad and I took a drive in the country. Jean went out with Joan so dad told Jean we were going to use the car. We went out to the old house in waterdown. Dad was pretty sure of the place even tho it has changed greatly. The garage is gone, an addition was built on to it and the whole place was given a facelift with siding. Then we went to the North end to look at where he grew up but he couldn't remember the number so we just drove down the street. Next we went to the beach where we stopped at Hutches for fish and chips. Dad ate the whole thing he and I couldn't believe it. Then we went for a drive to the old house on Brittannia Ave. He got me to pull in to Pat and Mitches driveway to see if they were home and it turns out they moved to North Bay about 3 years ago. Dad's legs were getting stiff from sitting so we stopped for gas (and a chocolate bar because I knew dad needed something for his sweet tooth) and headed home. It was fun being out with dad like that. Ryan and Tyler are heading into the city and we are going to meet up with Terry and Mandy for supper at Licks's Homeburgers. Might even see a show so who knows. Silent Hill, a game which I watched Kris, Tara and Jodi get scared playing is now a movie. Have a lot of packing to do and have to return the modem. I might make a post from Karl and Trudy's sunday.







This road lead to the next place and I can't believe Annette, Robert, and Terry actually walked there.



Last night I went to Dave and Jen DeVier's place. We sat and talked and watched survivor while pigging out on Pizza and Cheesecake. I had a very good time there and wish I had started seeing them when I first got back to Hamilton. I'm going to drop in to see his Fire Station on my drive up north. If I behave he might even let me slide down the fire pole ! Thanks Dave and Jen I hope you make it out west some time !

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

just a quick one

http://photosbykc.blogspot.com/
click here

Went with dad and Jean to the cancer clinic. They are going to give dad a 5 week chemo vacation. Let him build up his strength and such. If pain comes back or something else comes up he can call in and they will look at the situation and decide on radiation or something else or the chemo. Dad looks really good today and it wasn't just the snazzy shirt and nice pants he wore. I thought maybe we were going to church or something after the Drs and I didn't receive the memo. But it just turns out he wanted to look snazzy.As I walked behind I told him he looked nice with the bald head and the way he was dressed but that it brought out the point on his head and then had to duck his cane.

I spent yesterday at Battle Field park and will post pictures on my photo blog later if anyone is interested.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

continued plus

Today dad goes to the Cancer clinic and will see the Dr. I believe they are going to discuss the benefits of the chemo treatment vs the downside of the treatment. I'm thinking he will not get chemo this week. In my opinion I think they will change his treatment to every 4 or 5 weeks. I'm going to drop Jean and dad off then go and park the car. If they decide to give him the treatment then Jean may want to leave so I will go get the car for her. Or she may want to stay and since its crowded up there I will leave and they can call me when they are done. But as I said I don't see them doing it at this time.

From what I've seen and heard dad's appetite has started to pick up. He has a bit of a sweet tooth and lunch seems to be his best meal. Jean told me that after a pretty good lunch some friends came over with upside down pineapple (ewww) cake and dad had 2 pieces. Then after supper dad had another piece with some ice cream. While I was out back this morning dad was hungry so was making himself some toast and getting a coffee when I came in. I put his coffee on the table and left him alone to make his toast. Jean came in shortly after and I didn't tell her he got it on his own.

Sunday

Terry and I went to Shawn's for a bit then we went down by the bay for a walk. I let Terry use my camera to take some shots and she was having fun. Then we went down by the old bridge at the bottom of Snake Road (as I know it) close to the cemetery and took some pictures of some swans. It was a nice day out and I got some sun on my neck. Good thing I wore my hat. We came back to dad's where we had dinner with Aunt Alice. It was a very long weekend.

I just played a tournament on Party Poker dot com and was doing pretty good until I went all in on 3 aces and got river'd by a flush !!! I finished 5000 and something. Mike was still in it when I left.

I hope Karl appreciates that I'm using spell check. What a pain in the ass !!!!