Where’s Part 1? That was last week (I just didn’t call it Part 1…)
So, to continue with the self indulgent and congratulatory tone sparked by my amazement this blog has lasted ten years, here are a few more photographs that prompt happy (for me) memories. I seem to have chosen quite a few warm and sunny ones this week, probably in response to how snowy it has been here – our snowiest QC week yet – hooray!
Mrs PC and Junior taking in the sun and looking out towards the San Andreas Fault somewhere in sunny CATough, weathered, a touch gnarly, but isn’t the Joshua Tree NP a delight?Cool off here – West Coast Vancouver IslandMountain cabin high shared with friends near Pagosa Springs, COMy favourite classroom – Wizard Islet, Deer Group Islands, Barkley Sound, BCFavourite view with a pint – cheers! (Eagle’s Nest Pub, Ucluelet, BC)
Enough for this week – there’s always the archive button if you’d like to see more! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Favourite totally quiet camping spot in QC (somewhere in QC – top secret location…)
I received a WordPress notification earlier this week informing me I’d been blogging here for ten years. Ten years?! Goodness, that’s quite a long time. Curiosity prompted, I went back into the archives to reread the very first post, one entitled “Why Plaid Camper?” It was a not so brief introduction and indication of what I hoped my bright and shiny new blog might be.
Little Bear Sunset (near Bozeman, Montana) – the first photograph on OPC
In the main, I think the vague aims and intentions I mentioned way back when have been met – mostly – and continue to be met all these years later. But then I would say that, even though I am totally unbiased…
Bow Valley beauty, AB – always a happy place for us
Blogging is inevitably somewhat self indulgent, and in that spirit I think I’ll take the next week or two to reflect on ten blogging years and repost a few favourite photographs representing some memorable moments and/or happy places. Like I said, self indulgent!
A fine BC beer in a fine location – thanks for humouring me back then, Wayne!
So here we go, the greatest hits that never were – or, less charitably, just some repeats and reruns. Is it “Why Plaid Camper?” as that first post asked back then, or more “Why, PlaidCamper?!” Or maybe, more simply, why not?
Little Bear Cabin, Montana – tops the list of my favourite cabins!
I’ll end this week (before some more rerun photos) by saying “thank you” to each and every person that has taken the time to read and/or comment here the past ten years. Those genuine connections are the real why. So, shall we carry on for another ten and see where we go? And wonder what that might look like? (Erm, probably like pieces about going for a walk, visits to a campground or two in a pretty setting, and often finishing with a glass of something good by a fire?) Oh, ok – put like that, not too bad, eh? Let’s keep it going – cheers!
Cheers! (Hardknott Bar, Woolpack Inn, Lake District, UK – great beer selection and the best company, even if my brother only drinks Peroni…)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Thanks, friends!” (Taken at Dry Island Buffalo Jump, AB)A different AB good mood – oh those prairie days outOne of our very best days – thank you, Jet!Any day out and about with Scout always works for usAlberta river rush! A day on (not in) the water with friends is a good day
Well, we did go xc skiing earlier this week, but I wouldn’t say we were brave…
Black diamond 55? Not that brave (not yet!)
A touch wobbly perhaps, given the course hadn’t been track set very recently, leading to a somewhat uncertain feel underfoot. Or is that under-ski?
Looks dangerous…
Other than the lack of reassuringly recent tracks to follow, we were very happy to be out on skis at last! Compared to our efforts at the start of last winter, we surprised ourselves and the (imaginary) watching hordes with our overall fitness and technique. Yup, we completed a couple of loops and didn’t fall over. A very low bar on very flat terrain, but one we cleared!
Flat, grey, chilly – but fun!
It was fun to be out and active on a chilly day where it could have been easy to take one look at the grey skies and think of something else to do… and anyway, doesn’t the beer taste better after? Maybe!
Maybe? Definitely!
We’re looking forward to getting out on skis a few more times, and, if the current medium term forecast is accurate, that shouldn’t be a problem from a snowfall perspective. Ne vous inquiétez pas, mes braves, nous reviendrons bientôt! Or something.
Ready to go again
Swift and brief this week, almost like an OldPlaidCamper on skis – thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Yeah, it’s definitely out there, it just took us a little while to find! Fortunately, with Scout and her reliable ability and enthusiasm to find most things, we tracked down the good stuff:
“Looking for winter? Follow me…”
After a mild period into the new year, temperatures have dropped, some snow has fallen – and there is a promise of more snow in the forecast – so winter might have arrived!
It might be getting wintry outside?
We checked on the snow conditions for xc skiing earlier in the week, aiming for a gentle start on the Plains of Abraham. We think it is almost good to go, likely Thursday (yesterday) or Friday (today – hooray!)
As we were right outside, we popped into the MNBAQ gallery to take another look at the Inuit exhibits on the top floor. Talk about finding winter! There are numerous wonderful creations on display, carved from basalt, serpentinite, bone, antlers and other materials. Each piece offers insight into a unique culture and community full of myths and stories situated in an amazing and challenging landscape. I particularly love the sculptures where animal/human identities are in transformation from one to another. So fluid, with such skill in their creation.
Bear shaman (by David Ruben Piqtoukun)
All the searching for winter can make a person hungry (and thirsty) so we simply had to have a late lunch at Le Billig, a Breton influenced crêperie located a steep and slippery walk down from the plains on Rue St. Jean. I wish I liked cider as much as I like beer or pancakes, because they offer an amazing range of Québécois ciders. Mrs. PC did her best, and I’m always happy with the Boréale IPA du Nord-Est!
Yum
And after that light(!) lunch, it was off to catch the fast bus home and get into the woods once more with Scout. If winter sticks around, we could get used to this!
Trolls live here – but we don’t feed ‘em!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful winter weekend!
Almost there, so let’s say farewell 2024, and here’s looking forward to 2025!
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts and comments this year – always very much appreciated – and here’s wishing you all the very best for the coming year!
OPC Best beer winner for 2024 – saved the best for last, a winter warmer!
Enjoy the season, and happy holidays to you should you choose to celebrate. Or, simply enjoy the weekend and week ahead if that’s more your thing, no extra festivities required…
Let’s start with a thank you to Scout for taking up the reins last week. Moving on, we’ll continue with a health warning – this post is full of self pity and eyebrow-raising medical stuff. Ok, I think we’re ready to get to it.
I’ve been feeling somewhat under the weather recently, most likely because we’re (I’m) enduring the most boring (northern hemisphere) time of the year. Fall is done and proper winter, as I see it, isn’t quite here. There has been the occasional flake – and a few snow flurries as well, haha – but nothing you could call real winter.
Seasonal shots. Fall, almost done
We’ve had our annual flu/COVID shots – the pharmacy was out of bleach and the pharmacist wasn’t a flat-earther type (or TV medical “personality” about to assume responsibilities for which they are enormously unqualified), so no hydroxychloroquine or horse medicines either – and the jabs have left us (me) a little groggy. Goodness, someone sounds a little sore here, and I don’t mean his upper arm…
Yeah, yeah, boohoo, OldPlaidCamper, invisible Canadian problems – what do you mean “glitterball”? Sounds painful. Is it a medical issue for you? “Hi, Doc, this is a tad embarrassing, but the old glitterball has flared up again. Can I get a prescription?”
“He’s walking with a slight limp – the glitterball again?”
Huh?! Honestly, where is your mind at? No, I’m not suffering from glitterball, and wouldn’t tell you even if I was. We were down in the old town last week, pre-vaccine shots, carousing with friends, and came across the following:
Yup, the truck has been turned into a disco ball (or glitterball because I like the word)
Pretty amusing, or so we thought. Anyway, here’s another wave of invented fatigue, so I think I’ll wrap it up for now. I’m off to hide under a blanket until I feel recovered and/or winter arrives. I imagine that you’re wishing Scout was back in charge of the blog after this drug-induced nonsense?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
…is what it said on the beer, and who were we to argue? We shared the bottle, enjoyed it, and that seemed right.
We did
Enjoying our time in mid coast Maine in the fall certainly felt right. Being awake at 6:30am to catch the sunrise over Penobscot Bay was alright – mostly because we could see it from where we were staying without having to head outside. Could have, but it was close to very chilly at that time of the morning. Doing what’s right, we opted to wander down to the beach a couple of hours later.
Very pleasant and all, but maybe head down there later?!
I’ve never seen a leafy beach in the fall. The beaches back on the west coast were evergreen and raincoast wonderful, but not leafy. The eastern side is different, a good contrast to what we’ve been used to.
Leafy beach
Those leaves on the shore took a bit of getting used to! Regular stuff for coastal Maine folk no doubt, and our excitement might have seemed odd, but fortunately there was no one to see our strange behaviour. Just (just?!) a pair of bald eagles – lovely to spot them, the first we’ve seen since leaving the west coast!
We did what’s right all week and spent as much time as possible down on the shore. We had one slightly grey morning, and that was great for mixing up the mood and seeing the sea in a different light. Like most places, we know the east coast isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Life isn’t, but it’s generally pretty good if we do what’s right…
Not sunshine and rainbows, but pretty good!
If you can stand it (or even if you can’t) there’ll be one or two more posts about our Maine trip, but let’s leave it here for this week, grateful for the big and the small things. Like not worrying about a bad hair day at the beach. Huh?! (See below)
Bad hair day? Not me!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
…is that we’re finding mid coast Maine to be delightful in the fall!
Our first visit, and what a state we’re in – loving where we are right now. Back home next week with more to follow. In the meantime, a few images from this week:
About rightCoastal coloursSeasonal
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Already?! Goodness, the year seems to be racing by…
Thanksgiving this coming Monday, and amongst all the wider madness in the world we’re aware we’ve so much to be thankful for.
Already?!
As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a happy coincidence for us that thanksgiving weekend more or less marks the anniversary of when we moved to Canada, a decision we’ve never once regretted.
Each passing year we love our home more and more. So if you choose to celebrate the coming holiday, happy thanksgiving. If you don’t, here are a few more fall related images from recent weeks!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 