Bike and Hike

Earlier this week Ron and I needed to take the motorcycle to Cranbrook for service.  We left Tuesday afternoon because Wednesday’s weather looked a little iffy.

Right on cue, it rained on us through the pass.

It was so warm though that we quickly dried off after each shower.

We stopped at a little coffee shop and enjoyed a nice treat.  

We decided to keep going after hearing some thunder.

We stayed overnight in Cranbrook and then took the motorcycle into Kawasaki the next morning.  After a short service, we drove home.  I loved being on the bike and having a little getaway.

Today was a hike day.  We left early because it was going to be a warm day but it got hot fast.  I knew that the Bertha Lake hike was steep but I didn’t realize how hard it would be for me.  

One couple passed us and said  “slow and steady.”  I really was more slow than steady, stopping at the beginning of each switchback to allow my heart rate to slow.  

Finally, we made it.  The cool breeze off the lake was so nice.  

After some snacks, we made our way back down the trail and it was all down.  It’s much easier on the heart rate but not so much for the knees.  

I think I am feeling my age but then I look around and see older couples happily hiking along.  I think I may just need to get in better shape.  

It’s always a good feeling to get a hard hike done but it’s not that fun when you are going “slow and steady” up the switchbacks.

After 4 hours, 12 kilometres and about 17,000 steps…the hike was finished.  Ron asked, “what hike are we doing tomorrow?”  I don’t think I answered him. 😳

Graduations

I have done lots of talking about retirement because that is always close to our thoughts.  Ron won’t actually retire until August but he has been on holidays since May so we call it a trial retirement.

There are other things going on that need some air (blog) time.  Our two oldest granddaughters had graduations. Emma graduated from her school.  

The school only goes to Grade 6 and so next year she will be hopping on the early bus with Sarah. They do a nice celebration for the kids.  

We happened to be in Ontario the year when Emma graduated from kindergarten and it doesn’t seem like it was that long ago.

The teacher kept track of the graduates’ school involvement.  Students were given bronze, silver or gold medals according to her records.

 Emma was the only student to get a Gold Medal! Way to go Em!

On Sunday, the family celebrated Emma and Sarah’s graduations.  Friends sent flowers.  Jenn bought a cake and I think they felt very special.

Yesterday was Sarah’s day.  She was graduating from Grade 8.  We are so proud of her.  She started her Grade 8 year here with us and then went back to her family in February.  She struggled through the rest of the school year due to a severe concussion.  She looked so happy yesterday.  Jenn worked to make the day special for her.  She got her nails done like a big girl.  

Sarah sent me this picture from the hair salon. When I asked “where did my little girl?”, she responded with “all growed up.”  😂

It’s hard to believe that this is our little Princess.

I love this picture of Jenn and Sarah celebrating together.

Congratulations Sarah and Emma!  

Enjoy your summer and hopefully we will be in Ontario soon to spend some time with you! ❤️

Love you!

How Are You?

My son tells me that I should keep this blog happy but when I reintroduced it I said that I was taking you along on my journey to better health.

For the past two years when I was asked “How are you?” my response was “I’m okay.”  It felt like I was lying if I said that I was good.  To be honest, I felt that sometimes it was hard to breathe, tears came quick and often and I didn’t feel like or have the energy to do much.

As I sat in my contemplation seat (which is on the back of the motorcycle), I considered the question of “how am I?

I’m doing so much better.  I could even answer, “I’m good.” That doesn’t mean that I’m not still grieving or that life has changed that much. It’s just having the cloud of depression lift enough to see that there is still things to enjoy, events to celebrate, people to love. 

I notice that I have come from not wanting to do anything to planning things to do.  I have energy to walk and hike.  I am working harder to keep getting better.  I also have the wisdom to know that I don’t want to go back to that place so I try and shield myself from negativity. I sometimes still cry over nothing because of everything.

I have learned a lot about myself through this journey.  I have always tried to make people happy.  You can’t always do that.  I will try and then my goal is to not take it personally if they can’t see my heart.  I am only responsible for my own actions.

I never thought that I would be someone that struggled with depression and anxiety.  I would have never guessed that life would throw so many things at me. I have also noticed that people around me have gone or are going through a lot. None of us are immune to the struggles of life.  I am trying to work at being able to be there for my friends because they have been there for me.

So how am I? 

I’m good and getting better…one minute at a time, one step at a time.  The goal is to keep moving ahead and not be down on myself when the next tear falls.

Hurry Up and Wait

Isn’t that what life is all about?  I remember our wedding when I hurried to get ready for one of the best days of my life. I got to the church and then waited.

Think about going on a trip.  First, you hurry to make the reservations and then you wait for the designated time.  You rush to the airport to stand and wait in line to check in and then you hurry to security to wait in line again.  I think you can feel the cycle.  You find the gate and then wait.  The call to board comes and you quickly gather your things to stand in line and wait.

Retirement seems to go along with the hurry and up and wait. Ron sent in his retirement package and contacted the pension department early this year. We received a package from the pension department and are still waiting for the RCMP to contact us.  When the wait extended to over 5 months, Ron contacted the pension department again and they advised him to complete the forms so that we wouldn’t have to wait for a pension payment.  We completed the many forms and mailed them away and we wait..wait for the RCMP and Pension Department to contact us.

Once the RCMP does talk to Ron we should be able to list our house and wait for it to sell.

So retirement is the same as everything else in life.  The big difference is that we have the time to wait.  We don’t have to hurry about anything.  It will all happen when it is supposed to happen. We will just continue with life.

So… while we wait, we find things to do and yesterday was a hike day.  We wanted to do the Window Mountain Hike.  

We did this five years ago when we first landed in this area.  The first time that we did it, we found the trail head easily enough, this time not so much.  It looks right by the name being at the end of a trail. We parked at the end of a spot that marked Window Mountain and walked down a very rutted, muddy trail.  My directions said that after two kilometres of this the trail would narrow.

We walked past the point of the trail changing.  The scenery was still beautiful even if we weren’t on the right tail and we were getting our steps and some good elevation.  

We continued to walk until we came to what looked the end.  

We looked up and found the window.  We kind of felt that that was good enough for today.

We took in the views from this perspective and made our way back to truck.

We drove down the road and found the right trailhead but I had decided that just seeing window mountain was good enough for today.

We continued on down this very bumpy road for a number of kilometres just to see where it might go. When it crossed another bridge, narrowed and seemed to go straight up, we decided our exploring was over.

We got home in time to make a healthy dinner on the barbeque and then off I went for a pedicure.  What a great way to end a hike day!

The Weekend

When we move to Ontario there will be lots of weekends filled with grandkids.  If we had of been there this past weekend we would have been on the sidelines at the soccer fields.  Three out five grandkids were in a tournament.

Emma and Sarah were on the same team, but due to concussion symptoms, Sarah couldn’t play this year.  She instead, worked all weekend making money cleaning tables at a local restaurant.  

Jacob’s team went the furthest making it to the finals and then only lost by one.

Anthony was really getting into the game. Jenn learned quickly not to be telling him what to do after him stopping, looking at her and saying, “Mom, I know how to play.”  

On Saturday, I was getting updates.  

Since we couldn’t make it to watch the grandkids this year, we went on the motorcycle to Vulcan, Alberta to watch Japhia and her girls compete in a triathlon. Travis and Japhia are a couple from our church here.  My comment is usually pretty similar, “they are the cutest couple and have such cute kids.”  Japhia has exactly the same birthday as Stephen..they are kind of like my twins.  Travis and Kylie birthdays are one day and a few years apart. (Side note…I made a mistake and was wishing Kylie happy birthday on travis’ birthday…will not happen again!)

Vulcan is a little bit out of this world.  They have run away with the Star Trek theme with a replica of the Star Ship Enterprise, a museum and even a Spok statue.  For those that have never watched the movies or shows, this will mean nothing, but if you are married to a Trekkie, it is all a little interesting.

The town was in full gear to celebrate the achievements of the triathletes.  First up for our viewing was Zyon.  She had to do a lap in the pool before transitioning to her bike.  

Off she went, biking down the street and then back to park her bike for the run.  It was amazing watching her focus.

Everest did her lap in the pool and was out first in her heat.  She had just leaned how to bike on her two wheeler but she looked like a pro.

Back at the transition, she took off like lightning to to do her run.  

These girls will be winning these events in the years to come.

Next came Japhia, the girls’ inspiration for participating.  Japhia had set times to compete against herself from other years.  She crushed her time in the pool, swimming 20 laps.  She transitioned really fast to her bike and rode 15 kilometres.  We sat at the sidelines and she arrived before we were expecting her, beating the time that she set for herself.  Now, was the hard part, running after a swim and a bike ride and doing it all in the heat of the day.  She did amazing…5 kilometres and even though she said it was the hardest, she finished really well.

After a picture at the finish line, we left.  Our day wasn’t totally done.  It had turned windy and Ron wanted to check out the activities at the reservoir.  He has always had an interest in wind sports and he is trying to figure what he would like to try.

He also kind of felt the triathlon bug hit again by being around the activities of the day. 

Another great time to be retired…to go to the events we want to and not have to say no because of a work schedule and to pick new hobbies or go back to old ones that you didn’t have time to do.

Yesterday, was Father’s Day.  Ron got his well wishes from the kids and grandkids.

Gone Exploring!

Waterton Park in southwest Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana are connected and only separated by an international border.

“It was the Rotary Clubs of Alberta and Montana that proposed, in 1931, uniting Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the first such park in the world. It was intended not just to promote peace and goodwill between nations, but also to underscore the international nature of wilderness and the co-operation required in its protection.”    From the Parks Canada page

Before COVID, Ron and I would make regular trips over to Glacier National Park.  The views are spectacular and there are lots of hikes to try.  When COVID hit, the border closest to us was closed and stayed that way for three years.  It reopened in May and so today we headed across.

The Going to the Sun road is an amazing experience.  Due to the high elevation, snow removal is usually not completed until later in June and it can stay open into October depending on snow fall.

As you drive along the 80 km of winding road, you continue to climb up.  The roads are narrow and the views are spectacular.  There are many waterfalls beside the road and then flow under it to continue down the mountain.

There are really not enough words to describe the scenery and pictures don’t do it justice.

We needed to get some steps in and so we did a little hike.  It was all down hill, which may sound nice until you turn around to come back.

There was a little suspension bridge, and if you know me, this was a challenge.  

I faced my fear and slowly maneuvered across realizing that I would have to do it again on the way back.

The hike was quite overgrown but in the open areas, the wild flowers were beautiful.  

Why is it that I have to work so hard to have a nice garden and then there is a beautiful flower bed in the middle of no where?

We didn’t make it to the end of the hike as I noticed reason evidence of a bear in the area.  I was almost at my 10,000 steps and so it was a good turn around point.

It was nice to be able to spend the day in Glacier again.  We bought our season pass, so we will be back as much as we can.  I’m living with a retired guy now so there should be lots of opportunities to do some more exploring.