The Squamidian Report – Nov. 26 / 05
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Hi All,
As you may recall, I had talked about the sunny side verses the shaded side of the mountain valleys. That dispersment also has a direct effect on dirt biking comfort. We took a toot up the Mamquam Main on the bikes and that follows the Mamquam River up into the area under the ice fields. It is for the most part an east / west system so the sun only warms the north side which is of course the south facing side. However, because it is a fairly narrow valley with high mountains on each side, the sun cannot reach down into the valley bottom this time of year. The Main follows the river most of the time so it is down near the bottom.
That puts us in shade and in the very noticeable cold air that has been chilled by the river. You really notice it when the road climbs up away from the icy water. It warms up pretty fast, but along the river our mirrors fog up, our face shields fog up and we get down right chilly. We tried several side spurs but had to turn back because of snow.
However, we did finally find one of the old logging roads that we have been looking for. Didn’t do us much good though. The old maps show roads running up the length of the narrow canyon on both sides of Raffuss Creek. One on the Mt Mulligan side and one on the other side, with connecting bridges back in about 10 or 12 clicks. We had not been able to locate the Mt Mulligan trail during several attempts in the past. Where we think it is has been carved out for a tower base leaving any remnants of the trail both over grown and at the top of a steep embankment.
Until now the entrance to the trail area on the other side of Raffuse Creek had been blocked by a gate, because there had been some quarry work going on in that area. We were able to get in this time and did find the trailhead. However, it is an old road and has been unused for years so it is over grown and grown over. Slight difference, over grown meaning trees growing up through it and grown over meaning trees hanging over and covering it. The surface is also moss and grass covered. So it is impassible on bikes but would make a great back country hike into very remote country at some point. Have to file that in the back of my mind for future consideration.
*
Any of you that follow the national weather forecasts or watch the weather channel will know that they were telling the world that coastal BC was blanketed under a thick pea soup layer of fog for days on end this past week. Well, to set the record straight, we had brilliant sunshine here in Squamish and on up past Whistler into the interior. The edge of the fog bank only came up the Straight as far as Anvil Island, catching the mainland just north of Lion’s Bay. Vancouver and area certainly was in fog at times and in various locations. We enjoyed sunshine.
The wife and I took a drive into the city, as she wanted to look for a sewing machine. As we headed south we could see the fog bank, brightly illuminated by the sun as it lay over the southern part of Howe Sound. The edge of the bank was like a billowing white wall, as clearly defined as if were made from a giant cotton ball. It caught the southern part of Anvil and formed a wall over to about Deeks Creek. From there on in, there were places we drove that were under the fog and in clear air as it lay up against the mountains, other places where the fog was so thick you could barely see. The city was the same way, foggy in areas, under the fog in others. Some high buildings stuck into the fog, their tops invisible. Others had their tops in clear sunshine and their bottoms hidden.
The drive home was the same, we drove out of it at Deeks Creek and into clear air. The afternoon sun lighted the bank behind us into a brilliant white blanket over the outer Sound and the St of Georgia.
During the week while working up above Britannia I could see the fog as it still wrapped three quarters the way around Anvil Island, looking like some weird Hollywood special effect. Only difference is, special effects attempt to look real. This looks fascinating and unreal.
d
****
Our scary night at St. Mary’s Hospital on November 5th started me thinking about what it was like to get sick back in the early thirties. The winter I turned 5, 1931, my mother became very sick. It must have been bad as my grandmother came from Toronto, where she was a nurse in private homes, to look after my mother. Apparently my Mum had pneumonia. I had never heard of doctors but my Dad phoned a doctor in Holstein who agreed to come to the house. Now this was probably February and it was very stormy. The doctor came by horse and cutter, probably about 15 miles. Now Carmen (who would have been 2) and I were told not to move or make a sound. We sat on the sofa and watched, bug eyed. The doctor’s name was Mountain and when he came in the door he looked like a mountain. He was by far the biggest man I had ever seen. He spent the night taking care of my mother and by morning her fever had broken and needless to say she recovered.
The next fall my cousin Davy, who had come to live at my Grandfather’s after his mother died became sick. He was 18. My uncle Earl and father took him to the hospital in Mount Forest where he was operated on for appendicitis. They kept phoning the hospital to check on how he was doing and the hospital spokesperson kept saying he was doing fine but they wouldn’t allow Dad and Earl to see him as they weren’t his parents, which he no longer had. Dad got very angry and said they were going to see him as they were responsible for him. They left for the hospital but when they got there Davy had already died. That was the first funeral I ever remember.
From then on my dad would have nothing to do with doctors or the hospital in Mount Forest. The next time medical help was needed they went to Dundalk where they got along fine. The doctors in Dundalk sent their patients to Orangeville, which was a lot further but people were well treated in that hospital. When Mum was operated on for gall stones in 1940 they encouraged us to go and see her. Children weren’t allowed into the rooms but the staff put a chair at the door so Carman could see and talk to Mum and play his guitar and sing for her. This was quite a different way of looking at things.
Today it seems to be a matter of sending people home as quickly as possible, whether they are ready or not. I’m still glad it’s not like it was back in the 30s.
****
Hello
everyone!
Well, as
I promised the first words in this weeks report are those describing our Vegas
Venture. LOL!
Carole
and I were looking forward to the flight to Vegas not to mention the vacation
itself. We packed a day ahead and left for the airport at 4pm on the 15th
of November. We figured since we’d be hitting the Toronto traffic we’d better
give ourselves loads of time. Our flight was booked for take off at 9pm from
terminal 3 at Pearson. We booked in and got our tickets at 6:45pm. The trip by
Jeep via 401 had indeed been a slow and boring drive. We figured we’d spend a
nice couple of hours snoozing in the lounge before boarding the flight. As we
grabbed our tickets and headed in to pass through US Customs we were all
smiles. That is, until the nice man at the gate asked Carole where her “Valid”
passport was. She said I have my passport but it’s not valid. We were told by
the CAA Travel office that she could travel to Vegas by using her driver’s
license and her “Permanent Resident” card as ID. However as it turns out after
the 911 attacks on NYC, the US government has passed a law saying that anyone
other than a Canadian citizen just have a valid passport to enter the USA from
Canada. The “Permanent Resident” card is only valid as proof of ID for the
Canada Customs people, not the US. So when we were told that I could go to
Vegas but Carole could not I decided it was the wise thing to do to stay here
in Canada with my lovely wife. The US agents actually told Carole that if she
were already on US soil, as in deplaning in Las Vegas and passing through US
customs, she would be arrested and her belongings confiscated and she’d remain
in jail until she was able to prove her case before a judge. I guess this is
the enforcement of the new Anti Terrorist law. We were lucky we were still on
Canadian soil and after they finger printed Carole and photographed her a dozen
times in the hour we were detained, they had her sign a waiver stating she was
denied entry into the US for ID reasons, we were allowed to leave. We checked
with the ticket agent at the America West Airlines and had her cancel our
tickets for that night’s flight. She told us to call the customer service rep
at a number she gave me and they would rebook our flight. We went home and were
in the door 5 minutes before the actual flight took off from TO. We called the
British Consulate in Toronto the next morning and they referred the matter to
their Ottawa Embassy asking for an extension on Carole’s passport so we could
fly out that night. Ottawa said it was not an emergency and that Carole would
have to apply for a passport renewal like anyone else. However, they did say
they would expedite her request under the circumstances and she’d have her new
passport within a month. We checked with Expedia.ca and they allowed us to
rebook our vacation for the same cost as originally planned for January 9th
2006. Looks like we’re getting another kick at the cat in early January.
Luckily we didn’t lose our investment altogether and only had to pay a $29.00
fee to cover the hotel for the one night we missed. Not a bad outcome after all
the hubbub we went through. We decided that it would be best for both of us to
have valid passports if we’re going to travel. I took my application in to the
passport office on Frederick St yesterday and will have it in my hands no later
than Dec 9, 2005. Pretty good service when you’re dealing with Canada. Carole
sent her application to Ottawa today and will have her passport before
Christmas if all goes well. The US Customs officers told us that in the new
year, even Canadian citizens will have to have a valid Canadian passport to
enter the US. So, why not do it now!
When we
found out we wouldn’t be heading south to Vegas on the Wednesday we decided to
head south to Niagara Falls for a couple of days, just to get away. We left
Kitchener at around 3pm and ended up in Fort Erie at the Casino. We played the
slots for a couple of hours and at around 8pm we stopped for supper. They had
an amazing Prime Rib dinner for $8.99 at the Casino restaurant. After the meal
we stayed for another while and Carole picked up a tidy profit for her efforts.
I on the other hand was not quite so lucky. I donated a few 20’s to the cause.
We headed out around midnight to Niagara Falls to get a motel. When we checked
with a couple of normal motels we found that they were more money than the
Niagara Hilton. We decided to stay at the new Hilton which is directly across
the street from and connected to the Fallsview Casino. The next day was
beautiful weather wise and we had another good day enjoying the view of both
the Canadian and American Falls from our 15th floor room. We had
lunch in the Hilton restaurant on the 33rd floor and that provided a
spectacular view of the falls as the sun broke through the cloud cover. We
enjoyed an hour or more of the view and a terrific lunch. After which we headed
over to the new Fallsview Casino. The slots there were not quite as generous as
the Fort Erie ones but Carole still managed to pick up enough to pay for the
two days of luxury at the Hilton and our entertainment. After spending a second
night in Niagara and taking advantage of the plush treatment provided by the
staff at the Hilton we headed out on a drive along the beautiful Niagara River
road. We ended up in Niagara On The Lake. The vineyards in the area are
interesting to view even when they’re picked bare for the winter. Of course
there are some that are still laden with grapes in anticipation of the “Ice
Wine” season. We toured around the small town at the gateway to Lake Ontario
and settled in the famous Prince Of Whales Hotel for lunch. Carole has a
collection of prints by a famous former resident of Niagara On The Lake by the
name of Trisha Romance. Her original residence is a well known landmark around
the corner from the Prince Of Whales Hotel. We took a couple of photographs of
her house as well as a few of the famous hotel. The lunch was enjoyed while
sitting in antique leather wingback chairs in front of the main fireplace in
the library of this landmark hotel. It was like being romantically transported
back 150 years to the origins of this magnificent hotel. The furnishings and
woodwork are original and even the collection of books on the shelves is from
the Victorian hotel’s early days. After warming up by the fire and enjoying our
lunch we decide to head for home. Our misfortune involving the Vegas situation
earlier in the week had become a positive experience that we both enjoyed right
here in our own province. Carole grabbed an hour’s snooze on the drive home and
as we arrived at Clappison’s Corners north of Hamilton I decided to take Hwy #5
over to Cambridge and avoid the 401. I was at the point where I needed a break
and a stretch of my legs. I pulled into the Flammborough Racetrack Casino and
woke Carole up as we stopped at the front entrance. She was shocked to see that
she had slept for an hour. We went inside and after a break we decided to play
one last hour of slots to cap off our trip. The slots were no kinder to me than
in the previous two gambling joints but Carole hit another jackpot that brought
a final smile to her face and we decided to leave while we were in the chips so
to speak. In all we arrived home with a healthy profit from her lucky streaks
and the let down from the Vegas fiasco was a lot less disappointing to say the
least.
When all
is said and done, we both agreed that we’ll need the trip to Vegas in January a
lot more by then than we did this early in the winter season anyway.
We are
now looking forward to heading south later, after bearing the brunt of the
Ontario winter for a couple of months first. I’m sure we’ll enjoy it even more
when we finally do go in January.
Time to
go for now.
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontarion Report.
Bye for now… GREG.
PS:
Something To Think About>
A hen is only and egg’s way of making another egg.
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
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