This year the Spring Equinox is the earliest in over a century, since 1896 at 05:14 GMT, which means that on the West Coast of British Columbia it will arrive on March 19th but someone should tell Mother Nature
as this morning when I left for work, it was below freezing and my windows were all iced up
While other parts of our Country are basking in a relatively warm heat wave we can only dream of T-shirts & shorts and hope that Spring is close behind.
In anticipation of warmer temperatures, it was only last week that I decided to dust off my sandal collection in preparation for the change in seasons. I know, I know I have too many shoes . I can't help myself but someone has to keep all those shoe outlets in business. I am a sucker for minimalistic shoes, especially the ones with the toe loops. I sweat a lot in closed shoes and prefer "free range" mode.
I am going to try hard to trim my sandal budget this year and use something more economical and cost effective . . .
I only recently realized that I already possessed the ultimate pair
of waterproof footwear, which have served me well for many years
I had great plans. We were experiencing Winter's last gasp all week with snow, frost, high winds and cool temperatures
Clouds over Steveston, BC
which made me decide not to ride. I don't normally ride when the temps are lower than 4°c and I have learned to not take any chances when it comes to tire traction & slippery roads. The rain was scheduled to stop on Friday evening and with a dry weekend forecast, my plan was to go for a ride on Saturday
Garry Point, Steveston, BC
But, alas . . . it was not to be. I forgot that we had set Saturday aside for car browsing. We had also made an appointment for vehicle service at the local dealership and we changed our Brunch location co-incidently to a place directly across the street from where I was going to meet up with Mrs Skoot. I was also considering a vehicle upgrade so I wanted to bring my car too, so riding was out of the question
Winter storm coming from the West
We visited a few dealerships as we wanted to compare a few other Makes & Models and it is amazing how much time can be wasted
South Arm Fraser River, YVR in foreground, Grouse Mountain in the background
Soon enough my Saturday was completely consumed and the day was done .
We purchased our Subaru WRX sportwagon brand new in 2004 and it has been a reliable car, but after 8 years, we thought it was time to upgrade
Gulf of Georgia Cannery, Steveston, BC
Not knowing how long it will be in our possession we thought that a few parting photos were in order, so with a declining sun on Sunday afternoon we snapped a few photos with some water backgrounds in historic Steveston
My tattered jeans have sprouted another rip. Maybe no one will notice. The increased air conditioning will come in handy during the heat of summer
Note: All photos, Sony NEX-5n, 18-55 kit lens DRO: Dynamic Range Optimizer mode
Here's a ride report that I don't even remember from October, 2006. I was searching my archives and I came across a rare outing where Mrs Skoot rode her Yamaha Vino
That's her Vino on the left. We are refueling at the Shell Station in West Vancouver. We were heading to Horseshoe Bay along scenic Marine Drive. We reach the passenger ticket counter to purchase our ferry tickets but there is no vehicle access on this side of the chain link fence. The vehicle entrance is accessed using the TransCanada Highway Hwy 1, but 49cc's are not allowed to be on the highway so we get permission to use the pedestrian gate if we turn off our engines and push it down the ramp
here we are on the lower ramp waiting for our ferry to dock. Bowen Island is only about a half hour ride across the water. I notice that I am riding my Suzuki GS400s, which is parked behind the Yamaha Vino.
Whle it is still October (2006) the sun still has some warmth and we are only wearing thin summer layers and T-shirts
Here we are on the main ferry deck. Scooters and motorcycles are first to load, and first off the ferry .
While I am trying to capture images of the day, that's Mrs Skoot looking back. We didn't have a lot of riding gear back then
My Suzuki GS400s was so photogenic that I just had to snap another photo of it . I was a member of the Vespa Club of Canada and this was one of many group rides planned for that year (2006). I must have decided not to use my Yamaha BWS big wheel that day
Our group spent some time riding around the local roads terrorizing the neighbourhood and eventually decided to chill out and sit by the beach and enjoy the day
Bowen Island, BC October, 2006
That's part of the Sea-to-Sky Highway (to Whistler) in the background north of Horseshoe Bay. It was a great day to be on two wheels with friends
Well, Trobairitz issued another challenge and it was to post a photo using Photo Booth. I don't have an iMac so I had to used my substitute. And I have no self image problems, even though it would do me good to be able to shed a few pounds
Comic book app, using iphone4 IOS5
Out of the blue, Winter's vengeance came back like a Lion. We had fierce windstorms the past few days with power outages, cancelled ferry sailings, many downed trees/powerlines. Yesterday morning our lights were flickering and I thought for sure that our power was going out. All night the wind was howling, but not whistling my favourite songs.
And this morning I had to scrape my windshield before my morning commute. At work as I looked out my window, I could see flakes of snow covering the cars
I just had to show my displeasure
by drawing an image with my finger
I thought that Winter was on its way OUT. Just the other day when I went to the grocery store, I noticed a girl displaying bright red painted toe nails wearing flip flops. I watched her as she walked past but she was too fast for my camera.
and to think that just a mere few days ago, I thought Spring had finally arrived
in Hawai'i. When we travel we like to eat where the locals eat. On our recent vacation to Lahaina and Kona we found a couple of gems. When we arrived on our first night we did the usual touristy things. We walked down the main drag and ate at a waterfront restaurant but these are places where vistors like us are directed. You seldom see locals in these places.
At our first opportunity, we asked a few locals where the good places were and they muttered something and we were not sure what they said but pointed south of town. We thought they meant south of the tourist strip. We walked up and down and back and forth but couldn't find the place. Then the next morning we drove our rental car further than walking distance and came across a delightful outdoor restaurant, on the beach
Aloha Mixed Grill, Lahaina, Maui
It was here, for breakfast that we finally had a chance to experience local cuisine prepared by award winning chefs. Mrs Skoot had the Loco Moco which are two hambuger steaks covered with over easy eggs and covered in gravy. They also serve their version of Hawai'ian fried rice which has a mixture of BBQ pork, spam or bologna, and chinese sausage. It tastes better than it sounds. I had the Nalu omlete; shrimp, tomato, spinach, onion and cheese. It was all very delicious
One day after driving all day, all around the Island of Maui we ended up in Kihei, a resort area with sand beaches about 16 miles south of Lahaina.
On our way to Big Beach, near the end of the road we passed by some people BBQing in a parking lot by the side of the road. We didn't stop but made a mental note to stop on the way back, and a couple of hours later we managed to get there "just in time"
I've never seen chicken BBQ'd this way before. They butterflied the chicken and had racks to BBQ them flattened. These racks rotated on a special trailer designed for this, and we were lucky to grab the last chicken. There were already people waiting in line.
The chickens were $10.00 each and we took ours back to our hotel in Lahaina and devoured it while sitting on our lanai (balcony). This was our first introduction to "HULI HULI" chicken, which is an Hawai'ian institution.
We left Maui and ended up in Kona where we asked the shuttle driver where to eat, and he mentioned a few places, one of which was BITE ME Fish Market
We didn't know where it was, but we eventually found it north of Kalua and south of the Airport. It wasn't a great day and we were staying close to town and it was inbetween lunch and dinner, but we thought perhaps we should go there to have a snack
It is a small place nestled in the harbour amongst the charter boats. They also do fishing charters which is how they started the business, only serving locally caught fish. It was luck that we arrived between 3:00 and 5:00 pm as they have happy hour every day.
I can't remember now, but we had the "sampler plate" which was an appetizer, fresh fish of the day, their special fish salsa. I think the catch of the day was Marlin. Fish taco combos were regularly $9.95 but during happy hour, the tacos were only $2.50 each which were filled with Marlin (catch of the day)
Our server told us that the Happy Hour tacos were "full size" , the same as they serve on the regular menu. The tacos were so inexpensive we came back again the next day where we had Sailfish
I was with Ron & BlueKat, we shared our table with two Harley Riders. The air was cool as we headed west on Hwy12 the next morning, and looked at the rolling hills of the burnt landscape east of Lewiston. The first hour of our tour was an excellent twisty road which was the Northwest Passage Scenic Highway. Our plan was to head to Clarkston for fuel and a quick rest stop before heading south on Hwy 3/129.
Lewiston, Idaho (top of the Spiral Highway)
This travels through Rattlesnake Pass where you will see my previous post here .
I am trying post "never been seen before" photos. We have heard so much about this delightful road but it seemed monotonous for the first bit with pavement as far as your eyes could see, and straight as an arrow.
The temperatures were building up and it was only around 10am. There was no traffic so we decided to stop to rest our legs and snap a photo of a barn in the distance. We continue on our way and soon enough the terrain changes and we are starting to swelter in the building heat
Being photographers, as well as biker enthusiasts we stopped at most scenic outlooks, which were mostly gravel. BlueKat got a lot of practice on this trip and while she was a bit meek at first, she became a gravel champion. It was a challenging road with lots of curves and switchbacks
An hour or so down the road it must have been close to 100°f so we decided to stop for a beverage. Boggan's Oasis is about half way from Clarkston, WA to Enterprise, ORegon. In the matter of less than an hour we had travelled through 3 states.
We knew we had a long day of riding so we picked up the pace and headed straight for Enterprise, Oregon with no other stops and directly to the Mexican Restaurant where I had been to before, for lunch
El Bajio, Enterprise, OR
Don't let the outside fool you. They serve excellent food at moderate prices. It looks much better now with their new paint job. It was painted depression black the last time I saw it. Whenever I travel I like to have Mexican Food, and I nearly always order Enchiladas, either chicken or beef
I'm getting hungry just looking at this.
Blogging is about seeing the country and meeting friends. I have fond memories of this trip with my riding buddies; Ron & Bluekat. We spent nearly a week together travelling from southern Washington to Montana to meet Charlie6, then back to central Oregon.
The plans are in the works to meet again during July, 2012, we call it IMBC2012 being organized by Troubadour & Trobairitz (she is the brains). If you wish to join us please let Troubadour know. It will be the weekend of July 21, 2012. I have already "blocked" my vacation time and I plan to head further south after.
I have driven the Hell's Canyon Loop before ( links HERE and HERE . be sure to click the links for some photos.
Hell's Canyon is the deepest canyon gorge in North America, deeper than the Grand Canyon and 9 miles wide. more info HERE
time to check your calendars, book your vacation, and get your bike ready for a great weekend
The Lumix TS3 has few manual controls, it is more or less an automatic P&S camera. I wanted to turn off the AF: Auto Focus which is usually done using the mountain symbol in the macro menu, but it was missing and on the first video the AF was always "hunting for focus". The GoProHD Hero1 is fixed focus so everything from 8" to infinity is always in focus.
The solution was to go into the Lumix TS3 SCN: scene menu and select Landscape/Mountain mode, which presumably turns off AF and sets focus to infinity. In the first video I had the Lumix TS3 mounted to the Madstad windshield bracket, but this attaches to the fairing which is rigidly mounted to the frame of my Suzuki V-strom. The solution was to mount onto the handlebar as this is dampened by the front suspension. I had to change positions with my Garmin GPS as per the previous photos. There was no problem mounting the GoProHD Hero1 to the rigid frame as it can record in a faster frame rate which minimizes vibrations
You have to remember to change out of the SCN mode when you are using it as a regular P&S camera for still photos. During this test video it did rain and the flat lens protector kept the wind from blowing away the water droplets, so this created some 'blur' which makes the recording look a bit unsharp or unfocused.
all in all this camera can produce acceptable video if you wanted to only carry one camera. The ideal solution is to have both a GoProHD Hero2 and the Lumix TS3 as a backup
If you have any questions please put them in the comments and I will do my best to answer your questions. The Lumix TS3 was over $200. less expensive than the GoProHD Hero2 and the results aren't that bad. You can judge for yourself
