Month: April 2009

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Traveling With Miranda

I will be the first person to admit that I haven’t done much actual traveling with Miranda since October! So, I’m really, really, really pleased to announce that at least two, if not three, weeks in May will be lived September ’08-style! I’ve decided to shoot straight up to the Yukon and not try to look for work en route. I’m going to follow the weather. If it’s good, I’ll inch north. If not, I’ll stay put. Arrival in the Yukon is scheduled between May 15th and June 1st. I’m really hope to get in a lot of hiking during this time; July is coming up fast!

There is so much literature available detailing the route that I’m going to be able to really plan my itinerary around free and cheap campsites and also make better decisions about how many kilometres I’ll do per day. I still doubt that I’ll be pushing off May 2nd, but departure day is coming up fast nonetheless and I am giddy!

There is still so much to do that it boggles the mind. 🙂 I am working tomorrow, but off Monday (my choice), which will mean a much quieter (I hope) excursion to Mountain Equipment Co-Op to get the gear I need to upgrade for the Chilkoot hike (I’ll be renting a few items I don’t anticipate needing later).

The sound track of my life right now beats to the tune of Canada’s beloved Stan Rogers. I’ve got Canol Road playing right now. 🙂

Well you could see it in his eyes as they strained against the night
And the bone-white-knuckle grip upon the wheel
Sixty-five miles into town, and a winter’s thirst to drown
A winter still with two months left to go.

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Comparing Apples to Apples

Warning: this post is definitely geeky!

I’ve conceded that I’m going to need a faster laptop when I get up north (yes, departure is technically a week from tomorrow, don’t stress me out! 😀 ). I have a first generation blueberry clamshell iBook that I adore and souped up as much as possible, but it’s too slow to do any real work or surfing with.  I know that I’m going to be extremely dependent on hot spots when I get up north and that I might be without hookups for days at a time, meaning I won’t be able to fire up the iMac. So, I fired up Craigslist and eBay and ran a few searches, confident that I’d have this new laptop thing buttoned up within an hour.

Well.

My first Apple computer was a blue and white G3. Great machine, bought it used from a friend’s brother who spared me from having to actually shop and learn about Macs when I didn’t even know yet if I would be able to convert. Conversion took about a half hour. 😀 So, when all the stars aligned a few years later and I had both the money and the need to update to a new computer, there was no shopping involved. I knew I wanted a desktop all-in-one model and I wanted the biggest screen so I’d be happy watching movies on it. I called up the local Mac store and asked if they had a 24″ iMac in stock and that was that. I adore my iMac. 🙂 What I find interesting is that had I known at the time that I would end up RVing, I would have still gone with the desktop model instead of a laptop. It might not always be convenient to set up and put away the iMac, but since I’m spending a lot of time in one place before moving on to the next this inconvenience is really minor. I do appreciate the irony that my Apple keyboard crapped out and the best replacement I could find was from Microsoft. Apple should stick to making computers and Microsoft to peripherals and then we’d truly have the perfect computer!

But I digress. 🙂

I thought that upgrading my laptop was going to be just as easy, but I didn’t take into account the fact that the clamshell came out in 1999.

Let me add a sidebar here. I’m still using a laptop that came out in 1999, was used daily by someone, shipped from California to Ottawa, dropped by a customs guy at an airport in California, traveled all over Canada and the US with me, and which has cost me a grand total of 175$ including my purchase price in 2005, a new battery, and extra RAM.  I could resell this computer for at least 100$. My G3 was bought new in 1999, resold to me about four years later, and resold again two years after that. I paid 500$ and recouped every penny of that. Unfortunately, some newer Macs have been proven to be slightly less resistant, but those who say that Macs are overpriced when compared to PCs aren’t comparing apples to apples (pardon the pun). In my experience, PCs need to be replaced every three to five years to run optimally and are essentially worthless within months of purchase. Over time, a Mac is truly an investment. You are also much less likely to have problems with a used Mac than you would with a used PC.

But I digress. Again. 🙂

As I said, my current laptop is ten years old. There have been more than 50 upgrades since then!!! I am essentially wading through 10 years worth of material trying to narrow down exactly what I’m looking for. Thankfully, I’ve found some allies who have started the weeding process for me based on my budget and needs. I would have loved to have gone straight to the first generation Intel portable, the Macbook, but I can’t justify a cost of 600$ to 1,000$+ for a secondary computer. I’m also starting to unofficially look around for a tripod satellite internet system, which would just about render the point of the new laptop moot. So, as a compromise, I’m now looking for the deal of the century on the most recent and souped up PowerBook G4 I can find, which makes me laugh because it’s what I would have bought when I got the clamshell had I had not been having the argument I’m having with myself now about the laptop being a backup only! Ah, the infinite progress of technology.

Anyway, I know what I want now so it’ll drop into my lap soon enough. I think it’ll be my first boy Mac. My first three all felt very feminine and got women’s names (clamshell=Beatrice, G3=Victoria, iMac=Margot). I’m leaning towards Kevin. 😀

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Row, Row, Row Your Boat

I’ve been hankering for a kayak for years now. It’s just never been the right time. With the Yukon before me, I began to wish that I had made it the right time at some point.

Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to check out kayak listings on the local Craigslist. If the first one matched my criteria, I would consider it fate. Said criteria were: about 16′ long (ie. open water model), lightweight, well worn in (I don’t want to be the first one to scratch the bottom!), removable keel, no more than 400$, and blue. The colour is silly, I know, but I just can’t see myself in a red kayak!

At any rate, this was the first kayak that came up:

kayak

200$ only. People wonder why I believe in fate.

Now, I just need a paddle, a life vest, a safety kit, and a waterproof bag for carrying gear. Back to Craigslist I go.

Oh, and I need a roof rack. As well as a bike rack. I’m starting to think a covered trailer will soon be in order. 🙂

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Sushi and Gelato in White Rock

Sushi

At the risk of sounding overly sushi-addicted, I cannot leave this area without recommending Taka’s Take-Out Sushi in White Rock!

This tiny, spotless gem is quite probably the place to go in the lower mainland for takeout sushi. Everything is prepared fresh to order and is beautifully presented.

Tonight I had a spicy tuna cone (big surprise) and I decided to try their ‘mango’ roll. I’m looking at the menu now and Googling ‘masago’, which I suspect is the fish eggs I’ll be picking out of my teeth for a week! Yup! This roll is really yummy, a refreshing alternative to California roll as it combines a comparable blend of textures and tastes.

The last night my friend was here, she wanted one more sushi meal but did not want to go out. I ordered two kinds of teka maki (tuna rolls), a spicy tuna cone for myself, California rolls (theirs are different, with a creamy filling), and ‘dragon’ rolls which are essentially roasted eel wrapped in avocado. We had both wanted to try eel, but were not fond of the dragon rolls; she because the eel did not tickle her taste buds and me because I’m not nuts about avocado. I’m going to have to try eel again to get a firm feel for whether or not I like it. Their miso soup is also divine and it’s very telling that I slurp it all down without frowning when I say that tons of mushrooms float in that heavenly broth and I abhor mushrooms!

What a lovely Tuesday dinnertime it was to sit at my picnic table, enjoying the warm weather and sun, listening to the birds chirping, and munching on such good grub!

Gelato

Dolce Gelato on Marine Drive (right across from the pier) offers the best ice cream I have had in my life. It is made onsite, Italian-style, and and you can just taste the quality of the ingredients. It took a few tries for me to come up with the perfect cone, but I did–bacio and coffee. I used to buy Blizzards at Dairy Queen that set me back 5$ and change for a small with two ingredients when a generous gelato from this place (please indulge in two scoops!) is just 4.95$. Gelato is denser than American-style ice cream, the perceivably smaller scoop really amounts to the same thing and feels so much more satisfying for its light richness (gelato’s wonderful oxymoron!). Other combinations I tried were coffee and hazelnut (bacio gives you that plus chocolate!) and hazelnut and white chocolate (the latter of which has little chunks in it making it feel all the more rich).