Happy Birthday Isabelle!

As I write this it is exactly 8:50 EDT which is also 9:50 ADT, which is the exact time to the day Isabelle came into our lives in a very real way in 2004 at the Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville, NS.

I am writing this post for her to mark the day. The birthday party was great, the first day of school went off without a hitch, and she had a relatively quiet birthday today at home with us and some ice cream at Bruster's.

So, since the blog is barely a year old, I thought I'd post a few pictures of the girl from then to now for those of you who are newer to our family. Here goes.

First pictures in May of 2004.

First picture hardly an hour or so after she was born at Valley Regional.

First birthday party at 85 Belcher Street in Kentville in August 2005.

One of our better pictures even though you can't see her face. Mabou Beach in August 2005 just as she was learning to walk.

July of 2006 at the beach in Saulnierville.

August 2006 at the beach in Point Michaud.

August 2007 at Jean's in New Minas where she was in daycare.

Another one from August 2007 on a ride at the Annapolis Valley Exhibition in Lawrencetown, I think.

Another from 2007 in August.

June 2008 not long after moving to Greenville, SC, at Falls Park downtown.

More from August 2008, not sure exactly where though.

And into 2009, starting with eating seafood at Folly Beach...

and posing for the camera...

and on the beach itself.

That's it for now. Thankfully after three major days of birthday partying we can try to start to figure out what normal is around here with Isabelle in school and me back to work. No more cake for while, please.

Hurricane Bill in Nova Scotia

I know this is supposed to be a blog about my adventures but I couldn't resist putting up the photos of Hurricane Bill's antics at Mavillette Beach. I don't see any surfers there but it sure looks like it would ha ve been a good day for it. Between the offshore breeze and the clear skies it looks like it wasn't such a bad day (but I wasn't there). The water looks inviting in some of the pictures but I'm not sure it would have been very warm.

Beautiful blue sky, hardly seems like there was any weather.

High tide at the beach. When the tide is out it's about a kilometer to the water from here.

You can see the clouds in the background. The low ones are left over from Bill while above everything is nice a clear.

A little choppy here and pretty messy from the sand getting churned up close to shore.

This is the most telling picture for me since it shows the tops of the waves being blown back. That means the wind is blowing offshore, making the waves even steeper, perfect for playing in.

Either way I hope everyone fared well through the storm. Nothing like a little bad weather to get your mind of the old daily grind.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

OK so maybe my trip home wasn't my whole summer vacation, I did have a few good weekends by myself here in South Carolina. But here goes anyway.

I flew into Halifax on the corporate jet (don't get excited, it's not just for executives) and met Jane at the IMP terminal where the plane gets serviced and turned around. Isabelle was already at Grandmere's by then and Maggie was at the kennel so it was just the two of us. We headed north with a picnic lunch to pop into Truro for a little shopping. Who would go shopping in Truro you ask? Anyone who needs good old fashion Canadian made underwear. Stanfields in Truro still makes the best assortment of undergarments as far as I am concerned. I got the goods I needed and a few odds and ends for paddling from the factory store they have right in the factory (duh). They tend to have lots of synthetics that are good for covering up from the sun and staying warm when you're wet (i.e.: paddling gear).

After a walk through downtown and a picnic in the park we were off to visit an "old" family friend in Bible Hill. Then it was back to Halifax for the night at the in-laws. I think we ate at Chabaa Thai. It's a relatively new place that doesn't even have a website (I think), although there seems to be Chabaa Thai restaurants all over the place including Maine, Oregon, and Scarborough. The food was good and we caught up with Jane's family.

Saturday was like a time warp. Mike and Anne drove down from Moncton sans kids and spent the day with us running around town (they live in Kitchener most of the time). Jane and I started at the Halifax Farmer's Market in the old Keith's Brewery Building before they got to town. The draw was clearly one thing and one thing only. Jane was all about the pain au chocolat from La Boulangerie La Vendeenne in Mahone Bay. You just can't get good croissants and especially chocolate croissants in Greenville, at least we haven't been able to.

Anyway, back to Mike and Anne. In some ways it was too bad we couldn't get the kids together but with Isabelle already in Saulnierville it was just as well they came alone. We first went out to the industrial park to check out some kayaks and outdoor stuff, then hit Dartmouth for John's Lunch and some fried seafood. The place is well known in the area and comes highly recommended. We then headed back to Halifax and walked around downtown and Spring Garden Road. Between book stores, art supply stores, MEC, a tattoo and piercing store, and just roaming around the crowds we did pretty well. We put on a few miles and even saw a couple of buskers on the waterfront, although it's not how I remember the buskers when I was at university in Halifax. All in all the day felt a little like when we were in school and had whole weekends to kill just doing grown-up stuff.

Dinner was at Morris East which is a lovely little place on Morris Street which specializes in gourmet pizza. A quick trip to the Atlantic News was followed by a walk in Point Pleasant Park and some ice cream. Our friends headed back to Moncton late and we headed for Tower Road and Jane's parent's again.

After another night at the Sodero's we hit the road for the Valley, but not before flying Peter's new kite on Citadel Hill. The first night was a lovely meal at Taryn's. We caught up and got all the latest from the goings on around Kentville and had a few drinks on top of it all. Taryn puts on mean dinner party. I had a few days in the plant in Waterville and Jane did some things she didn't get done the first time she was there. We ate out at the Weir's (thanks again!) and tried our luck at the Port Pub again. Eventually they will get it right, I just don't know if I have the patience to wait that long. Seems we have had some really sporadic service and food there since it's been open. We also managed to catch up with a few other people we wanted to see like the Carmichael's (and Cullen) and by complete coincidence Jane spotted here cousin sitting on a park bench in Wolfville as we drove through. There were a few of you we didn't get to meet up with. We just ran out of time. Hopefully next time...

The last phase of the trip was back to Clare to pick-up the girl and catch up with my parents. Rhea was home with John and my nephew Sam, add Gisele, Rick, Lisette, and Andre to that and you have a pretty big table at Chez Christophe. They handled our big crowd pretty well and there was lots of (sea)food for everyone. We also managed a fire on the beach and a cookout in Carleton before we had to head towards Yarmouth for our ferry to Maine. I certainly didn't have lots of time at home but I should get another weekend in when I go back up for work next week. No corporate jet this time, I fly through Washington and Toronto before getting in almost twelve hours after I leave Greenville. I just hope United doesn't break my guitar...

The ride home was uneventful. Maggie was happy to be back and seems to be sleeping better that she did when we were at my Grandmother's in Meteghan (there wasn't quite enough room at my parent's for the first time since I can remember). Isabelle is back to her old tricks and starts at the Ecole Francaise Bilingue (a.k.a the Michelin School) next week. We are gearing up for the birthday party this Sunday and have a cake to decorate (but nothing like my sister can do). I'm back at work, obviously, and it's still hot (although I know some of you think it was hot in Nova Scotia this week). I suspect everything will work out and we'll have a good fall, once we get back into the routine. (I'll try to get some pictures up when I can get at them. I'm not sure we've downloaded them from the camera yet.)

BBQ

I know I'm always talking about barbecue and how it's so good in SC but I may not have explained it very well. I'm not talking about just grilling in the backyard, that's not what they call barbecue here, that's cooking out. Not to be confused with eating out, which everyone does a whole lot of too. It's not what you use to cookout here either, that's a grill.

One way to understand it is to watch this video I found on an interesting blog I sometimes read. Here it is.

Now back to current events. Two weeks ago was a week of cleaning and catching up. I essentially got the house ready for the big return. After I flew back to Canada the girls and I drove back to Greenville in about two and a half days. Isabelle spent some time at her Grandmere's in Saulnierville and I think she had the time of her life. The plan was to give Jane a break from being with both Isabelle and Maggie. Maggie also got to be on her own adventure at the "spa" in the Valley. Happy Valley Kennel is not the fanciest place in the Valley but as far as the care goes I think you would have a hard time finding better. It made for a few days of parent/adult time. We really took advantage of it.

I'll explain more in the next post where I will try to debrief on the trip to Canada in more detail.

US National Whitewater Center

Today's adventure was a trip northeast to the US National Whitewater Center (visit the Wikipedia entry here.) The center is located about an hour and a half from our house just off I-85 and a few miles form the airport in Charlotte, NC. The center is one of the training sites for the US Olympic Team but it has lots more to offer. There are walking/hiking trails, mountain biking trails, a ropes/challenge course, an 1,100 foot zip line, several climbing walls and structures, and of course 12 millions gallons of whitewater fun for kayaks, canoes, and rafts. The water courses are man made and the seven pumps in the large pump house are what keeps the "river" flowing.

Of course there were signs everywhere going on about the "dangers" of the site. I still can't get over how everything is signed, posted, and put out there so that when something goes wrong no one can get sued. Here is one of the first signs I saw.

Unfortunately, or at least I thought at first, I slept in this morning so I was later than I wanted to be. In the end it worked out well since they weren't really ready to go yet when I arrived. When I got there only one of the six pumps were running. Because of that I got to see what the course looks like empty.

Here is one of the first drops in the competition channel without any water at all. The pads on the bottom are concrete like the rest of the course and are filled with holes for plastic pilings that can be used to change the flow of the water.

Next is the same place with the water starting to flow. See how the holes for the pilings make little geysers. There are some (including a guy I paddled with on the Nantahala a few weeks ago) who think the holes are jets. They're not. Just because the course is artificial doesn't mean it's that high tech.

Below you can see the water really starting to come up. For those of you who don't know the candy stripped poles are hung over the course and used as gates for the whitewater slalom events. Today they were just pulled over to the side to make room.

The water eventually came up another foot or so but I was busy paddling by then. In the foreground are two of the pilings I talked about earlier. They are essentially large plastic cylinders that fit into the holes.

The competition channel can also be closed while the other channel is running. Here is the mouth of the channel with the upper lagoon in the background. The two barriers at either side are actuated by blowing up large bladders. They can be adjusted up or down. There is another one in the middle that also closes too. Here it is partway up and blocking most of the flow.

The course also has a few other adjustable components. These doors can be pulled in and out to change the flow as required.

Here's another view of more gates and doors further upstream.

This shot is what will eventually be the worst rapid or drop on the whole run. Once you get a few thousand gallons of water flowing through here every couple of seconds it goes from a quiet creek bed to a nasty little class IV that I didn't bother trying to run. The rafts seemed be to having a grand old time but the kayakers were fighting for their lives in some cases. Of the six or so kayaks that went through only one or two didn't have to roll.

Now for the engineering. Below is picture of the pump house form the upper lagoon. Each port is a pump outlet. Here they are slowly bringing them online and only two are running. By the time I was in the water there were five. At the end of the day they had six going. It wasn't hard to tell when the sixth one come up as the rapids got just a little more hairy.

The real beauty of the whole operation is the conveyor which moves the rafts and the kayaks up from the lower lagoon to the upper lagoon. The ride is about 60 seconds. At the top you are unceremoniously dropped into the water and off to your next run.

As I mentioned above the center offers more than just water sports. The two climbing walls are very well done with one of them being covered so it can be used in the rain. Here is what they look like from the parking lot.

From below you can also see the kid's bouldering area. They have a few large boulders covered in climbing holds for the little one to play on. The main complex is in the background, including registration, the restaurant, and the outfitter's store.

Finally here is how my day went. I managed to get 12 runs in on the class II and class III channels and the whole thing only cost me $20 plus gas to get there). That's about $1.67 a run, and when you consider I'd have paid more than that just for the conveyor rides... Each run went very well and I did have to roll a few times when I got caught in, on, and under a few big waves. The runs are made up of several drops so you can rest between them and avoid the rafts and other boaters. They also have a run that is for kayaks only. It is used mainly for teaching and instruction.

WARNING: Technical kayak jargon ahead!

The only bad run came on number 10. I was running the last set of big water, mostly class III with some serious wave trains) and came down on another kayaker who was surfing a hole in her little play boat. She couldn't get out of the way so I pretty much got her boat broadside in the ribs. It's a good thing PFDs also work as flack jackets! My three roll attempts didn't work since the water was aerated and I couldn't get any purchase, plus I wacked my elbow pretty hard on the concrete bottom. I ended up going for a swim but didn't lose my boat or my paddle (a typically rookie mistake.) Once I was in the eddy she came over to apologize since I had priority on the run and helped me pull out and drain my boat.

Other than that I had a great time. I didn't get to eat before hitting the water at 11:00 so by the time I got done at about 4:00 I was pretty hungry. The restaurant there is pretty good and the prices don't seem too blown up even though they are the only game in town. The view form the outside deck is great. Here are some shots of the competition channel from where I was.

This is the lower lagoon in the back ground. The rapid in the back ground is where I had to bail out. If you look closely you can see a kayaker in the near channel.

Here is a slightly better view of the rapid on the final leg of the class II/III channel.

Finally here is a picture of me wearing my USNWC official bib, complete with number (235 but you can't see it in the picture). They use it to identify who has paid to paddle and who is part of a group for instruction. Sorry, I forgot to smile this time.