Film: Hit the Road

We have been doing the CHEO ride for over twenty years now!!! First it was just Chris and I and then followed years of trailers, bike seats, cargo bikes and tiny bikes in tow. Every year was exciting and different and new.

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This time I realized that we can do the longest offered distance – something none of us have ever done before. The 70 km route included the parts we have done many times, the Parkway and Canal with the iconic ride down Laurier street (with no car traffic, woohoo!!!). New to us were Sussex Street, Rockliffe and Aviation Parkway. The embassies, official residences and headquarters by the dozen! We have driven down those but never rode through on a bike. Because we rode in from Kanata, we skipped the Dows Lake part and rejoined the lycra crowd by crossing the first pedestrian bridge over the canal. The experience was amazing. No pictures because we were having so much fun.

Film: The Lost City

So kids, you know Pink Lake? Yes. You can ski up to it, yes? You can bike up to it too then!

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I could not believe it but my little ducklings were up for a hilly challenge very early in the biking season.

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They also found the last bit of snow and got into a scrape.

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Everyone was fine in the end and they were still willing to bike with me the next weekend.

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Film: Hope

Ok, the blog is back up! Let’s try and get through all the movie titles we’ve seen in the last bit. I wasn’t going to write about skiing this winter because I did it last year but I looked at the photos and just could not help myself.

Unlike last year the Quebec border was open the whole winter so we were able to go to Gatineau as soon as there was enough snow. Alas, the shelters remained closed until mid February so until then our outings were really freezing.

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On this particular outing (Taylor lake), the wind was really strong too so we had a few snow drifts to get thought. The kids were having fun though, especially when the wind was at our back and we were skiing fast.

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While Gatineau is the best for skiing, trails in and around Kanata got a lot of attention this year. I was on my skis several times a week and was able to get some good family time.

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Though each outing was amazing, the highlight for me was the visit to Lusk cave and backcountry ski to Lusk cabin from there. This was a challenging feat for the kids and its will be a few more years until we venture off the groomed trails but it was absolutely beautiful.

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Film: Drive my Car

I got to do something special during the March break, I took my teen to Montreal. While that was not so much the intention, we ended up visiting the Montreal of my teenage days.

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Lookout

We did a beautiful hike up the mountain. They actually have a groomed ski track there now.

Plexus is long gone but Eva B is still holding the frippery line strong .

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Eva B

We got two skirts for $5 and $15 respectively when I remembered that I used to haggle there. In my defence, the first time I went there they told me they will give me a better deal if I asked. I did not have the heart to haggle this time.

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Look at me not haggling

Trev has been taking about getting a pair Docs so off to Rio/X20 we went. Rio was a bit of a heart break as it reminded me of the protagonist’s parent’s store from Kästner’ “Going to the Dogs”. Despite the walls still being decorated with punk posters and hard core jackets, the whole store was filled with only one type of shoe for sale. Sadly we shuffled across the street to X20 where we fortunately were not disappointed.

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School bus yellow Docks

We got some records at L’Oblique, my favourite bus stop (its is not actually a bus stop, it is very close to the Mont Royal Metro where I would happily skip to while waiting for the bus…). The guy at the cash was still the same after all these years.

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Vinyl

We ended our visit with the Fine Arts Museum and a quick walk past Concordia University and Guy Metro station.

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Dalí

Film: The Worst Person in the World

Wow, how long has it been since I’ve written about the books I’ve read? Let’s make some clever comments about a few of them.

“Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino – Marco Polo and Kublai Kahn having a fun chat about everything and nothing.

“A Manual for Cleaning Women” by Lucia Berlin – Short stories about a mom of four in the 50’s America.

“The Wrong End of the Telescope” by Rabih Alameddine – Introspection on the Syrian refugee crisis terrifiingly well written.

“Harsh Times” by Mario Vargas Llosa – American foreign policy sucks.

“Convenience Store Woman” by Sayaka Murata – How to find your perfect job.

“Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro – A boarding school story until..