Pirates of the Caribbean

Helen and I had to get a Johnny Depp fix the other night and we went to see the second Pirates film. Johnny isn't really sexy looking in this one, but still hilarious. It was what I had expected hearing the reviews. Not quite as funny as the first but still not bad. Good for a Tuesday night. It leads into the 3rd film which should be great with Keith Richards in it who Johnny based his character on. I was wondering if it wasn't so funny since we expected him to be in that character, whereas the first one was such a shock. Not sure, but good for some light entertainment and good background if you want to see the last one.

Photos

There has been a problem with uploading photos to my blog, but the ones from climbing are great and can't wait to post them.

Rock Climbing in Squamish

Last week, my longtime friend from back in London, Donna (who now lives in Boston) was out for a visit. She has taken up rock climbing back east and was eager to climb up in Squamish. OF course, I was more than willing to go with her!!! She had organized a guide from Squamish Rock Guides - if you go, ask for Crosby as he was awesome!!! We went up about halfway between Squamish and Whistler to the Chekeamus Canyon.

We started with about a 100ft. rappel right down to the Chekeamus River. It was amazing just being in the canyon with the whitewater just a step away! Here we are at the bottom.

The climb up was in 3 pitches - that means 3 rope lengths - between 5.6-5.9 difficulty. I had never done a multi-pitch climb so that was cool. It reminded me how much I do like to climb and haven't done much over the past few years. Time to get started. Donna now has this idea that she wants to climb the whole Chief next year. I could probably get talked into it, but I just want to get back out and climb some more.

Lions Hike

Today, I just went with a couple of friends, KC and Eric, hiking up to the Lions. Well, almost. There was a lot of snow on the back side of the ridge as it's the north side which doesn't get much sun. It was probably doable, but trudging through the snow with barely any safety equipment/clothing we opted that we had done enough and had a great hike!! I had summited before, but the other 2 hadn't. They'll have to do it another time. I was just happy that my ankle didn't hurt!!! It's a fantastic hike that I recommend to any avid hikers who want a full day hike. Click on the link above to get more details.

Sailing

Well I've done 2 new sports in the past 3 weeks!!!! I'm always excited to try new things. My great friends, Brenda, Craig and their 2 year old, Ben invited me onto their 30 ft sailboat last weekend. I met them over in Gibsons , where the Beachcombers was filmed and we sailed across the Georgia Straight. Well, we had to motor a ways since the wind wasn't very good. I was learning about the ropes and how the sails, etc worked. It was very relaxing just being on the water. We went over to Newcastle Island just off Nanaimo and moored there. They have a dingy with a small motor so we could get over the island and beach. Went for a great run around the Island (8km trail) so you can get exercise while sailing which is great!!

We, then, went to the south end of Gabriola Island. We caught some crabs - the ones you see in the water- but they were too small to keep. I got a pleasant job of helping to wash the scum off the undersurface of the boat. Gotta pay your dues!!! Ben was nice enough not to wake me up until 7am both mornings which I appreciate and he loved watching the float planes come in.

The last day we headed back across the straight and had some great wind and could sail all the way to English Bay. Had a little ocean swim also. It was a hot weekend out there, but so relaxing being on the water. I did get to steer a little until I screwed up slightly - no biggie, but wasn't asked to do it again. Oh well. Had to just lie on the front of the boat then. Sigh.

Kayak Surfing Pics

This is kayak surfing. It may look mellow, but try not to flip over!!! I had a blast. Thanks again George!

Superman

I just went to see the new Superman Returns movie last night. I had heard that it was well done, but I was a little skeptical about how I would like it. First, because sometimes sequels just aren't as good as the original. Second, because I used to have a HUGE crush on Christopher Reeve growing up and was hard pressed to be convinced of someone else being a good Superman with just as good a chest. Anyways, I was surprised and liked the movie a lot. For being a movie of 2 hours and 40 minutes, I wanted it to go on for longer. The new superman, Brandon Routh, did a great job and I was won over. So for all you Superhero fans, it's a thumbs up in my book!