poplar road

Allyson and I have had one of those drowsy weekends where catching up on sleep (and fighting off cold bugs) are at the top of the to do list. She woke this morning with a raspy cough, and I can't seem to keep my eyes open by one in the afternoon… The time flew by the past few days as we luxuriated in mystery novels, warm spring sunshine, and Allyson's incredible baking. And the gift of great horned owls just learning to fly, perched on one tree or another within view of our windows for most of this week. Here are a couple of pictures of these amazing, stunning creatures.

That's it for the long weekend. Richard arrived home this evening, a day and a half earlier than expected, so the ball gets rolling tomorrow for the next phase of renos. First up, the electrical upgrade, which means some upheaval in my office where the drywall probably has to come down. And I'm calling telus tomorrow re the phone lines needing repair, because with both Allyson and I online frequently, it's even more frustrating not to have a reliable connection. It's going to be a busy week. The owls, sitting on a branch with only the swivel movement of their heads to give themselves away, could school us in patience. Hoo-Hooo.

Here at last are the vacation photos – the four-wheeling part, anyway. Unfortunately the pictures documenting our road trip to and from the annual rock-crawling trail run at the "Hammers", in the Mohave Desert in southeastern CA, involve more shots of malfunctioning brake components (ouch), and a damaged autobody shop sign (tragic) than they do touristy photos of our afternoon in San Francisco. We saw far too much of a certain parking lot in Fresno that I never want to see again.

Exhausting and expensive road trip in the Dodge aside, the portion of our trip from when Richard backed Mechano off the trailer until he loaded it up again was quite a ride. Given the trials I'm having with internet connectivity these last two months, I'm not posting a tonne of pictures, but for those interested, we can share and/or swap the high-res originals when we're next in Vancouver. I think these capture the day on Wrecking Ball… but I'd love to see the ones others took of me driving Clawhammer the day before… Just don't e-mail me any unless they've been reduced to 225 K or less and sent one at a time!

So, here are a few highlights of Richard in (red) Mechano, Matt in (blue) Stubby Toy, Pam driving (yellow) Big Bird (with baby Danaeya asleep in the back), and Gary breaking in his grey Toy early in the day before his impressive finale (which I hope somebody caught on video!)

And finally, the requisite cacti photo – Tristan found me this one in bloom as he was tracking lizards and scouting for snakeskins. This corner of the Mohave was very different than the high desert of Moab, but aside from the dusty, barren lakebed we camped on, it was just as full of life. I wish we'd had time to do a few more trails, because I don't think we'll be making another road trip to the Hammers any time soon. It's time to find rock-crawling like this closer to home!

Hullo from North Vancouver, poplarroadreaders...

I'm told by my concerned better half that my regular visitors are getting frustrated that Poplar Road has gone silent the past two weeks. My apologies. I fully intended to post a flurry of photos last Saturday - the 4x4 trip in the Mohave, the overgrown garden we came home to, and Richard's taming of it with the new lawn tractor - but instead I fought with my dismal dial-up connection for work stuff half the night Friday and much of Saturday, and left home for balmy Vancouver Sunday morning without uploading a thing. It didn't occur to me I could have burned the images to CD and done the upload from here. Sorry, folks. Everything's been subsumed by work. And tomorrow, I fly to Winnipeg to run a conference I've been organizing for the past 6 months. The past two weeks of frantic preparations - from programs to menus to press releases - will finally pay off in a frenetic burst of energy followed by complete burnout. I can feel my first cold of 2005 creeping up on me. Luckily I will have lots of time to vegetate on the 5 hour bus trip back home on Wednesday. Am also taking the rest of the week off, an extra long weekend.

Richard and I have both been putting in extra hours the past few weeks, particularly on weekends, but the time off we get in lieu is going to be put to good use. That's right, we're going back into renovation mode to finish the heating (and AC!) system, and get the master bedroom done. With the yard somewhat under control and a new pump for our well going in this weekend, the outdoor stuff is behind us for a while. Inside we never quite finished all the white on doors and trim (I'm sooo fond of white paint), and there's some clean up to do so Richard can start work on the heating system. Nothing exciting just yet, but I'm looking forward to some heavy duty demolition in the master bedroom/bath soon.

The big news of the week is, we're going to have help... my friend Allyson is coming for an extended stay. It's not quite her beloved wet coast, being just around the bend from BC's only desert. But close enough that she can get some job-hunting done for her new career as a pastry chef. On Sunday morning, faced with the usual "continental" breakfast fare at the conference, I will remember Allyson's home-made fresh-baked croissants from her Easter visit, and pass by the evil baked goods tray without qualm, because nothing can compare. Mmm. If I wasn't so sleepy I'd be hungry thinking about it.

I am rambling and have no pictures to alleviate the sprawl of text, so I'll sign off now. On Wednesday, joined on the bus by Allyson, we arrive home in time to take Richard to the airport for a training session in Salt Lake City, and then it's time to relax, recharge, and catch up. I still have some awesome wheeling pictures to share, and there's Richard on his new toy, the lawn tractor. All to come later this week, after I make sure my 145 guests enjoy the conference so much that I get to do this again this time next year. If I survive this one. Wish me luck.

Posted by anita at 11:09 PM | Comments (1)