Breezy With Periods of Rain Blues: Sunday, January 18th!

Assassination: The extreme form of censorship. -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950)

J.E.H. MacDonald Sketch for Mist Fantasy, c. 1922

Hi Patrizzio! Trust you are well. Busy times here. Forecast for Sunday suggested rain but I decided to try and go for a short ride before showers started. Given the predicted precipitation I stayed pretty close to home and dipsy-doodled around Olympic Village for first 10 km to see what clouds would do. 

When I saw a fair bit of blue to the west I decided to head out to UBC and once there I figured Iona, via Marine, was a good possibility. All went well all the way to Stink Island although the head wind out of the south east was pretty strong on way back to Cambie Sky Train Bridge. Climb up Cambie was relatively easy with wind at my back now and I managed to make all of the lights without difficulty. Once back at the Heartbreak Terrace I was really chuffed at time and distance given that I had not expected to be able to ride at all! Fond regards from Mme Coriandre. Cheers, Patrizzio! Stats for ride:
 
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/677209889#.VL0ub9RfBmM.email 

Hi Patricio Wow what a lot to take in! Do hope any move you make is successful - where is naramata and will Chloe be able to visit easily?
 
Your idea re meeting place sounds great - just let us know when you've checked with Ruth / rick as I presume we would travel in one car so we need to arrange drop off point and date. Let me know if u think it best if we keep hire car til Vancouver
 
We are off to Exeter for weekend on feb 6th as I got free 1st class train tickets - long story ! Staying at southernhay house which looks gorgeous. In May were going to Milan for expo staying in brand new 4 star hotel - another great deal 4 days inc flights £375! Rest of this year will be saving for Canada trip.
 
Lisa exchanged contracts on Friday so will be moving on 12 th feb - no peace for the wicked! Love to all and thanks so much for your suggestions. P and M xxx
 
Hi pat If we pick up car at Calgary airport what would be the nearest town to shushwap that we could drop it off? Trying to find prices one way for car hire .
We have booked flight from Vancouver to Toronto on Sorry it sent without me finishing! On 24th September at 11.30 am flight to To from Van xx

Hi Jet Setters! I suppose drop-off will depend on car rental company. That being said, I would see if Salmon Arm is a possibility. Might be Kamloops as it is a larger community. If the later, not a big deal as we can still get to the Okanagan from there without much bother. Once you find out best or only spot to return vehicle we can dovetail when/where we meet so as to minimize travel when we have one car. [We have friends in Kamloops so we might come up to stay with them before we hook up with you and then proceed to Chateau Toews!] Let me know what your options might be and perhaps I can suggest what might be best/most economical, etc., given distances/costs, etc. The area around Big and Little Shuswap is a significant tourist region, (house-boating, fishing, etc.), so I presume there should be plenty of car rental agencies for pick-up/drop-off.

Must away as we are off to dinner in North Vancouver. Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!

Had a grand evening with Ariel and Hugh Creighton in the evening. Cora Lee knows them from United Church connections. They had invited another couple, Phyllis and Lindsey, so it was a delight to get to know everyone. Phyllis, a speech therapist, is from small town Manitoba, born in Boissevain, so we had many connections in terms of place in the province. Lindsey, a geologist, from Brisbane, has worked all over the world. Interestingly enough, they lived in Red Lake, Ontario, for a number of years and I know the place well. My Uncle Emil was a doctor at Madsen Mine there and we visited regularly in the '50's. After he and his family moved to Dryden I often spent a couple of weeks every summer, in the early '60's, at a fabulous log cabin lodge there, owned by Emil's former partner, Joe McCammon. Joe and Helen had moved to Oregon by then but still visited every summer. 

Lovely dinner and truly most scrumptious food with plenty of wine, although Hugh had inadvertently put the red in the fridge so it was rather tasteless until bottle warmed up! Back home by 10:30 pm to watch the latest Downton episode. We had recorded it so didn't have to worry about how long evening went on. Very little traffic on way home so it really is not a long drive, down Capilano and over Lions Gate, under such conditions. 

Thanks for the Okanagan update.  An adventure as always!  I hope you realize that you will have to exchange your 'all season' with 'winter' tires!!  You were brave to drive through the passes - hope you had some chains with you.  

Wow, the prices are higher than I would have thought. I'm sure there is the perfect abode for you...just may need to give it a bit of time (oh and darn, that would mean you'd have to stay in Vancouver longer :-) However, if you really are wanting to get out of this very busy and noisy city, I hope you find something soon. I was reminded this week of how precious life is as one of the three climbers that died last Sunday while climbing in Pemberton, sat next to me at work. Hugs, Janet

Hi Janet! Terribly sorry to learn of the death of one of your work colleagues. As you say, a pretty emphatic reminder of the fragility of life. Cannot even begin to imagine how devastating the three deaths will have been to family and friends, let alone work colleagues. Fond regards from Mme Coriandre. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi, does anyone have an ebook link for the next book? Best, VL Hi Gents, Attached is EPUB version of Indian Summer. Sorry Mark no audio available. Cheers Hi Vittorino! Hope you are completely recovered from your Rhinovirus! If so you should come riding with me. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Thanks Corinne. Lynne and I have been looking at airline schedules and availability. It looks like we will be able to get flights on our Aeroplan points so it would be good to tie down the dates while the flights are available. It seems like it’s about the same price and travel time going either way around the world. Lynne would likely go through Frankfurt on Air Canada, from where Lufthansa has a daily direct flight to Chennai (I’m hoping to be able to travel direct from Johannesburg if the timing of my Madagascar trip works). We also found that Cathay Pacific has an excellent connection through Hong Kong which might be best for you. It looks like a decent fare, and coincidentally arrives in Chennai at almost the same time (around midnight) as the Frankfurt flight. Check it out. I use Expedia for sorting out flight options. Cheers, Peter 

Great I want to give Luxe India a date of our arrival. Will check out the flights. I have seen that one through hong Kong and thought it looked good. Talk soon
Corinne