I was looking through the photos on my phone and found this shot from this past August. It was a really memorable experience seeing the core of the Canadian government and learning a lot more about the country I’ve called home for just over 12 years now.
If you ever get a chance to visit Ottawa, do it. Your country or not, you’ll be guaranteed to broaden what you know about the world.
Anthony told the people in the row ahead of him and a few of the people around him that he was going to do it. He was going to do a selfie. And he was true to his word.
I had two nephews graduate from high school recently. They’re in the same grade and same school. Ben was born in the fall. Anthony in the spring.
They didn’t go to the exact, same high school I went to, but we’re all still from the same hometown. I’m proud to be their uncle. And as much as I would have loved to be there as they went through the process of becoming men, at least I was there on the day that childhood ended and real life begins.
To the next chapter in life. Here, here.
As this year is coming to an end, I’m thinking about all the things that has happened this past year and doing my best to catch up on them as a recap as much as sharing some of the photos I’ve been taking.
Continue reading “Summertime on the Oregon coast”
More photos of this Harrison River Eco Tour on Flickr.
As hoped, I got to head to Punta Cana with the radio day job as a sequel to the very short trip that Rebecca and I had there in July of this year. This one was for a week, and it wasn’t as much relaxation as I had hoped but still provided some great, warm weather and tropical sun.
I just got through all of my photos this past weekend, so here’s a small collection of my favorites from the trip.
We’ve returned from our whirlwind trip to Punta Cana and taking this B.C. Day to recover. I thought I would still get this video posted today to share something we saw on the plane ride home.
On route from Toronto to Vancouver, we caught these thunderstorms over the Canadian Prairies, looking north somewhere over Manitoba and Alberta. I’ve flown enough to see storms from above before, but nothing like this. After watching the show for a little while, I made a mad grab from my camera to shoot some video of it. It’s not the best quality, but some of the lightning displays are pretty amazing.
This was tough to shoot in terms of blocking any reflection in the window. Being dusk to complete darkness outside, I thought I would try anyway. Sadly it was just too dark to take any photo or video of the lines of flames I saw from some of the wildfires in the interior, and those gave me bigger chills than the lightning show.
Hello from gorgeous, sunny, humid, and beautiful Punta Cana.
The opportunity came up to come down here for the day job and do some preparation for an upcoming, potential broadcast related matter. It’s a short jaunt, but the hard work is over for the most part. Rebecca made the trip with me, so we have about a day and a half to enjoy the Dominican Republic a little bit, starting with a small photowalk we did this morning.
It’ll be tough to leave this place, but we want to come back at some point. A few days can’t do this place justice, so it’s safe to say that we’re not sleeping a lot so we can enjoy as much time here as we can. The beaches are gorgeous, the water is warm, and I basically collapsed and feel asleep in a chair while listening to the waves come in. That’s the way everyday should be after a morning of being on the clock.
A few weeks ago, Coast Hotels graciously took Rebecca and I on a weekend trip to Victoria, B.C. to explore how conveinent a getaway to the island can be.
It helps that they picked us up in the west end and drove us to and from the ferry terminals on each side of the ferry trip, but after a weekend like this, I think we’re more inclined to go the transit route (which we’ve done before on another trip) to make another getaway like this sometime in the future. Hopefully you’ll see why by the end of this post.
I do have to say that one of the extreme highlights of this journey was the ferry ride to Schwartz Bay. I noticed a variety of people suddenly looking out the window to one side of the ship. Looking out to the deck, I saw people crowding next to the rail as well. That’s when I did a mad search to the distance, instantly spotting a pod of killer whales making their way across the Georgia Straight. I just blurted out, “Orcas!”, and everyone in our immediate vacinity craned their necks to catch a glimpse.
I know that this isn’t a big deal to many locals, but nature is something that is always awesome to me. Just the fact that I can go running around Vancouver and spot harbour seals, otters, and bald eagles dive bombing fish out of the water, this was another moment of awe to add to the stack.
Continue reading “Spending a weekend in Victoria, B.C. with Coast Hotels”
We’re home from San Francisco, and it felt great to get back to the PNW. When you’re traveling like that and staying in a hotel room for a few days, it’s your own bed that you start to miss.
That’s not to say that we were all ready to leave San Francisco. That was my first time being there, and we saw quite a bit for only being there for not that long. This happens when you take an impromptu walk for about five hours. Combine that with getting around for all the WordCampSF events, the trip kinda wiped us out in the very end.
Here’s a slideshow of all the photos that I have posted on Flickr from the weekend.
The original plan for today was to take part in the WordCampSF Developer Day down at the Automattic offices, but after a late night at the party and Dale having his return flight home later in the day, we thought it would be a shame to not get out to experience the city some more. Neither Dale or I have been to San Francisco, so it was a easy decision to make, even though I’m sure there was some really great things talked about at today’s developer sessions.
Needless to say, I took my camera along and gathered about 50 shots during our journey. We spent most of that time on foot, and when they say that this city is a tad on the hilly side, we experienced it wholeheartedly.
Tomorrow afternoon we leave this city, and it’s been a really great experience to visit and see as much as we have. San Francisco is an amazing place that could really grow on me if given the chance. I can’t say that I’m a fan of the way the temperature fluctuates almost minute to minute, but no place is perfect (especially if you visit Vancouver for a week during the nearly month long streak of rainy days).
If you would like to see more photos from today, view them here.
