Quite fun, not so much castle

We spent a day out in Abbotsford with some of our favorite people hanging out at Castle Fun Park. Wee! Old school arcades, bumper cars like West Edmonton Mall, an all out mini-golf course and batting cages. How much more castle, fun and park can you get?

Final Days in Vancouver

The nephrology exam was written uneventfully on Monday. Practice questions notwithstanding, the nephrology exam was very fair and consisted of questions that were actually practical in the field. This is in contrast to the ridiculous internal medicine exam from the same organization.

My elation was short-lived because with only one, maybe two, days of complete and utter bliss at not having any medical obligations whatsoever, and the freedom to slack as much as possible, we have to move right away. The packers coming tomorrow and the truck on Friday. Again, it is sad to move away from a home that Shannon and I have established for ourselves. What makes it especially difficult is the beautiful sunshine out today from my window, which is an anomaly from the intensely wet weather that we have been having. Well, that is Vancouver.

These last three months since the end of my fellowship have been really productive. While I was expecting loads of free time, life got in the way, and because of traveling around for weddings, visits to family, some work and locums, and two exams, the time was surprisingly short and packed. I think Shannon and I managed to get quite a lot out of our remaining weeks here and did a lot of stuff around the area.

The ol’ computer is getting disconnected tomorrow, and we being our lives as transients by moving in to a friend’s extra room for a couple of days, delaying as long as possible the inevitable departure from this city and our friends. Well, so long Vancouver. And thanks for all the fish!

Up in Whistler

Trying to make the most out of our time out in BC, we went up to Whistler and Squamish a couple of times this summer and had a blast! The airplane was just big enough for four people and did it ever get blown around by wind while we were landing! I got to try my hand at piloting the plane for a bit, as well as seeing Vancouver from up above. We ended off the flight with a flyby of The Chief, a hike we did with Dan just a couple of weeks beforehand. We always drove by the old copper mine in Squamish, but this time we decided to stop and see what it was all about. The whole thing reminded me of Alan Wake and it was neat to learn about the history and how copper was mined. Shannon finally got to ride the Peak-2-Peak life from Whistler to Blackcomb and back - the longest unsupported span of any gondola. That sure is a long drop. While most people know Whistler for its winter skiing and snowboarding, in the summer, it has some great hikes and mountain biking.

It's Harvest Time!

Fortunately this year Edward and I were able to make it out to the farm during harvest time to help out. This was Edward's very first time out on the farm!! Boy was he in for a surprise. Edward realized that 6am existed EVERYDAY! We were up at the crack of dawn everyday (well after Mom and Dad though). I think Dad likes to get up before the sun rises (; p)! We were lucky to have really good weather for combining and that is just what we did. Curtis had to go back to work the day after we got there so Edward was first up to learn to drive the tractor. Now much to everyones surprise he was a natural at this job. I on the other hand was not so surprised as Edward seems to do well at everything he tries.

After two demonstrations from "the boss" aka Dad he was driving all by himself, loading on the fly and unloading at the grain bag. Jeff drove the combine and Edward drove the grain cart and together they took off a lot of grain.

Everyday from sun up till sun down that combine was moving. Only a few repairs needed to be made which delayed the process by a few hours and gave the combine a break, but all in all breakdowns are a part of harvest I guess. As long as the sun shines and the rain stays away we continue to race against the clock to try and get it all done. Even though it was a lot of hard work and long hours we had a lot of fun! When the sun is gone everything stops, Dad blows out the combine and we return to the house for food, beers and laughs with everyone who helped out and the whole day repeats as soon as the sun rises in the morning.

Edward even got to drive the combine, until it had a breakdown and he felt guilty and decided the tractor was a more suitable place for him. The breakdown had nothing to do with him driving but rather just mechanical. A belt or bearing blew I think, but I'm not sure. It seems it's always a belt or a bearing that goes when a breakdown happens. Enough about breakdowns, we like to pretend they don't exist.

We made a video of Edward's first experience with harvest.