Spring is Sprung

Winter seems to have been short this year in Vancouver, as experienced by the Spring blossoms.

Neighbourhood crocuses.

Daffies in our front yard.

Bedford Falls Trumps Pottersville

Regarding Donald Trump's recent rise through the ranks to become the current leader in the Republican nomination race, is it just me or does anyone else keep having the recurring mental image from "It's a Wonderful Life" of Bedford Falls degenerating into Pottersville should "The Donald" achieve his goal of becoming president?

My First 100 Mile House Winter Excursion

My employment took me to 100 Mile House this week for a couple of days. We're doing a portfolio of mall reviews and I jumped at the chance to take this one because I have history with the place. And also my Aunt Sandy and cousin Michelle live there so I would have a chance to stop in and see them.

It was interesting planning the flight. I just assumed I'd be on an Air Canada flight, but Williams Lake (the closest fly-in destination) is too small of a service center. I could have flown to Kamloops, but from there it's a 2 hour drive. In the end I booked passage with Central Mountain Air to Williams Lake aboard an 18 passenger twin prop. This way it was only a one hour drive to 100 Mile House. There were only 6 passengers aboard flying to Williams Lake and 8 upon my return.

This view is actually from the flight home but the clouds were much more conducive for photography. 

When I was about 12 my parents bought a small piece of recreational property, which eventually included a cabin, at Deka Lake. Years later we had a similar property (with cabin) at Horse Lake. It changed hands a few years ago but I wanted to drive by to see how it had changed. I haven't been to the 100 Mile House area in a few years. I figured I'd have time to go first thing in the morning. If I left the hotel by 7:30 a.m. I'd have time to drive to Horse Lake and back to be on site in town for 9:30 when the businesses open. What I hadn't factored in however was the thickness of the morning frost! That added probably 15 minutes of prep time before the car was ready to drive.

Frost patterns vary widely depending on vehicle surface type; glass versus sheet metal.

It turned out to be a gorgeous morning to be out and about early. Much nicer weather than the previous day when I flew in.

The west end of Horse Lake. The height of the sun already at 8 a.m. made me wish I'd gotten there even earlier for the sunrise.

Aalton Road, Horse Lake, BC

Another thing I hadn't anticipated was the fact that the road on which I'd traverse to reach the cabin is on the north slope of a hill which receives precious little direct sunshine during the winter. I was essentially driving on a gravel-strewn ice sheet. But not to worry. The road was practically deserted so I felt comfortable crawling along at a southern clime (i.e. Vancouver) city-dweller's pace so as to not land in a ditch. That would most assuredly mess up my appointment schedule for the day.

Here is our former little shack in the woods. I've never seen it in a snow setting before.

I'm really glad the new owner didn't redevelop the site. I still like that little building.

A few kilometers down the road was my next stop; my Aunt Sandy's house. She had a health setback a couple of years ago (she's on the mend now fortunately) and she can't handle the upkeep and maintenance of a 5 acre property (with house) anymore. "The Spread" as it was named is for sale and could potentially change ownership soon. I wanted to see it once more to collect a few photographs.

Morning sunlight has always been kind to this house. We enjoyed many summer breakfasts on that deck as guests.

The old dinner bell.

The weathervane. It used to be mounted on the garage.

The sun illuminating the sun.

There's actually a small pond here under the snow cover in front of the house.

Classic Cariboo chic.

I have many fond memories of staying here in the summer when we came to visit. There's trail, if you follow one of the fencelines, that leads to Horse Lake, skipping across a small portion of a neighbouring property. I used to take the dogs on a morning hike to the Lake before breakfast.

I even got to ride one of my Aunt's horses once. It took a bit of persuasion to get me in the saddle, but I enjoyed it.

Horse Lake all set up for ice hockey.

A typical rural Cariboo winter scene.

Here's Williams Lake from above. The iced-over lake reminds me of the iced-over windshield of my rental car. 

Zwei Deloreans

I came across the the most pleasantly surprising occurrence this afternoon, for a car geek that is. I was unexpectantly assigned a site inspection in downtown Vancouver so I was on the Knight Street bridge crossing from Richmond into Vancouver just after lunchtime. Traffic was heavy on the bridge, and since I'm not normally on that bridge at that time of day, I didn't know if that was typical volume. It seemed I was fighting it all the way across. Not like I was speeding or driving erratically. But you know sometimes how it just seems like no matter what lane you're in, it's the slow one? Happens in the supermarket too, minus the car of course.

Nonetheless, some unknown intelligent entity seems to have kept me at the perfect pace to make my in-traffic automotive discovery. I topped the hill at 54th Avenue in Vancouver, made the traffic light and executed the S-curve, made the following pedestrian light at the crosswalk, but was still behind a huge white panel van with a transport truck beside me. The transporter lagged and the panel van accelerated, and there to my immediate right was a Delorean with European plates. I was so surprised it took me a second the realize it was actually two Deloreans in tandem!

From the stickers on the cars it appears they're apparently on a world tour that's been going on since 2013, apparently originating in Germany. I looked up the website, but didn't get too far as I had to hit the translate button. It's a German site. Web translators are OK in a pinch, but the phrasing is usually all wrong. I'll try again later when I have more time. I'd like to find out a bit of the history behind the trip. I doubt it's been as off-the-beaten-track as Ewen McGregor and Charley Boorman's Long Way Round from a few years ago. Motorcycles allowed them to go places cars merely dream of. I don't recall that Deloreans weren't marketed for their four wheel drive prowess.

Both cars are fitted with steel rims in place of the original aluminum mags. And it looks like they may have a bit of increased ground clearance. Or the extra fender clearance may be due to a different wheel/tire selection. And checkout where the spare tires are mounted. I wonder if that's so they can each carry 2 spares.