Sunday Jul 1 |
 | Trekking (Backpacking) 3:30:00 [2] | |
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| Happy Canada Day! I'm not sure if I've ever spent a Canada Day without running into any other Canadians - except for 'Bent, of course. We started our Dolomites trek today at Lago Braies / Prager Wildsee, a dark emerald green lake with huge, near-vertical black cliffs along one side. (By law, every place around here has both a German and an Italian name. We're learning lots about World Wars here.) It was a steep climb until our lunch stop, but we aren't carrying camping gear because of the mountain huts, so our packs are only about 17-20 kg. Great views, excellent trails. We stopped at a rifugio (mountain hut) for a double espresso around 3 p.m. No, this is nothing like our Canadian backpacking trips! We got to our rifugio around 4:30 p.m., then hiked up to see some nearby caves after our hot shower and cold beer (!!) I think I could get used to this style of roughing it. All trekking times for this and subsequent treks are heavily discounted from the actual elapsed times to account for photography, wildflower admiration and chocolate consumption. In between, though, there was some good aerobic exercise, and I can definitely feel that a few muscles are getting an extra workout. |
Saturday Jun 30 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
| Train from Venice to Verona to Fortezza to Welsburg-Monguelfo. Got our packs ready for trekking in the Dolomites. |
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| C • attackpointing while on vacati... 3 |
Friday Jun 29 |
| Orienteering 30:00 [1] | |
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| I'd have to count at least part of today's exploration of Venice as orienteering! I was particularly concerned about the directions to our little hotel, which mostly involved street names that weren't on my map - and mostly weren't posted in the real world either, as it turned out. I had a very old map of Venice from my university backpacking days, but the nice thing about a city built in the Middle Ages is that my map was still current. I spiked the hotel, which was good, since we were carrying our luggage in the hot sun, then we made our way to San Marco Square, where we didn't spend much time since we aren't pigeon fans. After that, I put away the map (except for occasional relocation exercises), and we wandered for hours down narrow alleyways, exploring the town and - most importantly - staying awake rather than succumbing to jet lag. Very cool place. I think I'm going to gain weight on this trip - the food is all wonderful. |
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| C • pigeons 2 |
Thursday Jun 28 |
| Note | |
| slept:3.5 (rest day) |
| My next serious navigation challenge will be finding our hotel in Venice. |
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| C • enjoy the vacation! 1 |
Wednesday Jun 27 |
| Cycling 1:47:00  26.7 km (4:00 / km) | |
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| Wed. morning group ride on a VERY hot day. It was just 'Bent, Stan and me today, and we took it easier than usual, enjoying the chance to chat and cool down from our weekend of biking. We learned that Stan is the Chair of Caledon Community Services - a very busy volunteer position around here.
On the way home from our bike ride, we met lots of police officers investigating the disturbing discovery of a murder victim in the Palgrave Forest & Wildlife Area, which we think of as our own back yard. After speaking with a couple of officers, I picked up some orienteering maps at home and biked back to the command post in case they could be used to assist in the ongoing search for evidence. They were pleased to get the maps, but curious as to how some girl on a mountain bike could show up knocking at their door, given that the roads are closed in the area. I explained that I'd come over on trails, and they looked reassured - as long as I didn't cross to the east side of Duffy's Lane, which I had no intention of doing. |
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| C • oh boy - scary 3 |
Tuesday Jun 26 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
| Unplanned rest day - and just as well, given some disturbing happenings in the area. My computer knows whenever we're going away, and it always craps out. This time I lost access to all data (other than e-mail) from the last 2 weeks since my last back-up. Sigh. Fortunately, I'd sent other people copies of everything important (articles I'd written, corporate tax info, etc.), so I'm not in bad shape after asking to have my documents sent back to me - other than having 6 GB of data on my hard drive that my computer says I'm not permitted to access. After spending the morning doing a few things that the Dell help line suggested, they asked me to start Windows in Safe Mode. I got the blue screen of death in Safe Mode - aaacckkkk! Last time that happened, I spent days reinstalling Windows and all my programs. This time I was able to restart Windows normally, and now I'm not shutting off my laptop until we leave for Europe. And then it's time to shop. This computer hates me. |
Monday Jun 25 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
| Today we're thinking about our many friends who started racing in Raid The North Extreme this morning. The first leg of the event is a 3.5 day nonstop race in the Queen Charlotte Islands in B.C. To say that we're envious is an extreme understatement! We're hoping for some news soon on Sleepmonsters. |
| Note | |
| slept:8.5 |
| My lungs feel tight this morning - probably the result of inhaling so much particulate matter on the weekend (dust on the trails). Hope that goes away soon! |
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| C • Lungs 2 |