Tag: view

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day: 423 – Vancouver, BC – Murrin Provincial Park

Kim & Curtis Hale

BIG Win!

Curtis’ hockey game last night went extremely well!

His team won 7-0…And Curtis got a goal! That’s 2 points in 3 games so far. Going well!

When Curtis drove home, he managed to scrape the rear wheel arch on a pillar whilst parking back at home. We have an awkward space in our parking lot and Curtis hasn’t had much practice with it…It doesn’t really make much of a difference, and we had one on the opposite side from the person who owned it before us, so now it just matches!

Cinnamon Buns!

We had the cinnamon buns that Kim made for breakfast this morning!

They didn’t grow as much when cooking as Kim wanted, but they were still delicious, especially with the icing and strawberries that Kim made with them!

Murrin Provincial Park

We headed out once we got ready and went to Murrin Provincial Park. This place was not far from where we went last week.

This is a lake but surrounded by hiking trails, and when we got there we weren’t really sure where we were meant to go, so we just started following a trail!

The trail turned out to be a bit of a scramble, but it was really good fun! The weather has certainly got a bit colder, which is great for climbing around and hiking.

We hiked and hiked and got higher and higher until we were right at the top, with a beautiful view of the large lake!

It was pretty windy up there, so we headed down and that began our decent.

We came across some people rock climbing, which was pretty cool to see, but we tried not to distract them so we continued down.

Eventually, we got to the bottom and it was about a 1/2 hour hike in the end which felt good, but it was time for some food!

We drove up to Squamish and got a subway and a coffee (from Starbucks).

We ate our Subway and then drove on home.

Pizza!

Once we got home, we just relaxed for a while and then when we got hungry, we walked up to our local pizza place, Pizza Garden, which makes the most incredible Italian pizza, and grabbed a 4 cheese pizza from there.

It turns out, 4 cheese pizza isn’t what we usually get, so it was a little weird but still pretty tasty!

Once we ate, we watched the film Anna on Amazon Video, then played some games and watched more TV.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

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Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 416: Vancouver, BC – Whytecliff Park

Kim & Curtis Hale

We woke up pretty late and Kim had a chat with her family as it was her sister’s birthday today.

Once that was done, we had some breakfast and slowly got ready for the day.

Once we were ready, we drove up to North Vancouver and to Whytecliff Park. We had been in this area before, but not in this specific park.

When we got there, we climbed around some rocks and got some really nice vantage points! It was a pretty nice place but pretty busy for what it was,along it a little bit challenging to get around.

We left here nor too long after we arrived and the weather started to get colder and less nice.

We drove to where we thought another park was, but it turned out just to be a fancy housing estate, so we left here.

We ended up in a place we had been to before and grabbed ourselves a coffee before walking around the seawall.

It was starting to get really windy, cold and feeling like it would rain, so we drove back home.

On the way back, we checked the supermarket to see how busy it is, as it is Thanksgiving weekend here in Vancouver, so everyone will be shopping. Sure enough, it was super busy with a large line, so we decided to come back later.

We headed home and had some pizza for dinner and watched the film Tangled which Kim really wanted to watch.

Once we were done with that, we went out to the shop at around 20:45 to get it done with next to no people there, so it was much faster and easier.

We came back home and played some games and chilled out for the evening.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 343: Vancouver, BC – Mt Seymour Hike

Kim & Curtis Hale

Early Wake Up (For a Saturday)

We woke up at 09:00, which is early for us on a Saturday, and we got up and got ready for the long day!

We had french toast for breakfast with cheese!

Hiking!

We drove for 45 minutes up to Mt Seymour. The drive was super easy and there wasn’t much traffic.

We got parked up and the weather became very cold, as we were on a mountain, of course.

We walked to the first trail, which was to head to Mystery Lake. This was an easy hike, but with some good elevation!

We got to the lake after about an hour and sat down, just relaxing and looking at the scenery, which was a beautiful big lake!

We left here and walked up further, eventually hitting the top of a mountain! The views were stunning and we sat and had some lunch here. We had a sandwich we bought this morning from our favourite coffee shop. We managed to find snow on the way up too!

We walked down once we were done with lunch and found a small trail to go up which ended up joining the main trail. We then found out that it was a much, much longer hike to where we wanted to go, so we just hiked all the way back down to the car.

We were out for a long while, and we drove home, very warm and sweaty, but feeling accomplished.

We showered and relaxed when we got home, which was much needed!

We went up to the drug store and liquor store to get some things we needed and some drinks.

Dinner & Fire Trucks?

We put our dinner on (baked potatoes) when we got home and sat on the balcony with a beer!

We had a really nice time just relaxing outside, but it started to get a bit windy and cold, so we came back in and luckily, dinner was ready. We ate dinner and watched some TV and then for some reason, there were 4 fire trucks outside as well as 3 fire car things.

We aren’t sure what it was for as it seemed nothing really happened, but a little entertainment for us and it seemed that no-one got hurt which was good!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 211: Vancouver, BC – Long, Long Walk

Kim & Curtis Hale

Kitsilano Beach Walk

We got up and had some breakfast, but got ready for the day fairly quickly.

We left the apartment and had a brilliant 45 minute walk to Kitsilano!

The sun was out, it was still cold but there were no clouds in the sky.

We didn’t expect there to be many people either, but there were actually a lot.

We got to Kitsilano and walked around a bit, just for no reason. It was so nice out that we felt we should.

We did stop and get a coffee and doughnuts at Parallel 49th, though.

We started to walk back after this, with a few stops on the way to pet some dogs and we walked on the beach for a bit, which gave us excellent views!

Guinness & Moscow Mule

We got back home and went for a drink at the pub near our apartment!

We had been out for a good few hours, so felt like we deserved it.

Curtis got a Guinness and Kim got a Moscow Mule.

Risotto

Kim made her famous risotto again and we ate that for dinner. It was truly amazing!

We then watched some TV as well as a film, The Death Of Stalin which we thought was very funny!

We are both working from home tomorrow (and for the foreseeable future), as mentioned previously, so we don’t need to be awake as early!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 178: Vancouver,BC – Evening Sewing Fun

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis got to work at a perfect time today.

He was able to get admin completed when he arrived and then had his team meeting which he has each morning.

After the meeting, Curtis spent most of the day doing ticket work, but that was varied too which was great.

Curtis had to do a bit of project work, but not too much.

Curtis’ day was pretty uneventful, but walking home was beautiful!

Kim’s Day

As the competition is this weekend coming Kim decided to head into work early so she could fit in some open training and partially be involved in a regular class.

Kim ate far too much on the Vegas and Utah trip and didn’t train for nearly a week so really missed it!

When Kim got in she reorganised the the kitchen back to how it usually is and decided to fix some of the tables.

After this Kim spent a fair amount of time going over the invoices she hadn’t yet saved and listened to the past few weeks of voicemails. This took a while!

Kim then had a meeting about the summer party with her colleague and took on a lot of information and guidance about how to plan it.

Kim arranged a FedEx and sorted the pizza and tacos that arrived for different meetings. Kim sat down for some lunch and had some pizza.

After lunch, Kim continued with sorting the invoices that she is working her way through before having a good catch up with a colleague.

When Kim started she worked closely with the HR team and provided some support there, however she hasn’t had much to do with it over the past few months.

Kim and her teammate had a catch up to realign how this will be working going forward and talk about the gaps in Kim’s training.

Sewing

Kim went to training and the classes were fun. The open pole session was packed, so Kim achieved very little, with the exception of a nice little transition move she will throw into the routine! The second lesson Kim did not succeed in! She didn’t want to injure herself so kept to the basic end of the combo and didn’t push herself too much.

After that, she went back home with a friend from training to try and sew some things together for their performances.

This didn’t go too great as the machine didn’t seem to work correctly, but it was fun anyway.

After her friend left, Kim showered and then we sat and watched a little bit of TV before sleeping.

We can’t believe it’s Friday tomorrow already and we have a day off Monday!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Victoria,BC

Place 70 – Day 27: Victoria,BC – Surprise Birthday Breakfast!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Surprise Birthday Breakfast

We were up nice and early at 08:00 to get ourselves ready.We were having breakfast at the hotel next door with one of Linda’s friends, who arrived to the apartment around 09:00.

We walked across to the hotel and when we got there, all of Linda’s friends were there as a surprise! We knew about this, but Linda did not so it was a good surprise.

We had some big, delicious breakfasts and chatted for a long while.

We eventually walked back home and relaxed for a bit.

Coffee & Shopping

We got out of the house by getting a coffee and doing some shopping.

We stopped in at a really nice coffee shop we had been to before and people watched for a while whilst drinking some great coffee.

We went for a bit of shopping, nothing crazy but mostly just looking around. Nice to get out for a bit.

Handy People

We got back and had a couple of hours to kill.

We relaxed and then helped Linda with a couple of things.

We put up some curtains, which was pretty simple, but then we moved onto the next task which was to change a bulb, which was simple enough.

Shortly after this, we went back out again, this time down to the Steamship to get some dinner.

SteamShip Dinner

We have been here a few times, so Curtis wanted to try something else. He had the garlic mussels along with some bread and fries. They were pretty delicious, though needed more broth.

Kim and Linda both had a filet steak, which were also great.

We topped it off with dessert, Curtis and Linda having a key lime pie each and Kim had a chocolate torte.

Street Performer

We went to see if there were any street performers and there was someone that we had all seen before (who had been doing it for 25 years!).

We stayed and watched it all anyway as it was good fun and something to see and do after dinner.

Kim was saying how she was never chosen for helping at street shows, but she got thrown a hat to collect money around where we were stood, so she was over the moon that she got to help out.

Old Photos

We finished with the show and came back home to relax.

Kim looked through some photo albums of Kim and her family, as well as Linda and other photos. She had a great time doing this!

We sat and got a great view of the sun setting, which was great to see.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 58: Vancouver, BC – Brunch & Cheap Guinness

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We were up at 10:30 and got ready to go out and have some brunch!

We had been recommended a place called Yolks which is a breakfast place and there are only 2in Vancouver. Luckily, one of them is just 10 minutes walk from our home!

We got there and it was very busy, so we put our name down for a table and were told it would be 30 minutes, so we took a walk down the street to find that there are many other places we need to visit in that area.

We finally got the text to say our table was ready, so we went in and took our seats.

Yolks | Vancouver, BC

Rating:- 8.5/10

Kim got a salted caramel hot chocolate and Curtis got a very delicious coffee.

For brunch, Curtis had an eggs benedict with maple smoked ham, which had some odd sauces but it was incredibly tasty. This also came with lemon & truffle potatoes, which were sublime.

Kim had a croque madam, which was made fancy with poached eggs as well as bechamel sauce and some other interesting ingredients, as well as a side of fruit.

We finished our food and headed back home to get some admin, laundry and cleaning done.

Cheap Guinness

We saw a sign yesterday while on our walk which said that Mahoney’s pub had Guinness on deal, so we went for a walk and then popped in on the way back home!

We eventually got a seat outside and it was hot but with a great view.

We finished our drinks and walked to the shop where we got a few things we needed (and some ketchup as it was on deal!).

Salad, TV & Games

We made a big salad for dinner which we ate whilst we watched some TV.

After dinner, we watched a bit more TV and then played some video games together, which is something we haven’t done for a while!

We did that for a lot of the evening, alternating between that and some Lucifer and then we went to sleep.

Tomorrow is Canada Day so we are off work tomorrow and have a few things we would like to do.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 31: Vancouver,BC – Kim’s First day & Finally Wifi!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis walked to work this morning! The weather was pretty nice, even a bit warm. He got to see a beautiful view from the bridge.

Curtis got to work and saw a message about an issue in the boardroom, so went to sort that out.

Curtis had a colleague from the Winnipeg office visiting to show him some stuff.

Curtis got to see a lot today about how Apple Mac laptops are setup, so he went all through that.

As well as going through that, he looked at onboarding and offboarding people.

Curtis got some ginger chicken from the Vietnamese place opposite the road. It was a lot of food!

It was all of a sudden 17:00 and time to go home.

Kim’s Day

Kim got ready in the morning and then headed to Downtown for her first day at work. It was such a beautiful, sunny morning.

When Kim got to work she had a little tour and got a few things set up before heading into a couple of orientation meetings. The orientation went on until midday where Kim met with a few members of the team and learned more about her role and new company.

One thing that was cool was the kitchen! There are various types of coffee machines, including one with a milk foamer. This is very exciting as Kim will now be able to make amazing hot chocolates and coffees in the winter. There is also a massive soft drink fridge too!

At midday, Kim and the rest of the team went out for lunch at Zefferellie’s, a lovely Italian place just around the corner. Kim had a spaghetti with meat sauce, but only the half portion as the meals where huge! This was a really nice way for Kim to get to know the team in a relaxed environment.

When they went back, some of the team headed into a meeting to organise the company’s meeting rooms for the second half of the week as there will be an optional company wide hackathon, which is very exciting! This will give Kim a chance at getting to know lots of people in the company and really help out, a great way to start a new job!

After this meeting Kim continued on more of the orientation for another hour or so before heading back to get desk to do some reading and get a better understanding of the systems and apps.

Just before the end of the day Kim got a cool swag pack of a mug, backpack and laptop case!

Walking Home Together

We met after work and walked home together. Kim told Curtis about her first day and Curtis told Kim about what he did today.

The walk didn’t seem to take long at all and we even got more beautiful photos!

Wifi!

Once we got home, the guy from Shaw cable was there too, right at the perfect time!

He came in and very quickly set up the wifi and we were good to go. When we first tested, when nothing else was using the network, we got 320mbps download, which is excellent!

We then used this to setup the TV and xbox, as well as our Mac & phones.

We are now all connected and ready to go.

Walk

We went for a walk after the Shaw guy left, partially to look in shops for some things but also just to walk. The weather was still nice, so why not?

Grilled Cheese

We came back home as we got hungry and we just made some grilled cheese sandwiches and had some ketchup crisps on the side.

Curtis played some games in the evening and we watched some TV together, too.

It’s nice to have things set up!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 26: Vancouver,BC – What A View

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis got on the train and it turned out to be a bit less busy.

It felt like Curtis got to work pretty quickly today!

Once he got in, he grabbed himself a coffee and began working. He had some things to finish off from yesterday, as well as a bit more to learn.

As well as work, Curtis had some admin to get sorted, mostly new starter related items.

Meetings

Curtis had a couple of meetings, the first being a video call with all the IT team so they all met eachother and the second was another IT meeting but this time it was project related.

What A View

Curtis was able to get a photo of the view, which he has right behind him when he is sat at his desk…it shows Canada place and any boats that are there, as well as the seaplanes!

Purchasing

Curtis then got to work and the afternoon was pretty busy. Curtis picked up quite a few tickets and got to work on them, as well as figuring out what to do.

Curtis was then shown how purchasing works and had to get some stuff purchased for the office.

The end of the day came quickly and then Curtis headed to get on the train.

Train

The train wasn’t too packed on the way home, so that made the trip a little less stressful.

Kim’s Day

Kim did a bit less today, but didn’t get a lay in.

Kim took the dog out for a walk and then after the walk she took the train to the shopping mall to look for a work top.

Eventually, Kim was able to find just 1 top and then went to the supermarket.

Our Evening

Kim met Curtis from the train and we walked to the bank to get some banking sorted.

We came home and had a ceasar salad for dinner.

We watched some TV and did a bit of money admin before we went to sleep.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Seattle,WA

Place 73 – Day 6: Seattle,WA – Under The City & Kerry Park Lookout

Kim & Curtis Hale

Out For Breakfast

We went out for breakfast today as we were recommended a place.

The place to eat was in the Pike Place Market, so we caught a bus to the city at around 09:30.

We got to the city and walked to the market.

The market was a bit smelly, due to the fish section of the market, but we found Lowell’s, the place we were recommended for breakfast.

Curtis had a breakfast with 2 eggs, bacon & hashbrowns along with sourdough toast.

Kim had 2 eggs, 2 pancakes and bacon.

Both breakfasts were ok, Curtis did have great coffee, but both meals were a bit bland.

Lowell’s | Seattle,WA

Rating:- 7/10

Underground Tour

We were also recommended an underground tour of Seattle.

We walked from the breakfast place down to Pioneer Square, where there is the entrance for the underground tour.

We were first sat in a room where we listened to our guide talk about the history of the city and its founders.

After we had a 15 minute listen, we were walked around various points under the city, told stories regarding the great fire of Seattle (which burned the city down) and how all the original buildings are actually underground now as they were built below sea level, before the fire.

An Old Toilet. Due To The Tide, The Would Often Become Geysers!

An Old Sink

Our guide was very funny and informative. We were able to learn a lot about how Seattle was, the ‘villain’ and the founder of Seattle, all told in an interesting, funny way.

The tour took about 1 hour, over several buildings and down many tunnels.

Underground Tour | Seattle,WA

Rating:- 10/10

Doughnuts

Afterwards, we were speaking with the guide and she said there was a good place to get doughnuts and so we took her up on her suggestion and visited general porpoise.

We got a doughnut each. Curtis got a lemon curd doughnut and Kim got a chocolate marshmallow doughnut.

Curtis got a cappucino, and Kim had a hot chocolate with our doughnuts. The drinks were great and the doughnuts weren’t bad either!

It Was A Beautiful Store!

General Porpoise Doughnuts | Seattle,WA

Rating:- 7/10

Kerry Park Lookout

We walked from the doughnut shop for around an hour to get to a lookout point, but with a brief stop at the Olympic Park which has sculptures in.

We were quite disappointed in the sculpture park, so we left there quite quick and continued walking to the Kerry Park lookout.

We had to walk up a rather large hill or two to get to the top and past a lot of beautiful houses, but the view itself was worth it!

Heading Home

We had been out for a good few hours and were actually getting tired, so we caught 2 buses back to our apartment.

Once we got back, Curtis watched the Leafs game and then after that we ate leftover stir fry.

We finished the evening with some TV.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our 2nd last day here in Seattle and we have definately enjoyed it.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale