July 1st 2017 Canada’s 150 Birthday!
It truly is remarkable that Canada is celebrating 150 years. We are a strong, young country. Difficulties and differences have come up but the people who make up this country have a common goal in developing a strong, free nation. Every one of Canada’s 150 years is worth celebrating.
Happy Birthday Canada!
Last Saturday was the Pride Parade in town! Glenis had a prime spectator seat as it wound by the store. She said the parade was great, the crowds so deep along the side walk that she took a ladder out to sit on top of it so she could see and take these great pictures!
What every gal needs is a time to hang out with her running friends, which usually are her best friends! We had a wonder 23 hours with our closest running friends. The four of us got together during our marathons days years ago, so it was great to get together to reminisce, catch up with each other and to plan another adventure.
The last adventure we had was a little mountain climbing last year in the Adirondacks. After a lot of laughter this years plans are well under way for another great adventure.
A little hiking, a lot of laughing, love these girls!
Some cities just get it. People need places to walk and run away from traffic. Grand Rapids, Michigan isn’t a big city but it has over 100 miles of paved biking and running trails!
This morning we ran out and checked out a local trail that we haven’t been on in a while. It’s right beside a subdivision constructions site which is a little sad because the construction has actually cut the trail off so now it is a dead end. Maybe when the construction is finished they will open it up again.
In the mean time someone has been in there trail building. For such a small area they have really put some work into it. So far, because not too many people go into that area, it is really beautiful with narrow little side trails running off a double track. They have also built two elaborate all natural bridges over the little stream that runs through the forest.
It’s a little controversial whether or not someone should randomly build trails in a town wood lot but I’m sure the new people moving into the subdivision will really get some enjoyment out of it. Mosquitoes and all!
Earlier this week we notice our local trail head was surrounded by a fence and that excavating equipments had moved in. I assumed they were grading in a proper parking lot in but isn’t the case.Turns out they are upgrading about a kilometre of the trail, adding crushed gravel, filling in the low lying spots and joining it up with the existing trail. In short, making it into an urban trail.
I’m not so keen on that, I kind of like getting my feet wet, running on dirt and how the morning sun glints off the spider webs that seem to have grown during the night. That won’t be the case once the gravel path is in place. It’s kind of sad how we have to take the wild out of the wild.
It’s a beautiful day to be on the golf course!
That’s where my sister is today and I’m acting as her backup! She is spending a beautiful day at a golf tournament. The course she is on actually backs onto trails we enjoy running.
I’m holding the fort at the store, catching up with running friends and fitting others for shoes. Running Free is having a great sale on bike apparel this weekend. Check out http://www.runningfree.com
It’s kind of handy having a Blister Sister!
Returning from an injury can be daunting. Some days are good and some days aren’t. I’ve been back running, or trying too for about two months now. Some days I feel great and other days not so great. I’m determined though to try to keep up with my sister! Today’s run took us along our favourite road. The sap buckets were out, spring and a new beginning are happening now!
Out and about this morning to run at one of our local trails. We knew the temperature was going to warm up today, so we headed out early before the trails got too soft.
The footing was perfect, the view was stunning with all the snow we have had in the last week or so but the sky, blue and clear, the photos don’t do it justice.
If you have the time go out at look, spring is just around the bend!
We were really luck the last few days to get a dump of snow. So this morning before work we headed out for a little snowshoeing. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a work out too. You can really feel it in your hips and glutes. The valley looked so peaceful covered with snow as we stomped along. We cut a trail along the river. The river isn’t frozen over now, too many above freezing days, so the ducks were still there, I can’t figure out why their feet don’t freeze in the water but that’s for another post.
I’ve been snowshoeing off and on for a long time. I still have the first pair of snowshoes I bought when I was a kid on the farm from the local feed store. They are the older wooden kind with a tail and the cat-gut webbing. I bought them so I could check on the fence around the field my horses were in. Working snowshoes.
Now we have the light-weight aluminum and nylon snowshoes. They have comfortable bindings and are light enough that we can run in them (although they aren’t made for running). No more special snowshoe shoes, we just use our trail runners and gaiters.
Snowshoes go back a long way. Historians don’t know the exact age of snowshoes but they believe they were invented 4000 to 6000 years ago. They say that North America wouldn’t have been populated without the snowshoe. Wikipedia had a pretty good write up about the history of the snowshoe. Did you know that snowshoes are a Canadian Icon ? If it weren’t for snowshoes the fur trade might not have happened back when the Hudson Bay Company was in that business.
There are lots of different types of snowshoes depending on the terrain you are in and what exactly you want to do with them like running or back country hiking. Choosing a snowshoe can be as easy as going to your local sports store, farm store or Costco but a little knowledge goes a long way, check out Backcountry’s website.
Snowshoes are getting more technical too, Fimbulvetr, a Norwegian company has some pretty cool technical snowshoes. They made the Outside (online) 2016 Winter Buyer’s Guide.
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