I Needed That

Sorry, still no WCT report, and I feel shame.

(please use the accent from the 77 hockey cult classic Slap Shot, starring Paul Newman, if you know, you know, if you don't, it's funny!)

Seriously though, I'm not trying to drag this out but my days are being consumed by trying to find a dog friendly place to live in North Vancouver. The roller coaster ride continues. Thankfully though, as previously mentioned, due to the sincere kindness of a friend I am secure until I finally work this thing out. I had intended to get to my run report all week long and in the end an impromptu trip to The Sunshine Coast this weekend was a WAY BETTER OPTION!


(Kathy, Moi, Ruthy)

I was certified as a Dive Master in Honduras in 2003, and in a very indirect way that experience specifically lead me to my current passion for endurance sports and ultra running. 03 was one of the best years of my life, as I spent the entire twelve months cycle touring Central America. I covered over 4,000km on the bike, spent a full month surfing in Nicaragua and Coast Rica, and mixed in four months of working on a dive island. On the Island of Roatan I would forge life long bonds with some of the most genuine, honest, kind, and entertaining individuals I have yet to meet in my life.

One friendship in particular has grown, that being with my friends Luke and Emily Laga, who reside in Wisconsin. Luke and I both got into running late in our lives, comparatively so, and we have since flown across the country to help pace each other at separate 100 mile endeavors. Luke and Emily, up until last night, were the only friends from the island that I've since seen. It was a slightly reluctant departure from Roatan and the island lifestyle way back in late 2003, and I feel like a piece of me still resides there upon those immaculate sandy beaches and the teaming with life dive sites below the water.



I always assumed I'd get back down there, and in all honesty I'm kinda shocked I've never made it happen. One friend by the name of Kathy had moved to BC a few years back, but our paths had never crossed as we always lived in different towns. A second friend Ruthy, who was one of my instructors and someone I always truly knew I would see again, has since created a post diving life for herself on Roatan with a very successful business. Her vacation away from her island life was to consist of a trip to BC!


(pickin some blackberries along the way)

I found out a month back that I'd finally get to catch up with these two incredible people and I'd been counting down the days ever since. This past Tuesday they changed plans slightly and decided upon a Sunshine Coast getaway weekend, which only served to make the now palpable excitement even better!


(checkin out Skookumchuck Narrows, 'strong'/'water', with tidal flows of up to 30 KPH!)

I needed a break from my daily roller coaster house search. I needed a good excuse to get away to The Sunshine Coast for the first time this year. I was excited to go camping in a completely new destination near Egmont on Klein Lake. Most of all though, I was ecstatic to be catching up with two people I'd always considered life long friends and to help finally create new memories together. We got drunk around tea lights (fire ban), we traded stories of the last seven years our lives, and reminisced about our shared time upon the island. We swam, we lounged, we swam some more, we hiked, we traded more stories, we chilled, we went out to dinner, we caught a ferry back to Vancouver, and I dropped them off about an hour ago.


(Ruthy and Roxy working off their hangovers)

It was but 24hr, but sometimes, 24hr is all you need.



GR