Spring gear switch

Today I've been busy ushering in the new season. The snow hasn't even finished melting and I've been tuning up my bike ready to start riding to work. The skis, ice fishing gear and snow shoes have traded places with paddles, golf clubs and fly rods. My canoe can also come down from its rack on the side of my garage.

Hockey night in Prince George

D had a birthday recently and we took him out to see our local team ,the Prince George Cougars, play the Kamloops Blazers. It was a good night as the Cougars won 5-1 and D wore his new team Hockey jersey and was given a free official game puck.

I win! (I never win anything)

Tim Hortons, Canada's largest chain of coffee and donut shops, is quite a treasured national institution. I believe this has something to do with its origins in and continued support of grass roots hockey (and the fact that's it's cheaper than Starbucks). Every year they have this "limited time only" promotion where you roll up the rim of your special cardboard cup to see if you've won one of millions of prizes (ranging from a new car to a free coffee). I have never won at this but this year I've won TWICE - a free coffee AND a free donut. This deserves a true Canadian celebratory "WOOT!"

Spring is here (finally)

We're having our first entire week of positive daytime temperatures and the big melt is on. It's still below zero at night so the snow melt is freezing across the roads at night making driving treacherous in parts. During this time of the year we get regular morning inversions with a cloud of moisture rising off the river and across the valley towards our house before burning off mid morning. Seeing it this morning means spring is finally here (Yay!)

And if it all gets a bit much...

I could have tried to cram a lot more into my Vegas trip but opted out of seeing Matt Goss or Barry Manilow in concert. I was there to learn after all and the anticipated regret seemed too great. Pity these poor folks at the mall who seemed to have overdone it a bit and were seeking some relief at this "oxygen bar". I'd never seen one before and it came as a bit of a surprise. I think they pump the oxygen through the red and blue coloured liquids prior to inhalation through those red nasal prongs. The woman with the dark hair looked about to collapse. Interestingly, none of the customers appeared to have any form of chronic lung disease, the only medical indication I know for oxygen therapy outside of a hospital, so I guess it's a lifestyle issue.

Dino Las Vegas

So the question I'm sure you're all asking is - where did I eat in Vegas? Following last years successes, I thought I'd try some different restaurants this year.

Here are this years recommendations:

The chinese pork, prawn and wild mushroom wonton soup at Red 8 (The Wynn) - for a cosy late night light bite.

Incredible sushi and friendly service at Roku (Caesars Palace) courtesy of chef Haru (above).

Perfect steaks with brussel sprout, onion and belly pork sides and a decent wine list at Botero (Encore)- high end but the atmosphere and service are spot on.

Apologies for the post title but the last time I ate out this well was with the family during "Dine out Vancouver" weekend last month. We initially misheard it as "Dino Vancouver" and were a little confused and disappointed by the lack of dinosaurs around. Thankfully the food made up for this pretty quickly. This has since become a family in-joke which I am sharing with you.

As for the photo of the Encore, this turned out to be the view from my room. Although I was promised a room overlooking the golf course, I wasn't too upset as the entire golf course was in the shade most of the afternoon behind the massive shadow of our hotel. Note to self: book morning tee-off times in future.

Las Vegas - a Cultural Wasteland?

A fellow delegate at the course I was attending, described Vegas as somewhat of a "cultural wasteland" referring to the lack of museums, art galleries, classical music, opera etc. Whilst unable to disagree with her on one level, I wouldn't go as far to say there was no culture as long as the culture you seek involves magicians, half naked dancing women (and men) or aging pop stars in the twilight of their careers. But then what would you expect from a city that builds hotels (The Mirage) right next to live volcanoes (or is it the other way around?) or around a series of canals complete with serenading gondoliers and painted blue sky ceilings (The Venetian)? Having said this, there is still something in Vegas for everyone including some fantastic restaurants which will form the subject of another post.

As an alternative to countless variations of the Cirque du Soleil available in Vegas I managed to catch some hilarous stand up at Harrah's Comedy Improv and some brilliant dualling pianists at the Encore's Eastside lounge-bar where we all tried (unsuccessfully) to defeat their encyclopedic repertoire with our most esoteric requests.

AOW at the Wynn, Las Vegas

Got back from a MRI course in Las Vegas yesterday but the incessant pinging sound of slot machines has only just left my brain (they even had slots at the boarding gate in the airport). Nonetheless, I had a great time staying at the Wynn - nice room, posh shops and no I didn't bet the house on black as the photos suggest.

Singfest 2011

I'm having quite a musical week. Sunday, I was at the Prince George Music Festival watching V play violin with the PG conservatory junior orchestra. Tuesday, I was at Singfest 2011, a non-competitive school choir festival at which V again was singing (she is 4th from the left in the third row up). In contrast to the more traditional choir pieces performed by the other schools wearing formal attire, V's choir sang two rock 'n' roll numbers and wore jeans. Love that attitude. Last night we went to hear Sarah McLachlan in concert in PG. It was a great evening and worth the ticket price alone just to hear Sarah sing "Angel" live on stage.

Fashion week faux pas

Couldn't resist posting this as it made me laugh. Full credit to Matt in today's Daily Telegraph.

More snow and ice

One thing about the cold winters in this place. You have to get out there and enjoy the snow and ice as much you can. Otherwise you'd go mad cooped up indoors all day. Here we are at the local rink practising our hockey outside in -15 deg C and blue skies.

Spring is here (not)

This weekend has been spent mainly shovelling snow. Another 18 inches fell in PG over the weekend and the snow pile by the side of my drive is way taller than me now. Skiing was a blast on Saturday with thigh high powder all over the mountain. Powder skiing is murder on the quads though and I was exhausted with a smile on my face by the end of the day. Anyway here's a photo of me relaxing at Zoe's, one of our favourite cafes downtown. They do a mean veggie chilli and killer fruit smoothies.