Summer -- part 2

As I write this, I sit with an ice pack on my right knee.  You guessed it, I have a golf-related injury.  Most of you know that five years ago, I developed tendonitis in my elbow from playing golf and this winter, my doctor finally acknowledged my pain.  After three months of physiotherapy, I was pain-free and could enjoy playing golf.  My scores improved and I looked forward to our holiday in Victoria.  I could now play twice a week and it would be fun.

And that's what we did.  Our first week golfing,  I've already written about in my last blog.  Our second week began on July 8th (my sister, Nancy's birthday).  We were to play The Ridge with Janny and Robert but she called at the last minute to cancel due to a medical problem.  So we headed to Mt Doug and played two rounds; the first nine with two Alans and second, with Jim.

We took a break on Wednesday and walked down to Ross Bay.  Glen wanted to sit on the beach then do coffee at the Starbucks in Fairfield shopping centre.  We wandered through the graveyard as well.   It is so peaceful and each time we walk it, we see another grave that inspires us.

Thursday, we played Cedar Hill and I parred the first hole impressing Colin and Geoff with whom we played.  They were incredible golfers although Geoff confessed he'd partied too much the night before.  It was his 80th birthday so he had something to celebrate.  However, the day was very hot and I wilted after nine holes despite drinking lots of water and using my golf umbrella.  We decided this was a good reason to get up early and golf before lunch.

Friday found us sitting beside a quiet pond chatting with Diane and Tony at the University Club on the University of Victoria campus.  We had a great lunch then went to their house for coffee.  Saturday we were downtown to meet a former post doc of Glen's.  Erin had moved to Texas, married Cy, and had a baby.  We enjoyed a delightful lunch with them at Pescatores.  Baby Tobin was so well-behaved I'm sure we were the only ones in the restaurant who knew he was there.  Cy is such a friendly guy, it was hard not to instantly like him.  We were thrilled they made time in their busy schedule to have lunch with us.  Seeing Cy's reaction to eating three different kinds of oysters was priceless.

Sunday, we decided to retool our golf swings so went to the driving range.  I find when I play, I often forget what my body positioning should be and hitting balls at the range helps develop positive muscle memory.  It also helps keep my drives straight.

On the 15th, we finally connected with Janny and Robert for a round of golf at Mt. Doug.  I had my best round ever, hitting a score of 39.  Janny struggled with her game but was delighted with her 84th birthday present from Robert, a powered push cart.  We enjoyed coffee with them after our round on the newly renovated patio.  As with most days when we golf Mt Doug, we stopped at Galey Farms for strawberries.  They've been delicious this year.

On Wednesday, Glen realized he hadn't been to Gonzales Beach in ages.  By checking back through  my photos, I discovered it had been a year and a half.  So we strolled down to the beach and sat watching the boats come and go.  There were't many people there but the little ones frolicking in the waves were fun to watch.

We played Cedar Hill again on Thursday at 8:30 am this time and I had an amazing round (I scored 99 and Glen scored 104--both personal bests).  We played with Doug, a retired teacher from Kingston, Ontario, and I actually got par on the course's signature hole.  This involves a long, downhill drive over a rocky outcrop that can mess with your mind.  Both Glen's and my balls were next to the pond so I snapped a few pictures of waterlilies before taking my second shot and landing the ball on the green.  We celebrated by going out to lunch at Smuggler's Cove Pub where I had a delicious plate of fish and chips.

Saturday, we met our neighbours, Ray and Cynthia for lunch and walked over to Christie's.  It was so good to catch up on what's been going on in their lives.  They are devoted volunteers at the Monterey Recreation centre in Oak Bay and show us how full our lives could be after retirement.

We headed back to Calgary on Sunday, stopping for the night in Salmon Arm.  It was good I booked a room at the Best Western as they were full.  We ate in the Hideaway Pub and I had an amazing Greek salad with chicken souvlaki.  The pita bread nothing like anything I've tasted before. Delicious!!

We were up early on Monday as we wanted to golf a par 3 course we pass en route to Calgary called Club Shuswap.  We ended up doing 9 of their 18 hole par 3/4 course.  This involved golfing a mountainside and dragging our clubs up steep inclines.  The views were great (see photo) and the golf challenging.  At one point, we spotted a sheet of metal hanging from a chain with a steel pipe hanging beside it.  Obviously, they have issues with bears!

One funny incident occurred on the third hole.  Having never played the course, we approached the tee box then gazed out over a grove of trees.  Neither of us could see the fairway or the pin.  I'd never hit over trees before so hoped for the best.  As I returned my driver to my bag, I saw that the true fairway lay behind us!  Thank heavens the golf course was empty so I could retrieve our balls and we didn't hold anyone up because of our mistake.

Club Shuswap also offers Pickle Ball which we'd never heard of before.  Named after a dog, it's played on a tennis court using paddles instead of rackets and a whiffle ball in place of a tennis ball.  It must be popular as every court was in use.

We stopped for lunch at our favourite pub in Revelstoke, River City Pub.  I had their spicy chicken wrap and Glen had the beef dip special.  Both came with enormous salads and pints of Attila the Honey ale from the Mt. Begbie Brewery.  We literally waddled to the car and made a beeline to Calgary.

That's when we discovered we had no back steps attached to our house.  They were laying cement pads so we had to unload the car from the street.  We ate supper at Scotsman's Well, sharing a large pizza and enjoying a couple of Stella Artois.

We didn't want to lose our momentum golfing so booked a tee time early Thursday morning at Silverwing.  The wind was about 50 mph so golfing was difficult.  Even when it was at our backs, it took control of the ball and sent it every which way.  Putting was impossible as it pushed the ball along different paths.  During one drive, I must have wrenched my knee but I felt no pain so we ate lunch in the clubhouse and enjoyed a great reuben sandwich.  The next day, I could barely walk.  By Friday afternoon, my knee had swollen to the size of a small melon.  I must have used my knee as a brace to increase the distance of my drives into the wind.  I won't do that again!

Summer so far

As this is Glen's admin year, we decided to take a longer summer holiday than usual.  However, life can affect even the best laid plans and most days this past month, he has worked.  He even made a trip to Sherbrooke, Québec to give a seminar while I stayed in Victoria.

Our trip out to the island was similar to those in the past stopping in Golden for lunch at the Whitetooth, staying at the Best Western in Salmon Arm, and enjoying the Hideaway Pub.  We ate at Christies' Pub when we arrived in Victoria and met an Edmonton couple who had just found an apartment for their son who was attending the University of Victoria.  It brought back a few memories of our first sojourn to the island.

Meg and Mike arrived for their holidays the day after Glen flew back from Québec.  It was Mike's birthday so the next day we celebrated.  First, they went to Shine Café for breakfast then we walked to the Ross Bay Cemetery.  They found my letterbox, the Green Dragon (who was popular that week as it was found by 4 others) and visited Emily Carr's grave.  We had lunch at the Ross Bay Pub where the food was excellent.  I enjoyed a delicious vegetarian pizza and Meg's beef dip looked mouth-watering.  We faced a TV screen and that's when I learned both Glen and Meg had become World Cup football fans.  We drank an extra beer while watching the end of the game.  That evening we went to Christies' to celebrate Father's Day and Mike's birthday.

Sunday, after M and M had a Shine Café breakfast (pierogy eggs benedict and monte cristo sandwich), they walked to Willows Beach.  We followed about a half hour later and met then on their return.  They headed to Pennyfarthing while we went to the butcher in Estevan.  At the end of the beach, we met a couple we had golfed with a few years ago.  He had had a heart attack and stroke the month before and was doing a short stroll.  He'd have died had he not been so fit.  Janny, his wife, needed to golf so we arranged to meet up with them.

Monday, Meg and Mike did their famous pub crawl (second iteration).  They planned to begin at Bartholomew's Pub, but it was closed for renovations so they went to Smith's Pub instead, about a 45 minute walk from our condo.  They then worked their way around Victoria, ending at a pub near the Belfry theatre (20 minute walk from our place).  At each pub, they enjoyed one local beer.  I've lost track of what they tasted but the pubs were The Sticky Wicket, Bard and Banker, Garrick's Head, Irish Times, Yates Street Taphouse, and the Fernwood Inn.  It took them 7 hours so they also ate along the way.  Meanwhile, Glen and I played golf at Mt. Doug and scored our personal best.

Tuesday was board game day for M and M at Interactivity Board Game Café (Glen had a teleconference that day)  The café is an interesting gaming concept for people of all ages.  You pay $5 and can play any of their 500 games for the entire day.  Although they are not licensed, they do serve good food.  M and M played 4 games and bought a couple (it's also a store).

We met them at The Tartan Toque for supper.  This used to be a fish and chips restaurant (not very good) in Stadacona Centre.  It is now an 'order at the front' place with excellent food and good beer.  We each had their 'famous' wings and I requested mine in a sauce called 'inferno'.  Usually the hottest wings are never hot enough for me but I met my match with these.  I sweated so much my glasses fogged up.  Very funny!

Glen had to sit on a Master's defense on Wednesday so Meg, Mike, and I walked down to Gonzales Beach.  We were taking the long way to a sushi restaurant on Oak Bay Ave.  The beach was empty and the tide low so we explored the tidal pools.  M and M had never walked Foul Bay Road so we took this winding street to Oak Bay Ave.  Meg had researched the best sushi restaurants in Victoria and learned the best, on Fort Street, had suffered fire damage in April so the second best was Osaka Sushi.  We had a huge Kirin beer (650ml) each, served with chilled juice glasses.  It reminded me of the time I was in Tokyo and had returned to our hotel after walking around the Edo Castle grounds.  I didn't feel like lunch so went to the hotel vending machine and bought a 500ml can of Kirin beer.  It was my first 'liquid' lunch.

Sticking with the Asian theme, we walked to Chinatown on Thursday for dim sum at Don Mee's.  This restaurant has served Victoria for 80 years and even though we arrived before noon, it was busy.  It has become our tradition to eat lunch but order enough for supper.  We finished full and happy because all our favourites appeared on the dim sum carts.  I made hot and sour and egg-drop soups to augment our supper fare.  We spent the afternoon playing Eldritch Horror, a complex, cooperative board game involving cards, dice, and strategy.  It took 2 hours to play and we didn't 'beat the monster' until the third game (played on Saturday).

We were going to join Meg and Mike on their trip to the Royal BC Museum to see the 'Vikings' exhibit but Glen had a lab meeting so I opted to stay home, too.  We were to meet them at The Beagle Pub on Cook Street for lunch.  Glen's meeting went long so we ended up driving down instead of walking.  Just as well since it was pouring rain when we finished our lunch (I had a delicious lamb burger).  Neither Meg nor Mike had umbrellas as the morning had been fair.

Saturday we headed 'up the peninsula' to Brentwood Bay.  Our friends had introduced us to Blues Bayou Café, a funky place with excellent New Orleans-type cooking.  We arrived just as they opened and most of the tables sported reserved signs.  We nabbed the last table for four inside and since it was raining, this was a lucky chance.  Next time, we'll make reservations.  I started with mussels (see photo) then had the Oyster Po'boy while Glen and Mike had the Big Easy Shrimp Melt.  Meg ordered the Mississippi Seafood Cannelloni which looked delicious.  Afterwards the rain had let up so we walked down the public dock to check out the eagles and geese.

Sunday was a lazy day.  Meg decided that with packing etc, there was no point walking downtown to the Flying Otter for lunch (the final pub on her must-do list).  Instead, she and Mike went to Christie's and watched the football game while enjoying the great food this pub offers.  We drove them to the airport in time to check in and then eat at the new Spinnakers restaurant there.

We spent the next day doing laundry and cleaning house.  You can't have four people living in a small apartment and not generate dirt.  Tuesday, Canada Day, we were off to play golf with our Dutch friends, Janny and Robert.  He was still not able to play so caddied for her.  Noel joined us.  He was also an immigrant (each came to Canada in the late 50s) but from Ireland.  We had a great time golfing and I parred a hole I've never parred before (aways nice).

Wednesday, we met up with our British ex-pats at a Thai restaurant for lunch.  It was a lovely day so we sat out on their patio.  Thai Lemongrass served large Singha beer but instead of us each having our own 650ml bottle, our server filled our glasses from one before opening the next.  True sharing.  We also shared three plates of food and a bowl of coconut rice.  Tony is not a fan of seafood so we had ginger lamb, chicken (mostly bamboo shoots) curry, and chicken and cashews.  Diane wasn't well so ate very little.  The placed closed its doors at 2:00 but they allowed us to chat until 2:30.

Thursday, we were off golfing at Cedar Hill.  I was a bit nervous as I hadn't played the course in a while and we are often paired up with very good golfers.  It was no different this time as Guy (a chef) and Mike (retired) joined us.  However, I hit a nice drive off the first tee and almost hit the green on the second hole so I felt I could keep up with them.  I did get stung by a bee while putting the second green which became quite painful on the third fairway.  I had no first aid kit but hand sanitizer worked to cool the sting.  I was fine after that and hit a personal best score when the round ended.  We enjoyed a beer in the clubhouse with Mike who turned out to be a RMC classmate of Glen's brother-in-law, Randy.  He also graduated from our alma mater, Carleton but 20 years after we did.

After a couple of days of doing chores, we decided to golf again.  This time at the par 3 course, The Ridge.  It was a dreary day Sunday which kept the crowds away.  It rained partway through our round but it wasn't cold.  It did make the sand wet so both Glen and I struggled getting our balls out of the bunkers.  However, it was a good round with me getting 4 pars and a birdie and Glen getting 2 pars.  We were working on our iron play so the pars were bonuses.  We celebrated by heading 'up the peninsula' to Sidney.  Our favourite pub, The Rumrunner, sits on the pier and gives us great views of the boats coming and going.  We both had their crab and shrimp sandwich.  Glen's salad was a DIY, the lettuce standing straight up in a curl of cucumber (see photo).  I had roasted red pepper soup which was excellent.  As well as great food and the view, we go to the Rumrunner for Dead Frog Nut Brown Ale.  "Nothing goes down like a cold dead frog"! The brewery now sells some of their beer in Alberta Co-op stores so I'll check that out when we get back to Calgary.

That's been our summer so far.  Stay tuned as the summer isn't over yet and perhaps we might get some sunny weather, too!