Kelly — a BIG Sushi fan — lives in Canmore.
His favourite restaurant in Banff is Hello Sunshine Sushi during Happy Hour.
50% off many Sushi platters.
As well as beer and other menu item specials.
I’m hoping to go 3 times this week. 😀
Kelly introduced me to Hello Sunshine after a GREAT day skiing powder at … Sunshine.
Due to the pandemic, I hadn’t made it back to Port Townsend, Washington since 2019.
Since then, Doug and Diana had built a new house on one of their properties.
I was both 3rd and 4th in the guestbook, visiting both going to and coming from Coeur d’Alene.
Carrie came up from Vancouver WA to videotape a chat with myself and Doug about the start of the Tumbl Trak Ambassador Program. Actually, she drove MANY hours in the dark and rain to pick me up in Port Angeles.
I was the first Ambassador, we think, when Doug gave me an inflatable tumbling mat to take to my Gymnastics tour of Australia in 2007. I did clinics in 5 different States.
The other BIG news of my visit was that Diana was getting packed for a trip to Europe with a friend.
Also — Doug bought a new car. A Nissan Leaf.
It was my fault. I took the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton WA by mistake — and there happened to be a Nissan dealership there. 😀
As always in Port Townsend, we enjoyed some terrific meals.
My favourite was Finistère.
As always, I got out running and hiking.
This is dawn down close to Fort Worden.
If you’ve never been, Port Townsend is a tourist gem hidden away off the main highway in northern Washington State.
Once again I had a terrific time in Coeur d’Alene.
Our first day, we joined in the FUN at Dave’s gourmet restaurant, Candle in the Woods.
An amazing, unforgettable meal.
Timing of this visit was to volunteer at my favourite Gymnastics competition in the world — the Great West Gym Fest.
It’s so well organized I didn’t really have much to do.
I DID help with the set-up and take-down of the Gym. And made a few VIDEOS of the competition, including this one.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
A few photos from the competition.
VIPs get to check out the resort penthouse. And balcony hot tub.
We did get out for one hike in Farragut State Park.
Delaney took me climbing. AND I was not bad … aside from then time I fell from the top risking concussion. 😀
Late February the weather was … mixed. We had some wind, some snow. Some sun.
I did get to try Dave’s Fat Bike out on their property.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
… And you may find yourself in another part of the world …
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house …
And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”
A Canadian College / Gymnastics friend has lived in Munich for decades. He runs his own health Club called AJs Fitness.
While I was fading on my Norway cycling adventure, AJ offered to have me house sit while he and his husband were gone for vacation. I jumped at the chance.
Great location close to the edge of the city. Hot tub. Fancy coffee machine.
Paradise. 🙏
House sitting was a terrific break from weeks cycling Norway. And I then used Munich as a base for cycling and hiking trips.
I had the Deutschlandticket — 49-Euro / Month for all regional and municipal transportation. Brilliant.
Munich is a fantastic tourist city, of course. I cycled all over town.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
At the start, Claudia was my tour guide.
Munich has a lot of green space.
Nymphenburg Palace Park, for example.
Sadly, no bicycles allowed in the park.
My favourite destination for cycling was the Isar river. Especially where it flows through English Garden (Englischer Garten).
The 1972 Olympic venue is terrific, as well.
I’ll be back. AJ and Darin are storing my bike and gear until my return summer 2024.
Thanks guys!
I’m already looking forward to my return to Munich.
Click PLAY or watch Rick Steves on YouTube.
I hadn’t seen AJ in over 35 years. Not since he moved to Munich, Germany.
We’d coached together at Altadore back in the 1980s. And were College roommates for some months, as well.
But when he invited me to a big birthday party in southern Spain, I really wanted to go.
And it was superb. AJ is an excellent event organizer.
It started Friday night on the rooftop of the 5 star Gran Hotel Gvadalapin Banus in Marbella.
Two birthdays were celebrated. AJ and one of his original business partners from Munich in AJ’s Fitness. This is Bettina, a classy lady. She and her husband are an impressive couple.
The guests were friends from the fitness studio — as well as friends and family from North America. AJ’s husband Darin is originally from Reno. (A very funny guy. Constantly entertaining. They’ve been together for 31 years.)
Saturday afternoon was a pool party. I skipped it fearing all large bodies of water. 😀
Saturday night was the BIG party at a huge, exclusive villa.
I slept on the upstairs patio couch.
You’d be correct in ASSuming that a smelly backpacker was out of place in a mansion this impressive. 😀
Birthday presentations.
I was happy and honoured to be able to attend.
I do love southern Spain, too. If forced to live amongst the chain smoking Europeans, it would be in Andalusia.
My #2 choice would be Portugal.
Rocco has a season pass. I joined him on a quiet Wednesday at Banff Sunshine Village.
Great snow. Mixed but generally good weather.
I do love downhill skiing.
LUNCH was … hot dog wrapped with Beaver Tail.
I had a GREAT time with Dave and Lisa Adlard in one of my top 10 hiking towns of the world – Moab.
End of March should be ideal weather for outdoor activity. BUT 2023 was colder than usual.
Lisa rented a huge house. We had 19 people.
AND another 10+ over at other rental properties.
Click PLAY or watch a HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO on YouTube.
The birthday girl and friends enjoyed a SPA session.
That same day we were at a Climbing Club in Salt Lake City.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Rapel at William’s Bottom was a highlight.
I was video guy for this one. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I skipped the Side-by-side Quad adventuring. Jason only rolled his quad once. And only a quarter turn into sand. No injuries.
We had 2 dirt motor bikes, as well.
Corona Arch was the hike where most of our group got together for sunset.
Arches National Park was cold and windy when we were there. A fantastic place.
Dead Horse Point is wonderful. We had one group hike. And one group cycle.
Click PLAY or see Deadhorse on YouTube.
We ate most of our meals at the house. One restaurant blowout was hosted at Zac’s.
The infamous mountain bike circuit is called Slickrock Trail. I survived it in 2007 and did NOT want to risk a second time. BUT some of our group cycled it safely. Jeni and I hiked Slickrock.
A wonderful adventure vacation. It reminded me of a similar trip with Adlards to the Oregon Coast in 2021.
Due to scheduling of dental appointments, I spontaneously booked a week long trip out to visit my parents on Vancouver Island.
En route I stopped at Chez Shew — and had perfect timing. Brian and Jane happened to be visiting the same weekend.
We enjoyed the classic beach off-leash walk. And were served up a lovely lunch by Kate … who I believe is the superior chef in the household.
Professor Galloway explains that friendship is in decline in 2022.
Since 1990, the percentage of Americans who report having fewer than three close friends has doubled, from 16% to 32%. The share who report having no close friends at all has gone from 3% to 12%.
Covid; political polarization; fewer random encounters, as we no longer go to the mall/theater/office; social media raising a generation of disconnected people.
Personally, I’m OK with having fewer friends than when I was younger. But I definitely feel it’s unhealthy for society in general.
I love this song about friendship.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
That’s MACKLEMORE FEAT KESHA – GOOD OLD DAYS.
I wish somebody would have told me babe
That some day, these will be the good old days
All the love you won’t forget
And all these reckless nights you won’t regret
‘Cause someday soon, your whole life’s gonna change
You’ll miss the magic of the good old days
Wish I didn’t think I had the answers
Wish I didn’t drink all of that glass first
Wish I made it to homecoming
Got up the courage to ask her
Wish I would’ve gotten out of my shell
Wish I put the bottle back on that shelf
Wish I wouldn’t have worry about what other people thought
And felt comfortable in myself …
Never thought we’d get old, maybe we’re still young
Maybe we always look back and think it was better than it was
Maybe these are the moments
Maybe I’ve been missing what it’s about
Been scared of the future, thinking about the past
While missing out on now
We’ve come so far, I guess I’m proud
And I ain’t worried about the wrinkles around my smile
I’ve got some scars, I’ve been around
I’ve felt some pain, I’ve seen some things, but I’m here now
Those good old days
You don’t know, what you’ve got
Till it goes, till it’s gone
You don’t know, what you’ve got
Till it goes, till it’s gone …
My friend Michèle has had an interesting life.
Born in France, she’s spent a lot of time in England, Germany, Ireland and Canada.
A professional translator, she’s studied the language and culture everywhere she’s been. Also FOOD.
Now she’s written and recorded part 1 of her story. I recommend the audio version as Michèle reads it herself.
Crossing Borders and Cultural Divides is set in Europe in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, a time when it became easier to cross European borders and settle in another country.
It is based on my life growing up in a French village, then working in England, and finally discovering Germany. Numerous details and characters allow the listener to understand the difficulties of learning a language and appreciate another culture enough to be able “to feel at home” in another country.
Tradition, wine, and oysters?
Rock ’n’ roll, tea, and fish and chips?
Or politics, beer, and sausages?
… Can she follow her heart for the English language and embrace an outlandish culture in Britain?
Or can she simply follow her adventurous streak and check out the intense culture, which is prevalent in Germany?
Can she take roots in a foreign environment?
Will she ever be able to bridge the cultural divides?
The book jumps forward and backward in time, starting with her first flight as a 15-year-old. To Beatlemania England. Her British pen friend there was already on the Pill, recently introduced.
You can buy the book on Amazon.
A few years younger than Michèle, I was touring Europe with friends in an orange Volkswagen van in 1976 while she was motoring around the continent with a boyfriend.
The book ends abruptly in 1976. I want more. Happily, Michèle is already working on a second volume.
Rick McCharles 