We still have NO IDEA how Artificial Intelligence will be affecting our lives in 5 years.
Perhaps Alicia Vikander as Ava will be a reality.
Kevin Roose made 18 A.I. friends online from many different services. And interacted with them for a month.
Here he sums up the state of the art in April 2024.
Amazing. But still far from human.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I might like to chat with Victoria Shi, the AI spokesperson for the Ukraine foreign ministry.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
For the 4th year in a row, I stayed at the Samesun Hostel in Banff.
Alternated days of winter hiking and downhill skiing.
I skied one day with Kelly from Canmore. Two days with Rocco.
Click PLAY or watch Rocco on YouTube. Footage from my new Insta360 Ace Pro action camera.
April 1, 2024 conditions were PERFECT for me.
I opined that this was the best ski day at Sunshine for 10,000 years. 😀
Kelly introduced me to happy hour at Hello Sunshine Banff Sushi. Fantastic.
I’ll be posting 2024 hiking videos on BestHike.com.
Here’s a hike from the past that gives a good idea what it’s like to get on the trails in the Spring.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
MORE videos from Banff.
related – Spring Hiking/Skiing Banff 2023
I’m already looking forward to 2025 in Banff.
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.
Rick McCharles 