February 6 - The Avalanche

Today I started my travel. I am on my way to Sweden to write my Level III Exam for the new BINDT/ISO IR/T Standard. I normally start my flight from Kamloops, this day there were no flights available. So, I had to drive. This is normally a 4.5 hour drive through the beautiful mountains. But in the winter it could be a real adventure. These are very high mountains and we have been having lots of snow this winter.

So, I got up at 3am, answered my email, talked with China and Bernd, our German trainer, and jumped into my old van and started off on my trek through the mountains. When I went outside, I could see that we had snow during the night, in fact it was still snowing. So I had to clean the driveway off before I could get going. I was hoping that the snow was localized and was not on the highway, ya right! I think I was still dreaming, as it was now 4am.

It was very slow going because the highway was completely snow covered and you could not see pavement or any line markings. I was just following the tracks in front of me. Just like the Canadian hunting spirit, follow the tracks. I was just hoping that the driver that went before me knew where he was going.

I was very happy when the sun rose. Now I could see more than 5 meters in front of me. I caught up to a few large trucks and managed to pass some, but as we went the road became only a path large enough for one vehicle. Up until this point the drive was a little stressful but I was still on time to catch my plane in Vancouver.

Here are a few pics of the drive:

The pictures above are when the highway was still in good shape. Yes, I said, “good”. I guess everything is relative!

Now it is starting to get a little rough. And then when I saw the highway trucks ahead with the arrow on it. I knew there was trouble ahead.

All traffic was being pulled over. Why, because there was an avalanche. So here I am stuck in the mountain and cannot turn back, and, I have to catch a flight. But…if they clear the road soon, I can still make it.

The line up. So there I was, stuck in the Canadian mountain wilderness.

But as a typical Canadian I had my safety gear with me - reading material and my computer!

To make a long story short, I was pretty much stuck in the mountains for 2 days. I did miss my flight and the exam. No fun!

February 3 - Ice Hockey

This was a beautiful Saturday. I got a call from Elias, my grandson. “Grandpa, I am in hockey now, and I got all my good hockey stuff” I already knew this and I also knew he was even sleeping in the stuff. He then says,” Grandpa, do you want to come and play hockey with us?” Of course I would. So we met at the outdoor hockey rink. It was great because there we not many people there and we pretty much had the whole thing to ourselves.

Here is the whole team. Even the little guy wanted to play, but since he cannot even walk, at this point to put skates on his feet would be rather ineffective. But he is Canadian, hmmm, maybe he can skate, but just not walk. I will have to try this next time!

February 2nd

For those of you who know me a little better here are a few pictures of my grandchildren. We were having a relaxing morning.

The night before, we were having a little get together of some friends. I an in the kitchen cooking!

Here is a picture of the young one. He does look so innocent!

But you have to watch him………..

Travel With Ron

January 5
I will start my travel soon, but at this point I am still at home in Kamloops BC, Canada. Yes, I do have a home! Even though I am only here a few months a year, it is my official residence and I call it home.

Kamloops is an interesting place in the center of our province; it is a valley between the coastal mountain range and the Rocky Mountains. It is one of the largest cities in the interior of BC, with a population of 75,000 people. (I am guessing a bit here). It is a beautiful area to live in and the pace of life is just right.

This is a picture of my back yard. It is a beautiful day, lots of sun and a temperature of about -5C. We gets lots of clear blue skies and sun, most of the year.

There is lots of water around Kamloops, in fact the word Kamloops comes from a native Indian word meaning “meeting of the two waters”.

This is the North Thompson River you see in the picture and it meets the South Thompson River in the downtown section of the city.

A very good friend of mine, Rick took a few images one morning when they were on the river just below my house.

These next images were in my back yard. The carving you see used to be very large pine trees, some over 100 years old. Unfortunately we have a problem here with pine beetles and it is killing thousands and thousands of trees. I happened to have 12 of these trees in my yard. Now they are all dead. But I want to preserve them so I am carving them and treating them so they will remain another 100 years. The ones you see in the pictures are carves as an Easter Island Statute and the other one is a Cello. I have not figures what the other ones should be, if you have any ideas; please send them to me, with a picture.

Welcome to Ron's Blog!

I really do not know what a blog is for sure, but I think it is where you talk about things. I have been asked by many students, friends and even my family to keep in touch more than I do. (Yes, my family does want to keep in touch!) This blog will be that vehicle.

I will divide it into several sectors, personal, travel, sightseeing, thermography, musings, reflections on life and more. Once I come up with some fancy, catchy headings I will introduce the sectors. It will be light reading (I hope) and I will stay away from politics and religion. This should keep controversy down to a minimum. Those of you who know me already know that I am not political in any way and religiously neutral.

I started preparing for this in January. This is kind of a New Year’s resolution to keep in touch with my family, friends, students, work mates and partners.

I do not want this to be a one way street. I would like you to contribute keep me informed as to what is happening in your life.

Here we go……………