Change of plans

Hi everyone, Ian and I are back together and it is lovely to see him again!!

 Ian and I are in Arcadian California at Pepper McCullough's having a lovely time. We attended an Anusara Workshop with Noah Maze and Darren Rhodes. Which was amazing!!

http://cityyoga.com/events.html

But we have had a change in plans.

Pepper Ian and I at a lovely dinner after our workshop.

We were planning to hit the road with our bikes on Tueday the 22nd heading to Mexico but we just got a call that my brother Brian has died and we are on our way to Toronto in the morning. Till next time.

Diana and Ian

Whitehorse and Mexico

Hi Everyone, Diana here in the Yukon.

 Check out the page below and see the current look of Main Street Whitehorse. It has been mild. There is just enough snow to make everything beautiful. I hear the skiing is great! Work is going really well. I've been staying with Suzzanne Green and Graham MacDonald but I just took them to the airport - they are off to Costa Rica. It will be lonely without them!

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/index.php?product=weather_cams&placecode=cayt0019&camcode=CMYT0002

I heard from Ian some he is in Mexico. Check out the page below to see where he spent two weeks doing Anusara Yoga. The first with Darren Rhodes http://www.yogaoasis.com/ and the second with Sianna and Kenny (http://www.opentograce.com/)

http://www.haramararetreat.com/location.aspx  Ian said he had an amazing time - he was a little lost for words actually.

Now he is cycling on the coast just above Mazatlan - that was the last time I heard from him. He said the cycling was good and the weather hot!!

Well thats all for now.
bye
Diana

Leaving San Francisco

Good Morning,


Diana here I am sitting at the San Francisco Airport watching an amazing full moon sink as the sky brightens up it is 6:00am November 2, 2009. Our time in SF has come to an end for now. I am off to Whitehorse to work on a contract at the Yukon Archives until December 11 when I fly back to Vancouver. Ian had his bike together and the trailer packed when the shuttle to the airport picked me up he is cycling south along the California coast to Santa Barbara where he will catch a flight to Puerto Vallarta and from there a shuttle to Haramara yoga retreat. Two weeks of yoga and beach with Darren Rhodes and Sianna Sherman and Kenny Graham.

Oh and Ian shaved off his moustache sorry no photos – stay tuned...

It has been a great time here in San Francisco. Our time cycling north was fun and we saw some beautiful places. As well we met some very nice people! Very helpful friendly! The guys at the Mendocino visitors centre the clerks at the stores, Lee at the Mendicino Arts Centre, they all made the travels so fun. Our last camp before coming into the city was in Cloverdale a smallish town in the Sonoma valley. We stayed at a very nice KOA camp ground - we had the tent area to ourselves. There was a hot tub we lounged in at night mmmm and we were able to regroup before heading into the city. We figure out a bus into SF. The transit is very good, a bus would pick us up at the side of the road and take us into Santa Rosa to catch a Golden Gate transit bus. We just needed to be at the bus stop in enough time to pack the bikes in the boxes and bags. We did it with about 10 min to spare. We had a lot of stuff though two 50lb bags each on public transit. They could have given us a hard time but instead they helped make room for us. One fellow was especially helpful and seemed to tell us his life story – part of which was growing up in Alaska. Oh and then the bus driver used to drive the buses in Denali Alaska – Brendan was very helpful with info for the Golden Gate bus. We were warned by a woman at the stop that we may not get on with all our stuff then this other guy at the stop picked up one of my bags and said he would say it was his if they gave us a hard time – go figure. Well we got on the bus driver was fine and Dan who helped with our bag also gave us lots of tips for getting around and told us his live story...? He is a horse trainer has a small farm and two Arabians and three dogs and a calico cat. Then we took a cab from Civic Centre to our Liberty street studio and the cab driver was an eclectic supper intelligent gent who recommended a music recital happening around the corner from our Liberty Street studio. Problem was it was in less than an hour and we needed to regroup. We were just blown away by the generosity and friendliness of the people we met!

The Liberty Street studio was perfect very close to Yoga Tree Castro where my yoga training was happening and very efficient use of space. I attended my classes every day and could come home for lunch. Ian would deal with detail and played tourist. My Teacher Training was amazing many of the folks from the first week had return which was nice and the new people added nice energy too. And then there was the weekend workshops with Desiree Rumbaugh and Sianna so fun new poses I never thought I could do and Ian too.

It sounds like we/I may be back in April as Sianna is thinking she wants to have a third we with us .....

So back to the present I’m going to sign off as the flight is getting ready to board. I’m hoping to see Leona in Vancouver and it did happen  .
I am in Whitehorse - flights went well and all my bags arrived. I have gotten through the first few days at the Archive. Love the work but I was a little tired from the early morning all good now. Oh and I got the H1N1 vaccination since it was so available here in Whitehorse.
Ian if off to Mexico tomorrow morning - I just talked to him he is set to go. He is in Santa Barbara to fly out early in the morning. He seemed to enjoy his few days down the coast on his own.
ok a few pictures and I will sign off for now.
bye Diana

Cloverdale packing at the bus stop

BIG lures Anchor Bay

oaks of California

Camping in Cloverdale KOA

Back in San Francisco

Hi Everyone we are back in the lovely City of San Francisco. There must be a bylaw that says no building can allow the paint job to become shabby.

Anderson Valley

Well we had a few wonderful days cycling California. After Mendicino we thought we would like to try moving inland. No one really knew what the road we were thinking of would be like to cycle - lots thought it would be scary as it is narrow and twisty with logging trucks. Most said it would be lovely so that was enough for us. We set off going a little south to the junction of #1 and 128 and headed on the 128 through the Navarro river valley. It was beautiful lovely winding river/creek and massive redwoods. There was traffic but overall everyone was courteous towards our little caravan. We had lunch in the village of Navarro and broke through the forest into the beautiful Anderson Valley. You have all heard of Sonoma well you should start hearing about the Anderson too - grapes fruit rolling hill really lovely.
It was a beautiful day quite warm. After stopping for a snack in a town called Philo we poped into a little wine tasting spot right in the town mmmmm Pinot Noir by Phillips Hill!! Then we went on to find a camping spot and it was thankfully 1 mile away at Indian River. A lovely little community camp in the red woods.

Giant slug in Philo

We got up and headed on with our objective being Cloverdale. Well apparently we went through the Appalachians of California. Pretty rolly and a couple good hills. One had construction at the top the construction guys were pretty helpful!

Cloverdale

We stayed a a lovely KOA in Cloverdale - though it was a nasty climb up the hill to it. We are in Sonoma there. In the middle of grapes!
more later got to run to yoga
bye for now
Diana and Ian

Mendocino

Hi well it is beautiful in Mendocino
not a hugh town - no laundrymat but the lovely guys at the visitor center managed to find us a spot :-)
We are getting caught up on email and stuff. The cycling has been good weather fair some sun some fog one morning with some rain but the bikes and our body's are behaving. There are some very cool vistas of the n california coast as we have all seen the photos but I have to pinch myself to remind me we are here. Actually there is usually another hill to remind me. The drivers are pretty courteous the road is narrow and winding so it can be hair raising. Last night we camped at Van Dame state park just south of Mendocino it is as most spots in the trees very damp tons of moss kind of not realistic to dry out stuff but the tent keeps us warm and dry.
We are going inland tomorrow down hwy 128 through some wine country headed to Santo Rosa where we will catch a bus to get to SF on the 25th.
The most significant thing for me it the different smells the arbutus trees and the pines mixed in with the salty moist smells.

Golden Gate Bridge

Vista

Bodega Bay

our appetite is up all looks good

Sausalito bike shop very cool!! where/how do they keep this inventory and the different frames?!

Red wood stump

the rolling terain Tomales

Quick Update Oct. 17 Bodega Bay Cali

We missed the tropical storm by one day! We did see the aftermath in broken branches, debris strewn roadsides and campgrounds. A lovely evening (albiet a short one) at the Marina Motel in SF and then we are packing for the road. The first observation is that we have to much gear. The second, as we cycle towards the Golden Gate Bridge, is that the Motel clerk did not grasp the fact that we were on bikes when he gave us directions that funelled us onto the freeway. Several irrate drivers later we managed to get onto a bike/pedestrian pathway that eventually got us to the bridge. The drive across the bridge was great fun; exceptional views (pictures to follow from Diana) with a great ride down into Sausolito to finish it off. We follow the cycle routes north (thanks to Wendy Ken & Malcolm for the maps) and eventually make it to Samuel Taylor State Park for the night. Overall a great day; we meet a couple of other riders heading south, get a bit of info about the ride north and continue on our way the next morning. The 16th has us heading north again and after an up and down day of close to 40 miles we check into the Bodega Bay State Park for the night. We decide to take a layover day on the 17th clean up some gear, reorganize and write a blog note!! On that not I will wish everyone happiness and health.
Play Safe;
Diana & Ian

We are off to Cali

Hi Every one,
We are just in Halifax waiting for the Share a cab pick up to take us to the Airport. We fly to San Fransisco this afternoon. We get in kind of late so we are staying a the Marina Motel then hitting the road with our bikes in the morning across the Golden Gate bridge.

View from front window LaHave am

the tube sigh

We arrived back in PEI from LaHave last Saturday always sad to leave LaHave! Even more so without tenants and repairs ongoing while we are away.

We spent Sunday packing using Inez and John's bathroom scale to try and keep the weight of our two bags within the 50lb limit. We think we got it. So hard to spend a sunny day inside packing but priorities...
So we are off. We still are not sure where too. Well we know the next couple months. We will cycle around California for a week and then be in San Francisco for Diana's Anusara Teacher Training with Sianna Sherman and Desiree. Then Diana flies to Whitehorse on the 2nd of November and will be up there working until December 11th. when she flies to Vancouver and hopefully will visit with folks there for a few days and then meet up with Ian. Ian is going to be in Mexico for two back to back Anusara yoga retreats and will be cycling around.
With the house in LaHave not rented and a couple other unexpected house repairs - we are thinking flying is too expensive and since we do not have any winter clothes we are going to use our bikes to go to the warmer parts of the world we can get to on bike. Right now we are thinking Baja and mainland Mexico and then on down to Central America - hey our spanish could improve.

Well thanks to Chris and Verity for the wonderful hospitality again. Steve and Jan it was so great to see you guys. We will keep you all posted via the blog
bye for now
d and I

This is us on our first loaded outing - in the rain too!

Hi I'm thinking we need to go back a bit and add a few details I missed in earlier blogs. So we were in LaHave to take down the shed - you did see those photos, well we went back a few weeks later and put up the new shed here it is. It is not so big but will hold the lawn mower and a few other things. We will also build a lean to for fire wood off it.

We also finally put a proper step at the back door. Jim Seaboyer helped us with this again - Bricks and Stone - he does lovely work.

We also met up with Trish and Ross and the boys in Lunenburg. Bryson had been competing in the Canada Games in PEI and when the games were over the family, Kevin too, travel to Cape Breton to track down some of Ross's family roots and enjoy the sights. They then drove down to Hubbard and met us on one of their day trips from there in Lunenburg.

We had a wonderful day as you see it was beautiful. We had a nice lunch at Magnolia's poked around in the shops and explored the streets the buildings are so amazing.

This is the restored Saint Johns Anglican. It is truly beautiful, the restoration is amazing - you do not feel like it is a restoration it feels authentic, the acoustics are great as there was an organ recital going http://www.stjohnslunenburg.org/ Be sure and visit!

And we walked around the Lunenburg Academy - wouldn't it be great to go to school there.... It is still the elementary school.

It was such a great day so nice to hang out with friends from Yukon in our Nova Scotia home. Then we went off to Utah. Had a wonderful time and got back to PEI where we regrouped - changed our flight to California we were headed on the 30th of Sept now the 14th. The house in LaHave is not rented and there are a few things to do there still so we are back in LaHave till we head off to Cali.

We get there on Wed - tried not to buy much at the Masstown Market because we know the Lunenburg Farmers Market is Thursday morning. We have taken our bike this time so we can get some miles under our belts - the market is our first destination. We had packed the bikes in their cases in PEI to transport to NS, Wed pm was bike assembly...

It was kind of overcast we hesitate the bikes but we get on them, paniers empty and this is the view from the ferry! Such a lovely sail then ride over Indian Path to Lunenburg. It really only took about 45 min.

Oh the veggies!! and the Hat Ladie she makes amazing hat Ian has to drag me away.

Isn't fall amazing! and the Nova Scotia apples and pears....

Field tomatoes a few still but most are ripening in the window sills now.

Ah our stove nothing like a fire on a cool evening! And it really came in handy today. After several amazing beautiful days we have enough work done that we can plan a couple overnights with our bikes - we have not tested out our packing abilities - can we get everything we need in the trailers - how many panier's will be need.. Well the weather changed and the heavens opened. It wasn't cold but it was raining. We ride to Broad Cove 20km and have a wonderful lunch at Best Coast Coffee Cafe mmmm Fish cakes and panini. We hop back on our bike and ride back to LaHave- it was really raining now!

But we get home and jump in the tub - lots of hot water and our favorite tub a great day. We now know we can get what we need in the trailers the bikes and trailers perform beautiful. It is really easy going. Sure the hills will be slow but we were going about 20km an hours and it felt good with the configuration we have the bikes panier's and trailer set up.

We may not have overnighted but we got through the excises of the packing and felt what the load was like.

Our trip to Utah

Joneses Hole walk.

mmmmm pork tenderloin

Tinker and Pepper Deso,

Ian and Diana Deso.

Ian and Diana on Ladore.

This is Nefertiti rock on Desolation Canyon.

We rowed by her on one of our last days on the Green River. We had two trips on the Green River the first was through Ladore Canyon of the Green. There were 14 of us on that trip organized by Pip Coe. Most poeple had worked with Pip at NOLS or were old friends. Pip turned 50 on the river so it was a celebratory trip. The next trip was on the Desolation Canyon portion of the Green - further south of Vernal where Ian and I flew into. The NOLS base in Vernal kindly allowed us to stay there and stage from the base there.

This is an amazing pizza Read made for us on Desolation Canyon. The Deso trip was 5 peopel Read McCullogh his mom Pepper and her cousin Tinker and Ian and I. Pepper and Tinker were celebrating their 70th year and were soooo.... much fun on the river.

Jones Hole walk.

mmmmm bean salad on Ladore. Pip organized all the amazing food for this trip we really ate well on both trips.

Steamboat Rock on Ladore

Ian being a Sherpa on Deso We borrowed Bob's horse shoes from the Ladore trip for Deso and we had a fun evening of horseshoes on the beach in the back in Pepper and Tinkers wall tent - luxury!

It was pretty hot on both trips here is Ian cooling off in the river which was a little more silty on the Deso portion because there was this big rain storm the night before we put on.

The colours on Deso.

The colours in the desert are so special and the quality of the air mmmm...

Here are Chris and Michele in the hidy hole caves on Ladore. We stopped at day use area and walked about 15 minutes to this spot there were larger caves and pictographs on the way.

The paddling on Ladore was great you can see why they called it the Green River in this photo.

This is Pip showing us how it is done! This is us out fitting the boats for Ladore. We had three rafts and two canoes and two kayaks on the trip. Ian and I were in a fun little canoe.

This is our campsite under the stars. We slept many nights under the stars without a tent.

So now we are back in PEI and fall is in the air. The colours are starting to show and there has been frost. But the cylcing is great. Ian and I will be here for a while it looks like with trips to LaHave because the house in LaHave is not rented and it kind of cuts into the resorces for travel. Till next time bye from PEI.

Diana and Ian