The Magic Satchel

Up early again today and took a train from Caen back to Rouen, then on to Dieppe. Really wanted to come here on my last trip but the timing didn’t work out. Unfortunately there’s not enough time to see much today though – the city buses only run every hour or so, and we won’t make it to the Canadian cemetary before the next train leaves for Arras. Got to see the beautiful waterfront though, so it’s been worth the stopover for sure! Photos likely won’t do it justice with all the fog hanging around, but the stoney beach, calm water, fishing boats and white cliffs are a sight to see. We could have easily fallen asleep down by the water and ended up spending the night I’m sure

Our train to Arras leaves in an hour or so… very excited to get back there and show Kirsten around. The weather sure hasn’t been cooperating much, but at least it’s not raining anymore. Hopefully it’ll continue to improve over the week, and maybe we’ll even see the sun poke through once we get to Holland. Wishful thinking?

aka Frankfurt, Rouen, Caen, on a French keyboard. So much for typing skills!

We’re in Caen today, after a pretty whirlwind tour of Frankfurt and Rouen. We’ve been taking a pile of photos but there’s no card reader on this ‘Net Cafe PC. Le crap! At least my Blackberry is charging so I can hopefully do more posts from the road. Wishing my USB plug-in would’ve lasted a few more days before frying! Anyways, on to the good stuff…
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All checked into our hostel, and back at the train station now to plan our trip to France tomorrow. It’s an 8 hour time difference, so almost 2pm here is almost 6am at home, and we’re sure feeling it. Time for lunch, coffee and fresh air, and hopefully we’ll stay awake until a decent hour. More from Rouen, France tomorrow

Five more days until we’re on de_plane.
Four more days of work (well, hopefully 3.5, but that doesn’t fit).
Three weeks travelling Germany, France, Belgium, Holland and the Czech Republic.
Two passports, backpacks & pairs of hiking boots all ready to go.
One great girl to share it all with!

Regular posts and hopefully photos to follow

What are your calls for Round 1? I don’t follow the East teams much, so I’m pretty much guessing. And don’t hate me for my Flames prediction… they did the opposite of what I thought in all 4 rounds in 2004, so I’m hoping that trend will continue this year. We need Regehr back!

Boston vs Montreal – Boston in 6 (sorry Al)
San Jose vs Anaheim – San Jose in 6
Washington vs NY Rangers – Washington in 5
Detroit vs Columbus – Detroit in 7
New Jersey vs Carolina – Jersey in 6
Vancouver vs St. Louis – stupid Vancouver in 6
Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia – Pittsburgh in 5
Chicago vs Calgary – Chicago in 5*

*As usual, this depends on which Flames team shows up. This could go to 7, but there would have to be a complete flip of how they played out the last part of the season. Go Flames!

Have you heard of comedian Louis CK? This guy is awesome, in a sort of Bill Hicks commenting on society way, but without the screaming. Check it out: FROM SPACE!

(thanks to blogger barefootmeg @ http://barefootmeg.multiply.com for the clip!)

So I’m hoping to beat Mr. Thunder to the punch here: The Dark Knight might have just surpassed Xmen 2 and Iron Man as my favorite comic book movie ever. It was everything it should have been: dark, violent (how did they manage to score a PG rating?), twisted, fast-paced, story-driven (not explosion-driven)… it was almost perfect. I really can’t wait for the next installment! The only thing that bugged me about the flick was Christian Bale’s Batman voice. I mean really, we know he’s tough, but that’s because of his actions, not his computer-tweaked growl. But hey, I can forgive that one little gripe for the awesomeness that is The Dark Knight!

And the “but”: the trailer for Watchmen alone was worth the price of admission. That’s easily my most anticipated flick of next year, although the new Terminator might be pretty cool too. Everyone has until March now to take a read through the graphic novel… I’ll loan it out if you’re interested

From one of the best Web comics around…

Well, I’ve already equalled my camping trip total of last year at a massive 2 weekends, so I take it as a sign this will be a great year for outdoor pursuits. The snow was pretty much gone from the sites, but most of the hiking trails were still closed. Looks like Mount Sarrail is closed for the season, too. Boourns!

The girl and I spend some time at the dam (the water is so low!) and managed to get quite a bit further up King Creek than on May Long, but had to cut it short because of Sunday’s rain. The best part: after turning off the fire and crawling into our bags we were treated to a symphony of wolves. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything like it before – it was chilling! So cool, just to lay back and hear them call to each other. Looking forward to the next trip!

And can I just say that putting recycling bins at the sites was LONG overdue?? Kudos for getting that setup

I’m coming up on 29 now boys and girls, and it’s time to celebrate! Newcastles and Ship Burgers are on the menu, hopefully served up with a side of sunshine, good music, and great friends. I’m aiming for the usual 12-hour marathon, so show up at the Whip & Spanker anytime after 2pm on Saturday, June 7th for your free high-five!

(Mom might even drop by with some banana bread if we’re lucky )