Shasta rocked!

Yeesh! July has been a month of minimal posts! Between crazy work and travelling, it has been almost impossible to write about most things I seem to think about.

But the blog just cannot go on without mentioning Shasta. It was divine, except for when it started raining and we had to run downstairs and sleep inside instead of on the houseboat like we did for the first few nights. Speaking of sleeping on the top of the houseboat - the night sky was fabulous. Even more so since a clear night sky is so hard to come by in Seattle! And we constantly regretted not taking the field guide. So, instead of checking out new constellations, we stuck with the good old dippers and orion and sirius :)

The water level kept dropping as the week went by. Until it started raining!!


The water was warm, the tubing was so much of fun! Sucks that it took me three days to finally do it!


The stretch at the top of this hill was the only place where Shy and I were able to do our running in the morning!


We took this last picture the morning after it started raining.

Granville Island Vet Hospital - among the best!

After an almost sleepless night with Vodka constantly shaking his head trying to clear his ears, I hopped on the internet to figure out what could be wrong. Hmm ... ear infection? Hematoma?!! Ear mites?!!! Eeeeek! Time to visit the vet! Except, we were in Vancouver. Wait, I have a vague memory of someone saying that the Granville Island Vet Hospital is pretty decent. And we were going to hit the public market anyway.

That hospital is awesome. I have pretty high standards after going to Redwood Animal Hospital, but this place rules. And Dr.Adam is awesome. Yes, it was a ear infection. And no ear mites! Phew! And she did a full physical on him. And I even got to peek into his gross ears :)

Ate a few treats, got a good brushing from the tech there and Vodka was all ready to go play again!

Thanks GIVH!

Whistler rocks - year round!

We were in Whistler on sunday and finally got a chance to check out the new bike park. It looks awesome! Might just have to try that out this year :)

It is pretty cool to hit a place that still has spring skiing happening on one mountain, while the other mountain has its slopes paved for mountain biking trails. And they even had a li'l zipline going near the whistler gondola - very cool!

Since dogs are not allowed in the gondolas (sucks!), Vodka and I decided to hike up Blackcomb while my mum, et al went up the gondola. It was pretty fun, we just followed the path of the ropes up the mountain. It was a beautiful day, and the moutain looks so different without the snow. And it is steep! Just as we went up this wicked gully, I saw a black creature about 1/4 mile up the mountain. Wait, make that 2 creatures. Mama bear and baby bear! Weeeee!!! First wildlife sighting in Whistler (and I don't have a pic :( ). We wandered up another 100m or so, but I decided to turn back - didn't think Vodka would end up protecting me from a disgruntled mama bear! :)

Vancouver - A gastronomic adventure - Part II

Sunday morning, Vodka and I headed off to one of our top 10 running spots - Stanley Park. The weather was much cooler than expected, but the light drizzle was really refreshing. And Vodka had a blast trying to catch the raindrops in his mouth :) This was supposed to be a long run day, but expecting to run 16 miles with Vodka is ... sheer foolishness! So, we ran 6 miles instead - around Lost Lagoon - and we saw *so* many birds - swans, Canadian geese and even a couple of blue herons.

I've heard a lot about how cool Kitsilano is, but had only been there once - so decided to find a brunch place there. We walked all around the neighborhood (it is really pretty), headed down to the beach - really fun (in spite of how cold it had gotten), can't wait to head there on a warm sunny day. We finally headed into Sophie's Cosmic Cafe for brunch - several folks have commented about this being a touristy brunch spot, but I loved it. I went on my benedict quest and this one definitely passed the test - eggs came hard poached like requested, the hollandaise was really light and flavorful and the potatoes were fabulous! Except I got enough to keep me going for another 2 meals! And they even have a house hot sauce - not fiery enough for me, but really tart and tasty!

Vancouver - A gastronomic adventure - Part I

*lots* to catch up on, this last week has been way too busy!

So, last weekend was a long-awaited trip up to Vancouver - delightful as always. Obviously, we stayed at our fave hotel - Pacific Palisades where Vodka was treated like royalty - he even got his own doggy basket of goodies! :)

We've never really explored Gastown before, so Vodka and I wandered off to check out the oldest neighborhood of Vancouver - reminds me a lot of Pioneer Square - paved stone streets, some derelict buildings, but oozing old world charm. We hit this really fun restaurant/lounge - Chill Winston. They have a great cocktail list and some really fun food too - a thin-crust pizza with a garlic-chickpea base with cauliflowers, broccoli and onions - very different, very tasty. But the killer was the organic greens salad - one of the best I've ever had - the fig and grapeseed oil vinaigrette was fabulous.

And obviously, we hit Vij's for dinner! And it was divine, like always. Seriously, Vij's is the biggest inspiration for the restaurant that I hope to have someday. I love everything about this place - hanging out at the bar sipping a Mangalore (or my new fave - the Dark Army), nibbling on the delicious snacks from the trays that are constantly passed around, chatting with the staff there who are more than happy to share their incredibly imaginative recipe ideas, watching Vikram wander around his restaurant constantly checking on his guests. And to top it all, the food is *divine*. Like always, I ordered the jackfruit in the cardamom and cumin masala - this is definitely in my top 10 appetizers ever. And this time, we tried a new entree - zucchini koftas in a pomegranate curry - fabulous. And the laddoos were to die for - freshly made khoa blended with sugar and crushed almonds. *yum*