Tuesday 29th September 2009..another road trip but with a difference…

I have a great friend, Sara, who is a nurse at the remote Native community in Kyuquot and she has invited me to the island for a visit.  This is an incredible opportunity to see a very remote and beautiful part of the Island.

I leave tomorrow morning and will drive Ramona up past Campbell River and to a town called Gold River where I will stay over night and on Thursday morning at 7am board the 135 foot MVV Uchuck for the 9 hour journey to Kyuquot.

This is a working ship that stops at other remote places to drop and pick up cargo, should be a very interesting sail.

I shall probably not be able to do the blog for over a week so look out when I get connected……..

Wish all my readers a happy and safe week, blessings Les

Sunday 27th September 2009…the girls

Thanks Robin for sending these photos of some of the girls at Casa Hogar….

Little Alexandjro is getting so much love, fancy being the only boy amongst 40 girls!!!

Anyone know this little ANGEL???????????????????????????

Wish you all a happy and safe Sunday!!

Saturday 26th September 2009…..Saturday it must be a soccer day!!

About 2 years ago I pledged my family in England that I would change my allegiance from my soccer team that I had followed faithfully for over 50 years to my Brother’s team…The Mighty Hull TIGERS!!!!

So this morning I got up an the unearthly hour of 7am to watch the live coverage of the Hull game versus Liverpool.  So I stumbled downstairs and settled myself with a cup of tea in hand to watch the Mighty Tigers on the 54 inch TV. Please note the score in the top left hand corner!!

Now Mr.McShane do not argue the Referee is ALWAYS right!!!

please      NOTE THE FINAL SCORE IN THE SAME TOP LEFT HAND CORNER!!!!!!!

Enough said!!

From here it was to the real fun of the day…Saturday morning soccer….first it was taking one of “my” kids to his reffing game.

Here is Alex he did a fine job but I must teach him to smile!!

Then it was watching these kids…..please if you cannot find any joy in these photos…..well    just do…….

I hope every parent, coach and spectator sees this and it can be a reminder that THIS is what it is all about …..the kids…..not screaming at the refs or the kids…..Hope you had a great Saturday.

PURA VIDA!!

Wednesday 23rd September 2009…..the best friends EVER!!!!!

I am so lucky to have so many great people in my life who bring joy and happiness to me…..I am still receiving contributions for  pledges for the Great lake Walk and I now have raised 1500 dollars

THANK YOU TO EVERY ONE for their kindness and words of encouragement….Paola and Daniela are lucky beautiful girls!!!!!

This morning I received the new Edition of this book

it is considered the “bible” of Mexican camping and every one that has an RV and travels to Mexico should have one.   I was lucky enough to meet the authors a couple of times last winter as they were travelling and compiling information for this book.

It will be well read and used by me on my travels in the future..

Wednesday 23rd September 2009…justice restored!!!

108      382      9:31:50     PEARSON  Les    M      Nanaimo BC

 

From the official results of the Great Lake walk…my DNF(did not finish) has been corrected to the above  so it is the position I finished, my number and then my time….so to those people who pledged and refused to pay(ZACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ALEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) because I was listed as DNF  cough up!!!!!!!!

To everyone else thanks for your support!!

Zach and Alex know I am just kidding I hope you do too….

Tuesday 22nd September 2009……Roy!!!!

Those of you have been following the blog for a while now will know about Roy but for new readers I will tell you some about Roy, here he is with Eileen on the right, his former partner and Irene on the left who is Eileen’s sister in law.

This photo was taken about three months ago at the care facility where Roy has lived for nearly four years.

I have known Eileen and Roy for over 11 years and when Roy was diagnosed with Alzheimer about 8 years ago I had the privilege to be his relief care aid.

Roy and I would spend from 9am to 2pm Monday to Friday together.  We would do all sorts of things and Roy was simply amazing.  His memory was failing but his spirit and his humour never left him.  I can  attest that every morning for 5 years I picked up Roy  he would always have a smile on his face.

Roy owned a logging company and we would often meet on our walks ex customers of his, when I saw these men  later another day they always said the same thing about Roy that when you made a deal with Roy you didn’t have a contract just a handshake would suffice.

Roy now is very sick and Eileen and I went to visit him yesterday.  He still has his sense of humour but he is very frail.  I played the game I often played with him.  I would name a hockey team like Vancouver and he knows the nick name, Canucks, he can do that for most of the NHL teams, amazing he can do this because his memory is really all gone.

Roy was like a second Dad to me and I treasure the hours we spent together…..my wish is that he not suffers and I truly hope I have inherited some his great qualities…..Blessings to Roy.

Sunday 20th September 2009…..not even sore today!!

    PAOLA

DANIELA

I send the girls post cards every week and these photos were taken yesterday, thanks Robin for sending them to me, they are growing so fast!!!!

So I went on to the Great Lake Walk website and checked the results of the walk and there I am at the end of the list….Les Pearson    #382   DNF……did not finish!!!!   I just want assure everyone who donated that I did finish!!!  I sent an e mail to the walk committee.

Tonight there was a small birthday celebration at the house for Matt, his 19th birthday and his family.

 

Matt is thrilled with his cake!!!

I am very proud of Matt and his accomplishments on the soccer field.  He is now at a young age one of the more talented soccer referee’s on the Island.  Five years ago he was in my class as I taught the education to the young refs and let me tell you he was a hand full!!!  Tall and handsome and very witty we had a few battles, which I of course won.  I have followed his progress and on the odd occasion mentored him and now he travels very extensively and is a capable and gifted soccer referee….well done, and Happy Birthday Matt!!

Saturday 19th September 2009……The Great Lake Walk

For these little girls….I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I am very happy to say that I completed the Great Lake Walk today…..

The following is a brief outline of the day.

It started out at 5am this   morning

when about 400 people gathered at the start line, we were led in the singing of Oh Canada and away we went.

After about 1 km the group thinned out and this is the site I saw most of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is great camaraderie amongst the walkers and whilst it was still dark I tagged up with a lady who had a torch.  My next group were 4 funny ladies from Victoria who I walked with for about 1 hour and we all singing songs which had the word walk in, they were a blast.

I then teamed up with a man called Les from Nanaimo and we stayed together for about 1 hour and the rest of the time I was walking on my own.

Here are some views…

You see I have my own personal escort vehicle, apparently this college is in Victoria.

This looks like a post card!!!

One of the 12 aid and food stations along the route.

The latter stages of the walk were on small country roads.

This group of kids were great!!

This was a most welcome sign almost done!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost there…

Finished and rang the bell!!!!

It was great to see to Heather and two of her boys waiting for me at the finish line, thank you for all your support.

This was not a race and my expectations were to finish the walk and hopefully complete it in under 11 hours and injury free.  I am quite proud to say that I surpassed my dreams and did finish injury free, although quite tired,  in a time of 9 hours and 30 minutes

On arrival home Heather and Kirby and the boys had decorated my room

Thank you.

 

Now the very best part I was able with the help and support of my incredible group of friends to raise close to 1400 dollars for the home where Paola and Daniela live, how awesome is that?

After a great Epsom salt bath it is time to put this achy body to bed…..Blessings

Thursday 17th September 2009….the last walk

Did a short 6km walk around Westwood Lake this afternoon

 

my last little training walk done.

The plan now is to leave tomorrow afternoon in Ramona for Lake Cowichan and register for the walk and then find somewhere to park close to the start line for the walk on Saturday morning.  The walk starts at 5am, yes that was not a misprint 5am!!!!!!!!  It is not a race and I am determined to finish it and hope to cover the 57km course in 12 hours or even less if I can.

Thanks to some very wonderful, caring and generous people I have managed to raise 1200 dollars for Paola and Daniela’s home, thank you so much.

So if I am able to crawl to my computer on Saturday evening, presuming I am not still walking around the lake then, I will post a report on the Great Walk…….Blessings Les

The blue below and to the side of the push pin is Lake Cowichan.

Wednesday 16th September 2009….a great photo..

This is Tom my great Nephew, I just love this photo hope you do too!!!!

Tuesday 15th September 2009…a good day to be in Mexico!!!

Today Mexican Independence Day is a major celebration in Mexico and is bigger than Cinco de Mayo. It is celebrated with a fiesta and the celebrating begins on September 15 (the eve of Independence Day) where crowds of people gather in the zocalos (town meeting place) of cities, towns, and villages. In Mexico City a huge square is decorated with flags, flowers and lights of red, white, and green. People sell confetti, whistles, horns, paper-machete helmets, and toys in the colors of red, white and green. There is also plenty of feasting! When the clock strikes eleven o'clock the crowd gets silent. On the last strike of eleven the president of Mexico steps out on the palace balcony, and rings the historic liberty bell that Father Hidalgo rang to call the people. Then the president gives the Grito de Delores. He shouts "Viva Mexico" "Viva la independencia" and the crowd echoes back. People do this at the same time all across Mexico. While the crowd says this they fill the air with confetti, streamers and hoopla. Castillos explode in showers of red, white, and green.
The actual day of September 16 is similar to July Fourth in the US. There are rodeos, parades, bullfights, horseback rider performances and grand feasts. The statues in memory of Father Hidalgo are decorated with red, white, and green flowers. The Mexican Flag is made up of green, white, and red. The green is on the left side of the flag and symbolizes independence. White is the color in the middle of the flag and symbolizes religion. The red is on the right side of the flag and symbolizes union. These colors are used often in decorating for the Mexican Independence Day fiesta.

Today I did my last of my long walks before the big walk day this Saturday…..still time to pledge money if you wish, use the comments section and I will get back to you with instructions on how to donate.  The money is going to the home where Paola and Daniela live, so a very worthy cause.

www.greatlakewalk.com  is the website telling you all about the walk.

Friday 11th September 2009……a day to remember

I am sure that this day will always be remembered for the 2001 attacks and I just wanted to acknowledge the tragic loss of life on that day and all the suffering that followed.

On a more personal note it is also a date I remember but 11th September 1964.  This was the date I joined the Sheffield City Police Force as a Police Cadet.

It was the start of my working life that led me to Bermuda and then Canada and to where I am today.

I think I look about 12 years old here!!!!!!

What a great sunny day it was today and more of the same for the weekend…..where ever you are I hope the weekend is a wonderful one……..

Thursday 10th September 2009….this and that

Newfoundland Fire Alarm!!!

I think this is so cute…thanks Larry for sharing.

For those of you who think that just because I am retired I have an easy life………today!!!!!!

 

Helping a friend with grunt work.

Had a good evening with my poker buddies and I won 2 dollars!!

The weekend is supposed to be very warm and sunny so I hope that is the case have a great weekend…..

Thursday 10th September 2009…day trip to Maple Bay

Maple Bay is just a few miles away from Duncan and about one hour drive from Nanaimo.

Went on a great short hike through thick second and first growth trees

amazing how any kind of vegetation can grow here.

The view from the top of the bluff was quite spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty neat view I think you would agree!!!!

On the drive home I thought I was back in Mexico with this familiar sight….

I have had my computer in the repair shop for 2 days picked up a virus somewhere, seems to be Ok now……I have a poker tonight so I hope to boost my retirement pension fund!!!!  Then a busy weekend of reffing on the soccer fields…….wish you all a great weekend.