Wednesday 18th August 2010…said goodbye!!!

Yesterday I went and spent some wonderful time saying goodbye to my lovely friend Ken…he his resting in his own bed but being a little stubborn about saying goodbye to his family and moving on..he really is amazing he has no fluids or food for 6 days..he looked so good and I was very honoured and sad to kiss and say farewell to him…please think of his family and friends at this time!!!

Wednesday 18th August 2010…off again

 

Like a whirlwind we keep on going….my implants are fine and I have had no pain at all….Sara’s son Gabe arrived yesterday for a quick visit and we have decided to go kayaking for three days so we leave in a few hours/// off to the west coast of the island Tofino…will blog when we get home late Saturday…..never a dull moment around here!!!

Tuesday 17th August 2010…Amazing!!!

 

I left Penticton around 3pm on Sunday afternoon after reffing 12 games in three days.  It was very hot and I made sure I drank lots and kept eating when I could it was so good to have Ramona parked right by the fields as I could nip in for for a quick bite and a drink.  Must say I feel so lucky to be able to still do these games and without sounding big headed, still doing them with a good deal of skill.  I had to laugh again on Sunday morning as refs were gathered around the dressing rooms before the start of our morning games and most of them, nearly half my age or younger are popping Ibuprofen(spelling) or Advil and there I am sipping water  and eating a banana!!!!!

I arrived back in Duncan after midnight and it was great to see Sara’s smiling face, that is all she ever does!!!  She had all my pills ready for me to take and I had a good sleep.

So yesterday morning 9am this is where I ventured….

because I had taken more pills that morning Sara dropped me off and I went into the little room which was all prepared for me…

There were 2 large screen TV’s in the room on the ceiling one was on the Sports Channel and this one above showed the placements of my implants …..they are on the bottom.. 2 on the left and 3 on the right.

Soon my Doctor was there and his manner and professionalism was of the highest standard and I he then proceeded to drug me up…

Pretty soon I was saying far out and more drugs Doc!!!!!!!!

The whole procedure lasted 4 hours and during the whole time I felt really good.  The clinic called Sara and she came to pick me up and drove me home.  Again she had my medications set up for me and the instructions were to take 2 Tylenol three and then 2 every 6 hours as needed, plus some Penicillin and other  pills.  I did take them all and was feeling a little tired so I went and laid down for an hour.

I got up by 5pm and the only way I can describe how I felt is awesome.  I did have visions of excruciating pain and swelling and bleeding but apart from bad breath I felt good.

Sara was wonderful making me soft smoothies and cold drinks and rice pudding and we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine.

This is where it gets a bit ugly…Sara asked me if I wanted to play Backgammon and of course I was up for the challenge…after 2 games I had no alternative but to remind her of my post operation instructions!!!!!!!!

I even underlined the relevant parts!!!!!   Does she pay any attention???   NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Here is her victory poise, very cruel to point to her own lovely white teeth!!!!

Then she says how about scrabble???  You have beaten me the couple of times!!!

Silly me I should have known!!!!!!

She won that too!!!!!

Well it is now 6am and I am only up and awake because I am hungry!!!!

I did not take any more pain pills after the first 2….I slept really good and I have slight swelling on my lower jaw on both sides but feel wonderful and I hope it lasts.

Thanks for all the e mails of best wishes, thanks Sara and thanks to Warmland dental Clinic!!!

Sunday 15th August 2010…shocking soccer news!!!

I was born in the town of Doncaster and lived there till I was 11 years old when my family moved to Sheffield and I really always say I am from Sheffield when asked.  Sheffield has two soccer teams the Almighty Blades and the hapless Wednesday….my youthful dream was to play for Sheffield United, the Blades,  but never had the skills and that is the team I have always supported.  For a brief hiatus I did pledge my allegiance to my Brother’s team Hull, but that did not last.

My Blades have continued to let me down and I now want to state publicly that I am going back to the place of my birth and I am a confirmed Doncaster Rovers fan, just like my Dad!!!  Also it was only last year that I learned that my Grand Dad Hallgate, my Mum’s Dad, played for them in 1911!!!!!!!

 

So as the slogan goes Rovers forever!!!!!

Beautiful sunset by the ferry terminal

It was a good but hot drive and I am now on the 9pm ferry first time I have known BC Ferries to have wifi!!!!

I had a great trip and now looking forward to seeing Sara but not looking forward to my dental work tomorrow.

Probably the reason I need all this work I have chewing this stuff for nearly 50 years, yes same flavour!!!!

Haven’t spoke to Heather yet so I hope Ken had a restful day!!!!

Saturday 14th August 2010…soccer, soccer then more soccer!!!

My first game this morning started at 8.15am and my last game tonight finished at 8.45pm.   ……three guesses who is a tired boy right now??

It was really hot today but I drank lots of fluids and apart from my legs being a little tired I feel OK..   I am so blessed to be able and healthy to do all these activities!!!

Spoke to Sara on Skype what a neat invention and so cheap!!!!

Also spoke again to Heather and she told me Ken was peaceful and no change so I wish him another good sleep…..wish you all a great Sunday!!

Friday 13th August 2010…now I know today is Friday!!!

Last night about 11.30pm as I was brushing my teeth there was a knock on the door, I looked out first and saw it was an RCMP officer I opened the door and he told me I was not allowed to park in the school grounds.  I explained that I was reffing here the following day but to no avail, I had to move….so I came down to the huge complex where my games were being played and spent a good quiet night there…..here I am this morning….

I had a nice walk to down town this morning and the wind had picked up

Had a lazy afternoon in preparation for my weekend of games this is what I shall be doing for the next three days!!

One of the minor problems being on the road is not having a place to dry my clothes so when Sara and I were camping in Vegas we saw a motor home with what we thought was a great invention so we copied it down and I got Larry to make one for me the other day, don’t have a name for it yet so for now will call it the Thingy!!!!

So it just fits onto the back ladder

It has 8 small holes drilled in the top so a wire hangar can fit through and now we have dry clothes!!!!

It works great thanks Larry!!

I reffed three games tonight and my last game finished at 10pm so I am just having tea and a snack before I go to bed as my first game in the morning is at 8.15am and my last game at 7.30pm so you can see it will be a hot and busy day.

Spoke to Sara tonight and they had a wonderful time camping and safely arrived home.

I also spoke to Ken’s daughter in law Heather and she tells me that they have taken Ken from the Hospital and back to his room at the care facility and he is very sick.  His son and sister have arrived from back east and I hope that Ken does not suffer long…..

Thursday 12th August 2010…you know you are having a good time…

when you leave your great friends after a wonderful visit drive the 30 miles to Penticton in time for the first game at 4pm..get to the field and there is no one there, no players, no parents, no officials just little old me…….that is when you know something is wrong but what can it be?  Double check my schedule, right field, right time BUT…………WRONG DAY!!!!!!!!

I thought today was Friday!!!!!!!  Now any nasty comments appearing here and you will be banned from the blog for one week!!!!!!

So e mailed Gail and Larry and asked forgiveness and I am now in the library sending this then heading to my little secret place where I stay when in Penticton, it is in a small school parking lot very quiet and safe and so far no problems…..so off I go for dinner and a shower and a movie and bed…….

Wednesday 11th August 2010……a great day!!

I started this beautiful day here

 

where I bought some flowers for Gail

and peaches and cream corn for myself.

Then it was out to

 

Taken from their website!!

The Three Lives of Myra Canyon

Building the Kettle Valley Railway

The turn of the 20th century was the time of a mining boom in the east and west Kootenays. Gold and silver were the prime lures but there was also lead, zinc and copper. And there was a flurry of prospecting activities and the development of some fantastic mines.

It was also a period of almost frantic railway building. The CPR mainline was completed in 1885 but the line was too far north to service the boundary country. They very quickly began their Crow’s Nest Pass line that eventually brought them to Midway in the west Kootenay country.

The Great Northern Railroad was also completed – the northernmost of the American transcontinental lines. The GN was able to build secondary lines up the north-south valleys with comparative ease, to tap the mineral resources to their smelters in the States and to ship the products to tidewater, drawing off what the CPR saw as their own traffic.

There was another major factor at work -- “Manifest Destiny” was alive and well in the U.S., and there was a well-established annexation movement with members and advocates on both sides of the border. And the Americans saw it as a cruel trick of nature and of boundary making that all these riches should be just across the border in Canada.

This was the situation that finally moved the CPR directors, and in particular, president Thomas Shaughnessy to complete their southern provincial route and to connect the Kootenay resources to the ports of Vancouver and New Westminster. They did it through the Kettle River Valley Railway which then existed but had no track.

In 1910, they started building from Midway, west and shortly after, from Penticton in both directions. The engineers and Chief Engineer Andrew McCulloch, had two daunting challenges. One was building through the Coquihalla Canyon near the town of Hope to get an acceptable grade – maximum of 2.2 % -- up to Coquihalla Pass. The other was getting over the Okanagan Highlands which separated the West Kootenays from the Okanagan Valley – again with a maximum grade of 2.2%.

McCulloch solved the first with the Quintette tunnels – a fabulous engineering achievement, and the second with a series of long switchbacks east of Penticton, up to Chute Lake Pass, and the Myra Canyon trestles.

Myra Canyon is a deep, steep and wide canyon, carrying two main creeks – east and west Canyon Creeks. He hung his railway on the sides of this canyon, taking some seven miles of track to reach across something less than one mile. It took 20 wooden trestles of various lengths and heights to do it. (One was later filled in and one was by-passed). It is at 4100 feet elevation – 3000 feet above Kelowna and the highest section on the whole KVR.

The Myra Canyon section was completed in 1914. McCulloch himself said that he had never seen a railway built in such difficult conditions anywhere in North America and possibly in the world.

The Coquihalla section was opened in 1916 and the southern route to the coast was complete. A branch line from Brookmere to Merritt hooked up with the line from the mainline at Spence's Bridge to Merritt.

The KVR was the major element in the economic development of the southern interior for the next 65 to 70 years.

For a detailed history of the construction of the Myra Canyon section of the Kettle Valley Railway, see “Myra’s Men – Building the Kettle Valley Railway – Myra Canyon to Penticton” by Maurice Williams.

II Creating the Myra Canyon hiking and cycling trail

The Carmi section of the KVR – Midway to Penticton – carried its last train in 1972 and the rails came up in 1980 after the provincial government had acquired the right-of-way. There were some attempts to keep the rails and use the line for tourism, but those failed and the trail and the trestles fell into disrepair from vandalism and neglect. People were using the trail in spite of the difficulty of access and several serious accidents occurred. The government contemplated closing the site to the public.

Then in 1992, the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society (MCTRS) was formed with the object of restoring the trestles to make them safer for the public.

This was a totally volunteer effort and over the next three seasons, each of the trestles was decked with a four-foot boardwalk and equipped with guard rails. Community groups and individuals came forward to sponsor a trestle with volunteer labour or funds, or both. All the labour, materials and equipment were either donated or purchased with donated funds.

When that first work was completed in 1995, the Society turned its attention to repairing the trail, a major tunnel portal project, and rock scaling in the tunnels and rock cuts.

Visitor numbers began to increase remarkably and it was found that pit toilets had to be provided. The Society approached BC Parks and they reluctantly provided what they called “highly experienced” toilets. Society members dug the holes, lined them with 4-foot culvert, erected the buildings and painted them up.

Then came benches that were built by the Society and installed at view points and convenient rest points. Interpretive signage followed as did electronic people counters.

The number of visitors continued to climb to 50,000 per season.

There was a lot of interest from the local media and from recreational media, virtually all over the world and Myra Canyon became a destination of its own for adventure tourism. For instance, a major cycling magazine in the US rated it as one of the 50 best bike rides in the world.

Once the project was complete, the Society undertook to maintain the trail and trestles. About this time, members saw the need to protect the site and the best way to do it was to have it declared a provincial park. There was some interest in official circles but the Okanagan Shuswap Land and Resource Planning table for crown lands was just being formed at the time and the policy was that any new parks would come out of that process. It was to take 2 years, so MCTRS became part of the planning process for the valley. It actually took 5 years, but in the end Myra Canyon became part of the new Myra-Bellevue provincial park.

The next step was to have the history of the Kettle Valley Railway and of Myra Canyon in particular, recognized. So the Society applied to the National Historic Sites and Monuments Board for designation of Myra Canyon as a place of national historic significance. That designation came to pass in January, 2003, just months before the Okanagan Park forest fires destroyed 12 of the trestles.

III The Disastrous Fires of 2003 and the Reconstruction of the Trestles

2003 was probably the 5th year of drought in the Okanagan Valley and many forest fires took place. In mid-August a lightning strike in Okanagan Mountain Park started a fire that for nearly a month, would burn and spread for many miles from its source. Despite a huge firefighting effort, the fire consumed more than 200 homes in Kelowna, and over 20,000 acres of forest and parkland. In the first week of September, it reached the Myra Canyon trestles and in the next few days, destroyed 12 of the 16 wooden structures and damaged the two steel bridges. In addition there was damage to the trail itself, to the rock faces and to the amenities which had been built up over the previous ten years.

In the aftermath, a steering committee was formed of various stakeholders to assess the damage and estimate the costs of replacement. Then the Premier of B.C. appointed a Task Force to receive advice from the steering committee and to make recommendations to the Premier’s office regarding the question of abandoning the site or rebuilding the trestles and if the latter, to recommend potential strategies for funding the costs. The Task Force members were MLA Rick Thorpe, representing the province, Senator Ross Fitzpatrick, representing the federal government, Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray and Ken Campbell, past president of MCTRS (Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society).

Abandonment was scarcely considered and the Task Force recommended that the trestles be rebuilt and that they be designed to resemble the original structures both for historic reasons and to showcase the versatility and dependability of B.C. forest products.

The heritage values of the trestles as recognized by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board, were a key to the decision to replace the trestles. In addition there were the recreation and tourism values and arguably the most important consideration was the total involvement of the community in the original restoration.

A number of funding options were considered including a major telethon, but in the end, it was found that the reconstruction costs would be eligible for the Federal/Provincial Disaster Relief Fund. This is a standing agreement between the two senior levels of government in which the eligible costs are shared 90% from the federal government and 10% from the province.

The rebuilding was placed in the hands of the Myra Canyon Reconstruction Project Management Committee comprising members of the MCTRS and BC Parks.

In deciding to rebuild the trestles to resemble as closely as possible the ones which were lost, the design would be to lower strength standards. Not needing to carry trains, they were designed to carry heavy construction equipment that would have to cross the trestles to access all the construction sites. They would have fewer horizontal stringers and fewer vertical legs in the bents, and in some cases, fewer bents, but would still be over-built for their intended use once they were finished.

Before work could begin, a great deal of rock stabilization work was necessary to repair the damage from the heat of the fire and to protect the safety of the workers who would be doing the reconstruction. This alone was a substantial cost factor.

The first trestle, #18, was rebuilt in the fall of 2004, just one year after the fire. Five more were completed in 2005, four in 2006, three in 2007 and the final one in early 2008.

The bridge building community in British Columbia was very interested in the project and they brought their old skills and new techniques to it with high quality work and cost effectiveness.

The government funding was restricted to replacing the trestles themselves and collateral damage directly related to the fire. Other improvement projects are being provided by MCTRS volunteers with donated funds. These include resurfacing of the trail, installing interpretive signage and repairs when they are needed. MCTRS has entered an agreement with BC Parks to maintain the trail and the trestles from the ties up. Thus the all-important community involvement with the Myra Canyon trail continues.

With the trail and trestles reopened, a crucial link in the TransCanada Trail and the Spirit of 2010 Trail has been restored.

So this was to be my days adventure…I drove Ramona to the parking lot at the start of the 24km round trip and my escort for today was Miranda…she is the third cousin of Ramona, once removed on her mother’s first husband’s side…Got it   good??  here is Miranda.

On the first bridge..

The bridges and scenery were quite amazing so join me on the ride…

One of the 2 tunnels…

if you can picture this cougar crossing the path in the photo below

that is what I saw he passed very quickly from one side to the other about 30 feet in front of me…my very first cougar sighting!!!

I had lunch on one of the bridges and it was a great adventure and one I recommend to anyone in this area.

This evening Gail, Larry and I went here for supper

it has become a tradition with us.

I had a lovely day and just want to close by hoping Sara is enjoying her kayak trip and there is still no change in Ken’s condition and I send my best wishes out to him!!

Tuesday 10th August 2010…..a small world!!

In my comments section on yesterday’s post my friend Croft asked me if I took a photo of the installation of the TV in the motor home of the guy I met at the ferry terminal and I admitted I had forgotten to do that…so who would have thought a day later and about 400 kms away I would see the same motor home parked in the Save on Foods in Penticton.  I pulled up next to him and waited for him to return, we laughed about the small world bit and here are the photos he let me take….No excuses now CROFT!!!!

The photo above shows the large centre section where the old TV was now nicely covered with a hinged door hiding another space for stuff.  The new TV is on a swivel and can be taken off for travelling….looks good and it will make a big difference in Ramona.

Had a great sleep last night but still woke up to rain.  Had a very leisurely breakfast and read a newspaper, Sara please take note I had time to read a paper!!!.  By 10am it was beginning to dry up and I took a hike on this trail…

It was flat and paved until the aptly named 1000 feet tunnel…

Back on the road again the sun was shining and this was the kind of scenery I was treated to…

I arrived at Gail and Larry’s around 4pm and it is just like coming home.  They are great friends for over 30 years…Gail cooked one of her incredible meals and we sat around and caught up.  Larry is the handy man supreme and I had a list of five things that needed attention one in particular(you will see it in use this weekend)was a thinking man’s project…well Larry had them all done in just over one hour, thanks!!!!!

Going to get a good nights sleep and the plan tomorrow is to borrow Larry’s bike and drive the Kettle Valley Train Trestle trail…..

Sara I hope you have a great time on your camping trip!!

 

On a more sombre note my great friend Ken

who you have seen me write about here  is in Hospital and not doing very well so I want Heather and Kirby and the family to know my thoughts are with them at this time!!!!