Welcome to Our Web Page
When this web page began more than twenty-five years ago, it described most of the activities of our whole family. Now that most of our children have flown the coop, it is mostly about what Ann and I (Dave) have been up to. I update it most weekends. We save all the messages over the past year in an Archive along with links to what we were doing ten and twenty years ago.
You can click on the pictures above to get a bit more information about each of us.
Monday February 9
Our chalet at Mont-Comi
For the past week Ann and I have been sharing a ski chalet with Kim (Glen stayed at home to look after their new kitten, Loki) at Saint-Gabriel-de-Rimouski, a village about half an hour east of Rimouski and about five minutes from the Mont-Comi ski hill. This was a trip planned by Club Ski 30 which we joined for the first time this year. Several of the Ramblers are also members. We left home on Sunday, a day earlier than originally planned to avoid another storm that was due in Halifax that afternoon. We got as far as Campbellton where we met Alex and Jayne at the Super 8 Hotel, then the four of us went for dinner at the restaurant at Sugarloaf, the local ski hill. After dinner we went for a walk through the campground and found that all the sites were lit up with coloured lights. The next day we continued on to Mont-Comi, checked out the surrounding area until the chalet was ready, then unpacked. Kim arrived in the late afternoon having broken up her trip by staying with some friends in Fredericton.
The Mont-Comi ski hill is only open from Wednesday until Sunday, so on Tuesday Ann and I went snowshoeing instead along the gentlest of the many trails that traverse the hill. It was a lovely day and all the trees were covered in light fluffy snow: very pretty. Meanwhile Kim went cross-country skiing. When we got back, I walked around the neighbourhood to take a few photos and when I returned found that Alex and Jayne had dropped in to check out our chalet. For dinner that night there was a pot-luck in one of the condos where most of our group were staying (we were not fast enough signing onto the trip to get a place in one of the condos) so we had a chance to meet some of the other members of the club. There was another pot-luck on Saturday night with everyone bringing leftovers that they would not be able to eat before leaving.
Alex, Ann and Jayne amid the lights at Sugarloaf
On Wednesday, the downhill skiing started and continued until Sunday. For the most part, the weather was great: cold but mostly sunny; there was some wind on Thursday and Sunday but the other days there was no wind at all. There are three lifts at Mont-Comi, discounting the T-bar that serves the beginner runs. We found that we stayed warmer on the two-person chair when the wind was up. The poma lift was even better, since it runs up through the trees, but you can only get to it via black or double-black runs, which Ann avoids, so I only went on it when I was on my own. I also got electric socks and gloves for my birthday which were also a great help in keeping my fingers and toes warm. Most days I skied with Ann for the morning, we went in for lunch, and then I went out for some more runs in the afternoon. I also tagged along with Alex and Mike a couple of times and once with Dave and Grant. On Wednesday afternoon, Ann also went snowshoeing again, this time with Caroline.
When skiing was done in the early afternoon, we relaxed at the chalet, reading, completing a couple of jig-saw puzzles, and watching the Olympics. We had brought meals that required very little preparation or clean up — beef stew, chili, eggplant stew, and leek pesto pasta — so no-one had to slave for a long time in the kitchen making dinner.
Ann snowshoeing on Tuesday
The rest of the group left on Saturday but we had rented the chalet for a full week, so we skied yesterday and left this morning. Kim drove home but Ann and I only went as far as Sussex, NB, where another Club Ski 30 trip starts tomorrow at Mount Poley. We arrived in time for dinner at the hotel where we met a new bunch of club members though quite a few of them were also at Mont-Comi. We will be here until Thursday.
We were quite active the week before we left as well. On Thursday, we went to Wentworth for another really nice day of skiing. It had snowed the day before so the conditions were really good. On Friday, we skated at the RBC Centre and, on Saturday, at the Oval.
On Friday evening, we also found time to go to the symphony to see a concert of Mozart pieces with one by Salieri. The showpiece was the two-piano concerto which was great to see as it is rarely performed.