Pinch me, I must be dreaming...

...because that’s what it felt like yesterday. A lovely, hundred proof dream.

It started like any typical morning

But often dreams are quite mundane in the beginning. Like all those dreams you have of waking up and going through your morning ritual. You actually think you’ve woken up for real until you go into the kitchen and there’s Oscar Wilde making chocolate chip & pumpkin pancakes and your dining room has turned into an underwater petting zoo.

I hate it when I have those repeated waking-up dream cycles. They leave me cagey for the rest of the day because I’m half expecting the floor to turn into vat of hairy scorpions.

Anyways, my typical morning oozed into a typical early afternoon by the time I finished work. As I pondered over what to do with a sunny afternoon, DH asks me, “ Do you want to go up a couloir?”

Yes. Yes. Yes. YES. YES!!!!!

In lightning speed we packed while stuffing calories down our belly and zoomed out of there, leaving our friend Pete, who’s staying for a few nights, to hold down the fort.

By 3pm we were at the trailhead to Mt. Cokely and Mt. Arrowsmith, where we had our pre-anniversary romp on Sunday. Armed with our ice axes, headlamps and an lean assortment of gear, we headed up.






A view of the Alberni Inlet

Unlike Sunday’s snow and wind, the sun was beating down on us and back at us as it ricocheted off the brilliant white snow. The air was so clear, you could see the whole Alberni inlet.

The climbing was a hoot! We hiked up to the base of Cokely and had our choice of couloirs to play in. Every time I looked over my shoulder, the view just kept getting better and better. When the clouds rolled in, the view was filled with drama and grace.

A truly radiant view of the Alberni Inlet














That's me heading up slopes.

















That's me topping out onto the ridge.

Time slid by as we made our way up the coulior and onto the ridge. The snow was fun with just enough steep bits to keep me on my toes and plenty of rompy stuff to play on. On the other side of the ridge was an equally breathtaking view of the east side of the Vancouver Island and the mountainous mainland.

The view of the east side of Vancouver Island.

That's the mainland on the other side of the water.

With sunlight at a premium, we made our way down and back to the car as the last drops of sunset were being squeeze out of the horizon. It was perfect timing, we made it back to our car by 8pm without the help of our headlamps. This is one of the useful benefits of daylights savings time.

One last look at the sunset. On the left is bottom of Arrowsmith and one of our favorite ice climbing crags. It's looking a bit lean now.




Our spirits and minds satiated, our bellies were empty. As much as I loved spending the day playing, I didn’t look forward to scraping up a dinner for us at 10pm. I hadn’t anticipated this climbing day so I didn’t prepare any dinner to return home to. I also hadn’t had a chance to do groceries. I guess it’s scrambled eggs and bagels for dinner.

But it was not to be. When we arrived home, not only were we welcomed into the arms of our friends and house guests, Nat and Pete, they had dinner waiting for us!

Pete had made pasta from scratch and a homemade fresh tomato sauce with sautéed spinach and ricotta cheese. It was spectacular. I didn't take any photos of it because I was just too hungry and it tasted too good to stop eating.

He had trepidations about cooking for me but I assured him that I was grateful to have anyone cook for me at any time but to have some make such an amazing meal when I was so in need of a home-cooked meal was loving, mindful and absolutely freaking brilliant of him. I love that concept, guests coming over to cook real food meals for me. I gotta get more folks onto that bandwagon ;)

Take it from me, chefs, professional or otherwise, love being cooked for. There are some that are a bit snarky and culinary chauvinists who can’t bring themselves to appreciate a lovingly made meal, but don’t worry about cooking for them. They’re already too full of themselves to have room for dinner, let alone dessert ;P

Talk about a dream of a day. An afternoon of snow fun with my honey and home filled with great friends and a delicious home-cooked meal waiting for us. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

Just to spoil me completely rotten, tonight we’re going over to our friend Karin & Dave’s house for a dinner and some quality time with their brood of felines.

Have a great day!

Jen