Emerald City Open II

03/17/2013

Yay!, My first polo tournament ever! And what a tournament at that. The Emerald City Open II was of course in Seattle and promised to be one of the best tournaments of 2013 in the world.

On the 22^nd of March most of the East Van Bike Polo crew made a mass exodus to Seattle to take part in the tournament. I drove down with my friends Chris, Woadie, Louise, Niki, and Lacky. We got down to Judkins Park in Seattle at around mid-day and I made my way back up to Capitol Hill. I played pick-up and hung out till later in the evening and met up with my couch surfing hosts Denise and Kai.

I ate at a GREAT Mexican cuisine restaurant called Taco Chukis that is located on Broadway, just north of Pine Street. They had a wonderful vegetarian option that was cooked prickly pear cactus. Was really good.

Later that night all the polo players that were playing pick up at Cal Anderson(About 50 people) all rode down to Belltown Underground for the tournament pre-party where there was a really sweet mini bike velodrome, an area for knife fights(One vs. One bike polo game), home made beer and moonshine and a lot of great people!

The tournament was 40 teams and was played over Saturday and Sunday. Two thirds of the Saturday games were played at Judkins Park, and the other games were played all day at Cal Anderson. We were one of the teams that played at Cal all day. 

Me and Lacky at Judkins Park

Our team, Blind to Defeat, was composed of Louise(East Van), and Jared(Everett Bike Polo) and it was the first tournament for all three of us. We were not quite on the same page on the court but that was expected as we were a composite team that never played together. But through out the day we improved a lot throughout the day and we played our best game on Sunday morning in our single elimination game.

 

I ended up having a great weekend, meeting tons of new folks from all over, Fresno, LA, San Fran, Portland, Seattle, Bellingham, Columbia Missouri, and Saskatoon. The folks from Saskatoon where really great dudes and we ended up grabbing pizza and beers at a really cool craft brew pub called The Pine Box. The pub was in a grand and beautifully converted funeral home with high ceilings, old stone facade, and upper mezzanine seating. I highly recommend this pub if your a beer snob.

 

Woadie, Chris and I stayed in Seattle until Monday evening and played some really good pickup. Overall, a great weekend.

 

Whitecaps Home Opener

03/02/2013

My first MLS game, finally soccer is alive in Canada. I could not miss the chance to see the Vancouver Whitecaps take on fellow Canadian rivals Toronto FC at BC place stadium for the opening game of the season. 

It was a fantastic sunny Saturday and a full house at BC Place. I was by myself and sitting at the opposite end of the stadium from the supporters sections. The support is fantastic in Vancouver, constant singing, flag waving, and even a massive banner display. I was thoroughly taken in by the supporters.

This season is promising to be a good one for the Whitecaps with the signing of Nigel Reo-Coker from the English club Ipswich Town as well as Bolton Wanderers and other promising players playing great football like Gershon Koffie, Young-Pyo Lee, Jay DeMerit, and Diago Kobayashi.

So it was kickoff, the crowd cheered and the Whitecaps thoroughly dominated play passing the ball well and attacking the net nearest to the side of the pitch my seat was located. Every time goalkeeper Joe Cannon took a goal kick the entire crowd hissed in unison until he connected with the ball and then they let out a loud 'BOOM' when Joe fired the ball way up the pitch. 

It was not until the second half that the deadlock was broken and the Whitecaps went ahead 1-0 from a strong shot by Koffie into the bottom corner. It was a very strong passing play and cut pass to the top of the box and the shot was to hot for the keeper to handle.

The Whitecaps went on to notch a win in front of the 18,000 fans and rippling mix of Cascadian and Canadian Flags. All in all a great game and when I am back to Vancouver in June I will be sure to go catch a few more games!

Randal Flagg's photostream

Randal Flagg's photostream on Flickr.

Well I am trying to connect a whole slew of my best photos from past travel to keep my blog interesting. Some sort of slideshow... but i cannot seem to get it work.

Enjoy some good photos on my flickr for now!

W

Temporary Camera Issues

Hello Everyone,

I have been unable to post any significant blog posts in the last little while as I am unable to upload photos from my camera. I'm a little worried I messed the port on the camera up...

None the less I have a little bit of news and some tidbits.

Bowen Island

Howe Sound, Cascadia 

A few weeks ago a couch surfer friend and I went for a hike to Mt. Gardner on Bowen Island. Bowen Island is about a 15-20 minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver. A beautiful Island for sure.

We were looking to conquer the 700m summit of the island but it was very rainy. The trails are not very well marked and we took a few wrong turns at times. With a little help from my trusty compass I navigated us to past the half way point. We got to a split in the trail and took a wrong turn that took us back to a main trail... not really where we intended on going and we then experienced some white out conditions and decided to turn back and plan another trip up. 

We would not have been able to take in the stunning view of Vancouver and Howe Sound fro the summit anyways, and it was just more about being able to say we did it. I hope to find a nice day to re-do the hike in the summer!

Whistler-Blackcomb 

Cascadia

I think since my last post I have been up to Whistler to ski twice. I just got back from my last excursion last night and had a blast. My friends Brian and Erin were out visiting and skiing at Whistler from Ottawa. They offered me a place to sleep in the condo they had rented. It was a really nice gesture and a great place! Comfy sleeps, good food, even better beer, and a Hot Tub!!!

On the first day I was visiting I took Brian and Erin on as best of a grand tour of the two mountains that I could. I think I showed them around well. After a great day we enjoyed a apres ski beer at Blacks pub in the village and a well needed relax in the hot tub!

The second day I was up we got about 20-25cm of fresh new pow. I split off from Brian and Erin for most of the day and skied some epic lines. Best runs of the day had to be a couple of first tracks runs from the Jersey Cream chair down Staircase and The Bite. Also had some beautiful runs in knee deep pow and trees off the Crystal Triple Chair in Outer Limits. 

The Glacier Express chair opened around noon and a friend Andrew and I got up to Spanky's ladder for a run through Diamond Bowl and had a blast. 

A pretty successful ski day due to being blessed by the Ski Gods! An excellent day to call my last day of skiing of the year.

A Few Plans

Seattle, ECO2 Polo Tourney

So on Friday I am off to Seattle for a few day for a polo tournament that I mentioned in a previous post. I hope to be able to post some pictures and maybe even some video of the tournament!

Ottawa, A Rideshare Home

I have arranged a rideshare back to Ottawa on March 23rd to visit for 2 months. I'll be back to see family, friends and to show around two couch surfing hosts from Finland. 

The ride I have found is with a gentleman from Port Hardy on Vancouver Island and we will be driving straight back taking turns at the wheel. We are intending on leaving early on Saturday morning so we can get through most of British Columbia and Cascadia during the day(The most exciting of the drive I hear). 

But I will definitely have photos and I will hope to have a Post for it... If my camera is not broken. :( 

Anyways that Is all for now! Here are a few pictures from my phone of Whistler!