Intersession – Weekend #4; exercise and exploring

Saturday, with friend Richa from home in tow, we travelled to the Valley of Fire (about an hour’s drive north of LV). It was an adventure getting there, as the signage for I15 changed to Hwy 215 as it is wont to do around here and after missing the exit we were headed towards Tonapah. Fortunately it was picked up fairly quickly and we were able to navigate back towards the correct valley despite some very confusing signage in a construction zone (some VERY big road construction projects going on here).

I had thought I’d never been to Valley of Fire, but as the park entrance loomed it looked very familiar… and once we started on the White Dome hiking trail the memory was prodded – have definitely done that little loop previously. When, and with whom, I am not clear – with parents a few decades ago?? Anyway it is lovely country and despite making (another) directional error (yes, a theme is emerging) we had a lovely hike – we had meant to connect two loop trails but turned left instead of right. All’s well, we connected with a different trail eventually after following a wash for a while. The slot canyon at the beginning was like the entrance to Petra on a smaller scale, and the red rock and sand reminded me a lot of Jordan. Though the parking lots were full, once away from the main trail we had the place to ourselves and the temp was very pleasant to hike in, sunny and 17C. Truly lovely country.

Sunday morning I went for a bike ride to test out the mechanics of “LaTrek”, my Moulton travel bike which got assembled last weekend and rim retaped. I never feel too confident about my mechanical abilities and half expect a wheel to come off, or the gears not to change…. happily all worked well and I did about 35 km on the ironically named “Wetlands Preserve” trail…. (I guess because it starts in the Wetlands Preserve?). Humidity about 21% here, so guzzling water is a must. The trail was surprisingly hilly, with a couple of real hills and several very steep albeit short- a couple I had to walk up as the grade suddenly ramped up going around a corner and I didn’t have enough momentum. I will know better for next time – it is a decent workout and very pretty and peaceful.

Detoured on the way home to an Indian grocery store which had a fabulous selection – one of the best I’ve seen outside Asia though I admit I haven’t explored the stores in Surrey very thoroughly. TJ’s sucks in this department so I was very happy to obtain better options, with an immense choice- always limited however by the freezer space which is still at a premium despite some help from Richa this weekend. No additions this upcoming week, so the reprieve may enable some freeing of space…. Just liberated this one below from its’ icy exile and can endorse it for sure; breton sablé base, raspberry mousse topped with raspberry macaron with raspberry ganache filling and topped with chantilly cream and a fresh rasp. Yumm.

Note revision and veggie prep for the upcoming week will occupy most of the rest of the afternoon with the possibility of sitting down at some point to read a book, a rarely occurring event. And so we head into chocolate showpiece week next…