Here is a story. I once edited and wrote for a short time for a now-dormant online magazine, The Harmony Chronicles. It was a magazine dedicated mainly to independent artists of any genre, recipes, self-help, and anything else we considered interesting. We, as several partners, willingly gave our time. We aimed to make a go at a collective dream. We wrote about what we loved.
It was a good time for all, but it became all-consuming. We wore ourselves out editing, interviewing, and creating material. We hoped this material would interest the public. It basically fell apart from there.
Enough maudlin! I recently felt the urge to start something like this again. I initiated contact with my friend Don (more on him later). The website for his online radio group was active (obviously). Luckily for me, the blog we had started to help out the magazine still existed.
With his and Sam’s (more about him later) permission, I again have access to that website and will begin writing again on various subjects that I love, not just music, but slanted in that direction.
I hope to start churning out some new material very soon, and I will post here and there simultaneously. All articles here will be mirrored on the Kat Radio Group site at HARMONY CHRONICLES
At this point, I am calling any musicians or groups that would be willing to interview for some free publicity. Send your request to johnlorieh@gmail.com
In addition to interviews, I am working on several new recurring series and resurrecting some old ones. Stay tuned.
Today I have chosen a shot of us walking through the treetops at Whitefish ski Resort in Montana. Pretty interesting and a different perspective of a forest. We see a lot of forest from the ground up, seldom from the treetops down. I can only imagine what it would be like doing this in a tropical forest. One can dream can’t we. Anyone out there ever done that?
Ah, Portugal. In 2012, we decided to include Lisbon in our Spain tour. It was a spontaneous decision, but it turned out to be the best choice we made. Lisbon was amazing—the food, the atmosphere, the attractions. Then there’s Sintra, a place with a unique history that dates back to the 9th century when it was occupied by the Moors, and it continued to thrive until the late 19th century. It’s a National monument and has been partially restored to its former grandeur. It’s a fascinating place and definitely worth a side trip to experience it.
I promised to do some restaurant reviews and figured I’d start with the new addition to the Gold Zone, an old favourite starting up again in the same Gold Zone location as it was before.
Yes, Gringo Lingo is back. It’s not quite what it was, but it is open and is making strides towards being a significant player in the area. Our experience there was good; the staff was terrific and seemed to be enjoying themselves and working to make being there a memorable experience. I mean, how many bars/restaurants start up random line dances. It was the Macarena, but I’ll forgive them.
A highlight is the terrific happy hour, every day, from 4 until 6, on vodka, rum, tequila and gin. This includes margaritas, so all is good. A round looks like this;
What 8 margaritas look like from above.
As for the food, let’s say it will not be Michelin quality. The menu appears to be a work in progress, but the staff knows it and can assist with any questions. It was served hot and promptly. It is a good bar and grill style and did not disappoint. We had the Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti, the BBQ ribs and the fettuccine. No major complaints, although the ribs weren’t a hit with my partner. We will return before too long and will attend their happy hour occasionally.
The Menu
All in all, it was a good experience, and I would recommend giving it a try.
Good day! These are just a few notes that have been building up inside that need to be removed.
First off, returning to blogging and writing. My first impression is Holy Crap, the format here has changed radically. Going to take some time to relearn some things and become a proficient user once again. Similarly, the site’s look needs some updating, which is a second learning experience. I think I’m up for it.
Second is the format of the site itself. Lori and I have visited many places, but nothing recently other than Mexico. The travel side of things will consist mainly of recent reviews and photos in Mexico, mixed with some of our movements around our places in Alberta and British Columbia. I have a few items on Mazatlan that I am currently working on, which should drop over the next few weeks.
I will also review all the sites I have on all social media, delete some, and connect everything left to this brand. This is another goal that may take some time. It is amazing how these collect, almost like they self generate.
Another big part of our life is music. Posts will appear regularly and highlight new music, independent music, Canadian music and some top 10 list things. I did some interview work with a magazine I once affiliated with, mostly independent artists, and I will try to get back to that somehow. I have a couple of dormant X and Facebook sites with many artists that I follow and follow back, and I will work to revive them and renew some contacts.
A third set of topics will involve our journey to retirement. It is not so much an advice column but more of a journal of how we are moving to retirement and how our progress toward that goal is coming along.
Another feature that we will include is to share our favourite recipes and wines. Cooking is therapy, and wine augments the experience.
In closing, we look forward to touching base with everybody and will try to be a much more regular contributor, while learning to put forward a quality product. That will take some time.
This year’s adventure to Mazatlán began on December 29 with a stay at the former Wyndham Garden Hotel. Now a Hotel 11. As always, we chose to stay at an airport hotel because the flight departs in the morning. We have stayed at this hotel several times as it has a good restaurant and is in great shape. Since our last stay, Wyndham sold the property to Sonesta Hotels, who have branded it as Hotel 11. A great rate, excellent service and the same great food. Our rate for the night was $151.95, tax in. Had a few vino’s, so supper almost matched the room rate. Our bad. Check them out at the link; it’s recommended.
The next step is the flight. As usual, we flew in on WestJet. It is pretty much the only game in town from Calgary. There is Sunwing as an alternative, but they are now owned by WestJet and have some limitations that are not good for us. It is cheaper, but one-way travel is not allowed, and changing flights is next to impossible. As we are there for 3 months or so, this restriction is not a good thing. We book as one way in each direction instead of round trips to give us the flexibility to head home earlier or later, especially for urgent personal reasons.
We caught our shuttle and arrived at the airport with a 3-hour window. As we check in online, we ditch the lineups at the counters and proceed directly to the self-check-in kiosks. We generated our bag tags, dumped our luggage at the baggage chute, and headed into security. Security can cause a hiccup or 2, but we sailed through and headed for breakfast. The Tim Hortons and Starbucks are always full, so we use the Vin Room in case we want a mimosa or a nice chardonnay at 8:00 in the morning (You have to love air travel). The buzz in airports is unique. People everywhere around are excited, nervous or bored. Sitting in a restaurant eating breakfast and people-watching is a great way to kill time before boarding. The Vin Room is a Calgary restaurant/wine bar with 3 locations; this (obviously) is the airport location. Food is good and reasonably priced for an airport. The service is excellent as well. Breakfast was around $50.00, with tips and taxes and no wine. Another recommendation to check out if you are flying out of Calgary. Check them out at the link below.
Went for a nice hike on a forestry road that led us to the shore of Monroe Lake in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. The trek was 3.21 miles or 5.2 km. A screenshot of the route is below, in and out via the same route.
The scene below is indicative of the scenery along the road.
Once we reached the lake, there was a footbridge and an old dam, now in various stages of deterioration.
It is also the mouth of a creek, pretty much dried up as we are at the end of the season. Most creeks and rivers out here are snow and rain-fed, meaning they tend to dry up, or they are spring-fed, which this one is not. We have seen this creek higher up in the mountain in the past, but it was late October and there was runoff.
We continued to the right on the map and discovered some well-worn elk trails that we will explore later. We turned back and took the left spur to some amazing scenery. We have done this path before this and knew what we were in for. We have also kayaked through the meadow, a post I will put up once I finish playing with the video.
We also know about how to relax. A conveniently placed bench to look at the landscape.
And of course, it is not all about the scenery, let’s not forget the foliage and critters. In this case an interesting mushroom and some pretty butterflies.
Hi all. The blog and magazine will have a temporary address in Mazatlán, Mexico for the next couple of months, or more. Now that we are here, it is impossible to predict when we will be back in Canada, although it is tentatively February 22.
As incorrigible travelers, Lori and I have been champing at the bit to get back on a plane and go anywhere. We booked 10 days in November and blasted off here, just prior to finding out that Lori was able to work there without an issue. We then booked January 4th to February 20th on WestJet, found accommodations, and hunkered down in Calgary for Christmas. Almost immediately, WestJet scared the crap out of us. We received an email with a flight change. We opened it with both eyes squeezed shut. After squinting with one eye, we saw that it was all good. Our February 20th flight was cancelled, and we could re-book for February 22nd with no charge etc. That worked for us, 2 extra days!!!.
Then Omicron! On our November trip, it was just appearing and when we arrived back in Canada on December 1. I, of course, was randomly chosen for a mandatory PCR test. The first few days were in isolation as I awaited the results of my second test in 3 days. Predictably, they came back negative. Now we waited in total suspense as our leaders tested the political waters on yet another lock-down. Sensing impending travel issues, we re-booked our flight from January 4 to January 1, then watched the various apps for flight cancellations.Â
Once again, we received an email, this time as we were at an airport hotel on New Year’s Eve. Again, squinting paid off as it was only a notification that our flight was delayed by 2 hours. Another sigh of relief.Â
The next morning, we arrived at the airport, only to be confronted by check-in lineups about a mile long. Puzzled, we asked an agent what was going on and let him know we had checked in online. He said we did not need to line up with the rest and to get our baggage tags from any open kiosk, then proceed to the self baggage check in. It turns out that there were issues with vaccination records being uploaded in the online check-in process. We had noticed that when we were doing it the previous day but played with it until it worked. Breezed through this as the machines were basically empty, the baggage lineup was also empty and there was no one in the security line. Basically, we were now getting a 2 hour breakfast window.
Next hurdle was getting on a plane. We got to our gate just in time for a flight notice on the PA system. After gulping, all they did was repeat what we already knew, our 9:45 departure was delayed until 11:45. Considering it was 10:25, the notice seemed unnecessary.
The flight started boarding on time, then went for de-icing prior to take off and then we were in the air. Loads of weight off our shoulders.
On landing, we had the most successful entry into Mazatlán that we have ever had. Off the plane in 5 minutes, entry document completed and submitted to passport control in another 5, a luggage wait of less than 5 minutes, no line up at the taxi counter and a taxi right there with it’s trunk open. We cleared the airport in record time for Mazatlán. A good sign for the next couple of months.
As for our first few days, it is a pleasure to be here. The weather is obviously fine. The true upside is the vibe. Restaurants and bars are open, people wear their masks as in Canada, temperatures are taken at most venues, but people are upbeat and having no issues with the protocols.
We have settled into our routines, and will function as we did in Canada, just warmer. I will be posting as much as possible, including multiple reviews on what to do, see and listen to in Mazatlán.
Been on another hiatus, nice to see you all. Lori and I have had a very busy summer. During our vacations, we decided to work together on a new project, incorporating a variety of social media platforms. The gist of this idea is to chronicle our journey towards retirement. We’ve been working towards this goal for about 10 years now and have made many left, right and 180 degree turns. We have come up with many plans that cover both our economics and our wish list, while discarding some, expanding on others andrevisiting many. There have been many twists and turns, but we always move ahead and grow in the process. We plan to chronicle our journey from this point on and take a look backwards on how we got to where we are today. We look forward to your comments and help in helping us figure out what to do next. At the same time, we hope that we can help you in your journey in some small way.
This site will continue, with the variety of posts that I’ve become accustomed to placing here. So if that is what you enjoy, that will not change. The same goes for its sister site, The Real Canadian Music Blog. If you are interested though, I have posted the links to our new project below. And, if you are wondering, JohnLoriEh is the name of our 1979 25 foot O’Day sailboat that we have docked on Kootenay Lake in the Canadian Rockies. You will see a fair bit of our adventures in that setting. Here is a glimpse of that. Hope to see you on the new site.
A shot I took with my iPhone in July of 2013 as we cruised past on a Celebrity cruise liner. A different look of the mountains from what we are used to as we see them from the Alberta side daily. Very stark contrast as they rise out of the ocean as compared to the foothills and prairie on our side.
