MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

In all my excitement about Christmas, I forgot to wish everyone a Very Happy Day!!! Here I am with my Christmas present. I've got a new friend - all the way from South Africa!

2nd Annual Oh Run All Ye Faithful Holiday Spirit Run

What a great morning!! It was the 2nd Annual Oh Run All Ye Faithful Holiday Spirit Run. There was LOTS of spirit! As you can see, I was all decked out in my holiday finest. Yep, that's a bit of snow next to me. It was the first snowfall of the season and the group was running in it and having a great time. I'm looking forward to the Trinity Light run on Wednesday. I hope Terri takes me with her if she goes on the run.

Run hard, be strong, have fun.

Joe

PS. Santa, if you're reading this, I am still being a good Kokopelli. Contrary to any rumours you might hear, I did not drink that glass of mulled wine.

Running faithfully...

Tomorrow is the 2nd Annual Oh Run All Ye Faithful Holiday Spirit run! I hear there are prizes for best hat. Hmmm.... Faithful runners, beware... Joe has the Christmas spirit!!

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

Dear Santa

How are you? How is Mrs. Claus? And all the reindeer? I hope everyone is doing fine and not working too hard. I'm really looking forward to your visit. I've been a good Kokopelli this year. I didn't complain once when Terri made me ride on the front of her bike in torrential rains on the way to Edmonton. I didn't even squeak when she would wring me out after one of these rides. I hope you agree that this warrants a really nice gift or two. Here is a picture of me from last Christmas with my stocking. I was very excited to receive my very first present from you last year! I wear my bling bear all the time.

Since this is my first letter to you, I wasn't sure what to write. I didn't want to seem rude by asking for things, but Terri says it's okay to tell you what I would like. If it's not any trouble, I would like a rain coat. I'm sure Terri will take me on more bike rides, and, as I discovered, she doesn't always take cover from the rain. I would really like some aviator goggles too! They would help keep the dust out of my eyes on bike rides and I'd look SO cool in them! All the other Kokopellis would be very jealous!

I hope the next couple of weeks go well for you and your elves. I will make sure I'm fast asleep before you come to our house. I'll leave out some egg nog and cookies for you. Terri says you sometimes like rum in your egg nog because it can get really cold on the sleigh. I'll make sure she gets some for you.

Thank you very much.

Merry Christmas!

Love, Joe

The New Guy...

A year after I met Terri, she brought Dan home. I was a bit put out at first. I really didn't understand why she needed another friend to have adventures with when she had me. What did he have that I didn't?? Was he a better conversationalist? Was it because he could ride his own bike and didn't have to be doubled by Terri? Was he better looking? Was it because he could reach the top shelf in the kitchen?

I sat Terri down and had a little heart to heart talk with her. I told her my concerns and wanted to know what it was about this Dan guy that made her bring him around. She reassured me that I was her number one guy and that no one could ever replace me. It turned out it was the bike thing - Terri said he would come in handy for carrying camping gear when we go on our bike trips.

Here's a picture of the three of us. I'm not sure why I was put over to the side like that...

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

Santa's coming!

Wooo hooo! Only 3 more weeks until Santa is here! Yipppeee! I sure do love all the sparkle and cheer at this time of year. Everyone is so happy and there's always so much food around! Cookies, bars, nuts, chocolate, egg nog. Gotta love the egg nog! Mmmmm.... It's one of my favourites.

It's very different up here in BC compared to Nevada. I'd never seen snow until I moved here. As you can see, I'm not really dressed for the conditions. But, it was a nice sunny day up at 100 Mile House for the 2006 Cariboo Marathon (cross-country ski race).

I'm looking forward to more snow this year and doing some snowshoeing and skiing. I wonder if this will be the year I learn to skate??!!

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

Garage Sale

I attended my very first garage sale yesterday! It was a multi-family event hosted by fellow runner/cyclist/spinner Elizabeth. It was a fund raiser for Cops for Cancer - Elizabeth is involved with the Tour de Coast ride. Even though it was a rainy day at the end of November, we had quite a few customers and made some sales. There was some great stuff there - stereos, phones, kitchen stuff, games, puzzles, books, clothes, luggage, backpacks, chairs, even a friend for me! Some of the folks who were supposed to be selling their items ended up buying and trading things... I guess you can't blame them with all the treasures there. The best part was that Elizabeth arranged for all the stuff to be picked up at the end of the day so no one had to cart anything home! She's so organized!

Here I am with some of the stereos and a TV for sale.
This is the friend I met at the sale.

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

On the environmental soapbox...

Hello all,

Among other things, I fill my days with reading the newspapers that Terri leaves around the house. I recently read an article by David Suzuki (one of our heroes) in the Metro paper (17 Nov 2008). I thought I'd share a few highlights with you.

BC "is Canada’s richest region biologically — home to 76 per cent of our nation’s bird species, 70 per cent of its freshwater fish, 60 per cent of its evergreen trees, and thousands of other animals and plants. More than 3,800 species are found here, and many of these, such as mountain goat and mountain caribou, live mostly — or only — in the province and nowhere else on the planet. For others, such as the trumpeter swan and sandhill crane, B.C. is a critical wintering ground or ­stopover in winged migrations that extend over thou­sands of kilometres. Most remarkably, unlike most places in North America, B.C. still has all of the large and charismatic megafauna that were present at the time of European settlement, including grizzly bears, wolves, and cougars. Indeed, British Columbia is now the last safe haven for most of the large animals left on the continent.

"B.C. has a rich legacy to protect, yet the experts tell us that we are squandering our unique biological inheritance. Earlier this year, scientists revealed that more than four dozen species have disappeared from the province, and the casualty list is growing. A further 1,600 species (43 per cent of all the plants and animals thought to exist in the province) are also in decline and are perhaps facing a similar fate unless action is taken.

"Given the biodiversity crisis that is unfolding in my home province, I’m shocked that the government can claim we’re the “best place on earth”. We lag behind virtually every other place in North America in providing legal protection for our wildlife. B.C. stands out in Canada for not having an endangered species law, while smaller provinces such as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have gone to great lengths to legally protect endangered species and their habitat. Even developing countries, such as Mexico, Costa Rica, and “the glorious nation” of Kazakhstan (to quote Borat) have a leg up on us, with endangered species laws on the books."

For more info, check out: http://www.lastplaceonearth.ca/.
For the full article: http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/live/article/141899.

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

Hiking

I didn't realize that BC was so beautiful! We went on quite a few hikes in 2005. However..., most of the places Terri and her friends hike to are rather hilly... I didn't get the attraction of this at first, since I come from a fairly flat area. Why climb up something when you just have to climb back down?!?! I get it now - the view! Wow!

There is no way I can keep up with everyone so Terri carries me on her backpack. It's great - I'm comfortable, don't have to sweat, have a great view, am able to access water and snacks, and can chat with everyone from up there.

Here I am checking out a tree on the way up to the Lions. I'm about to eat the Smartie someone put on my belly. We never made it to the top of the Lions that trip. One day I hope to climb all the way.  Terri says she won't climb to the top of the Lion, but maybe I can convince one of her friends to take me up there.

This is the way I usually travel on hikes. This one is at the top of the Chief in Squamish.

Guess where I am!! I was pretty excited - 1450m! What a great hike that was - the three peaks of Mount Seymour.

This one isn't in BC. We went to Mt. Baker in Washington. Here we are stopping for lunch.

Run hard, be strong, have fun.

Joe

Remembering...

Getting organized

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know that I am working on my next entry. I'm new to this blogging thing and am getting my thoughts organized. I have so many stories to tell you, that it's hard to decide where to start! Also, my hands are pretty small and the keyboard is big. It's rather tiring for me to type. Terri has been very kind and is helping me out with this. My next story will be along very soon!!

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe

US Election

Wow! What an exciting night for this little guy from the States. The US has elected themselves a new boss! And he's the same colour as me! Pretty cool, eh!

Oh, look at me - using "eh" like a real Canadian!!

Hi, I'm Joe

I'm a Kokopelli from Las Vegas. I met Terri in a store on the Strip in January 2004. She was going to run the Las Vegas Half Marathon and wanted someone to run with. I'd never run before, but I thought it would be a hoot. We hit it off right away and I actually enjoyed the run.

Here's a picture of me and Terri on race morning. Being from the Strip, I was more accustomed to going to bed around this time, but Terri said that runners always get up early. I wasn't sure about this habit, but she assured me that I'd get used to it.

We had a great time running and met someone from Calgary to run with. People saw the maple leaf tattoos on Terri's face and yelled "Go Canada!". I thought it was very friendly of them and decided to become a runner.

And, the medal cinched the deal. I was definitely going to be a runner!

Here we all are after the run! See the fellow on the right. His name is Joe too. Sometimes people call me Little Joe to tell us apart. Mike and Rainy are the other people in the picture.

Any way, after having such a great time, I decided to emigrate to Canada to start my running career and hang out with my new friends.

I want to share the adventures I've been on since I came to Canada and tell you about all the new ones I'm sure I'll be having. Some days I can't believe how different my life is now! I'd never have guessed that I'd be running, skiing, biking, hiking, celebrating holidays, and much, much more with such a great group of people.

Run hard, be strong, have fun.
Joe