Snowshoeing in Pippy Park

GrinI’m going on week 7 of being here in St. John’s Newfoundland, and I’m making the most of spending time up here in my old hometown during this super cold Canadian winter. Last weekend my climbing buddy Lori (who visited me last year for our Yosemite Climbing trip!) and I went snowshoeing around Pippy Park.

NancysnowshoeLori already owned snowshoes, and me being illprepared for how long I was going to be home, didn’t have much snow-gear besides a winter coat and hat. So just like old times, she brought over everything for me to wear to snowshoe.

PippyParkI wore her Arc’teryx snow pants, and her two shell jackets that were super warm, along with a buff to put around my neck, and I even wore her mittens. Man, what a pal… let me tell ya. I had a time! I didn’t even have proper footwear to wear (I leave my UGGs at home, and I only brought my riding boots which aren’t insulated). So I popped on my Mother’s winter boots and went off for a bit of snowshoeing.

LoriNancyoutAt Pippy Park you can rent your gear whether it be cross country skiis, or snowshoes + poles by the hour. They keep your ID and once you get back you pay your fee. It’s so inexpensive too: $5.00/hour. We ended up doing all the loops of the trails (about 4 or 5 loops) and we were going at obviously a walking pace, stopping to take photos, and to chat – and it still was only about an hour to do it all. So for $5.00 and a bit of fun, it was well worth it!

NancyArmsUpI filmed some footage of our adventure, but I don’t have the software here on my Mom’s computer to upload it to YouTube, so that’ll have to wait until I get back to California.

InCar(By the way, had a family friend ask me if anyone in St. John’s was paying me to shout out to local companies. They are not. No one knows I am writing about them … and I don’t get paid for ANY blogging I do – so I suppose you can honestly say you can trust my judgement when I mention places? Lol)

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Explore: Jumping Bean coffee in St. John’s, Newfoundland

JumpingBean ElizAveWhile I’m home and if you’re looking for me, you’ll most likely find me at the newest location of Jumping Bean coffee shop, in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Mainly people watching, and not-so-secretly taking photos of the coffee shop.

Coffee chalkboardWhen I was home in October/November of last year, they opened a new location on Elizabeth Avenue (which is the one I most frequent). I was running out of time to visit, so I saved it for my Christmas vacation visit, and I’ve been in there so often, I think I used up all their sugar-free vanilla syrup in my 20oz lattes I’ve been ordering.

No regrets.

Coffee to goIt’s the best latte I’ve had in my entire life. I could honestly just chug the stuff.

Bowring ParkI guess that’s why I go back almost every day. I asked one of the girls working there the other day, what exactly they use for their espresso. I’ve been scouring California for amazing lattes, but good ol’ Newfoundland has got it. Better move home out of it ;)

jumping-bean-espressoJumping Bean has their own blend of coffees and espressos. And apparently it’s a lighter roast/taste than a regular espresso would have. And there you have it, nothing more simipler than that.

I find that whenever I whip out my cell phone (note, that it’s a BlackBerry, so it’s not even a huge camera by any sorts) people in St. John’s are 100% aware of their surroundings 100% off the time. And they stared, and wouldn’t look away. It made for awkward photo taking around when I was exploring my own home-town, but it didn’t stop me from snappnig away photos inside Jumping Bean, or out downtown when I wa shopping with my sister-in-law.

Jumping-Bean-coffee-flat

JumpingBeanElizAveIsn’t the spot gorgeous? I love everything about it.

Elizabeth Avenue isn’t their only location, they’re spread out everywhere in St. John’s, and after creepin’ them on Twitter, I found out that they sell K-Cups at Sobeys, even in Nova Scotia! Haha.

Pop on by for a visit at any of their Jumping Bean locations + follow them on twitter and facebook.

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Sad news

facebook-20160113-195738Before I get back to a regular blogging routine again, I cannot ignore the fact and not post about why I’ve disappeared for so long.

I don’t blog about personal stuff often, but I wanted to address the loss of my most favourite person in the entire world. After a courageous 12 year battle with cancer, my Dad passed away on January 12. A strong and silent man without any complaints ever, I held his hand til the very end as he left us peacefully.

facebook-20160113-195424Grieving a death is such an endless amount of strange, weird feelings that I don’t even know what to say to describe it.

Although there’s so much I would like to tell you about my Father, I’m keeping things short and sweet, just like my Dad would’ve preferred. I’m just so happy to have had my dad in my life for so long. I am so proud to be my Father’s daughter.

I’m doing okay, thanks for everyone’s thoughtful comments.

It has felt nice to take a much needed break from the blog, and social media. But I want to come back, I’m ready to start blogging again. So here I am. Spiffykerms is back.

Talk to you guys again soon.

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