The North American Aerial Firefighting Show 2020

3 / 9 / 205 / 27 / 22

I attended the North American Aerial Firefighting Show for the first time this year and it was incredible. As Marketing Director for the Coulson Group, I have the pleasure of working on our aerial firefighting division, Coulson Aviation.

I arrived in Sacramento late Monday night last week so I could be at the venue the next afternoon for the trade show booth set up. It took me and 3 men, 4 hours to put this monstrosity of a trade show booth together. And while it looks amazing, we kept joking around that it was like putting together Ikea furniture without the instructions.

The next 2 days of the trade show were a whirlwind. One of the highlights of the show was being able to meet all the incredible people in this industry. I can’t stop talking about how kind everyone is. I truly enjoyed every single conversation and getting to know the different companies in the industry.

But the true highlight of the show was going up in the air for my very first helicopter ride for an air to air photoshoot of our CH47 Chinook and our U-60 Blackhawk helicopters which were down for the show to be showcased. I didn’t even realize I needed to have this on my bucket list of things to do!

I got to ride in a 407 helicopter with the CEO & Publisher of Air Attack magazine. He wore a harness so he could hang out the open door of the helicopter I got to ride strapped in on the other side of the helicopter, able to shoot videos and images over his head.

We started out at McClellan Air Base getting a few shots outside of the Cal Fire base and then headed about 10 miles out to Folsom Lake to do our first water tank test drop from the Chinook. This CH47 is the first Chinook to have a Coulson RADS-L tank installed inside capable of dropping 3,000 gallons on a fire which was amazing to see firsthand.

We then did a photoshoot with our Chinook and Blackhawk and got some incredible shots!

I have now decided that the best way to watch a sunset is now from the inside of a helicopter!

I truly enjoyed meeting 4 of our pilots, their crew chiefs and our maintenance teams. I also got to meet one of our Australian team members and one of our US team members. Everyone was so amazing, answered my questions with patience and was unbelievably kind. I cannot stop singing the praises of the people that I get to work with.

That wraps up a great show… until the next one!

My New 2020 Winter Bucket List

12 / 13 / 195 / 27 / 22

So after making my 2019/2020 Winter Bucket List and posting it on the blog my life got flipped upside down with the imminent move out West… so I’ve redone my 2020 Winter Bucket List based on west coast living.

2020 Winter Bucket List - West Coast Style

My mom is going to fly out to Vancouver Island with me at the beginning of the new year to help me get settled while Mike wraps up some things in Ottawa and then manages our move across the country.

I’m going to rope her into as many winter activities that will be fun to do with someone and then I’ll tackle a bunch of items on my own before Mike joins me. He may fly out in February so I may book a cabin weekend in Tofino and hope to cross off storm watching at the same time. I love that I’m going to be so close to one of my favourite places in the world!

Stay tuned for all the fun. You know I’ll capture it and share it on the blog and Instagram!

2019/2020 Winter Bucket List

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Another year has passed and the first snowfall has hit Ottawa. I refuse to be a scrooge about winter. So here is my 2019/2020 Winter Bucket List!

If you’d like to take a look at past year Winter Bucket Lists you can find them here:

So how do I plan on accomplishing some of these items? This year I’ll give you a little bit into the planning of my buckets lists.

Step 1: Make List

Step 2: Count how many free weekends you have in the winter

Step 3: Schedule events out

Step 4: Go enjoy winter!

Ice Fishing: I’ll simply google ice fishing Ottawa when it’s cold enough to go and then start researching different outfitters around the area.

Build a Quincy: I spelled it wrong in my photo above but didn’t have the energy to change it. I found this fun video on youtube so we’ll attempt this in our backyard!

Cross-Country Skiing: My gear is so old, I’m going to attempt to trade it in for newer gear or just donate it and then rent equipment with MEC to go out since it’s not in the budget this year to purchase new gear. I have so many trails near our house, this I can easily do on a weekend where we don’t have a ton of things going on.

Winter Camping: My husband, Mike and I only like winter camping if the temperature is between -10 and -20 celsius. Colder than that and it’s uncomfortable, warmer than -10 and you actually get a little damp in your sleeping bag in the tent. So this one we’ll have to play fairly by ear and watch the weather network.

Snowshoeing: I’ll probably get out and do this way more than skiing since we have our own pair of snowshoes… Let’s see how many times I can convince the hubby to leave the warmth of our house to go snowshoeing this year!

Snowball Fight, Make A Snowman, Snow Angels, Make a Puzzle, Bake Cookies and Make Apple Cider: These are all impromptu things that we can fit in at any time.

Cabin Weekend: There are several amazing places in and around Ottawa. I may try to book in with Cabin Escape in March if they have weekend availability. Unfortunately, the Raven House cabin we stayed at last year isn’t renting out this year (they said maybe late winter) so I’ll just scour AirBnB for amazing finds. We had an amazing time winter camping in a yurt a few years ago at Terra Perma so I went ahead and booked their Earth Ship for the Family Day long weekend! I’ll share a link after we stay there.

Winter Photo Shoot & Sparkler Photo: This is going to take coordination, hiring a photographer and ensuring they can pull off the sparkler photo!

Polar Bear Plunge: There is an organized one benefiting the Special Olympics. Or I can just go to Le Nordik and jump in the cold pools lol.

Snowboarding: My friend Jess has already volunteered to come with me, so we’ll just have to coordinate which weekends she’s here in Ottawa and get that planned!

Le Nordik: Same friend, Jess is coming to visit this coming weekend and since I haven’t been to Le Nordik in a while we’re going to head there for a day to relax.

Ice Skating on the Canal: Winterlude happens from January 31 – February 17 so we’ll just have to go down one evening or on a weekend to participate in the magic.

Ice Skating Trail: We headed out to River Oak skating trail last year. The photo background for the winter bucket list image is from our evening skate there. We brought headlamps and had the whole trail to ourselves that night.

Games Night: Last but not least, winter can usually be pretty isolating so I’m going to try and organize a games night for our friends and have everyone over for a few rounds of everyone’s favorite games.

Bucket List – Cascade & Porter Mountain Summit

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My first Adirondacks mountain summit and I managed to do 2! We hiked up Cascade Mountain and since the trail marker near the top of the trail said Porter Mountain was only 0.7 miles away we went for both.

This was technically my first mountain summit in the Adirondacks since a few years ago, the weather didn’t let my Mt. Marcy adventure happen completely.

We drove down after work on Friday, arriving at the Lake Placid KOA around 8:30 pm. After setting up my friend Shannon’s new 4 season tent we quickly ate dinner. Shannon planned all our meals for the trip which were amazing.

Dinner by headlamp, on the first night, was lettuce wraps with bacon, chicken & mustard. Shannon had prepared all our food on Weds night and then threw it in the freezer so they thawed out by the time we got to camp.

The perfect alarm clock was a really loud campsite neighbor who woke us up at 7am. Shannon started making us coffee and then heated up ground pork and broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

We think we started out on the Cascade Mountain trail around 9am. We easily found a parking spot in one of the lots along Highway 73. However, when we got off the mountain, we saw all the cars parked along the side of the road. This was definitely a busy trail so we’re glad we got out their early.

The trail was very rocky and muddy but nothing a pair of great hiking boots and hiking poles couldn’t tackle. We really hoped the sun would come out in time for our summit to burn off the clouds and I’m so glad I was able to manifest that. As we climbed out on top of Cascade the clouds started to open up and we got a view!

We enjoyed a mountain top coffee and then headed back down to the trail to head over to Porter Mountain.

The view from Porter was spectacular. The Adirondacks definitely don’t compare to the Rockies but I still appreciate them to be amazing.

Packing List

4 Season Tent
Tarp
Sleeping Bag
Sleeping Pad
Pillow
Camp Slippers
Lantern
Lighter
Stove & Fuel
Pots/Pans
Plates/Bowls/Cutlery
Toilet Paper
Backpack
Hiking Boots
Hiking Poles
Raincoat
Buff
Hat
Gloves
Long Johns
Base Layers
Hiking Pants
Sweaters
Undergarments
Gaiters
Sunglasses
Whistle
Fire Starter & Firewood
Lip Balm
Toiletries
Headlamp & Batteries
Hand & Foot Warmers
Coffee & Apple Cider
Water Bottles
Swiss Army Knife
Camp Chairs
First Aid Kit
Map & Compass
Power Bank & Charging Chord

Dinner on Saturday night after a full day of hiking was delicious. Shannon made us beef meatballs, zucchini noodles & a faux cream sauce!

Enjoy the hike if you add this to your adventure bucket list!

Summer Bucket List: Stand Up Paddleboarding in Wakefield, QC

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Another weekend, another summer bucket list item checked off. Stand up paddleboarding in Wakefield, QC was so lovely! I absolutely love stand up paddleboarding (SUP) so when I find a newish friend, Karen Yaworsky (we’ve known each other for over a year now) that has her own board, I suggest a SUP date on a weekend she’s in town. She’s usually off van camping with her husband.

Do you remember our vanlife summer bucket list adventure from last summer? That was with her van.

So stand up paddleboarding has been in our calendar for a few weeks now and I’ve always wanted to go see the Wakefield Covered Bridge from the water so that was the plan.

We started out the day at Cafe Molo (down at the bottom of the map) for breakfast and coffee and then drove and parked near the cafe pot-au-feu on the map below. I love Cafe Molo because we can sit on the patio and look out on the water and I can get a gluten-free breakfast sandwich 🙂

We blew up our SUP boards (we both have inflatables). Applied sunscreen and off we went. We had a bit of fun watching me inflate, try to put on the air stopper and then having to re-inflate it. I just seem to struggle with taking off the pump nozzle and putting on the stopper. So much air gets loose and then I have to start pumping again. It’s a bit comical really.

We paddled over to the Covered Bridge, had some fun paddling through the current and pulled up on the side of the water to relax. While catching up and chatting about life and business we sat in the water for a bit to cool down and then paddled around some more.

Karen did some SUP yoga and I as the official photographer with a wet bag for my camera took all the shots.

This is definitely a must-do if you’re in Ottawa. It’s such a fun way to spend the morning or afternoon being active and relaxing. If you have your own board it’s super easy but there are also rental places in Wakefield if you want to try stand up paddleboarding for the first time as well.