Back in the swing of things

Unfortunately summer is over already, and I have already been in classes for 2 weeks.
This summer seems to have just flown by, but it was a pretty great summer. I may have had broke my pinkie finger, but I still climbed mountains, went river rafting, had family over, and much more. I also worked at a co-op job that I got extended for the fall semester. So that along with 2 classes is keeping me pretty busy, but it will be over before I know it. Which will hopefully bring me to the winter semester where I plan on studying at Charles Sturt University in Australia for a semester. This will definitely give me something to look forward to during this busy semester.

Whistler Blackcomb

Yesterday we went up to Whistler Blackcomb to check out some of the stuff up there such as the Peak 2 Peak, Farmers Market, Alpine Experience, and visit some relatives.
The weather was alright, a bit cloudy in the morning and overcast later in the day. But overall it was pretty good, can't wait to head up there in the winter for some skiing!

New Laptop

My 2.5 year old HP dv9644ca decided to kick the bucket with an graphics issue (Nvidia graphics). So I had to get a new laptop a little earlier than I though. I was hoping to get a new one at around Christmas time, but what can you do. I decided to get the Gateway ID59C 02H laptop with an 2.26 GHz Intel i3-350 processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" LED LCD, HDMI out, and a 1.3MP webcam
It has a nice aluminum finish and is just 1 inch thick. Its a lot thinner, lighter, and faster than my old laptop! In the 4-5 days that I have had it so far, I have been pretty happy with it, especially considering I got it for just $569.99. More information on the Gateway ID series can be found here.

Britannia Beach Mine, Shannon Falls and West Vancouver

On Sunday the family went to the British Columbia Museum of Mining (Britannia Beach Mine) near Squamish and then to Shannon Falls and then later to some family in West Vancouver.
The mine is still undergoing renovations as they got some of the stimulus money from the government, but it is already much improved. They added a new roof and siding to main building while preserving the original roofing and siding on the inside. The tour was also interesting and it was near to hear about the history of the mine and how the mine came to be and how it operated back in its time. They demonstrated some of the equipment that they used to mine, and how it progressed over the years. Check out their website at http://www.bcmuseumofmining.org/

Shannon Falls

Next we went to Shannon Falls which is nearby and another great stop to get out and enjoy the beautiful scenery that surrounds us here on the west coast. Parking is $1 for an hour, or $3 for the day, and well worth it. Its a pretty short walk up to the main viewing area, and then a few minutes farther to the second viewing area. But we went even farther making our way onto the rocks to get just a few meters away from the falls and climb onto some of the rocks (like the one I am standing on below). Another hike that is off the same trail is the Stawamus Chief trail which is about 2.5KM with 550m elevation gain. But I'l have to do that some other day.

Me on a rock next to the falls

English Bay with Stanley Park on the left

Finally we made our way to some relatives in West Vancouver where we had dinner and an awesome view as you can see here. I created these shots using long exposures of like 6 seconds or so. As much as I wish I had a DSLR (eying the upcoming Nikon D3100 at the moment), these shots were all taken on our Canon PowerShot SD750. 

Lighthouse Park out in the distance