A lot going on in the world...

I just realized that I haven't posted since late January and with everything going on in the world, it seems like January was a really long time ago. With a war going on in Ukraine, it's hard to feel the optimism one usually feels when spring is approaching. Gas prices have jumped twice in the past 2 weeks, when they were already at an all time high, at over 1,60$ per litre. Today, it's over 2,00$. Still, life goes on (for us, at least). We have been busy with work, but we still managed to take a few days off last week for the boys' spring break. 

We have been going to Deschaillons as much as possible, but it's been strange never having guests over there. We finally did something we have been wanting to do for a while: take the boys skiing. I cannot overstate how well their first skiing experience went. I booked them a private lesson together, and after 90 minutes, they were pretty much ready to ski on their own. I had not been skiing in something like 25 years, but it turns out I still remember how to ski (at an intermediate level, if that). I think I was helped by the fact that skis have evolved (parabolic skis now being the norm) and are easier to use. It went so well on their first day that we went skiing a second time a week later, at the same hill, Mont Gleason, which is about an hour from Deschaillons, near Victoriaville. We will try to go one more time before the season wraps up.

We also went to the Beauce area at the begninning of spring break. It's a pretty area and our hotel was nice. There are, however, many "Freedom Convoy" supporters in that area. I spotted what were probably some of these people in the hotel, people who chose not to wear masks indoors. During the second half of the week, we headed to Ottawa. There were few Freedom Convoy supporters left in the city (thankfully), but there was still a feeling of emptiness in the downtown area. We stayed at the Château Laurier hotel, which was really nice. We had found a good deal online in the aftermath of the occupation of that area of town. We visited three different museums and relaxed in front of the TV. It was a nice break.

There has been literally no progress that I know of on my Civic. Hopefully the snow will clear soon, enough so that I can take the M3 out of storage at the beginning of April. It's hard to believe that spring is "just around the corner"...

I've seen a few more of these electric Audis. I like the way they look

The house looks good with a bit of snow on it.

The off-road version of the Bronco looks the part

There has been quite a lot of skating this winter

When the neighbours are out of town, I have room to wash the BMW in the garage

Cool off-road modified Impreza

The Mustang still looks good...

... much better than its German equivalent.

Cadillac always makes good-looking performance models

The new M240i... not ugly...

... but definitely uglier than the model it replaces.

A rare 2-door version of the new Defender

Also rare: an Alpina B6

Not rare, but rare to see a Pathfinder of this vintage is such good condition

Too much pop and bang with the exhaust?

The new M3 looks OK from some angles...

... but not all

Unexpected: a "Pink Pig" livery on a Taycan

Fun wrap on this GTi

This is the new Mk.8 GTi... very uninspiring design

They boys with their great instructor, Samuel

First time skiing!

... it was snowing on the day we went skiing

You can't really see it in the photo, but this Celica actually had snow chains on the front tires!

There is a Urus in there somewhere

The boys at the Aviation Museum

Clean Audi S4, V8 and manual

Aston Martin DBX near the kids' school. Not as nice up close as I remembered it.

The "old" M4 was not perfect, but it was decent-looking

The M8 sedan is huuuuge

I think that soon, we will barely see E46 BMW's on the road anymorw

Good winter car

... although I love to see sports cars in winter too. What colour is this?

I really like the Sci-Fi look of the new Ioniq 5, as well as the retro touches.