The Best is the theme for the January 2024 installment of the Photo Blogging Challenge. It fits right in with the tradition of wishing someone all the best in the New Year. In fact, there are a lot of well-worn phrases that incorporate this phrase:

• Experience is the best teacher
• Hunger is the best sauce
• Honesty is the best policy
• The best things in life are free
• Laughter is the best medicine

I spent some time trying to come up with ideas for how to capture some of these sayings with photographs. It was daunting. Despite what the experience might have taught me, I abandoned Plan A to go with Plan B – spending time with family and friends, staying active and enjoying life.

We regularly played Wingspan, enjoyed cooking together, survived a prolonged deeply cold spell, planned a spring vacation with friends, took full advantage of a protracted warm spell, and more.

Here are some of the best moments from Plan B…

1. The best test (yet) of winter driving an EV

This is our first winter owning an EV. We charge at home, in a garage we keep heated to right around freezing. So we haven’t experienced the challenges that come with trying to charge an EV at a public charging station when it’s -35C (-31F). And until this month, we hadn’t experience the range anxiety that comes with driving an EV at those deep freeze temperatures.

But we had a commitment that required us to drive from Canmore to Calgary on a Saturday morning when the temperature was -36C (-33F). Total driving distance = 105 km (65 miles). We usually charge our battery to 80% before making this drive, which usually gives us a range of 330 km. In anticipation of the range shrink that comes with such cold temperatures, we charged to 90%. As we pulled out of the garage, the main display showed a range of 311 km.

We made it with plenty of range to spare. But we consumed about 38 kWh/100 km vs our typical 18-20 kWh/100. And that was even with keeping the cabin temperature set a little lower than I’d have liked and only running the defrost enough to keep the lower 2/3rds of the front windshield free of interior frost.

Bottom line? So far, no major concerns with the EV. Not sure I’d want to take it on a long-distance road trip relying on public chargers. But it’s great for driving around town, back and forth between Calgary and Canmore, and getting us to all our favourite hiking trails and back home.

2. The best things in life ARE free

I know, I know…the song was referring to loving relationships with family and friends. But free local public transit is one of the best things about the Town of Canmore, IMO. We often walk to town to buy groceries (about 7 km/4.5 mi one way) and then catch the bus to the stop nearest home. It’s the only way I’d even consider lugging a large jug of milk all that way in a backpack!

3. Delicious home-cooked Mongolian chicken

I’m not sure what it was about January that resulted in a few repeat recipes turning out the best so far. These included gluten-free sourdough bread, oven-baked katsu-style pork and Mongolian chicken. Actually, our 24 y.o. figured it out – I actually followed the recipes instead of treating them as guidelines! 😉

4. The best partner

Doesn’t matter if it’s a big adventure, a micro adventure, a couple’s adventure, tackling a nasty household chore or the day-to-day running of a household. I’m always glad Mr GeoK’s by my side. 🙂

5. Beautiful sunrise

We enjoyed many beautiful sunrise mornings this month. This particular morning, conditions were just right along a stretch the Bow River to reflect the brilliant oranges and purples of sunrise colour over Pigeon Mountain. For more photos of this spectacular sunrise, watch Mr GeoK’s Relive video recap.

There you have it! Five of the best moments / thoughts / ideas from our month. Interested in how others tackled this photo blogging challenge theme? Head over to a A ‘lil HooHaa to read host PJ’s post. Down at the bottom, you’ll see the link-up to everyone else’s take.

And please, won’t you join us in February? The theme? Exploration. There’s a lot of scope to get creative and adventurous with this one. All you need are 5 photos and a blogging site (there are several free options). The amount of accompanying text is entirely up to you.