Home Sweet Home!

We thought the kids needed more time to clean up two months worth of mess, but in truth, Carmen, Steve and Kerby needed one more night to party hard in celebration of a major facelift to the front of our house which they had conspired to finish secretly in our absence. They fully deserved it: we were blown away! They had completely rebuilt the stair railings, removed the plywood porch surface and restored the old tounge-and-groove decking underneath; scraped, filled and painted all the trim, hung planters everywhere, repainted the benches, replaced the porch light and added a dimmer, hidden strip lights which bathe the stairs in a wonderful soft glow, and even revived the pond, which now has goldfish in it! The place looks terrific! The lawn is mowed, bushes are trimmed: we should go away again, although Carmen was a bit distressed to hear that we may just hang about all summer, now that the place looks so good...they obviously like having it to themselves, and it shows!

On re-entering B.C., it didn't take us long to realize, after almost 20,000k, that the scenery at home is as good as it gets, anywhere, and it was a fitting culmination to our journey to arrive home, at last, in paradise. It's great to be back!

Last Hope

Passed up Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump, as we had seen it on a previous trip; it's worth the short diversion, if you're ever in these parts. The wind farms in the foothills are impressive, though not nearly as extensive as the ones outside of Bakersfield CA. We didn't stop at the site of the Frank Slide either, due to the low cloud and rain, but I should have, as it was a model of that slide that I had made in college which landed my first job, and launched my career as a modelmaker. But I have no doubt that I'll make the pilgrimage one day; the scenery enroute is totally worth it.

The Crowsnest Pass was wet but not terribly wild, and the snow and rain stopped as we crested the summit.

We passed the weekend at Roger and Patricia's lovely lakeside home. Roger built it some 17 years ago, to sell for income, but somehow they just haven't been able to leave it. Thank goodness! Most of us can only ever dream of landing in such a place: a south-facing sandy beach, the clear waters of Kootenay Lake, upscale neighbours in architecturally-designed homes. They stuffed us with waffles and strawberries, chicken and coffee cake, and we drank beer on the lawn of their latest project home in Kaslo. I wish I had their energy! The grandkids arrived as we prepared to leave, and they settled into their comfortable routine; Patricia playing the cello, and Roger the dobro or whatever else he's into these days.

We looked around Nelson a bit, then headed for Hope, where we bedded down early. Carmen wanted 'a little more time' before we got home, for some reason. We are just a wee bit suspicious. But we had an astonishingly succulent lamb dinner at Papandreas Greek Taverna, next to our motel, and entertained ourselves well on our last night on the road.

Endless Prairie

Snow?

Apologies to any blog followers expecting updates: no wireless where we've stayed the past week, and not a whole lot to report anyway. Most of it was spent under the vast prairie sky, with old friends and family, eating, drinking, talking and laughing. The weather has finally turned 'Canadian', and while it's been generally comfortable, we've had a bit of everything, including snow today in Fort Macleod!

John and Dina hosted us for the weekend in Winnipeg, where we toured Fort Gary, saw pelicans on the Red River, ate the tenderest T-bones I've ever had, listened to some Jazz (including daughter Sarah (is there an 'h' in Sarah?) invoking Charlie Parker on her sax - very nice!) and talked til the wee smalls on every subject on earth. John gave me an impromptu 'writer's workshop', and allowed me a peek at his latest novel; that boy can sure spin a story!

Had a memorable Moose Jaw meal with the 'three sisters', last survivors of Robbi's dad's ten siblings, all born in a sod hut north of Yorkton, and tenaciously carrying that Ukrainian pioneer spirit into their late 80's & 90's. They go at each other something fierce! It's a riot. Thanks to Aunty Olga for putting us up, and putting up with us for 3 days.

Moose Jaw has a tiny, perfect library, with a classic marble foyer, set in a beautiful park in the middle of the city. It is, to my mind, a model of how all libraries should be. And it's not really tiny; I just like the way that sounded!

Helped 'rescue' a young mother, panicked and furiously trying to rip open the rear vent window of her van because her 5-year-old had locked the keys, and two babies, inside. I didn't bother asking her why her son had had the keys, but flagged down a passing RCMP for aid. I don't think she entirely appreciated the gesture. =)

Otherwise, it's just been driving, driving, driving. Thank God for cruise control!