Take me home, down country roads...

Ava Lucy the darling 6 month old daughter of Karen and Phil

Baby Bokeh?

Lily Anne their other daughter who is 3

Fun times at the spray park.

Daddy's girl

Auntie loves her niece.

Hey everyone! So I guess I should update you all as to where I am now and what's been going on. I'm home from Yukon, and have been since Tuesday. I've been, reacquainting myself with RB, so to speak, and thus haven't been online much. I did, however, make a point of posting my cherry lemonade adventure as I thought it might be a surefire hit. It's pretty amazing juice let me tell ya.

So I'm home now, back in Beautiful British Columbia (just outside of Vancouver about 45 minutes) and enjoying 104+ degree Fahrenheit temperatures (40+ degrees celsius in Canada) + a great deal of humidity. I can't say I'm not enjoying it as I really truly am. I thrive on heat like a tropical plant.

I have been indulging in slushies, RB's air conditioned car, and new guitar strings. Remind me to post a pic of my lovely guitar for you all. She's a beaut. I've been spending time with my nearest and dearest of friends Debbi, Karen & Phil, and their two kids Ava and Lily. We're all a big happy dysfunctional family and we like it that way. We've been to the lake already and are going again today so it makes me happy. Nothing like laking it in British Columbia amongst the trees and mountains. Absolutely stunning and I'd never change it. If any of you have never been to BC I highly recommend visiting here. It's out of this world and I miss it whenever I'm away.

Monday we'll be celebrating my mum's 50th birthday. Happy Birthday mum! I won't update what we're doing on here until after as she reads this blog and only I would be silly enough to post what we're doing and she'd read it. Then she'd act all coy like she doesn't know. Silly mothers...

Life is grand right now!!!! How are YOUR summers going so far my dearest readers??

Road Trip!

Now Aussie Chic has inspired me to talk about road trips. I was going to talk about the one that RB and I did last summer, but instead I have chosen to talk about our upcoming one--I will talk about past ones later. Also, I am uber excited about this one.

We will be driving a hefty 5100km (3060-ish miles for my friends to the south). Each road trip so far takes us up to Edmonton, Alberta first where my best friend Kathleen, her husband Bry and their two kids (my little darlings) live.

The Gore family (L-R: Me, Kathleen, Alexandria, and Mikayla) Kathleen and I have been friends for almost 8 years now. We worked at Orange Julius together in 2001 and have been pretty near inseparable since except when she decided to take off from BC to Alberta on me. I guess I can't really talk as I have been to various provinces and territories. I've managed to see them at least once per year since 2005 anyway...some years 3 times per year.

These are the dearest girls I've ever known. I've known them since they were in mommy's tummy and I love them like they're my own. And miss them too! Don't worry girls, Auntie's coming soon!

Now I don't have favourites, but I do love this one of Alex. They love to put on their princess dresses.

So the first leg of our journey will take us from Langley, B.C. to Edmonton. We'll definitely be seeing this sign again. Hopefully we get out early in the morning and we won't see this in daylight. As we'll be towing a trailer we will have to allow ourselves the extra hours it will take to get through mountainous terrain.

We'll be leaving August 24th in the wee early hours (I am wanting to kick RB's butt into gear around 2-3am. I used to be a competitive swimmer with swim meets that started at 5am so I have no issues waking this early...he was a sea cadet and that's supposed to make him an early riser but....alas, no.) We'll be spending about 5-6 days in Edmonton before we take off south toward Montana. I've shown Montana pics before so I won't again...well, maybe I will show new ones :)

Coming into Butte, Montana

We are planning to stay in Butte over night and then in the wee early hour head south into eastern Idaho, to Utah and south through Salt Lake City where we will hang a left to head into Colorado. I am hoping to stay overnight in Colorado--though not sure where. Any suggestions????

From Colorado we will keep on the interstate heading northeast into Nebraska--through Nebraska all the way to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. From here we will go to Chicago, head south a bit around around the southern bend of Lake Michigan into Indiana and then over to Ohio. We will then head north from Toledo into Michigan up to Detroit to cross back into Canada heading to Guelph, Ontario our final destination point. I will post a map so you can see this whole trek--as I am a geographer, and I do love my maps.

Our super-awesome-fantastic road trip 2009

So, all said and done, we would like to know of places near the interstate or near our route that could potentially be of interest to us. Some of the places that I know of are:

• Lewis & Clark Caverns
• Mormon Temples in Salt Lake City
• Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado
• Iowa 80 truck stop

Any other suggestions????