This ain't sea world, this is real as it gets!

There are few things in this world that make this Canadian backwoods girl happy. One of those is cheesecake. The other is Bass Pro Shops. I also love boats. Hence my love affair with this weekend.

Sorry, while I shed a few tears. RB and I went to the Toronto International Boat Show this weekend, as the company that he works for offered him free tickets. Let me tell you, it was a drool fest. RB used to sail lots as a kid and up until he was nearly twenty. He loves to sailboat. Me? I love two things about boating: Speed and fishing. If I can combine the two, then hallelujah!

We first went and took a few shots of some motors. I felt a bit like Tim the Tool Man Taylor and forgot temporarily about my estrogen.

Aw-yeah, baby! A 40hp Big Foot! RB is over 6' so you can see how big this motor is.

Well hello, beautiful. May I say you're looking rather "fly", all shiny and new with your beloved 60hp. This is the newer Mercury 60Hp Flyway.

After we had our fill of boats, we decided en route home to stop one of only TWO Bass Pro Shops in all of Canada. The other is in Calgary. What more can a girl ask for but to be greated by a great big Bass hanging in mid-air? Inside were mounted fish and game galore. In particular I enjoyed the "home decor" aspect. I quickly called my mama and said in the most southern accent a Canadian girl can concoct "Mama! I'm inna Bass Pro Shop and I've died 'n gone 'ta heaven!"..to which my ma replied, "Dawn, do NOT make your house look like a trailer park!". I'm sorry, but that glass coffee table whose base was constructed from a set of deer antlers was a beaut! And heck yes I WILL have those moose-decor lamp shades.

I digress, I did not purchase these. However, RB was nice enough to purchase me a ball cap I had been admiring and a brand new...skillet! Life is good my friends, life is good. We eyed up some fly rods and reels. RB gasped at some of the prices, but I know that sometimes you have to spend a little extra dough to get quality goods.

I don't know if RB was impressed I wanted to take his photo with the duck, or not. Regardless, I thought he looked kinda cute next to the fake ducks.

sigh, what a wonderful sea of rods, reels, nets and tackle. A girl could live here forever, except that if I lived here forever I'd never actually get to fish.

In the end it was a glorious day of outdoor-ness. It was a nice break from the winter cold to think about the warm summer ahead where I get to "get outside" and find my chi or my chee or whatever it is it's called. Find myself? I don't know. I just want to hook somethin' and fry it up for dinner.

What are you looking forward to doing in summer?

Travels

Once again, this summer Rob and I are heading across the US on a trip to Ontario for one more year of my schooling (keep fingers crossed!), and we're pretty excited. There is something about the US that intrigues me and keeps me coming back. Each state has its own charm, its own beauty and mystery that captivates you even if you're simply 'driving through'.

In last years episode, we drove from Vancouver to Edmonton and then Edmonton down into Montana. The furthest south we hit was Jackson, Wyoming simply because I wanted to say I've been to Jackson Hole! The highlight of this trip was certainly Yellowstone National Park See image below.

Yellowstone Lake

En route Ontario we pretty much stuck to the northern states, that bordered Canada such as North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. We even took the high road and went north from Wisconsin and took the northern peninsula of Michigan and crossed into Canada at Port Huron.

This year, however, will be different. The first part of our journey will remain the same. We will head north up to Edmonton (where my BFF and her husband and kiddies live) for a few days. After this we'll head straight south through southern Alberta and into Montana. Our first stop will be Butte, Montana. Instead of heading southeast then and onto Yellowstone, we will continue our journey south into Idaho, and Utah. We will then head east from there into Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and then up into Michigan and cross into Canada via Detroit.

I for one am looking forward to our trip to Colorado. It has been a dream of mine to visit. Everytime I dream of Colorado I can hear John Denver singing Rocky Mountain High. Well you don't need to dream folks, just click below to hear! BONUS: Listen to a live version of Steve Earle's Colorado Girl as performed on David Letterman only a few weeks ago!

MySpace Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Almost home and counting

So I've been informed by Rob that there are only 36 days left until I fly home to Vancouver from Whitehorse. Certainly at the beginning I felt that 3 months would be forever. However, time has proved to fly well once again. I want to say I'm excited--I am--kind of. I still have so much to do in terms of my field work that I just know time will zip by so that I'm left wondering what the heck happened and rushing to finish everything.

I will tell you one thing. I am looking forward to enjoying even 1-month of a B.C. summer. Mmm days of 30+ degree weather. Look out tan-lines! Look out lakes! Look out fishin' holes! Dawn's'a comin' home!

Chars,