The Up-Date!

It has been a long time since I last posted to my blog and a lot has occurred since I returned from Africa in July! The two-second version of life up to December 12…hit the Nairobi, Kenya airport only to discover my ticket had been cancelled! I put to use my mad-skills (okay beginner/average) at negotiation and not only got on the plane but also got an up-grade! In London I managed to get a flight to Vancouver (BA claimed that it was my travel agent’s issue – NOT SO MUCH!) but also ended up with a 9-hour layover in London…that means hitting the town!

In London I chose to suspend all understanding of exchange rates and viewed all prices in dollars (silly I know!!!) versus doing the mental math to convert to pounds. Anyway – I had enough time to check out Hyde Park (background for many a romance novel), Buckingham Place (no architectural awards there), Westminster Abby, Big Ben, and Trafalgar Square (which was set up for the Harry Potter movie premier!!!). All in all the day was bloody brilliant – I could have done without the massive rainstorm however, as it emphasized the temperature difference and resulted in me having to buy dry clothing at the AIRPORT!!!

Days after returning to Canada I was off again on a whirlwind road trip with my dad. Now many of you will know that his health isn’t that great and the road trip really worked to emphasize that for me! Just three years ago we were camping our way through Northern BC and the Yukon – this year we motelled the entire way and really didn’t do much beyond seeing the sites along the road. The major exceptions to that: We went to an Edmonton – Vancouver football game in Edmonton, we visited the Royal Tyrell Museum near Drumheller, of course we hit Bass Pro near Calgary, and then a quick stop at Tija and Christine’s in Okotoks! From there it was off to Vulcan (shopped for Cam), then Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, and then we headed off to the US! Our trip through the upper US (Montana, Idaho, Washington) was beautiful (highway 2 the whole way). My favorite locations were driving through Glacier National park and Libby Montana!!

The trip ended with another football game in Vancouver – Esks vs Lions again! Gill, Less, Nolan, Dawson, and Helen joined us and it was a great way to end the trip. I sent Dad and Helen to the ferry in a cab and then headed off to Janay’s to celebrate Analise’s birthday – I can’t believe she’s four!

The rest of the summer was split between trips to the west coast, going back to work, and the start of our new Master of Arts in Sustainable Leisure Management!! It was totally stressful but really cool to be part of a new program launch! The fall was a nutty time of teach 4 ½ classes, trying to recover from the anemia that resulted from having Malaria, and really adjusting to living back in Deep Bay…with my parents and my grandmother (1 month) who had knee replacement surgery!

End all that chaos and your caught up on the adventure…oh yeah! I made 3 trips to Vancouver (one to a Whitecaps game, one to visit Laura at UBC, and one to support my students who presented at a conference), one more trip to gravel pit for thanksgiving, and a final trip to the west coast for Jon and James’ wedding!!! Now that your are caught up you may want to check out the next post…it’s about the two week vacation I just spent in the State of Hawaii!

Some pics from the road trip!