Strawberry, raspberry, blueberry? An adventurous Canadian who left the frozen north to explore places in the sun, I am on a taste test of the world, out to sample everything I can find. Right now I am first mate on the sailboat "Diva" and alongside Captain Phil, we will be sailing throughout the Caribbean. Come on, hop aboard for the ride!
Just
for fun, when Captain Phil and I were reflecting on the grand
“friends and family” tour that ended last week, we started
counting how many people we had both met. The lion's share of the 73
were people introduced to Phil, due to the excessive number of
relatives I have. But in spite of the challenge to remember
everyone's name, it was so good for both of us to see our own
families and friends, and to put faces to names for those we had each heard so much about.
In the highlights of the trip, as usual it involved incredible amounts of good food and lovely company. We were
occasionally annoyed by the weather (snow in both Canada and the UK)
but spring was trying and we did get some gloriously sunny days.
In the lows of the trip, it would involve
suitcases that were too small to bring back all the books, yarn, and
Mountain Equipment Co-op toys that I wanted. Captain Phil is mentally
re-designing the boat to allow for a motorcycle ramp and scheming
about a lifestyle that allows for snowboarding and
motorcycle riding squeezed around sailing in the tropics.
Thanks so much to everyone who hosted us, fed us, and took time out of their schedules to hang with us! We missed a few people along the way, but we'll be sure to catch up with you next time.
("Friends and family" were the highlights of the tour, although
from the photographs I took you'd think we came for the scenery.)
Bill & MaryJane were kind enough to lend us their car in Calgary and we drove over the foothills, into the Rockies!
There was still snow and ice in the mountains :(
Mount Rundle in Banff, gorgeous as ever, even if a bit chilly.
Captain Phil, your name follows you everywhere you go...
Scenic view - take that tropical sunsets!
Our only wildlife - "mountain cat"
Over the Rockies, on the way from Calgary to Vancouver.
Vancouver, in its grey glory.
Spring was really coming, though.
Motorcycles in Vancouver, first Dad, then Mom, then the Captain.
The leaves popped just before I left Vancouver to return to Toronto.
The remaining week in Toronto flew by in a flurry of last minute visits and shopping. We are now slowly coming down from the highs back in Montego Bay. Next post - more details on destination number one, targeted for the second half of May.
PS. Sorry about the background changes on the blog. I finally decided the last one was too hard to read. Let me know if this one is better.