Okay........So It's Been Awhile

I was home for Easter and some reminded me that I haven't posted on here for awhile........this year is just flying by so fast that I didn't even realize how long it had been, oops.

Anyway, 2007 is flying by super fast already, the year is nearly 1/3 over already and I still feel as though it's barely started (I'm still getting used to writing 07 on things) I guess it's been flying by for me because a lot has been going on for us in the last while.

To start, in January we decided that the apartment lifestyle, while simple and cheap, was getting old, so we headed to the bank to see what they could offer for mortgages. By the beginning of February we had everything all sorted out with the bank, scary as it was. So we stopped in to see our friend Rita at Town and Country Realty, I think she was more excited for us than we were LOL. Unfortunately at that time there wasn't a whole lost listed in our price range that we were interested in. So we told Rita to keep us posted if anything popped up. So we felt a bit disappointed, but winter is kind of a slow time, so we were expecting to wait to til april or so before anything came up. A couple days later Rita called us and gave us an address, told us to drive by and let her know ASAP if we wanted to look at it. Turns out some people had tried to buy it, but they weren't smart like us and didn't go to the bank first, so they didn't get financing HAHAHAHA. Their loss our gain!! So anyway, we drove by, liked what we saw and met Rita for a look.
It was pretty much exactly what we'd been looking for, so it took us all of 5 minutes on the drive back to our apartment to decide to put an offer in. Everything was said and done by noon the next day, our offer had been accepted and the bank got the paperwork going........then the waiting........that was the worst part, the waiting til our posession date. But it did come soon enough and wow......we were soooo busy for like two weeks wtih moving, unpacking and cleaning, I've never been so exhausted. But it was all worth it in the end. We got a nice place ,it's in a great neighborhood, has a great yard, and the best part is that it's all ours to with as we wish. I know we won't be doing everything we want to right away, but it'll be fun to have little projects to keep us busy. Yeah yeah I know, we'll be cursing the yard work soon enough, but for now we are looking forward to it. I hope we'll get some company soon, now that we have lots of room for guests stay. We're planning a little housewarming for the beginning of May sometime so with any luck that will all go good too. So anyone out there that knows us is more than welcome anytime!

My 2006....At A Glance

Well, here we are another year has blown by so fast, now I have to get used to writing a new year when I sign checks when it feels like I just got used to writing "06", lol. I have to say 2006 was a pretty amazing year for me, there have been very few years that I have been able to check one thing off my "Life's To Do" list, let alone several. Well this was my year to do just that. At the time all of these things were surreal, like I am finally really doing this?? But looking back I wish I could relive those moments that I had waited so long for. But as they say, things happen in their own good time, so all these things that I have been waiting so long to do happened right when they were supposed to. :) Ok, below are some pictures of some of the highlights of my year, the ones with a "*" behind the description are things I checked off my list this year.

After a couple of chilly adventures with the old car leaving us on the side of the highway, we bought this shiny new car!!!

My First Tropical Vacation*

On March 31 we got up bright and early and hopped on plane to sunny beautiful Varadero, Cuba. This trip was way long overdue for me, so you can imagine my excitement. It was everything I always imagined it would be; the palm trees, the gorgeous water, the soft sand, the fresh lobster.....etc, it was all there!!!! The flight home was less than fun thanks to some lovely storms over the USA, but we made it home, and I can't wait to go back again!! Whether it's to Cuba again or to another undiscovered paradise, I'm hooked :). I also did manage to check off a few more items on my list while on this trip. (see below)

Drink Tropical Drink From Coconut Shell While on Tropical Vacation*

Swim With Dolphins*

Look at that water!!!! I couldn't believe it really looked like this, clear, calm, sandy, warm, perfect.

Get A Tattoo*

That's right, I got a tattoo, so I'm not as much of a wimp as some people think I am. It was a pretty good experience, but I think it's something you definitely have to be ready to do. And yes it hurts, but it's not as bad as you think. I got this one done at Eye of the Lotus in Edmonton on Canada day, probably the most interesting way I've ever spent a Canada day he he. In case you can't tell, I got it on my ankle :).

And that's about it for my "Life's To Do" list.....for this year :). Here's a few more pics of highlights of my year.

Here I am as a bridesmaid in August at my friend Chrystal's wedding. It was a very nice time, we had a lot of fun, and the weather was perfect.

Here I am at Okanagan Lake with the Ogopogo! (Next I'm taking on Nessie!!) In September we drove out to Vancouver, BC, making a few scenic stops along the way. A few highlights were, the Ogopogo of course, the Village Cheese Co. in Armstrong, Stanley Park, the Aquarium, Gas Town, fresh seafood at White Rock, and the little Chinese fish market where we bought salmon at Steveston's Warf. Don grew up out by Vancouver so it was great to see his old house, his school and the places where he used to play when he was a kid, I felt very special to be able to share that with him.

Here's Don and I at the Vancouver aquarium at Stanley Park. I'm glad we went to see it this year while it was still in its full beauty, it's sad to think that it'll never be the same again :(. Don favorite part of the aquarium was the sharks! I liked glaring at the stingrays, lol, just kidding. I did get to touch a sea cucumber and and anemone, they were pretty neat. Did I mention that I stepped into ocean number two of the year? Although this one was much colder than the one in Cuba, still not a bad accomplishment :)


In October I finally got my reptile!! I'd been wanted one for a long time, but I was never sure what to get, so we went to a reptile show in Edmonton. That's where I saw these little guys. So I ended up getting one. This is "Bindi" she's a jungle morph leopard gecko. She was going to be named "Steve" after the late Steve Irwin, but as it turned out 'he' was a 'she'. "Bindi" just so happens to mean "beautiful serpent", and she is a little beauty!! She been a good pet so far, kind of a hermit, but then again I'm used to cats and dogs that crave you attention all the time.

Well I think that's it for pictures. A few more exciting things from this year for me were; surviving my class reunion, yes I am that old already; Don taking me to Phantom of the Opera in September as my early b-day preasant :); Seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert with awesome seats!!; two of my cousins becoming mommies!! my cousin Kim and her husband Bob having their baby boy Cody in September and my cousin Nevada and her husband Chris having a little girl Gemma in November, Congratulations guys!!

2006 was a pretty exciting and eventful year for me as you can see, I wouldn't trade a minute of it. This will go down as one of the best years in my life for sure. How many years am I going to be able to accomplish this much? I have no idea what lies ahead for 2007, I'm looking forward to the surprises and adventures it may bring! Happy 2007 everybody!!

Happy Holidays 2006!!

Alright, yes, I know this post is a little late, but better late then never right. Now that the holiday season is over and everything is getting back to it's normal rountine I feel like i have more time to catch up on this blog. Demember was pretty busy of course with Christmas preparations and gatherings and such. It is the fastest month of the year. I had a pretty nice break for Christmas this year, my office closed on Friday Decmember 22nd and we didn't have to be bakc in the office unitl Wednesday Jan 3rd.....wow, it's sure nice to work for a place that'll give you a good break like that, I don't know a lot of places that would. I definatly was ready for a break from the office again, we all know how things can just start to get on your neverves. Unfortunatly Don didn't get the days off between Christmas and New Years that I did, but that's alright, I got a lot of things done around our place while he was at work.

We headed to the farm on the 23rd for the big family dinner at Gramdma and Grandpa's house. The crowd was a bit smaller than usual, but that's alright, you can get more good visiting in that way and it's a bit nicer for Grandma and Grandpa, I think the big crowds wear them out too much, although they'll never admit it :). Christmas Eve was a nice relaxing day, did a bit of work with the cows, had a nice supper at the farm and stayed up and played games and ate snacks. My stepbrother and his girlfriend had to head back to Saskatoon early on Christmas mroning so we all opened stockings after supper too.

Christmas Day was also nice and relaxing, well with the exception of the phone call we got early in the morning that the travellers had hit none other than a deer on their way back to Saskatoon, a bit ironic to hit a deer on Christmas, lol. But nobody was hurt and they were still able to drive their car back to the city, so hopfully they can get things sorted out with that soon. The weather was gorgeous and sunny, so Don and I went for a nice walk after lunch. My sister and her family came out for supper that night. It was nice, it's been awhile since they were all out at the farm jsut to visit like that. I think the highlight of the night was watching Chayse playing on the Wii, he was getting a real workout!!

On Boxing Day we went in to visit with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple hours, it's nice just to get some one on one time with them. We headed back to Lloydminster a bit early so we'd have lots of time to get home and get everything unpacked and relax before Don had to work the next day. After all the big turkey dinners we had over the weekend, our food of choisce for the night was pizza!!! :) I love those home cooked turkey dinners, but sometimes you jsut crave something simple after you've had your fill. The rest of the week isn't too exciting, I veged at home while Don worked, got a lot of cleaning and organizing done, did a bit of boxing week shopping, didn't really find a lot though.

On the 29th we packed up again and headed up to Sherwood park for our Christmas with Don's family. Did a bit more shopping and found some better deals up there, again not too much though, we were pretty shopped out after all the Christmas shopping. We had dinner with Don's family on Saturday night.......I'm stil not quite used to how his family does the holidays as compared to mine........and that's all I have to say about that. Each to their own I guess.

New Years got a bit mixed up on us, we were supposed to meet up with one of Don's friends and go out, but his friend got called away to work out of town, so that was out. So we were going to meet Don's parents in at a pub, but his mom got a head cold so she didn't end up going. So we met his dad there, he was sitting up at the bar, and we wanted to sit at a table, so we got a table and sat there by ourselves and he stayed sitting at the bar.......that was ....interesting....of him. There was a live band in the bar, they weren't too bad. It got pretty crowded as the night went on. Then finally the moment of New Years was upon us ....the band totally messed up the countdown, missing new years by a couple minutes, and Don's dad decided to pick just that time to stop by our table, just in time to pretty much spoil the moment for our New Years kiss, which ended up being more of a new years peck lol. I guess I just have to keep telling myself that New Years is over rated, and that I gave up on having super awesome New Years plans about 10 years ago. At least we were together, that much I can say was good :) More people we know should get married New Years Eve, there's built in plans right there, Lisa's wedding in Kananaskis that one year will still be one of the best New Years I've ever had.

Not much else to say about the holidays, we came home New Years Day and both had the 2nd off as well to relax before heading back to work. This when the flu bug decided to pay me a visit and ruin what was left of my time off, go figure. All in all the holiday season for 2006 was pretty good and now I'm counting down to Spring!!! Watch for my Highlights of 2006 post, coming soon.

Enough With the Cold Already!!

Okay, yes, I know it's winter, and yes it's going to be cold, but really, it's been extremly cold for a bit too long now. We've had windchills below the -30 mark for almost 2 weeks now. The weather forecast keeps promising warmer days, but it seems like everytime you check the weather that first warm day get pushed back a day or two until you have been strung along for 2 weeks!! I started to put up my outdoor Christmas lights when it was nice out, but I needed more supplies, by the time I got the rest of the stuff I needed we were in deep deep cold and there was no way to finish the job. So ......we've been sitting here waiting for just one nice day to come along so we can the rest of the lights put up and plugged in and have a chance to enjoy them before the Christmas season passes us by. So far, the outlook is not good. Don't get me wrong I'm not completely down on winter I quite enjoy the snow, even the cooler weather, it's that darn wind!!! If we could just have a few non-windy days it would be great ...hear that weather man???

Anyways, that's my rant about yet another thing I can't control.......yet.....muhahahahaha!!

On a better note a big CONGRATUALTIONS to my cousin Nevada and her husband Chris on their new baby girl, Gemma Mei, born on November 27th. I wish them all the best!!

What Is A Friend?

The last year or so I have been doing a bit of soul searching to try to figure out who my true friends are. It seems friends fall into different cattergories, these can be casual work aquaintances you get along with or have things in common with, all the way to some one you would trust with your life or your most deepest secret. I think that it's good to be able to have friends that fall into all different cattergories, sometimes you just want to sit and have a casual chat without getting into deep conversations, and sometimes you need some one to confide in.

To me a friend is somebody you know you can count on when you need something, whether it's a shoulder to lean on or just a cup of coffee to unwind during a stressful work day. However, I also feel that just calling some one when you need something doesn't truly make them your friend. If somebody calls me, just becuase they want to talk or see what I'm doing, it feels good. You know that person is genuinly interested in you and your life and they aren't just calling you because they need a favor. I've had (and have) people in my life that I would only hear from when they needed something and after they do that so many times in a row, everytime they call you and try to make small talk, you just feel like asking them what they want. And that's not right. I don't mind being there when a friend needs me, but at the same time you can't help but feel like a doormat when you begin to feel that their only interest in you is that favor they seem to always need.

I made the decision a short time ago that I was no longer going to put any more into any kind of relationship than I was getting out of it. And let me tell you, you sure learn who your true friends are in a hurry. But at the same time I have also come to peace with the fact that some people are just who they are and they won't change. So you just accept that and adjust your relationship with that person to something that works for both of you. Trying to make a friendship something it isn't will ruin it, so if you just accept it for what it is, you can live with it and be happy.

For instance, I have this friend that for so long I really went out of my way to be in their life, always calling, always wanting to make plans to get together, but I got tired of always being the one to call, the one asking how they were, because I wasn't getting any of it back. They'd blow me off when I wanted to see them, never offered to come visit me, I was always having to go to them. So I just stopped calling, never stopped caring, just stopped being the only one who initiated anything. It didn't take long to figure out that if I didn't call I'd never hear from them, unless they needed something. So, that's how that worked out and I'm okay with that, that's how they are, and I'm probably better off not feeling like I'm always bending over backwards.

I have friends in my life that make me feel good, make me feel glad that they're my friend. Some are family that have also become friends, some I have met through other friends and some have been there most of my life. A friend can be defined as so many different things. Each differnt kind of friend brings something to your life, and as long as it's something postive, you can feel good that they are part of your life. I think that the bottom line is that as long as you accept people for who they are and don't try to make them into something or some one they aren't everyone will be a lot happier.

Remember it takes more energy to be an enemy than it does to be a friend :)

Happy Fall Everybody

Well I guess it's safe to say that we're in Fall full throttle now, we have even had a few little snowfalls, nothing out of the ordinary. It's kind of nice in the fall when everything slows down for a bit before the big Christams rush. We've had a few weekends lately to just hang out at home and take it easy, it's been really nice to do that for a change. I'm sure by the time winter is about mid way through, we'll be dying to have busy weekends again. But, for now we enjoying the rest. Time to get some cleaning and organizing done at home. I don't know why, but fall has always been my time of year for cleaning, more so than spring for some reason.....oh well at least it gets done.

Of couse we had a great Thanksgiving as always. We went to my family's in Luseland for the first installment. As a bonus we got to see my cousin's new baby boy, and he really is a sweetie :). Maybe I'm just saying that because he didn't start crying as soon as I was holding him hahahaha. No, I'm kidding, he really is a good little guy. We had two turkey dinners that week end so I can definatly say I have had my fill of turkey for awhile. The next weekend we headed to Sherwood Park to have late thanksgiving with Don's family. So, I'm am for sure without a doubt good with not having any turkey unitl Christmas.

I have fianlly aquired a pet.......yes a real living animal. First pet for me in a very long time and as a nice twist, it's a type of pet I have never had experience with before. I bought a leopard gecko :). I have always wanted to get a lizard but I never knew what kind I wanted. We went up to Edmonton one afternoon to a reptile show and sale, it was great, I saw all kinds of different ones and got to talk to people who own them and raise them. It was very educational and really helped me make the right choice. So I went home and got my terrarium all set up and when we went up to Edmonton for our second thanksgiving I brought my gecko home. She's a pretty little "jungle morph" gecko, she is still adjusting to her surroundings and is a bit nervous so I won't try to get any pics of her until she's more settled, so I will post some later on. It's been an interesting adjustment, like I said I have never had a lizard before, so I know I still have a lot to learn. I'm so glad I can email the person I bought her from if I have any questions. So far things seem to be going ok.......I'm hoping she'll be more adjusted in a couple weeks time and eat more and be more sociable. But I have to remember that this isn't like having a puppy or kitten where you can cuddle them and make them feel better about being in a new place....it's this cold blooded thing with no personality hahahaha. People keep telling me just to leave her alone and she'll adjust on her own, so here's hoping.

That's about all that's new and exciting this fall, Christmas is creeping up pretty fast so I will have to get on that shopping soon, hehe. I know it'still a couple months away, but the last couple months sure flew by fast. The days seem to go by so much faster when it's dark so much. I'm still not liking the dark mornings yet. Next week when we change time it will be worse, it'll be dark so early then. Oh well it happens every year so I should be getting used to it.

That's about all for now, hopefully I'll get those gecko pics up soon.

The West Coast Part 2: At The Coast

Our first day in Maple Ridge (Monday) was pretty slow, slept in a bit, had breakfast, then tried to figure out what we were going to do for the rest of the week. Don grew up in Maple Ridge unitil he was about 10 or 11, so he wanted to do a bit of touring around town to see his old house and school, etc. Well what we didn't really consider at the time is that part only took us about an hour, lol. We went to visit his other grandma for a couple of hours. She's quite old but stil is living on her own and still quite lively and nice to visit with. After that we killed some time at local mall for a couple of hours. Shooping out there really sucks because you don't want to buy anything as the tax is twice as much as it is back in Alberta, so I guess we did a lot of looking, not really shopping lol. Not much more really to tell for our first day.

The next morning (Tuesday) we got up nice and early as we were heading into Vancouver to Stanley Park for the day. Don's grandma is your typical grandma who won't let you out the door without a good hearty breakfast :). (We would have been fine with a bowl of cereal, lol) The breakfasts were always nice, but got a bit tiring by the end of the week becuase good as they were, we'd lose about an hour in the morning ....oh well :-/.

I had always heard about Stanley Park but never knew what the big deal was, until we got there, it's gorgeous, you'd never know you were in the middle of a huge giant city. The whole park has the awesome walk way all the way around it on the seawall, it's pretty cool. We found the aquarium, that was a lot of fun too, it was a good time to be there, no huge crowds to contend with. My highlight - I touched a sea cucumber!!! Kind of slimy and bumpy, lol. We walked around the park for a bit longer than headed out to Sunset Bay Beach. The beach was pretty cool.....not quite like Cuba :), but still pretty nice. I even braved stepping into the water, which was very cold, just to say I'd had my feet in two different oceans in the same year :), not bad if I do say so myself. We walked on the beach barefoot for awhile and picked a few shells and of course took lots of pictures. We went for supper at The Boathouse, a nice little seafood place with the best calamari I have ever had!! We were pretty worn out when we got back that night.

The next day (Wednesday) we headed into Vancouver again to go to Gas Town. Gas Town is the old waterfront area of the city, it's pretty cool, with cobble stone streets and old buildings with neat little shops in them. We parked and walked around there for awhile. We stopped for lunch at the original Old Spaghettie Factory, it was awesome! In our walking around we saw a film set and found out that a new TV series was being filmed there, starring an actor from 24 and an actress from the OC. They didn't give us any names, it was pretty cool to see though. They were obviously filming the show to be set in New York as there were fake "New York Taxis" all over the place :). After we got back to Maple Ridge we went to a movie, Hollywoodland, it was pretty good. Thank goodness there was a theater there, we were pretty busy during the day, but the evenings were pretty boring as we didn't know anyone our age out there so there wasn't a lot to do.

For our "last day" (Thursday), it was kind of a cold and dismal day. We caught the ferry accross the Fraiser River and drove to White Rock. White Rock is this neat little town on right on the border of BC and Washington, kind of a fancy touristy place. We took a walk down the beach to find some shells, however we picked a bad time of day apparently because the tide was in so there wasn't much of a beach or any shells, oh well it was still pretty nice. There's a long pier that goes out into the water for a ways and I guess a lot of people try their luck at trapping crabs there, we didn't try it, lol. Instead we went to Troll's Cafe and ate a fresh crab and some fish and chips of course :) The was the best crab legs I have have ever had, we made the biggest mess trying to eat every piece of crab meat lol. Well worth the mess though. You can't beat fresh seafood. We took a look around after lunch in some of the little shops they had along the waterfront, pretty much your typical tourist stores.

From White Rock we headed to Steveston's Warf, because that's where you go to buy fish, so I was told. Out of our whole week of driving around Vancouver and area the worst traffic ever was from White Rock to Steveston's, wow talk about grid lock and bad driving! Had a couple near misses there, one of which caused us to have to back track half hour to get back to where we were supposed to be going. It took us 3 hours to get to a place an hour away - krikey!! So we finally got there, the warf was cool with all the fishing boats and such. We went to a fish market and bought some salmon for my family back in Sask. Seafood is about half the price out there. Getting from Steveston's back to the ferry was another traffic nightmare, but we fianlly made it back to Maple Ridge in one piece. We felt kind of bad getting back so late, Don's grandma had wnated to take us out for dinner and we ended up going out so late, I'm sure it was a lot later than she would have liked, but it worked I guess.

The next morning (Friday) after yet another hearty breakfast we packed up the car, slightly more crap than we brought out with us lol. Don's grandma had a few things she wanted to send back for their family with us - including a giant bag of quilts - that took some creative packing. We said our goodbyes and stopped to say goodbye to the other grandma too before we left town.

There isn't too much to say about the trip home, we took the shortcut through the interior and stayed the night in Kamloops again. We headed straight from Kamloops to Edmonton the next day, back into all the snow and crappy weather!!! That was one long day. We did stop at a couple interesting places on our way home I guess, the Hope rock slide, and Bridal Falls, both were very nice.
It was a pretty good time out there, the weather was great, and we saw pretty much all we had planned to see, still leaving a few adventures for the next time.

The West Coast Part 1: The Drive Out

Well, now that I'm back and settled back in and caught up on work I can finally take a bit of time ot let everybody know how our vacation to BC was. We left on Friday Sept 8, and got home Monday Sept 18, so I guess we were gone for a little while. It was really a great trip, I do have to say I think September is the perfect time to travel in Canada. You are past the big tourist season, so you miss the crowds, bad traffic, and high season costs at hotels and stuff, yet the weather is still pretty great, for the most part anyway. At least it's not sweltering hot.

Friday we took off from Lloydminster and travelled as far as Edmonton and stayed there for the night at Don's parents' place. We got up nice and early Saturday morning with the intention of getting an early start, but when you are staying with family that's usually not likely to happen, lol. We got away at a decent time though. We packed our own snacks and drinks to cut down on cost and time spent stopping, it worked out pretty good. We drove to Jasper from Edmonton and stopped there for a mid afternoon lunch, unfortunatley it was getting pretty windy and rainy, so our idea to stop and have a nice little picnic was out. Instead we settled for eating in the car in some random parking lot, oh well. Carrying on through the Rockies the weather got pretty nasty with lots of sudden heavy rainstorms, thus, cancelling out any of the other sight seeing plans we had, no worries though, we can always go back to the Rockies.

Due to the crappy weather and our lack of stopping to sight see, we made excellent time on Saturday and made it all the way to Kamloops,BC. Then we got lost in Kamloops for nearly two hours looking for a hotel, I guess we just took the scenic route :). Neither of us had really been out there before though, so it wasn't that surprising that we ended up a bit lost at times. Don was there when he was a kid, but of course that was a long time ago and it's not like he paid attention to where his parents were driving either. But we did eventually find the hotel district and with the help of our handy tour guide books found a really nice place for a good price. I recommend the Comfort Inn the anyone travelling through Kamloops nice clean cozy hotel with all the amenities plus a sweet continental breakfast in the morning. The first thing we did was go for a nice long soak in the hot tub, it felt great after all that travelling.

The next morning we got a good early start and headed out again. I have to say that the Okanagan is not what I expected, it's a lot nicer than I had pictured in my head. Everything is nicely nestled in these cozy little valleys with huge rolling hills, beautiful lakes and cute little streams everywhere, it's gorgeous!!! I'd love to go back to BC one day and just spend time in the interior, there are so many neat things to do there, like wine tours and house boating. Anyway, we stopped in the town of Armstrong for lunch and went to the Village Cheese Company, I had read about this place on the internet and being a big fan of cheese it was on my list of places to stop . It was pretty cool, you could try all the differnt cheeses that they made there. We took a couple bricks of our favorites with us as well. A funny story about our stop in Armstrong, we took the turn into the town too soon and ened up on this really windy hilly backroad, it was actually really pretty, there were all these cornfields and little farms, so sometimes detours are ok :).

From there we contunued through the Okanagan passing through Vernon and we got to Kelowna and decided to stop for a bit of a break. We found a nice city park down by the Okanagan Lake and went for a nice relaxing walk to stretch our legs. I even got a dorky picture with the "Ogopogo", Okanagan Lake's version of Nessie, lol. We wandered around the park for a couple of hours just enjoying the scenery and the nice day, then we decided we better get back on the road. It was a bit disappointing while we were driving that I couldn't get a lot of nice pictures, there was hardly anywhere to pull over on the highways to stop, you'd be driving along and see a nice view and then in 2 seconds it's gone! So a lot of pictures were taken through the car window, I'm still not sure how well they turned out as we haven't even sat down to look through them yet. Oh well we know what we saw I guess.

Kelowna is really the last major city beofre you get to Vancouver so we decided to just keep on driving and get to Don's Grandma's in Maple Ridge that night. (Maple Ridge is right outside of Vancouver) We rolled into Maple Ridge at about 8:00 that night and found his grandma's house with no problems. We sat up for a little while and visited but we were pretty burned out and it wasn't long befor we hit the hay, we decided we'd figure out the rest of our vacation in the morning.